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Traditions: Complete Book of Prayers, Rituals, and Blessings for Every Jewish Home (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Avram Davis (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Traditions: The Complete Book of Prayers, Rituals, and Blessings for Every Jewish Home, by Sara Shendelman and Dr. Avram Davis, is one of the most useful books a Jewish family could own. It's also an indispensable guidebook for gentiles who want to familiarize themselves with Jewish traditions. Traditions gives clear, concise descriptions of every major Jewish holiday, with dazzling color photographs of historical artifacts, recipes for holiday foods, and Hebrew calendars through 2010. The book is organized in three parts: first is "The Holiday Cycle," including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah; second is a collection called "Home Blessings," including everything you need to know about Shabbat, as well as some suggestions for creating new domestic rituals and celebrations; third is "The Life Cycle," which includes information about Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, as well as the way to write an ethical will. Each section details traditional Orthodox practices and translates them into terms that non-Orthodox people can understand. If you have room for just two books about Jewish religion in your library, make sure you've got a good Torah, then order Traditions. --Michael Joseph Gross

From Publishers Weekly

Davis (The Way of the Flame: An Introduction to Jewish Meditation) and Shendelman, one of the best-known Jewish Renewal rabbis in Berkeley, Calif., have translated Jewish spiritual practices for non-Orthodox individuals, families and communities. This book is a collection of ancient, traditional and modern Jewish blessings positioned on the rise between two strong currents of interests: an enthusiasm among both Jews and non-Jews for exposure to the wealth of Judaism; and the universal quest for invigorating daily life with a beautiful, simple spirituality. Traditions is a reference that provides practical information from recipes for Passover to making your own sukkah, a temporary hut-like building usually made with a roof of tree branches and built between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. One section deals with new rituals and celebrations such as a blessing conceived by women praying to heal a misunderstanding with an alienated adult child. The book is illustrated with modern and archival photography of historical artifacts and religious symbols that help bring the sacred into lives in a direct, profound and intimate way. Its accessible examination of Jewish sacred practices will appeal to a broad audience of Jews and non-Jews alike.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (August 19, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0786863811
  • ISBN-13: 978-0786863815
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #902,264 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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More About the Author

Sara Shendelman
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Most Complete Reference Book for Jewish Home Ritual., September 14, 1999
I don't like to judge anything by its front cover, but that is how I picked this book. Making a judgement like that won't always be a winner to the reader. But in this case it surely was!

Upon reading "Traditions" I found myself not being able to put it back down. I have been raised Jewish my whole life, but the background and history it provided for each of the rituals and customs are facinating.

I let a friend borrow the book, she isn't Jewish - but she wanted to learn more, she loved the book for its ease of reading style. "Traditions" doesn't read like it assumes you know everything about Judaism.

Now, all my friends are calling and wanting to borrow the book. I've told them all that it is available at Amazon.Com, and it will be the best dollars they every spend on a book again.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Not so "Complete", December 24, 2000
By Michael Grubb (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews
I was very disappointed by this book. From the title "Complete Book of..." I expected there to be a wealth of information in it. Instead it is a breezy, slick, highly illustrated, briefest of introductions to some major Jewish rituals and festivals. The illustrations are nice and the text is pleasant. I am surprised it is not in a larger format -- the content is more along the lines of a coffee-table picture book. If you are looking for a pleasant overview survey in an attractive format, this is the book for you. If you are looking for anything "complete", look elsewhere.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Folksy but lightweight, October 22, 2000
By Brian Melendez (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book disappointed me. As a non-Jew, I bought it looking for the text of the Kol Nidre, the prayer chanted during Yom Kippur in avoidance of unwisely made vows, which the book itself acknowledges as "one of the best-known prayers in the liturgy." From the book's subtitle, "The Complete Book of Prayers . . . ," I expected that it would be a ready source for this "best-known prayer." Not only does the book totally omit the prayer's text (other than to mention that "Kol Nidre"--the prayer's first two words, although the book does not tell you so--means "all vows"), it barely mentions the prayer. I gather from the other half-dozen books that I bought in order to learn about the prayer that this book's thumbnail description, while technically accurate, omits material information about the prayer's significance, in whose absence the technically accurate information is somewhat misleading; and repeats a popular misconception about the prayer's origin that is widely discredited. What the book does contain is two pages of Yom Kippur recipes and a three-page Yom Kippur story.

On the positive side, this book does offer a richly textured trip through the Jewish year, and paints a vivid portrait of each event in that cycle that blends contemporary custom with ancient tradition. The information about some prayers and holidays is better than the information that I found about Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur. If you are unfamiliar with Jewish culture, this book is a good introduction and overview to the outward signs of that culture, but it does not go too deeply into the inward meaning of the traditions that it describes.

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