10. Early Modern Jewish Prayer in and for Israel

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the way Jews in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries might be said to experience Eretz Israel through prayer and in a prayerful stance. The author focuses on this because, having researched and written about seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English (typically Anglican) travel narratives to the Holy Land, he struck by the ease with which Jewish travelers (or residents) describe their religious experiences of the land. By exploring Jewish prayer, the author provides a better understanding of the early-modern Anglican experience of the Holy Land. The chapter highlights that the Anglican travelers to the Holy Land do not give voice to fervent spirituality. Moving to Israel confirmed Jewish submission, but, paradoxically, ensured that Jewish prayer was heard. Anglican writers do not typically indicate what they pray, but this reticence should not cause readers to ignore or belittle the fact that they do. Keywords:Anglican experience; Eretz Israel; Jewish prayer