INTERPRETING JEWISH LITURGY: THE LITERARY-INTERTEXT METHOD Eliezer Gershon Kaunfer Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for The degree of Doctor of Hebrew Literature in Liturgy The Graduate School of The Jewish Theological Seminary 2014 0 INTERPRETING JEWISH LITURGY: THE LITERARY-INTERTEXT METHOD Abstract By Eliezer Gershon Kaunfer Advisor: Prof. Burton L. Visotzky This study conducts a close literary analysis of a variety of Talmudic-era prayers in order to develop a method of interpretation, called the “literary-intertext” method. Drawing on literary theory and the work of intertextuality in biblical and midrashic fields, this method offers a literary reading of prayer texts based on the juxtaposition with biblical intertexts. The method can be described as follows: Step 1: Approach the liturgical text from a standpoint of exegesis, in which allusions abound and the surface rendering is never satisfactory. Step 2: Using the tools of philology and academic inquiry, establish as many parallels to the liturgical text as one can to point more clearly to the identification of the intertexts. Step 3: Identify the biblical intertext or intertexts at play in the line of prayer, and consider the surrounding biblical context. Step 4: Identify the rabbinic interpretation(s) of the biblical intertext, giving additional layers of meaning to the text behind the prayer text. Step 5: Offer an interpretation or set of interpretations that relate to the prayer. In the course of this study, we employ this method with the first blessing of the amidah , the blessings that constitute havdalah , and the texts of confession for Yom Kippur. In each case, the multiplicity of interpretations that emerges through the juxtaposition of the prayer text with the biblical intertext (and its rabbinic understanding) extends far beyond the original surface rendering. These interpretations are offered throughout the analysis. 1 To Lisa, My loving partner on the journey וַאֲנַחְנוּ א נֵדַע מַה נַּעֲבֹד אֶת יְקֹוָק עַד בֹּאֵנוּ שָׁמָּה - שמות י : כו : And to Maytal and Amalya, May you continue to grow in tefilah , in Torah, and in hesed 2 Interpreting Jewish Liturgy: The Literary-Intertext Method Table of Contents Acknowledgements 4 Chapter 1: Introduction 9 Chapter 2: The First Blessing of the Amidah 39 Chapter 3: The Blessings of Havdalah 114 Chapter 4: The Confession Liturgy 168 Chapter 5: Conclusion 198 Bibliography 207 3 Acknowledgements תלמוד בבלי מסכת ברכות דף כח עמוד ב When I exit, I give thanks for my…“ portion.” - B Berakhot 28b וביציאתי אני נותן הודאה על חלקי I have been engaged in the words of prayer for as long as I can remember, and have profound gratitude to my parents, Rabbi Alvan and Marcia Kaunfer, for providing me a home suffused with the rhythms of prayer. As I became more interested in analyzing the words, and not just saying them, my father became my havruta , always ready with a reference, suggestion, or distillation of a complex idea. We spent many hours in havruta studying Joseph Heinemann’s classic study Ha-Tefilah Betkufat Ha- Tannaim Ve-Ha-Amoraim. It has been one of my greatest joys to share with my father in the study of the texts that form the backbone of this work. My first teachers were my parents, but I have been privileged to gain many more along the way. Since first hearing her teach at a Tikkun Leil Shavuot in the late 1990s, I have gravitated to the teaching of Dr. Devora Steinmetz. My thinking on the issues in this work, as well as countless other areas, has been deeply influenced by her. Specifically, our numerous conversations in Jerusalem in the summer of 2012 were particularly helpful. Judy Klitsner has influenced my understanding of the Bible in a profound way. She opened me up to the world of inner-biblical intertextuality through her teaching and writing. In more recent years, I have also benefited greatly from the approach of Rabbi David Silber and Rabbi Dudi Goshen to the reading of prayer and Tanakh . Rabbi Daniel Landes has been a rabbinic model to me, and continues to teach me much about reading Jewish texts with a lens for religious meaning. 