Were Our Mouths Filled with Song

In an introductory essay, Eric Friedland provides an overview of Jewish worship since the period of its standardization, illustrating that there was hardly a time when the liturgy was not somehow in a state of flux. The seventeen chapters that follow explore a goodly number of the countless ways that the Siddur, Mahzor, and Haggadah have been adjusted, amplified, or transformed so as to faithfully mirror modern Jews' understanding of themselves, their place in society, and their sancta.

In the tradition of liturgiologists such as Elbogen, Idelsohn, and Petuchowski, Friedland focuses on latter-day adaptations of the Prayerbook, giving proper recognition to more recent exertions on behalf of intellectual integrity, cultural congruity, group and individual self-redefinition, and honest speech in Jewish prayer.