Comments for The Open Siddur Project

Comment on יום קשת מ״ב בעומר | The 42nd Day of the Omer is Rainbow Day by Nicole Barchilon Frank (Shoshanah Adamah Cohen)

Nicole Barchilon Frank (Shoshanah Adamah Cohen) — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:33:57 +0000

Todah Rabah!
It might be a good idea to specifically add the rainbow covenant of honoring all folks along their gender spectrum and orientation around who and how they love. Your teaching alludes to compassion for all creatures, and so we are all covered under that, but along with the idea of species differentiation and the beauty of creation in all its splendor and uniqueness, there is also the lack of judgment in nature around all the various ways things evolve and are different. Whether the flower is five petaled or twelve petaled, green, red, pink or some combination, all are considered flowers and special. The Rainbow covenant is a truly spectacular covenant and it continues to be meaningful and alive today as you have shared and as we all can work to live more in covenant with our beautiful earth.
b’Shalom,
Nicole/Shoshanah

Comment on A Prayer for the Earth by Rabbi David Seidenberg by יום קשת מ״ב בעומר | The 42nd Day of the Omer is Rainbow Day « The Open Siddur Project

Thu, 17 May 2012 19:28:42 +0000

[...] Midrash on Parshat Noah and the Preservation of Species Also see Rabbi David Seidenberg’s Prayer for the Earth. Additional Rainbow Day resources available at jewcology.com (some resources not shared with a [...]

Comment on Pri Etz Hadar, the first ever Tu Bish’vat Seder (circa 17th Century) by יום קשת מ״ב בעומר | The 42nd Day of the Omer is Rainbow Day « The Open Siddur Project

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:36:37 +0000

[...] to use our fires, fires of Spirit and imagination, to bring blessing to all life. (As the tikkun Pri Eitz Hadar says,) may our actions “add might and majesty to the Tree of Life, so that we may see the [...]

Comment on Scaling the Walls of the Labyrinth: Psalms 67 and Ana b’Koaḥ by aharonium

aharonium — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:57:23 +0000

I wasn’t really finished thinking and writing about the idea of Sefirat haOmer as labyrinth when I posted this dvar tefillah on Psalms 67 and Ana B’Koach last night. I wasn’t aware of any labyrinths being explicitly mentioned in the TaNaKh and so was fascinated to find one explicitly illustrated in a medieval bible in the context of Jericho. Seeing the image of a labyrinthine seven walled Jericho, thinking about the typical number of walls in a Cretan labyrinth, and trying to unpack what it could mean for the 7×7 counting of the Sefirat haOmer, blew my mind. Labyrinths are found in almost every spiritual tradition. They’ve become more commonly used for contemplative praxis in Catholic Christian tradition, although they predate Christianity and are found across the Mediterranean and as far east as India. What might a particularly Jewish take on the Labyrinth be? Outside of the course of the agricultural calendar on which we are dependant, what are the other labyrinths that impose themselves on our minds, their imaginative limits, and our actions? In our lives there are superimposing labyrinths: halakhah, socio-cultural conventions and expectations, etc. I think a particularly Rabbinic Jewish take on the labyrinth would be an attempt to attain gnosis though a recognition and subversion of the labyrinth itself, by creative theurgical and hermenutical means. Your comments are welcome.

Comment on Shiviti: perceiving the world as an expression of divine Oneness by Journey towards illumination: Psalm 67 and Ana b’Koaḥ « The Open Siddur Project

Mon, 14 May 2012 23:11:11 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

Comment on Kiss of death: a prayer upon the death of a parent by Andrew Meit

Andrew Meit — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:06:13 +0000

Nadine, Am glad my words were worthy to provide comfort and some beauty. :-)

Comment on Siddur Torah Ohr (according to the text of R’ Schneur Zalman of Liadi) by Tikkun Ḥatzot « Hardcore Mesorah

Tikkun Ḥatzot « Hardcore Mesorah — Sat, 05 May 2012 07:29:44 +0000

[...] the Siddur Torah Ohr of the Baal HaTanya (the ḤaBaD siddur that predated the now more widely used Siddur Tehillat [...]

Comment on Tikkun Ḥatzot: Getting Right at Midnight by Tikkun Ḥatzot « Hardcore Mesorah

Tikkun Ḥatzot « Hardcore Mesorah — Sat, 05 May 2012 07:26:17 +0000

[...] The Ari z”l adopted the Sepharadic liturgy when he settled in Eretz Yisrael, bringing these yichudim into his nusaḥ. When the hassidic movement coalesced in the early 18th century, it followed the example of the Ari z”l, and the Tikkun Ḥatzot was absorbed into their siddurim. As the Nusah Ari z”l predated the authorship of the kinot, hassidic siddurim did not contain them. In later years other ḥassidim would adopt kinot and yichud. Rebbe Naḥman of Breslov would also use Ḥatzot as an opportunity for practicing hitbodedut – heartfelt personal prayer and meditation.[3] [...]

Comment on Kiss of death: a prayer upon the death of a parent by Nadine C

Nadine C — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:49:39 +0000

Thank you for sharing this prayer…My father (of blessed memory) died April 24…We are finishing Shiva tomorrow, and I come back to Vancouver tomorrow night. I was looking on the web and saw this beautiful prayer. Thank you

Comment on Siddur Bnei Ashkenaz: A German Rite Siddur compiled by R’ Rallis Wiesenthal by Y Gradmann

Y Gradmann — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:16:10 +0000

if you know of a sefas emes with German instructions, I would appriciate if you could hook me up. thanks