The Rhetoric of Jewish Prayer: A Literary and Historical Commentary on the Prayerbook

By Reuven Kimelman

The Rhetoric of the Jewish Liturgy is the first comprehensive academic study of its kind in over a century. It integrates material from biblical literature, Second Temple literature - including the Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran and Jewish Hellenistic literature - rabbinic literature, early Christian literature, the Cairo Genizah, classical piyut, and medieval manuscripts and commentary, along with modern philological, literary, and historical research. Since the liturgy reflects the history of Judaism, its study becomes an expedition through the pathways of Jewish history and thought
from biblical to modern times. By integrating historical, literary, and theological perspectives, this study succeeds in clarifying many heretofore obscure liturgical issues.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1874774501
• ISBN13: 9781874774501
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization in Ass
• Length: 464 Pages