בסיעתא דשמיא

If I Let It: A Kavanah for Kabbalat Shabbat

"Benches in the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, West Bank" (credit: Guillaume Paumier, license: CC-BY 3.0 Unported)

Shabbat happens, If I let it. . . . → Read More: If I Let It: A Kavanah for Kabbalat Shabbat

Scaling the Walls of the Labyrinth: Psalms 67 and Ana b’Koaḥ

Image: Map of Jericho in 14c Farhi Bible by Elisha ben Avraham Crescas (Public Domain)

Psalm 67 is a priestly blessing for all the peoples of the earth to be sustained by the earth’s harvest (yevulah), and it is a petition that all humanity recognize the divine nature (Elohim) illuminating the world. Composed of seven verses, the psalm is often visually depicted as a seven branched menorah. There are 49 words in the entire psalm, and in the Nusaḥ ha-ARI z”l there is one word for each day of the Sefirat haOmer. Similarly, the fifth verse has 49 letters and each letter can be used as a focal point for meditating on the meaning of the day in its week in the journey to Shavuot, the festival of weeks (the culmination of the barley harvest), and the festival of oaths (shevuot) in celebration of receiving the Torah. Many of the themes of Psalm 67 are repeated in the prayer Ana b’Koaḥ, which also has 49 words, and which are also used to focus on the meaning of each day on the cyclical and labyrinthine journey towards Shavuot. . . . → Read More: Scaling the Walls of the Labyrinth: Psalms 67 and Ana b’Koaḥ

אשת חיל | An adaptation of Eyshet Ḥayil by Alex and Peri Sinclair

A woman of valour who can find?
For her price is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband does safely trust in her,
And he has no lack of gain.

She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.

My beloved is mine, and I am his,
That feeds among the lilies. . . . → Read More: אשת חיל | An adaptation of Eyshet Ḥayil by Alex and Peri Sinclair

A Prayer for Candle-lighting by Chaya Kaplan-Lester

Image: "Candlelight" by apdk (License: CC-BY 2.0)

Please God Let me light More than flame tonight. More than wax and wick and sliver stick of wood. More than shallow stream of words recited from a pocket book. . . . → Read More: A Prayer for Candle-lighting by Chaya Kaplan-Lester

Motzi — a kavanah before eating challah

Image: Challah by Brad Greenlee (license CC-BY-2.0)

Trisha Arlin shares “Motzi”, a kavanah (intention) for the blessing, Hamotzi Lehem Min Ha’aretz, over challah. Describing the kavanah she writes that it’s, “based on Rabbi Ellen Lippmann’s tradition on having us create a chain of touch around room that leads to and from the challah, which she then explains as both exemplifying the connection created when people eat together and the chain of work that went to creating the challah itself.” . . . → Read More: Motzi — a kavanah before eating challah

HAVDALLAH: Prayers for the Holy Separations

Three short havdallah divrei tefillah that culminate in a havdallah prayer/blessing. . . . → Read More: HAVDALLAH: Prayers for the Holy Separations

Kiddush of Liberation for Shabbat Tu Bishvat

In 1993, the Rosh Hashana for Trees, the 15th of the month of Sh’vat (Tu Bishvat) coincided with Shabbat.

‎‏‏‏‎‎‎‎יוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי׃ וַיְכֻלּוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ וְכָל צְבָאָם:‏ וַיְכַל אֱלֹהִים בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה:‏ וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה:‏ וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ,‏ כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא . . . → Read More: Kiddush of Liberation for Shabbat Tu Bishvat

סידור שפת ישראל | Siddur Sefas Yisroel, a nusaḥ Ashkenaz siddur dedicated to the memory of the Bad Homburg Jewish community

In Memory Of The Bad Homburg Kehilloh

It started as a project to compile a siddur that I could daven from. Living in Chicago, most of the siddurim which are available are Artscroll, Birnbaum, etc. Just to try and find a Rodelheim, or Baer’s Avodat Yisroel is nearly impossible. That was about twelve years ago. . . . → Read More: סידור שפת ישראל | Siddur Sefas Yisroel, a nusaḥ Ashkenaz siddur dedicated to the memory of the Bad Homburg Jewish community

יִגְדַּל | Yigdal by Daniel ben Judah (a new German translation)

