by Juan Marcos Bejarano Gutierrez (Author)
Almost every religious tradition includes a form of prayer or meditation. That being the case, what exactly characterizes prayer as Jewish? Jewish prayer utilizes the idioms and expressions of the Hebrew Bible and the Sages of Israel. In short, traditional Jewish prayer expresses the fundamental values and beliefs of Judaism. The goal of this book is to provide the reader with an introduction to the theology of Jewish prayer and some of the basic practices associated with certain key prayers. The objective is to provide the student or novice with sufficient understanding to spur him or her to further study and practice.
Author Biography
Rabbi Juan Marcos Bejarano Gutierrez is a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas where he earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering. He studied at the Siegal College of Judaic Studies in Cleveland and received a Master of Arts Degree with Distinction in Judaic Studies. He completed his doctoral studies at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago in 2015. He studied at the American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism and received rabbinic ordination in 2011 from Yeshiva Mesilat Yesharim. Rabbi Bejarano Gutierrez served as the assistant editor for HaLapid, the quarterly publication of the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies, from 2011-2012. He also served as a board member and treasurer of the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies from 2011-2013. He has published various articles in HaLapid, The Journal for Spanish, Portuguese and Italian Crypto-Jews, and Apuntes-Theological Reflections from a Hispanic-Latino Context. He is active in helping individuals who are the descendants of Crypto-Jews and is currently the director of the B'nai Anusim Center for Education.