Reuven Hammer
Reuven Hammer, former President of the International Rabbinical Assembly, made aliyah to Israel in 1973 where he headed the Israel programs of the Jewish Theological Seminary in Jerusalem and was the founding Director and Professor of Rabbinic Literature at the Schechter Institute. He is one of the founders of the Masorti Movement in Israel. His column on Judaism appears every other Friday in the Jerusalem Post. Two of his books, “Sifre, A Taanaitic Commentary on Deuteronomy” and “Entering the High Holy Days”, were awarded the National Jewish Book Council Prize. He has also written “The Jerusalem Anthology”, “Entering Jewish Prayer” and “The Classic Midrash”. His latest work is a commentary for Siddur Sim Shalom prayer book, entitled “Or Hadash” .
From Tragedy to Redemption
Amidah Before And After Destruction of Jerusalem
Ritual and Prayer,
University Student Recommended
What is it that we actually pray for when reciting the Amidah, the central prayer of Jewish worship? We will see how the original, ancient Amidah was radically revised in order to meet the needs of the Jewish People after the destruction.
Can You Hear Me Now?
Fixed Liturgy and the Crisis of Prayer
Michael Strassfeld,
Reuven Hammer,
Andrea Cohen-Kiener,
Leon Morris
What’s a contemporary, sometimes skeptical, Jew to do about the prayer book? What happens if we don’t literally believe the words we are reciting? Why use the prayer book at all when our own personal prayer and meditation feels so much more spiritual? Join three scholars and masters of prayer as they share their diverse perspectives on what’s really going on during davenning (prayer) and share their own strategies to make communal prayer more meaningful.
Conversion Crises in Israel, America and Elsewhere
Political and Religious Aspects of Conversion
Identity and Responsibility,
Israel
As a member of the Ne'eman Commission, Reuven will give first hand insights into the problem of conversion in Israel, the crisis that faces Israel with the need to absorb 250,000 non-Jewish Russians, as well as the problems with conversion in America now that the Israeli Chief Rabbinate is seeking a place in world-wide conversions. What does Jewish Law really require for conversion to be accepted?
