A Myrtle Among Reeds: A Guide to the History and Nature of Jewish Prayer - Paperback

"A Myrtle Among Reeds" is a highly personal account of the nature and history of Jewish prayer, rooted in the author's 25 years of experience as a head of Jewish schools, and as a regular prayer-leader. From getting out of bed until the end of Shacharit, Prashker takes the reader on a journey through the whys and hows and whats of every Jewish prayer: their origins, their practices and their different purposes. This scholarly commentary is driven by one guiding question: if the Judaism that has existed for the past 2,000 years was consciously established as a "substitute for the time of exile" by the Talmudic Rabbis, because the Jews had lost their sovereignty in the land of Israel and the Temple was destroyed, why are Jews still "playing the substitute" when the exile has ended? Prashker offers a challenge to traditional Jews, and to those who count themselves as liberal, modern and progressive as well, to re-think Jewish prayer and practice in the light of the establishment of the State of Israel. This book is essential reading for every Jew, and for all who are interested in Judaism, or the act of prayer in any form. No religious school classroom should be without it. "The Day of Atonement", exploring the prayers and rituals of Yom Kippur, provides a sister-volume to "A Myrtle Among Reeds".