Routledge Handbook of Jewish Ritual and Practice

Ritual and practice are some of the most defining features of religion, linked with its central beliefs. Discussing the wide range of Jewish ritual and practice, this volume provides a contemporary guide to this significant aspect of religious life and experience. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines, this volume describes not only what takes place, but the reasons behind this and the implications both the theory and practice have for our understanding of Judaism. Organized in terms of texts, periods, practices, languages and relationships with the other, the book includes accounts of prayer, food, history, synagogues and the various legal and ideological debates that exist within Judaism with the focus on how they influence practice. Coming at a time of renewed interest in the role of the body in religion, this book aims to bring the theoretical and scriptural issues which arise in this area of Jewish life and culture up to date. This volume is aimed at students and researchers working in Jewish studies specifically, and religious studies in general. Designed to be helpful to those on courses in relevant areas, especially in the United States, this book includes substantial bibliographical material.

Part 1: Texts 1. The Jewish Bible Oliver Leaman 2. Midrash Rachel S.Mikva 3. Talmud Gail Labovitz 4. Ambiguity and Notation: Jewish Law and Legal Pluralism Adam Seligman Part 2: Periods 5. Archaeology Benjamin Gordon 6. See and Sanctify: Ceremonies and Ceremonial Art in Medieval Medieval Ashkenaz and Italy Shalom Sabar 7. Visualizations of Ritual in Medieval Book Culture Katrin Kogman-Appel 8. Material Culture in the Jewish Medieval World of Islam Miriam Frenkel 9. The Ritual Turn in the Early Modern Period Roni Weinstein 10. Jewish Material Culture in the Modern Age Jeffrey Shandler Part 3: Groups 11. A Study of Two Traditions: Sephardi and Ashkenazi Yamin Levy 12. Karaite Judaisim Shawn Lichaa 13. The Modern Orthodox in America Samuel Heilman 14. Haskalah Olga Litvak 15. Ritual and Practice in Hasidim Gadi Sagiv 16. Conservative Judaism David Golinkin 17. Reform Oliver Leaman 18. Jewish Ritual and Social Justice in America Eric Caplan 19. The American Jewish Family David C. Dollahite, Trevan G. Hatch, andLoren D. Marks 20. A Jewish Family on TV Oliver Leaman Part 4: Practices 21. Circumcision Oliver Leaman 22. Body Image and Jewish Rituals and Practices Jonathan Handelzalts and Shulamit Geller 23. Hair Amy Milligan 24. Clothes Oliver Leaman 25. Food Maria Diemling 26.Sanctuary in Time: Shabbat as the Soul of Modern Jewry and the Essence of “Doing” Judaism Trevan G. Hatch & Loren D. Marks 27. Sometimes God Sneaks Back In: Jewish Secular Rituals Avner Dinur 28. “For the Amen Meal, You Don’t Have to Keep the Religious Duties”: Amen Meals as a New Age Phenomenon Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar 29. Models of Sexuality (and Marriage) in the Jewish Tradition Michael J. Broyde 30. Musicand the Experience of Jewish Ritual and Practice Gordon Dale 31. The Theological Implications of the State of Israel Vernon H. Kurtz 32. Death and Dying SimchaPaull Raphael 33. Alternative Funerals in Israel Ana Prashizky Part 5: Languages 34. The Hebrew Language as a Source of Ritual and Practice Stefan Reif 35. The Role of Judezmo/ Ladino in ‘Ottoman Sephardic’ Jewish Religious Ritual and Practice DavidM.Bunis 36. Yiddish Jan Schwarz Part 6: Others 37. Jewish Magical Practices Ortal-Paz Saar 38. Disabilities and Inclusion Abigail Uhrman 39. The Early Christian Reception of Jewish Rituals During the “Parting of the Ways” Paul A. Hartog 40. Christianity Ruth Langer 41. Samaritans Reinhard Pummer 42. Interfaith Rituals Jonathan Romain

Oliver Leaman teaches at the University of Kentucky and his books include Evil and Suffering in Jewish Philosophy (1995); History of Jewish Philosophy, ed. D. Frank & O. Leaman (Routledge, 1996); Moses Maimonides (Routledge, 1997); A Reader in Jewish Philosophy, ed. D. Frank, O. Leaman & C. Manekin (Routledge, 2000); Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy, ed. D. Frank & O. Leaman; Lost in Translation: Essays in Islamic and Jewish Philosophy (2004); Jewish Thought: An Introduction (Routledge, 2006); Judaism: An Introduction (2011). He is editor of the Routledge Jewish Studies Series.