|
Lawrence A. Hoffman (born 1942) is an American Reform rabbi and a prominent scholar of Jewish liturgy. He is known for his liberal religious views. Hoffman is a Professor of Liturgy at Hebrew Union College in New York. He is a prolific author, with two separate books to his name that are used as liturgical guides. His writing examines means of improving the quality of praying for secular Jews. He has explored issues of liturgical change, but is most interested in the "community at prayer"—human and divine relationships in prayer.〔.〕 Hoffman is co-founder and "intellectual visionary" of the Synagogue 3000 institute, an independent non-profit based in Los Angeles which runs leadership-training programs and directs the rituals of more than 100 synagogues across North America.〔.〕 ==Academic career== Hoffman's first book came out in 1979, but he remained unknown outside of his field until the publication of his magnum opus, ''Beyond the Text: A Holistic Approach to Liturgy'', in 1987. His recent work involves translating medieval and ancient sources for secular Jewish congregations. Two of his books have been adopted by North American churches and synagogues as a guide to liturgical renewal. Hoffman rose to prominence within the liturgical studies community following the publication of ''Beyond the Text: A Holistic Approach to Liturgy'' in 1987. The methods he uses to translate Jewish texts go "beyond the text" and are traced back to the sociologist Peter Berger.〔.〕 Critical reception of the book was mixed. Jack Kugelmass welcomed Hoffman's attempt to make a bridge between Jewish ethnographers and scholars of Jewish religious thought, but predicted the book would not interest anthropologists because Hoffman relies on "limited historical and very thin ethnographic references" to develop his thesis.〔.〕 Hoffman first gained media attention for a series of articles in the early and mid-1990s advocating a "post-ethnic Judaism", which criticised efforts to turn Hanukah into a multicultural festival. They include: *"(On being a Jew at Christmas )", ''Cross Currents'' magazine, Fall 1992 *"(What do American Jews believe? )", ''Commentary'' magazine, August 1996 Hoffman's recent work involves translating medieval and ancient sources in terms of "reasonable spirituality", which grasps the underlying spirituality of Jewish tradition without conceptualizing it in a purely sociocultural or theological way.〔.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lawrence A. Hoffman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|