Singing God's words : the performance of Biblical chant in contemporary Judaism
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Singing God's words : the performance of Biblical chant in contemporary Judaism
(American musicspheres / series editor: Mark Slobin)
Oxford University Press, c2016
- : pbk
Available at 2 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Bibliography: 275-283
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Singing God's Words is the first in-depth study of the experience and meaning of chanting or "reading" Torah among contemporary American Jews. This experience has been transformed dramatically in recent years by the impact of digital technology, feminism, the empowerment of lay people and a search for self-fulfillment through involvement with community. At a time when worshippers seek deeper spiritual experience, many Jews have found new meaning in the
experience of reading Torah, an act that is broadly accessible to Jewish adults even as it requires intensive immersion with the text of the Bible in Hebrew.
This book examines why and how growing numbers of American Jews in all denominations see the public chanting of Biblical texts during the synagogue service as one of the most authentic and personal expressions of their religious identity. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with men and women, both professionals and congregants, Jeffrey A. Summit describes how the reading of Torah embodies their understanding of historical religious practice, even as it is shaped by contemporary views of
spiritual experience. Through this act, holiness becomes manifest at the intersection of Biblical chant, sacred text, the individual, and the community.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
PART I
The Tradition
2. Chanting Torah
3. The Torah Service and the Re-creation of Revelation
4. Performing Community
PART II
The Individual and the Experience of Chanting Torah
5. Singing Your Way into Sacred Space
6. The Same Act: Many Levels of Experience
7. Women Reading Torah
PART III
The Performance
8. The Power of Music in the Transmission of Torah
9. Music and the Interpretation of Meaning
PART IV
Torah and Technology
10. The Transmission of Tradition in a Digital Age
11. Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Appendix: Musical Notation and Graphic Symbols of Torah Trope
by "Nielsen BookData"