"Let Us Learn In Order to Do: A Study Program For Worship/Ritual Committees"

Advance ReadingsThe following books are not provided and must be purchased separately. For your convenience, we have provided information about purchasing these books.

1. Lawrence A. Hoffman, The Art of Public Prayer: Not for Clergy Only (Woodstock, VT: Skylight Paths Publishing), 1999.
2. Lawrence A. Hoffman, ed. My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries, Vol. 1, The Sh'ma and Its Blessings (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing), 1997.
3. Jeffrey K. Salkin, Putting God on the Guest List (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing), 1992.
4. Rifat Sonsino and Daniel B. Syme, Finding God: Ten Jewish Responses (New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations), 1986.

Please note: We are slowly adding the resources and materials necessary for the advanced readings below. Please check back in the next week or so for additional readings available. Thank you for your patience.

Session One: Prayer? Let's Start by Getting Personal.
No advance reading

Session Two: Views of God and Their Impact on Worship
Rifat Sonsino and Daniel B. Syme, Finding God: Ten Jewish Responses (URJ Press)

Session Three: The History of the Reform Movement: Where We Came From

• "Emancipation," Encyclopedia Judaica
• "Reform Judaism" ," Encyclopedia Judaica
• The 1885, 1937, 1976, and 1999 "platforms" of the Reform Movement
• Eugene B. Borowitz, "Supplement: The Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Centenary Statements: A Comparative Chart, " Reform Judaism Today (New York: Behrman House, Inc.) 1983.

• A. Stanley Dreyus, " ," Paul F. Bradshaw and Lawrence A. Hoffman, eds., The Changing Face of Jewish and Christian Worship in North America (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press), 1991.
• Three Versions of the Aleinu 1940, 1975, 1994

Session Five: Rubrics, Blessings, Keva and Kavanah: The Building Blocks of Prayer
Lawrence A. Hoffman, "Minhag Ami: Our Diary of Prayer Across the Centuries," My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries, Vol. 1 The Sh'ma and Its Blessings (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing), 1997, pp. 1-12

Session Six: Becoming Familiar with the Service: Shabbat Worship, Part 1

• Lawrence A. Hoffman, "The Roots of the Siddur," in Keeping Posted 22:6 (March 1977), Reprinted in Alan D. Bennet, ed., Journey Through Judaism: The Best of Keeping Posted (New York: UAHC Press), 1991, pp. 123-126.
• Lawrence A. Hoffman, "Halakhic Appendix: What is the Status of Hebrew or of English in a Service?" Synagogue 2000, 1996, pp. 50-51.

Session Seven: Becoming Familiar with the Service: Shabbat Worship, Part 2
Harvey J. Fields, "Section Four: The Reading of the Torah," in Bechol Levavcha: With All Your Heart (New York: UAHC Press)< 1979, pp. 106-111.

Session Eight: A Very Quick Tour Through the History of Jewish Music

• "Introduction<>," Jewish Music Guide for Teachers, Board of Jewish Education, Inc., 1975.
• " Friday Night Musical Selections Charts "
• Musical Selections (in MP3 format):
  • Biblical: Art of Torah (900 KB)
  • Post-temple: Psalm 114 (2.14 MB)
  • MiSinai: Aleinu (1.57 MB)
  • Chassidic: Rikkud (2.89 MB)
  • Contemporary Folk: Shalom Rav (1.69 MB)
  • Contemporary Classical Reform: I Lift Up My Eyes (2.28 MB)
  • Contemporary Sephardic: Ein Adir (768 KB)

Session Nine: Majesty, Meditation, and Meeting: The Many Faces of Jewish Sacred Music
Cantor Benjie-Ellen Schiller, "Some Notes on the Future of Jewish Sacred Music," Koleinu B'yachad, Our Voices As One: Envisioning Jewish Music for the 21st Century, American Conference of Cantors and the Guild of Temple Musicians, 1999.

Session Ten: Looking at the Big Picture: From Liturgy to Worship

• Lawrence A. Hoffman, "The Script of Prayer: Words Spoken," pp. 144-170, and "The Sacred Cat," p. 38, The Art of Public Prayer:Not for Clergy Only (Woodstock, VT: SkyLight paths Publishing), 1999.
• Excerpt from Synagogue 2000, pp. 13-14, 43-49.

Session Eleven: Understanding Worship As a System: Worship Space and the "Players"

• Lawrence A. Hoffman, chapter 4, "Mistaking the Code, Mixing Messages, and Managing Change," pp. 101-107, and "Sacred Space: The Message of Design," pp. 201-234, The Art of Public Prayer: Not for Clergy Only (Woodstock, VT: SkyLight paths Publishing), 1999.
• Daniel H. Freelander, "Why Temples Look the Way They Do," Reform Judaism, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Fall 1994), pp. 35-37.

Session Twelve: Lay Involvement in Leading Worship
"The Role of the Shaliach Tzibur," compiled by Cantor Josee Wolff.

Session Thirteen: Shabbat Morning Worship and the Bar/Bat Mitzvah "Dilemma" Part 1

• Excerpts from Temple Chat, Spring 1999
• Rabbi Janet Marder,"Worship That Works," Reform Judaism, Spring 1997, pp. 13-18.

Session Fourteen: Shabbat Morning Worship and the Bar/Bat Mitzvah
"Dilemma" Part 2

• Rabbi Janet Marder, "When Bar/Bat Mitzvah Loses Meaning," Reform Judaism, Winter 1992 (and accompanying "Letters")
• Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, "Rites and Wrongs of Passage: Putting the Party in Perspective," Putting God on the Guest List (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing), 1992, pp. 57-64.
• "Sumptuary Laws," Encyclopedia Judaica

Session Fifteen: "For the Sins That We Committed Willingly or Unintentionally..." Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman's Four "Sins" of Judaism

• Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, "Imagine: A Synagogue for the 21st Century," Reform Judaism, Fall 1996.
• Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, "Al Chet Shechatanu...For the Sins That We Committed Willingly or Unintentionally....:Four Unintentional Sins of Synagogue Life," Synagogue 2000, 1996, pp. 20-21.

Session Sixteen: A Generation of Seekers

• Wade Clark Roof, "Molly's Quest," A Generation of Seekers: The Spiritual Journeys of the Baby-Boom Generation (San Francisco: Harper Collins Publishers),
• "My Temple, My Sanctuary," "Who Do You Think You Are?" "Yes, I am a Genuine Jew," "The Spy Who Came into the Shul," "A Home for My Soul," "From to Moses," "The Art of Jewish Self-Discovery," Reform Judaism, Winter 1995
• "How to Be A Truly Spiritual Jew and Avoid the Pitfalls of Quick-Fix Religious Consumerism." Reform Judaism, Fall, 1995

Session Seventeen: The Art of Prioritizing Or How to Decide What's Most Important When Your Worship/Ritual Committee is Pulled in So Many Directions
Lawrence Kushner, "The Tent-Peg Business: Some Truths About Congregations," New Traditions: Explorations in Judaism, Spring 1988.