Singing God's Words: The Performance of Biblical Chant in Contemporary Judaism

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.


Author: Jeffrey Summit
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 07/01/2016
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.10w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780190497088

Review Citation(s):
Choice 01/01/2017

About the Author

Jeffrey A. Summit is Research Professor in the Department of Music and Judaic Studies at Tufts University, where he also serves as rabbi and Neubauer Executive Director of Tufts Hillel. He is the author of The Lord's Song in a Strange Land: Music and Identity in Contemporary Jewish Worship (OUP). His CD Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish People of Uganda was nominated for a Grammy Award.

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