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PROGRESSIVE LITURGIES OF GERMANY AND AMERICA 585 p- John D. Rayner Introduction As we all know, the Emancipation was a great turning point in the history of Judaism, although ‘point' is hardly the right word, since it was a long-drawn- out process extending from the eighteenth century into the twentieth. Nevertheless the initial impact of it was often felt by a single generation, and in Germany by the generation of those born during the Napoleonic era. As we all know; too, the initial impact was for many of the newly emancipated German Jews a negative one so far as their Jewish religious life was concerned because the revolutionary educational, linguistic, cultural and social changes they experienced caused them to feel uncomfortable in the old- style synagogues. And as we all know as well, it is to this problem, of the alienation of emancipated Jewry from the traditional synagogue that the Reformers first and foremost addressed themselves. They believed that if only the synagogue services could be made more attractive, that would halt and perhaps reverse w the drift. 0 . _ {:1 j N In retrospect we can see that they were only partly right. There are other 8E}; factors besides the nature of synagogue worship which determine or influence the extent to which individuals will affirm their Jewish identity \ :8 " and adhere to their Jewish faith, and subsequent generations of Reformers 13E came to recognise that and to address themselves to these other issues also. (3 ‘1‘: Nevertheless the nature of synagogue worship is clearly a factor, and a big one. To that extent the Reformers were right, and for that reason liturgical refprm has remained high on the agenda of Progressive Judaism ever since. Progressive Judaism has remained largely a worship reform movement, although it is no longer exclugsively that, as at first it tended to be. Worship reform has two aspects, which we may call 'external' and 'internal'. 'External' aspects are such matters as the architecture of the synagogue building; the positioning of the Bimah;l+.h_e seating arrangements, with _ ‘ . —l V particular reference to the segregation or desegregation of the sexes; and the musical arrangements} for instance, the employment of a cantor and / or choir, with or without organ or other instrumental accompaniment, and the repertoire of traditional melodies versus modern compositions; whether the services are to be conducted entirely in Hebrew or partly in the vernacular; and whether the pronunciation of the Hebrew is to be Sefardi or Ashkenazi. These 'external' aspects are not our concern this afternoon. The ‘internal' aspects of worship reform relate to the contents of the liturgy in the sense of the printed prayer texts. This in turn involves several considerations. One is the duration of the service, which, with the unchecked accumulation of prayers and piyyutim in the course of the centuries, had grown inordinately long. One aim of the Reformers, therefore, was to shorten the service, and the obvious way to achieve that was to cut out repetition and to reduce the superabundance of psalms and piyyufim. But the Reformers could not long ignore another problem: that of the theological content of the liturgy. Controversial issues included the coming of the Messiah, the resurrection of the dead, the return to Zion, and the restoration of the Temple with its sacrificial cult. What was to be done with prayers expressing such beliefs and aspirations? Should they be left intact but disguised in translation, or provided with alternatives, or modified, or omitted altogether? And then there was another issue. Since the traditional liturgy, in spite of its abundance, contained little composed in recent centuries, was there perhaps a need for new prayers expressing modern concerns, and should these be written in Hebrew-or the vernacular, or in the vernacular and then translated into Hebrew? And a related question is whether there are not in the classical sources of Judaism - biblical, rabbinic and medieval - passages which the traditional liturgy does not utilise but which could and should be 'harvested' for their religious and literary qualities in order to enhance the worship experience? All these are questions which the Reformers tackled in many different ways. Our task this afternoon is to look at just a few of the most important prayerbooks of a Progressive kind produced— in Germany and America in the last 200 years, and with respecxt to each of them we shall ask, in the main, three simple questions: (1) Who compiled it? (2) How did it deal with some of the key problematic issues of the traditional liturgy? (3) To what extent did it innovate positively? Bibliography A.Z. Idelsohn, jewish Liturgy and its Development, first published 1932, since 1967 Schocken paperback, has a chapter on ‘The Liturgy of Reform Judaism' down to 1929. Jakob I. Petuchowski, Prayerbook Reform in Europe, WUP], 1968, till 1967, Europe only. A Michael A. Meyer, Response to Modernity , History of the Reform Movement in Judaism, CUP, 