Liturgical Perspectives: Prayer and Poetry in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls

1. Qumran Laments and the Study of Lament Literature / Adele Berlin
2. Poetry and Prose in 4Q371-373 Narrative and Poetic Composition a, b, c / Moshe J. Bernstein
3. Human and Angelic Prayer in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls / Esther G. Chazon
4. Qumran and the Roots of the Rosh Hashanah Liturgy / Torleif Elgvin
5. Apotropaic Prayers in the Second Temple Period / Esther Eshel
6. Another Fragment (3A) of 4QShirot 'Olat Hashabbat b (4Q401) / Hanan Eshel
7. A Temple Prayer for Fast-Days / David Levine
8. Prayers for Peace in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Traditional Jewish Literature / Bilhah Nitzan
9. The Second Temple Period, Qumran Research, and Rabbinic Liturgy: Some Contextual and Linguistic Comparisons / Stefan C. Reif
10. Communal Prayer at Qumran and Among the Rabbis: Certainties and Uncertainties / Richard S. Sarason
11. Some Reflections on the Function and Use of Poetical Texts Among the Dead Sea Scrolls / Eileen M. Schuller
12. The Number of Psalms in 1QHodayot and Some of their Sections / Harmut Stegemann
13. Ma'amadot: A Second Temple Non-Temple Liturgy / Joseph Tabory
14. The Litany "Our God in Heaven" and Its Precedents in the Dead Sea Scrolls / Moshe Weinfeld

The papers published in this volume were presented at the Fifth Orion International Symposium (Jerusalem, 2000), which focused on prayer and poetry in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The volume examines the recently published poetical and liturgical texts from Qumran against the background of Second Temple Judaism, its biblical antecedents, and later rabbinic developments. The essays treat a variety of prayers and religious practices, as well as major issues in the history of Jewish liturgy. Topics range from magic, mysticism and thanksgiving to lamentation, fast day rituals, communal worship, and the relationship between the prayers from Qumran and the traditional Jewish prayers. The application of new Scrolls material to this breadth of topics constitutes an important contribution to the study of religious poetry, religious practice, and liturgy.