On Jewish Liturgy as Jewish Theology

September 28, 2015

On Thursday, October 1, Steven Kepnes, director of the Chapel House and chair of the Department of Religion at Colgate University, will deliver the Albert and Vera List Fund for Jewish Studies Lecture at the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR).

Below, Kepnes spoke about his talk, titled "Jewish Liturgy as Jewish Theology," in which he will outline a number of ways in which Jewish liturgy can be seen as "theo-drama" with specific analyses of the Kedushah (Holiness), and Hallel (Praise) liturgies.

HDS: Could you elaborate on how you decided on the title of your talk?

SK: I will argue that liturgy is an often unappreciated resource for theological reflection within the religious traditions, particularly Judaism, and it also could be a wonderful resource for comparative theology between various traditions.

HDS: What role does holiness play in Jewish theology, Jewish spirituality, and interreligious dialogue?

SK: Holiness is a central theme in the Bible, rabbinic texts, and liturgy. A central obligation for Jews is to make a space and reserve special times for holiness to be invited in. Biblical holiness, I would suggest, is a somewhat unique form of spirituality because it is equally an ethical and spiritual term. The holy, like the sacred, have long been important concepts for interreligious dialogue since it seems that all religions respect the distinction between holy and profane.

HDS: Has your use of terms such as Jewish theology, spirituality, and holiness opened up new space for interreligious dialogue? How?

SK: Yes, this is just beginning, but following Professor Francis Clooney's work in comparative theology, liturgy is a promising field in which to do comparative work. Liturgy is common to most religions and is a rich resource for seeing theological ideas presented in a dramatic and dynamic fashion.

HDS: In your lecture description, you use "theo-drama" as a way of understanding Jewish liturgy. What is theo-drama, and how does it relate to Jewish liturgy?

SK: The term theo-drama is meant to capture the sense in liturgy that theology is active, or being enacted, and human beings are being drawn into active relationships with God and the spiritual reality. Humans take parts in liturgies like actors take parts in plays. Liturgies offer scripts for words and actions in which humans are transformed and elevated spiritually and morally. These transformations require a community to occur, so that, ideally, the community of worshipers is elevated as a whole and the world outside the church, synagogue, mosque, etc., can then also be affected spiritually and morally.

HDS: You are the director of the Chapel House and the director of the Fund for the Study of Great Religions at Colgate University, both of which were founded along with the CSWR here at Harvard Divinity School. How does Chapel House contribute to interreligious dialogue in academia and beyond?

SK: We at Chapel House are a bit more turned to contemplation, silence, and introspection than the CSWR. This was the intent of the donor, that there be one academic religious center and another more contemplative center. Still, we have a wonderful world religion library, world religious music library, and a fine collection of religious art with a focus on Buddhist art.

Chapel House is meant to be a retreat for scholars and practitioners, as well as seekers of religion. We are finding that, especially with the advent of the Internet and smart phones where it is harder and harder to escape from work and personal obligations, the existence of places for quiet retreat are only more important and more valuable for all of us, whether we be traditionally religious, spiritual but not religious, or not religious at all!

–by Melissa Coles, MDiv candidate