Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD, has served for more than three decades as professor of liturgy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He is a world-renowned liturgist and holder of the Stephen and Barbara Friedman Chair in Liturgy, Worship and Ritual. His work combines research in Jewish ritual, worship and spirituality with a passion for the spiritual renewal of contemporary Judaism.

His many books, written and edited, include seven volumes in the Prayers of Awe series: Who by Fire, Who by Water-Un'taneh Tokef; All These Vows-Kol Nidre; We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism-Ashamnu and Al Chet; May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism-Yizkor; All the World: Universalism, Particularism and the High Holy Days; Naming God: Avinu Malkeinu-Our Father, Our King; and Encountering God: El Rachum V'chanun-God Merciful and Gracious. Hoffman also edited the ten-volume series My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries, winner of the National Jewish Book Award; and coedited My People's Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award (all Jewish Lights).

Rabbi Hoffman cofounded and developed Synagogue 2/3000, a transdenominational project to envision and implement the ideal synagogue of the spirit for the twenty-first century. In that capacity, he wrote Rethinking Synagogues: A New Vocabulary for Congregational Life (Jewish Lights).

Introduction: Is Ecstasy Enough?

1 ¿ Structuring Time
2 ¿ Lost Symbols
3 ¿ Worship Systems
4 ¿ Mistaking the Code, Mixing Messages, and Managing Change
5 ¿ The Presence of God at Worship
6 ¿ The Script of Prayer: Words Spoken
7 ¿ The Script of Prayer: Words Sung
8 ¿ Sacred Space: The Message of Design
9 ¿ Fixing the System to Make Worship Work

For Further Reading
Index

For laypeople and clergy of any denomination. Examines how and why religious ritual works-or doesn't. Uses social science, theology and common sense to explain the key roles symbolism and liturgy can play in meaningful and fulfilling communal worship.