Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom for Weekdays
With the publication of Or Hadash: A Commentary To The Weekday Siddur Sim Shalom, Reuven Hammer brings to a completion his monumental work on the Jewish prayerbook. Together with the first volume, published five years ago, he has produced a unique work: the first complete English language commentary on all the prayers for the services of Shabbat, Festivals and weekdays. These volumes include material on the history of all the prayers, a phrase by phrase commentary, a linguistic, literary and theological explanation of their structure and meaning as well as interpretations meant to make them relevant for the modern worshipper. The words of Louis Jacobs concerning Hammer's earlier work on liturgy, Entering Jewish Prayer, apply to this commentary as well- "Reuven Hammer has achieved brilliantly and with great success what many had thought impossible an inspirational guide to Jewish devotion wedded to impeccable scholarship." --publisher