Shared by Judy Gumbo on י״א בתשרי ה׳תשע״ב (October 9, 2011) 
We have sinned By yielding to confusion and falling into passivity By indulging in fear By giving in to anger By not standing up for ourselves By thinking about Jewish values only on holy days By tolerating global warming, global disease and global poverty By being cynical about repairing the world By not defending Israel By not defending Palestine For all our sins, may the force that makes forgiveness possible, forgive us, pardon us and grant us atonement . . . → Read More: על חטא: Al Ḥayt by Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo
Shared by Trisha Arlin on ז׳ בתשרי ה׳תשע״ב (October 5, 2011) I open my mouth, I open my heart. I speak praise, hope and thanks. I speak the Ancient Prayer:
PRAISE OUR ANCESTORS God of my childhood faith, of my adult skepticism God of the mystics, of the philosophers God of our ancestors, of our children God of this community, and of mine, only God who . . . → Read More: A Rosh Hashana Amidah by Trisha Arlin
Shared by Jessica Minnen on כ׳ באלול ה׳תשע״א (September 19, 2011) 
As the month of Elul wanes, we are preparing. We prepare for the new moon, we prepare for Rosh Hashanah, and we prepare for the zombie invasion. I have it on good authority, as do you, that the onslaught is imminent. The alarm blares every morning — a shofar blast and a warning… . . . → Read More: A D’var Tefillah on Zombies, Elul, and Psalms 27 by Jessica Minnen
Shared by Amit Gvaryahu on י״ח באלול ה׳תשע״א (September 17, 2011) We are grateful to Amit Gvaryahu for sharing his sourcesheets for his Siddur class at Yeshivat Hadar’s 90@190 Open Beit Midrash this past summer 5771/2011, and for sharing his translations with a CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license. . . . → Read More: Siddur Class: Sourcesheets from Amit Gvaryahu’s Shiur on Tefillah
Shared by Aharon Varady on כ״ח באב ה׳תשע״א (August 28, 2011) 
Once upon a time when the Temple still stood, the Rosh Hashanah Livheima celebrated one means by which we elevated and esteemed the special creatures that helped us to live and to work. Just as rabbinic Judaism found new ways to realize our Temple offerings with tefillot — prayers — so too the Rosh Hashanah Livheima challenges us to realize the holiness of the animals in our care in a time without tithes. The New Years Day for Animals is a challenge to remind and rediscover what our responsibilities are to the animals who depend on us for their welfare. Are we treating them correctly and in accord with the mitzvah of tza’ar baalei chayim — sensitivity to the suffering of living creatures? Have we studied and understood the depth of ḥesed — lovingkindness — expressed in the breadth of our ancestors teachings concerning the welfare of animals in Torah? Rosh Hashanah Livheima is the day to reflect on our immediate or mediated relationships with domesticated animals, recognize our personal responsibilities to them, individually and as part of a distinct and holy people, and repair our relationships to the best of our ability. . . . → Read More: ראש השנה לבהמה: explanation and ritual for Rosh Hashanah Livheima (New Years Day for Animals)
Shared by Alan Scott Belsky on ו׳ באב ה׳תשע״א (August 6, 2011) We are grateful to Alan Scott Belsky for translating his favorite Prayer for the Government. The version below is included in the סדור שְׂפַת אֱמֶת הֶחָדָשׁ — Siddur Sfat Emet HeḤadash “Daily Prayer with English Directions” (1916, Hebrew Publishing Co., New York, NY) p.195-196. Thank you to Aharon Varady for his transcription of the Hebrew . . . → Read More: A Civic Minded Prayer for the Government (translated by Alan Scott Belsky)
Shared by Aharon Varady on כ״ג בתמוז ה׳תשע״א (July 25, 2011) 
The day after humankind’s first landing on the Lunar surface July 20, 1969, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on a poetic and topical innovation to the Kiddush Levana, the Blessing over the Moon, by Israeli Armed Forces’ Chief Chaplain General Shlomo Goren in the IDF Siddur. . . . → Read More: Dancing with the Moon: innovations in the Kiddush Levana in light of the first moon landing
Shared by Aharon Varady on י״א בסיון ה׳תשע״א (June 13, 2011) 
Beginning late last year, I began a project to translate the Birkhat Hamazon using Rabbi Simeon Singer’s English translation and the Nusaḥ ha-Ari as the basis for publishing birkhonim (or in Yiddish, benchers). The original work was sponsored by the Teva Learning Center and its executive director, Nili Simhai, to be used in birkhonim specifically designed for use during weekdays during Teva’s Fall season. . . . → Read More: An illustration of Borei Nefashot by Rachel Katz and a translation of the Birkhat Hamazon by Aharon Varady
Shared by Effron Esseiva on י״א בסיון ה׳תשע״א (June 13, 2011) 
We are grateful to Effron Esseiva of the Shirat Hayam on Bowen Island havurah and Or Shalom Synagogue in Vancouver for sharing his recording and abbreviated translation (below) of El Malei Raḥamim (lit. “God, full of Compassion”), the prayer for the departed traditionally read at the unveiling of the headstone. Effron is studying davvening leadership . . . → Read More: El Maleh Raḥamim (Prayer for the Departed) translated and sung by Effron Esseiva
Shared by Trisha Arlin on י״ח באייר ה׳תשע״א (May 22, 2011) 
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 by Trisha Arlin
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