Jewish Studies
Uri Ehrlich
The Nonverbal Language of Prayer
A New Approach of Jewish Liturgy
Transl. by Dena Ordan
[Die nonverbale Sprache des Gebets. Eine neue Interpretation der jüdischen Liturgie.]
unrevised e-book edition 2020; Original edition 2004; 2004. XI, 303 pages.
Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 105
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Published in English.
Uri Ehrlich addresses a relatively neglected but central component of the act of prayer: its nonverbal aspects, represented by such features as the worshiper's gestures, attire and shoes, and vocal expression. In the first part of this book, the author engages in a two-tiered examination of nine nonverbal elements integral to the rabbinic Amidah prayer: a detailed historical-geographical consideration of their development, followed by an analysis of each gesture's signification, the crux of this study. Of all the possible models, it was the realm of interpersonal communication which had the strongest impact on this consideration of the rabbinic Amidah gesture system. The concluding chapters explore the broader rabbinic conception of prayer embodied in these nonverbal modes of expression. Unlike mainstream prayer studies, which concentrate on the textual and spoken facets of prayer, the holistic approach taken here views prayer as a complex of verbal, physical, spiritual and other attributes.