4 My academic study of Jewish liturgy was first encouraged by Dr. Stephen Garfinkel, in a conversation in 2002; I was later accepted as the first student in a new MA in liturgy program at the Jewish Theological Seminary. While in that program, and transitioning to this project, Dr. Debra Reed Blank served as my advisor. She guided me through the maze of classes and requirements, and steered me to open new vistas of my own academic interest. Throughout the process, I have also been guided by other advisors: Rabbi Sami Barth, Hazzan Boaz Tarsi, and Dr. Robbie Harris. I also had the privilege of learning about liturgy from Professors Raymond Scheindlin, Lawrence Hoffman, Reuven Kimelman, Avigdor Shinan, Israel Francus, Yosef Tobi, Neil Danzig, David Golinkin and Stephen Geller. To them all I owe a debt of gratitude. I especially appreciated Larry Hoffman’s work Beyond the Text, first read on subway trips in Summer 2005, which significantly altered my understanding of the study of liturgy. I benefited from many conversations with Prof. Avraham Holtz, who generously read my papers for numerous classes throughout my time at JTS. I also thank Professors Uri Ehrlich, Dalia Marx, Seth Schwartz, Jeremy Dauber, Eliezer Diamond, Janet Walton, Rabbi Dr. Robert Scheinberg, Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman and Haim Be’er for their encouragement and willingness to teach me over the years. I would not have completed this program without the caring and astute guidance of Prof. Burton L. Visotzky. Burt selflessly stepped in to serve as my advisor, and offered the perfect balance of goad and support that propelled me to move this project forward, even as I was working tremendously hard at my “day job” at Mechon Hadar. I benefited deeply from his careful readings, vast knowledge and high standards. I also deeply thank Prof. Menachem Schmelzer, my second reader for this study. Prof. Schmelzer opened up 5 the world of piyyut to me, as well as the scholarship of Daniel Goldschmidt, which had a significant impact on my studies over the years. He is a model of scholarship and Menschlichkeit . Much of the first two chapters of this dissertation were written while I served as a visiting scholar at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem. Through the generosity of the foundation, and particularly Dr. Eli Gottlieb, I was able to formulate the basic arguments that led to the completed version of this work. The Mandel Leadership Institute is incredibly conducive to clear and sustained thinking on a single topic, and I thank the fellows and teachers there for providing such a supportive environment. I am privileged to work with incredible colleagues at Mechon Hadar. Shai Held and Ethan Tucker have been my fellow travelers in building a different kind of Jewish world since the mid-1990s at Harvard Hillel. They have both served as an inspiration to me, both on the academic plane and, more significantly, on the plane of Torah and mitzvot . Avital Hochstein has not only been a co-visionary at Mechon Hadar, but a classmate and havruta of mine in my course of study; I cherish our times learning together. Jason Rubenstein, Dena Weiss, Aviva Richman, Devorah Zlochower and Joey Weisenberg have all deepened my understanding of Torah and prayer. Over the years, I have floated a number of the ideas in this dissertation in classes to students at Mechon Hadar and at synagogues, minyanim and conferences around the country. In the course of those classes, I deepened my understanding of the texts, and learned tremendous amounts from the probing questions of those students. Special thanks to the year-round fellows at Mechon Hadar who offered their thoughts in the context of the tefilah class I taught over the past three years. 6 My family is populated by teachers, and I have done my best to learn from them. My brother Oren taught me what davening could look like years ago at the Carlebach Shul; now he has built a life of teaching children about prayer (and much more!) in Boston, and I continue to learn from him. My in-laws, Jake and Emma Exler, are model religious souls, teaching me by example what family love and responsibility look like when taken most seriously. I have fond memories of writing parts of this dissertation in their house in Baltimore, surrounded by Jake’s library. My brother-in-law and sister-in- law, Rabbi Steven Exler and Shira Billet, have provided sound advice from the depths of both of their learning. Just about all my aunts, uncles and cousins are in the world of education, and I have looked to each of them for inspiration over the years. My daughters Maytal and Amalya have been my cheerleaders as I ran this marathon, generously making space for “Abba to work on his book.” In sympathy, Maytal took on a project to complete a 100-page coloring book; we are predicted to finish around the same time. My love for them extends beyond the written word. I first met my extraordinary wife, Lisa Exler, in the context of prayer. We both attended the first Hadar Shavuot Retreat in 2002, and – separately – had profoundly meaningful prayer experiences there. Lisa has been a partner in the journey of understanding prayer in so many different ways: talking through ideas with me, contributing to prayer communities with me, and initiating our children into the life of Jewish prayer. Lisa’s selflessness and willingness to devote much lopsided time to Sunday parental care allowed me to write this dissertation in the ever-shrinking moments of solitude in our lives.