1988. Eric L. Friedland, "Were Our Mouths Filled With Song”, Studies in Liberal Jewish Liturgy, H UC Press, 1997. Mainly USA and Britain. Hamburg Temple ‘New Israelite Temple Association in Hamburg‘ founded 1817, mainly by Eduard Kley (1789-1867), educationalist who had preached in Berlin, director of Free School in Hamburg 1815. Temple dedicated 1818. Prayerbook 1819. mum: mm: mn nu ma: mum 110, Ordnung der Oeffentlichen Andacht fuer die Sabbath- und Festtage des ganzen Iahres. Nuch dem Gebruuche des Neuen Tempel—Vereins in Hamburg. Edited by Seckel Isaac Frankel (1765-1835) & Meyer Israel Bresselau (1765-1839), Hebraically learned laymen. Frankel teacher, accountant, merchant banker, tranlated Apocrypha from Greek into Hebrew. Bresselau a notary, linguist, special interest in medieval Hebrew poetry, translated Ben Sira from Syriac into Hebrew. Left to right. Above line Hebrew & German texts for public recitation, below line translation and sometimes Sefardi transliteration. Separate volume of German hymns written by Jews including Kley & Frankel. No weekday service. Hebrew text of Seven Benedictions unchanged, though in the Avot 5311 translated as 'Redemption' (presumably Erloesung). Generally, references to Zion, and resurrection, retained. Storm of protest. Revised edition 1841, in some ways more traditional, in some ways more radical. Influenced by Leopol Zunz (1794-1886), Verein 1819- 24, Gottesdienstliche Vortraege 1832. Intermediate benedictions in German paraphrase only. Pleased neither traditionalists nor radicals, but in many ways provided model for subsequent prayerbooks. Noteworthy: Avodah ends: 11:»: mn‘: 1135 1mm. Followed by practically all subsequent. Berlin Reformgemeinde Founded 1845 by lay people. 1848: Gebetbuch der Genossenschft fuer Reform im Judenthum. Many editions. Gradually more traditional but more consistent. At one time 64 pages for entire year! Last ed. 1933. Influenced by Samuel Holdheim (1806-1860), $56-60. Talmudist and extremist. Geiger’s Prayerbooks Perhaps most influential. B. Frankfort 1810, still Ghetto. Son of rabbi. Yiddish, Hebrew, German; French, Latin, Greek. Mishnah at 3, Talmud at 6. Heidelberg & Bonn. Prize essay_ 1832-38 Wiesbaden. Breslau 1840—62. Frankfort 1862-70, Then Berlin. Bible, Phariseés & Sadducees, Language of Mishnah, Halevi, Gabirol, Tosafists, Kimchi family, I-C disputations, Maimonides, Leon of Modena. 1854 mm m” 12': nban 110, Israeilitsches Gebetbuch fuer den oeffentlichen Gottesdienst im ganzen Jahr. Geiger had been critical of Hamburg but nevertheless influenced by it as model. Right to left, more traditional, but with ideological emendations. Avot & Gevurot unchanged but translated as 'Redemption' and 'renewal of life'. Birkat ha-Minim (12): mph mm 5»: mrwbmfi. Revised edition 1870‘ More trad. but theologically more consistent. E.g., omits ...u‘-mn warn. And n'vmn for “mu Heinemann Vogelstein ‘1841-1911. Rabbi in Pilsen & Stettin, Founder President of the Union of Liberal Rabbis 1898 (72 members by WW2), anti-Zionist, Protestrabbiner. Commissioned by Unibn of Synagogue Congregations in Westphalia to produce union pb. Draft accepted. Publ. 1894 as Israelifisches Gebetbuch. Im Auftrage des Verbandes der Synagogen-Gemeinded Westfalens. Follows Geiger in many respects including nbmz. Einheitsgebetbuch Caesar Seligmann 1860-1950. Hamburg Temple 1889-1902, Frankfort 1902-39, then London. Ideological leader of German Liberal Judaism. One of founders of Vereinigung fuer das Liberale Iudentum 1910. 1910 Israelitisches Gebetbuch, rev. 1928. Editor of upb with Vogelstein and Ismar Elbogen. 1874- 1943. Scholar & lecturer, first at Collegio Rabbinic Italiano in Florence, then, from 1903, at the Hochschule (unofficisal director), 1938 to New York. Magnum opus Der juedische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung 1913, trsl Raymong P. Scheindlin as Jewish Liturgy, A Comprehensive History, JPS 8: ITS 1993. mm 53‘: m'van, Gebetbuch fuer das ganzer Jahr ('Einheitsgebetbuch‘) 2 vols 1929, Ausgabe fuer Berlin 1931 8: 1933. Trad, but‘ theologically fairly radical, summation of 100 years, esp. Hamburg. Geiger and Vogelstein. In Avot 5m: is back Gevurot is unchanged. Refu'ah (8) has w'vm R511. Kibbuts Galuyyot (10) has man man: 17:13:: T171” rnp‘a on mm In Mishpat (11) 1am 1:5 nmmn 19m”, trsl. Lass deiner Hilfe uns wieder froh werden, following Geiger 1854. In Birkat ha-Minim (12) has 131W Tbs u’mnm, Lass die Irrenden zu dur zurueckfinden, following Geiger 1870. In Birkat David (15) has nmw nus m: rmsn mm, Lass das Heil bald erbluehen. In Avodah has "my: new: 113': 1mm. And has an appendix of moderb German prayérs and songs Which suns to about 60 pages. Here is one Kabbalat Shabbat example (my translation): The days of work are over, and the day dedicated to You, O God, draws near, the day You have ordained that it may be for us a day of rest and assembly, a day of ennoblement and joy. With deep thankfulness we look back on the tokens of Your goodness which we have received from Your hand day after day.
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