Talk:Avodah

Agreed it was dictionary-like.

Substantially worked on. Dweller 13:15, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Avodah is the transliteration of the Hebrew word for work AND worship. The root word means to work or to serve.

Someone who is more knowledge of Jewish theology than I should add to this contribution.

The article states "...and, more traditionally, serving G-d" I suppose this could, more overtly be stated as "worship", but the trouble with that is that most modern readers attribute "worship" to prayer, but "Avodah" is broader than that and more commonly associated with sacrifice, not prayer. Dweller 15:08, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

I've amended. Is that clearer? Dweller 15:15, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

I think that your modification helps. A closer equivalent to the service aspect of Avodah than 'prayer' might be "Doing the Lord's work," but this raises other issues. Another sense of 'service' is prayer as in worhip service. Avodah is sometime used as a synonym for the Shemoneh Esrei (Amidah) - the long prayer of 18 blessings that is the core of Jewish daily worship. - Ger Tzedek 16:39, 12 June 2006 (UTC)