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 Lawrence A. Hoffman 
Dr. Lawrence A. Hoffman was ordained as a rabbi in 1969, received his Ph.D. in 1973, and has taught since then at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, in New York. From 1984 to 1987, he directed its School of Sacred Music as well. In 2003, he was named the first Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professor of Liturgy, Worship and Ritual. He currently teaches classes in liturgy, ritual, theology and synagogue leadership.For thirty-five years, Rabbi Hoffman has combined research, classroom teaching, and a passion for the spiritual renewal of North American Judaism. In that regard, he is internationally known for his lectures to lay audiences at synagogues and other venues. Rabbi Hoffman has written or edited thirty-three books, including My People's Prayer Book (Jewish Lights Publishing), a ten-volume edition of the Siddur with modern commentaries, which was named a National Jewish Book Award winner for 2007. A follow-up, My People's Passover Haggadah, appeared in February 2008. His recent book, Rethinking Synagogues: A New Vocabulary for Congregational Life (2007) is widely used by congregations of all denominations engaged in transformational synagogue change; and his Art of Public Prayer published originally for Catholic churches in America (Pastoral Press, 1988), is now used more broadly (Skylight Paths, 1999) by churches and synagogues as a guide to liturgical renewal. His articles, both popular and scholarly, have appeared in eight languages and four continents, and include contributions to various encyclopedias and journals, including such places as The Macmillan Encyclopedia of Religion, The Oxford Dictionary of Religion, and The Encyclopedia of Judaism. He syndicates a regular column which appears, among other places, in The Jewish Week, The Jewish Times and The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. For many years, Rabbi Hoffman served as visiting professor of the University of Notre Dame, and has lectured at such places as the Jewish theological Seminary of America, the University of Southern California, and the Yale Divinity School. In 1990, Dr. Hoffman was selected by the United States Navy as a member of a three-person design team, charged with developing a continuing education course on worship for Navy chaplains. In 1994, he co-founded "Synagogue 3000" (originally Synagogue 2000), a trans-denominational project to envision and implement the ideal synagogue "as moral and spiritual center" for the 21st century. He is a past-president of the North American Academy of Liturgy, the professional and academic organization for liturgists, and in January 2004, received that organization's annual Berakhah Award, for outstanding lifetime contributions to his field. His research, writing and classes fall into four categories: 1) the history of Jewish liturgy; 2) ritual studies (the application of the human sciences and philosophical thought to the act of human ritual); 3) contemporary worship and modern Jewish spirituality; 4) American Jewish identity and the contemporary American synagogue Education
Books 1. Gates of Understanding. [vol.1], ed. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1977: 284 pp.
2. The Canonization of the Synagogue Service. Notre Dame and London: University of Notre Dame Press, 1979: 245 pp.
3. Gates of Understanding. Vol 2, New York: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1984: 256 pp. 4. Land of Israel: Jewish Perspectives (ed). Notre Dame and London, University of Notre Dame, 1986: 338 pp.
5. Beyond the Text: a Holistic Approach to Liturgy. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1987: 213 pp.
6. The Art of Public Prayer: Not for Clergy Only (Washington: Pastoral Press, 1988): 290 pp.
7. Two Liturgical Traditions: Volume One: The Making of Jewish and Christian Liturgies, co-edited with Paul Bradshaw (Notre Dame and London: University of Notre Dame, 1991): 211 pp.
8. Sacred Places and the Pilgrimage of Life (Meeting House Essays, #1; Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1991): 30 pp. 9. Two Liturgical Traditions: Volume Two: The Changing Face of Jewish and Christian Worship in America, coedited with Paul Bradshaw (Notre Dame and London: University of Notre Dame, 1991). 271 pp.; Includes "What is a Liturgical tradition?" pp. 3-25.
10. Two Liturgical Traditions: Volume Three: Sacred Sound and Social Change, co-edited with Janet Walton (Notre Dame and London: University of Notre Dame, 1993).
11. [Revised version of] What Is A Jew? [by Morris Kertzer] (New York: Macmillan, 1993). 12. Covenant of Blood: Circumcision and Gender in Rabbinic Judaism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995).
13. Two Liturgical Traditions: Vol. 4 -- Life Cycles in Jewish and Christian Worship, Lawrence A. Hoffman and Paul F. Bradshaw, eds. (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996).
14. Jewish Spiritual Journeys: 20 Essays Written to Honor the Occasion of the 70th Birthday of Eugene B. Borowitz, Lawrence A. Hoffman and Arnold Jacob Wolf, eds. (New York: Behrman House, 1997).
15. Minhag Ami: My People's Prayer Book, Vol. 1, The Sh=ma and Its Blessings (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1997).
16. Israel: A Spiritual Travel Guide (Woodstock, VT: Jewish lights Publishing, 1998). 17. Minhag Ami: My People's Prayer Book, Vol. 2, The Amidah (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1998).
18. Two Liturgical Traditions: Volume Five: Passover and Easter, Origin and History to Modern Times, co-edited with Paul Bradshaw (Notre Dame and London: University of Notre Dame, 1999): 252 pp.
19. Two Liturgical Traditions: Volume Six: Passover and Easter, The Symbolic Structuring of Sacred Seasons, coedited with Paul Bradshaw (Notre Dame and London: University of Notre Dame, 1999): 224 pp.
20. Minhag Ami: My People's Prayer Book, Vol. 3, P'sukei D'zimrah (Morning Psalms) (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1999).
21. The Way Into Jewish Prayer (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2000. 22. Minhag Ami: My People's Prayer Book, Vol.4, The Liturgy Surrounding the Torah Reading (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2000).
23. Minhag Ami: My People's Prayer Book, Vol. 5, Birkhot Hashachar (Morning Blessings), (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2001).
24. Minhag Ami: My People's Prayer Book, Vol. 6, Tachanun and Concluding Prayers, (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2002).
25. The Journey Home: Discovering the Deep Spiritual Wisdom of the Jewish Tradition (Boston: Beacon Press, 2002). 26. Minhag Ami: My People's Prayer Book, Vol. 7, Shabbat at Home (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004).
27. What You Will See Inside a Synagogue [a book for children], with Ron Wolfson, (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004). 28. Minhag Ami: My People's Prayer Book, Vol. 8, Kabbalat Shabbat: Welcoming Shabbat in the Synagogue (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2005).
29. Minhag Ami: My People's Prayer Book, Vol. 9, Welcoming the Night (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2005).
30. Rethinking Synagogues: A New Vocabulary for Congregational Life (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2006). 31. Minhag Ami: My People's Prayer Book, Vol.10, Shabbat Morning (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2007).
32. My People's Haggadah, Volume 1, co-edited with David Arnow (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2008).
33. My People's Haggadah, Volume 2, co-edited with David Arnow (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2008).
Forthcoming 2009
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