What You Will See Inside a Synagogue

A colorful, fun-to-read introduction that explains the ways and whys of Jewish worship, faith, and religious life. What You Will See Inside a Synagogue will: Satisfy kids' curiosity about what goes on in synagogues attended by their friends, broadening awareness of other faiths at an important age when opinions and prejudices can first form. Provide Jewish children with a deeper understanding of the practices of their own religious tradition. Give children the opportunity to ask questions, making them more active participants. Colorful full-page photographs set the scene for concise but informative descriptions of what is happening, the objects used, the clergy and laypeople who have specific roles, the spiritual intent of the believers, and more. The What You Will See Inside... series is designed to show children ages 6-10 the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of traditional houses of worship, liturgical celebrations, and rituals of different world faiths, empowering them to respect and understand their own religious traditions-and those of their friends and neighbors.

Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD, has served for more than three decades as professor of liturgy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He is a world-renowned liturgist and holder of the Stephen and Barbara Friedman Chair in Liturgy, Worship and Ritual. His work combines research in Jewish ritual, worship and spirituality with a passion for the spiritual renewal of contemporary Judaism. He has written and edited many books, including All the World: Universalism, Particularism and the High Holy Days; May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism-Yizkor, We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism-Ashamnu and Al Chet, Who by Fire, Who by Water-Un'taneh Tokef and All These Vows-Kol Nidre, the first five volumes in the Prayers of Awe series; the My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries series, winner of the National Jewish Book Award; and he is coeditor of My People's Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries (all Jewish Lights), a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. Rabbi Hoffman is a developer of Synagogue 3000, a transdenominational project designed to envision and implement the ideal synagogue of the spirit for the twenty-first century. Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD, is available to speak on the following topics:A Day of Wine and Moses: The Passover Haggadah and the Seder You Have Always WantedPreparing for the High Holy Days: How to Appreciate the Liturgy of Rosh Hashanah and Yom KippurThe Essence of Jewish Prayer: The Prayer Book in Context and Worship in Our TimeBeyond Ethnicity: The Coming Project for North American Jewish IdentitySynagogue Change: Transforming Synagogues as Spiritual and Moral Centers for the Twenty-First Century Click here to contact the author.