Entering the High Holidays: A Complete Guide to the History, Prayers, and Themes [Hardcover]

Reuven Hammer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2003

A complete guide to the history, prayers and themes of the High Holy Days.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Entering the High Holy Days is a good introduction, and also useful for people familiar with the holidays but looking to participate more fully and derive additional significance from the prayers and rituals." -- Brooklyn Jewish Week

"A comprehensive history with the themes and prayers of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur." -- Publishers Weekly

Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: Jewish Publication Society of America (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0827606095
• ISBN-13: 978-0827606098
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,492,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entering the High Holy Days:, September 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Entering the High Holidays: A Complete Guide to the History, Prayers, and Themes (Hardcover)

This book provides a summary to the the liturgy, and services, of the High Holy Days. Hammer gives historical information for the prayers, and services, that take place on these sacred days. This is book is a mature, serious approach to the Days of Awe. This by no means it is unapproachable. It is quite readable. Readers who want a deeper understanding of the origins of the prayers, and services, will enjoy this book. People will learn about what the days hold in terms of what the liturgy holds for the worshipper and how the prayers came to exist in their current form. The first three chapters set the stage for this period by describing the development, meanings and preparing for the holidays. Following chapters take up each service in turn.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rabbi Hammer Hits a Home Run, February 19, 2001

By 

Michael S Mantel (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Entering the High Holidays: A Complete Guide to the History, Prayers, and Themes (Hardcover)

Rabbi Hammer has organized a passagway that takes you through the prayer texts of the Yamim Noraim. This is a must use for either Adult Ed knowledgeable Jews or those looking for meaning and engagement in the classic religious texts. He brings understanding, and a historical context to otherwise obscure piyutim (poems) and rabbinicly organized prayers. It can be used alongside the Machzor( (prayerbook) as the service unfolds or as a preparation for the spiritual journey of the most important ten days of the year for the jews.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars don't read this without your prayerbook next to you, September 23, 2003

By 

Michael Lewyn (Forest Hills, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Entering the High Holidays: A Complete Guide to the History, Prayers, and Themes (Hardcover)

This book was certainly useful for what it is - a rather dry laundry list of High Holy day prayers and explanations of same. If you have the prayerbook next to you while reading Hammer's book, you can get a brief explanation of each prayer and its context from the latter- certainly a worthwhile task. But I don't think you would get much out of this learned but less-than-lively book otherwise, and I also think Max Arzt's Justice and Mercy (which Hammer, to his credit, cites) covered the same material in much more detail some decades ago.