Originally posted by bergschlawiner:
It would seem that Jews would be more drawn to the Syriac Aramaic liturgical traditions that evolved from Jerusalem than our "modern" Byzantine/Roman liturgies? Makes no sense simply translating modern liturgies into Hebrew?
Jewish Liturgical tradition has undergone growth and updating as well, so it's not so suprising that they'd be drawn to a wide range of Christian traditions.
There are two major traditions in Judaism, Sephardic and Ashkenazic, though some feel that the former should properly be divided further divided from Mizraic tradition, which is often incorporated into Sephardic. There are other, smaller traditions such as the Ethiopian Jews who have further distinctions.
The
Ashkenazi [
en.wikipedia.org] are the ones most often thought of in the West when we think of typical Jews; Ashkenazim were/are the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The
Sepharidc [
en.wikipedia.org] are the Mediteranean Jews who lived in Islamic societies predominantly and were originally expelled from Spain, and the
Mizrachim [
en.wikipedia.org] are the traditionally Middle Eastern Jews who did not "venture out".
In general their differences are comparable in degree to the differences between Byzantines and Latins. I won't go into a whole lesson on Judaism here, but I will point out that the Sephardim are almost entirely Orthodox by tradition (refering to the Jewish tradition, not related in any way to Christian Orthodox), while the Ashkenazim have "split" a lot more in their practices.
Long story short, there's a comparable degree of variation in Jewish liturgical tradition to the variation found in Apostalic tradition, with the core elements being the major focus for preservation, just as in the Apostalic traditions and variations.
Peace and God bless!
