Dr. Marc Zvi Brettler is the Dora Golding Professor of Biblical Studies at Brandeis University. He contributed to all volumes of the My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries series, winner of the National Jewish Book Award, and to My People's Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries; Who by Fire, Who by Water-Un'taneh Tokef; All These Vows-Kol Nidre; May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism-Yizkor; and We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism-Ashamnu and Al Chet (all Jewish Lights). He is coeditor of The Jewish Annotated New Testament and The Jewish Study Bible, which won the National Jewish Book Award; co-author of The Bible and the Believer; and author of How to Read the Jewish Bible, among other books and articles. He has also been interviewed on National Public Radio's Fresh Air by Terry Gross.

About My People's Prayer Book
Prayer as Petition: The Philosophic Basis for Halakhic Prayer
Daniel Landes
Introduction to the Liturgy: What to Look for in the Service
Lawrence A. Hoffman
How the Amidah Began: A Jewish Detective Story
Lawrence A. Hoffman
The Genizah Fragments: How Our Ancestors Prayed in the Ancient Land of Israel
Joel M. Hoffman
Introduction to the Commentaries: How to Look for Meaning in the Prayers
Lawrence A. Hoffman

The Liturgy
1. Opening Meditation
2. The Amidah
A. Blessings of Praise
1. Avot ("Ancestors")
2. G¿vurot (¿God¿s Power¿)
3. K¿dushat Hashem (¿Sanctification Of God¿s Name¿)
B. Blessings Of Petition
4. Binah (¿Knowledge¿)
5. T¿shuvah (¿Repentance¿)
6. S¿lichah (¿Forgiveness¿)
7. G¿ulah (¿Redemption¿)
8. R¿fu¿ah (¿Healing¿)
9. Shanim (¿Years¿)
10. Kibbutz Galuyot (¿Gathering The Exiles¿)
11. Mishpat (¿Justice¿)
12. Minim (¿Heretics¿)
13. Tsadikim (¿The Righteous¿)
14. Y¿rushalayim (¿Jerusalem¿)
15. David (¿David¿)
16. T¿fillah (¿Prayer¿)
C. Blessings Of Thanksgiving
17. Avodah (¿Sacrificial Service¿)
18. Hodäah (¿Grateful Acknowledgment¿)
19. Birkat Kohanim/Shalom (¿The Priestly Blessing/Peace¿)
3. Closing Meditation
4. The Havineinu

About the Commentators
List of Abbreviations
Glossary