Reprint with new Preface. In the 2002 edition of From Ideology to Liturgy, Eric Caplan examined Reconstructionism's interpretation and adaptation of the traditional Jewish liturgy and its creation of new prayer texts to convey and express the movement's changing ideology. Further insight into Reconstructionist liturgy was gained through comparing these prayerbooks to the contemporaneous liturgies of Reform and Conservative Judaism and to the work of Jewish Renewal. In this new supplemented reprint edition, Caplan offers an expansive study of liberal Jewish prayerbooks published in the decades since From Ideology to Liturgy first appeared and revisits his earlier conclusions in light of more recent expanded access to Mordecai Kaplan's diaries and archives.
Price: £30.00
Pages: 467
Publisher: Hebrew Union College Press
Imprint: Hebrew Union College Press
Series: Monographs of the Hebrew Union College
Publication Date:
15 February 2023
ISBN: 9780878207015
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
RELIGION / Judaism / General, Judaism: life and practice, Theology, Judaism, Philosophy of religion, Religion and beliefs, Social groups: religious groups and communities
As a general statement of the direction of Reconstructionist liturgy as
compared with other movements within Judaism, this book could serve as
an overview. It raises interesting questions of translation and presentation
of materials. There is also an interesting segment on the comparison of
Reconstructionism with Aleph, the Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Caplan
raises good observations of commonality as well as social merging that
occur between these two schools of thought. [...] the final section on Jewish Renewal is a nice projection into future possibilities between Renewal and Reconstructionism.
Rachael Turkienicz
— Rachael Turkienicz
Eric Caplan is Associate Professor and Director of the Jewish Teacher Training Program at McGill University in Montreal.
