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
Introduction to the Liturgy: The Shape of the Daily Service
Lawrence A. Hoffman
Tachanun and Penitential Piety: A Jewish View of Human Nature
Lawrence A. Hoffman
The Paradoxical Power of Tachanun
Daniel Landes
The Puzzling Power of Kaddish
Daniel Landes
Introduction to the Commentaries: How to Look for Meaning in the Prayers
Lawrence A. Hoffman

The Liturgy
1. Tachanun
A. Preamble for Mondays and Thursdays: The Seven-Paragraph V¿hu Rachum ("He Is Merciful")
B. Ordinary Daily Introduction: ¿David Said To Gad¿¿
C. David¿s Own Tachanun: Psalm 6
D. Penitential Addition for Mondays and Thursdays: ¿Adonai God Of Israel¿
E. Shomer Yisräel (¿Guardian of Israel¿)
F. Conclusion: ¿We Do Not Know What to Do¿¿

2. Concluding Prayers
A. Psalm 20 and the K¿dushah D¿sidra
B. Full Kaddish (Kaddish Shalem) and Alenu.
C. Mourner¿s Kaddish (Kaddish Yatom)
D. The Thirteen Principles of Faith

About the Contributors
List of Abbreviations
Glossary