יגדל אלוהים חי | Yigdal Elohim Hai

יִגְדַּל אֱלֹהִים חַי וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח נִמְצָא וְאֵין עֵת אֶל מְצִיאוּתוֹ.‏ אֶחָד וְאֵין יָחִיד כְּיִחוּדוֹ נֶעְלָם וְגַם אֵין סוֹף לְאַחְדּוּתוֹ.‏ אֵין לוֹ דְמוּת הַגּוּף וְאֵינוֹ גּוּף לֹא נַעֲרֹךְ אֵלָיו קְדֻשָּׁתוֹ.‏ קַדְמוֹן לְכָל דָּבָר אֲשֶׁר נִבְרָא רִאשׁוֹן וְאֵין רֵאשִׁית לְרֵאשִׁיתוֹ.‏ הִנּוֹ אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם לְכָל נוֹצָר יוֹרֶה גְּדֻלָּתוֹ וּמַלְכוּתוֹ.‏ שֶׁפַע . . . → Read More: יִגְדַּל | Yigdal by Daniel ben Judah (a new German translation)

תפלת מנחה לשבת | Shabbat Minḥah Prayers (Jakob J. Petuchowski, 1966)

Dr. Jakob J. Petuchowski

This prayer-leaflet was primarily intended for a group of Hebrew Union College students who met every sabbath afternoon for extra-curricular (noncredit) Torah study with Dr. Rabbi Jakob Petuchowki in the mid-1960s. Their service was conducted entirely in Hebrew and in the traditional nusaḥ with some minor but interesting Liberal innovations. Petuchowki writes, “We have omitted only the various repetitions as well as the prayer for the restoration of the sacrificial service. (But we have retained the place of Zion as the symbol of the messianic hope.) In the ‘Alenu prayer, we have preferred a positive formulation of the “Election of Israel” to the traditional negative one.” . . . → Read More: תפלת מנחה לשבת | Shabbat Minḥah Prayers (Jakob J. Petuchowski, 1966)

סידור תורה אור | Siddur Torah Ohr: the Nusaḥ Ha-Ari according to Rav Schneur Zalman of Lyadi

Rav Schneur Zalman of Liadi

When Rav Yiztḥak Luria, zt”l, also known as the Holy Ari, davvened in Eretz Yisroel he brought about a series of liturgical innovations witnessed in later siddurim. His particular nusaḥ bridged minhag Ashkenaz and minhag Sefarad (the customs of the Rheinland Jews and the customs of the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula) with the teachings of his school of Kabbalists. When two centuries later, the Ḥassidic movement blossomed in Eastern Europe, it found purchase in Lithuania among a mystical school centered around Rav Schneur Zalman of Lyady, the Alter Rebbe and founder of the ḤaBaD movement within Ḥassidism. The Alter Rebbe compiled his own siddur, the Siddur Torah Ohr, “according to the tradition of the Ari.” . . . → Read More: סידור תורה אור | Siddur Torah Ohr: the Nusaḥ Ha-Ari according to Rav Schneur Zalman of Lyadi

The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire (trans. Rabbi Simeon Singer, 1890)

Simeon-Singer

Before the Koren-Sacks Siddur (2009), there was the Authorised Daily Prayer Book first published in 1890 and used by Jews throughout the British Empire, while there was a British Empire. It was originally published under the authorization of Great Britain’s first Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler with a Hebrew liturgy based on Isaac Seligman Baer’s Seder Avodat Yisroel (1868). The translation by Rabbi Simeon Singer (1846-1906) was the most extensive English translation of the Siddur ever published, and for this reason most editions are simply referred colloquially as The Singer Siddur. The Standard Prayer Book, published by Bloch in 1915, was an American reprint of The Authorized Daily Prayer Book. . . . → Read More: The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire (trans. Rabbi Simeon Singer, 1890)

On Standing Before God-Who-Sees-Me

The Amidah’s choreography is designed to call to mind an appearance before a sovereign so as to invoke the proper “stance.” Consider, though, the variety of God-communications depicted just in the book of Genesis: God talks to Adam and Eve, to Cain, Noah, and Abimelech. God even talks to the serpent. God heeds Ishmael “where . . . → Read More: On Standing Before God-Who-Sees-Me

Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi

Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

The Open Siddur is pleased to announce the first contribution of a contemporary translation of the siddur. Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi contributed his Weekday Siddur and Sabbath Supplement: Siddur Tehillat HaShem Yidaber Pi. The siddur presents Reb Zalman’s creative translation in English of Psalms, blessings, the Amidah, liturgical poetry, meditations, and other prayers read daily and . . . → Read More: Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi

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