Summary: Elie Kaunfer explores the literary appraoch to Jewish liturgy using the case study of the first paragraph of the Amidah. Our prayers quote or reference biblical sources all the time. By comparing the text of the prayer to the sources it draws from, you can unlock new meanings for the prayer book. Why do we say "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"? Wouldn't it be more efficient to say "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"? Why do we call God "great, mighty, and awesome"? Why not more adjectives? Why those? What do they mean? These questions and more will be explored in this online shiur.
