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| Call (judaism) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Call (Judaism) |
| Alt | Summons; Qeri'ah; Keri |
| Caption | Traditional call to service in synagogues and Temple practices |
| Meaning | Summons; invitation; proclamation |
| Language | Hebrew; Aramaic |
| Origin | Biblical Hebrew; Rabbinic literature |
Call (judaism)
Call in Jewish tradition denotes a summons, proclamation, or invitation articulated in Biblical, Rabbinic, liturgical, and communal contexts. It encompasses vocal summonses such as prophetic calls, priestly invitations, and congregational announcements, as well as ritualized invocations in synagogue and Temple practice. Over centuries the notion of call evolved from scriptural imperatives to halakhic prescriptions and theological metaphors employed by medieval commentators and modern theologians.
The term commonly corresponds to Hebrew roots such as קָרָא (qara), זָעַק (za‘aq), and קָרַב (qarav), and Aramaic cognates used in the Mishnah and Talmud. Major lexicons tie qara to calling aloud in Book of Genesis, Book of Exodus, and Book of Isaiah, while za‘aq appears in contexts like the cry of the prophet Jeremiah and the appeal of the psalmist in Psalms. Rabbinic genres including the Mishnah, Talmud Bavli, and Talmud Yerushalmi discuss technical terms such as qeri'ah (public reading) and keri (pronouncement), linking etymology to practice. Medieval grammarians like Radak, Ibn Janah, and Rashi analyzed root morphology to distinguish prophetic summons from liturgical summons. In modern scholarship figures like Moshe David Herr and Ephraim Urbach treat call as a semantic field spanning proclamation, appointment, and invitation.
Scriptural narratives present calls in varied registers: divine summons to patriarchs in Genesis 12, prophetic call narratives in Isaiah 6 and Jeremiah 1, and mass convocations in Exodus 19 and Numbers 10. Priestly calls such as those in Leviticus govern ordination and service assignments, while the public reading imperative in Deuteronomy 31 models communal proclamation. Psalms repeatedly invoke call and cry motifs linking individual supplication to national petition, reflected in the cries of figures like Hannah and David. The prophetic call motif—seen in Amos, Hosea, and Ezekiel—frames vocation as both command and encounter, a theme later appropriated by medieval pietists such as Isaac Arama and Nahmanides.
Rabbinic literature elaborates on scriptural calls through halakhic rulings, ethical homilies, and homiletic expansions. The Midrash Rabbah and Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer retell divine summons episodes to teach about chosenness and obligation, while the Babylonian Talmud debates procedural norms for public calls such as the keri'ah of the Torah, the kol koreh for market announcements, and the shofar call in Rosh Hashanah (tractate). Amoraim and Geonim including Rava, Rabbi Akiva, and Saadia Gaon weigh the validity of verbal summonses, the requirement of shaliach or emissary, and conditions for communal acceptance. Medieval codifiers like Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah and Joseph Caro in the Shulchan Aruch codified practices concerning public calls, reading cycles, and the role of the ba'al koreh, while commentators such as Tosafot interrogated situational exceptions. Midrashic themes often connect call to responsibility, as seen in Sifre and Sifrei expansions on the covenantal summons at Sinai.
Calls structure priestly functions in the Temple in Jerusalem and communal leadership in diaspora synagogues. The priestly mishmarot system in 1 Chronicles and talmudic lists prescribe rotational calls for kohanim and Levites, while the role of the ba'al koreh and gabbai emerge in medieval synagogue organization referenced by authorities like Maimonides and Radvaz. Rabbinic sources delineate qualifications for those who answer a call: lineage claims examined in Gittin and Yevamot, and liturgical proficiency tested in Berakhot and Megillah. Communal calls also include public proclamations of fasts and festivals by courts such as the Sanhedrin and local batei din; responsa literature from figures like Rabbi Yosef Karo, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef addresses contemporary modalities of issuing and receiving calls.
Liturgical calls appear in ritualized forms: the shofar blasts of Rosh Hashanah, the megillah reading on Purim, the Seder summonses of Pesach, and the aliyah call for Torah reading in weekly services. The mechanics of qeri'ah—calling up congregants for aliyot—are codified in Shulchan Aruch and illustrated by liturgical poets like Naḥmanides and Solomon ibn Gabirol through piyyut that often includes invitational language. The acoustic aesthetics of call—cantillation by the ba'al tefillah, cantors such as Yossele Rosenblatt in modern history, and chazzanut traditions—intersect with halakhic concerns recorded in Arba'ah Turim and Mishneh Torah. Ritual calls also extend to lifecycle events where proclamation and invitation are central in sources like Ketubot and Sotah.
Modern Jewish movements—Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism—reinterpret call in communal recruitment, pastoral vocation, and prophetic critique. Zionist institutions such as World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency framed aliyah as collective call; thinkers like Abraham Isaac Kook, Martin Buber, and Emmanuel Levinas reworked prophetic call into notions of ethics, prayer, and responsibility. Contemporary scholars in Jewish studies examine call through lenses of ritual theory, sociology of religion, and liturgical change, with research by Daniel Boyarin, Judith Hauptman, and David Novak tracing continuity and innovation. Debates persist on the authority of calls—rabbinic versus democratic—addressed in responsa by modern decisors including Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and Rabbi Lord Immanuel Jakobovits, while communal practices adapt calls via technology, online minyanim, and global diasporic networks.
Category:Jewish liturgy Category:Hebrew words and phrases