https://opensiddur.org/?p=7723עלינו | An Alternative Opening for Aleinu, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)2013-11-03 18:26:43This version of the <em>Aleinu</em> recognizes that all nations play a role in God's plan for humanity.Textthe Open Siddur ProjectDavid SeidenbergDavid Seidenbergneohasid.orghttps://opensiddur.org/copyright-policy/David Seidenberghttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/Aleinuעלינו Aleinuuniversalist21st century C.E.58th century A.M.
This version of the Aleinu recognizes that all nations play a role in God’s plan for humanity. It offers an alternative to the traditionally particularist liturgy, “שֶׁלֹּא עָשָֽׂנוּ כְּגוֹיֵי הָאֲרָצוֹת וְלֹא שָׂמָֽנוּ כְּמִשְׁפְּחוֹת הָאֲדָמָה: שֶׁלֹּא שָׂם חֶלְקֵֽנוּ כָּהֶם וְגֹרָלֵֽנוּ כְּכָל הֲמוֹנָם: (“since God has not made us like the nations of other lands, and has not placed us like other families of the earth, since God has not assigned for us a portion as for them, nor a lot as unto all their multitude”). — Aharon Varady
TOGGLE COLUMNS (on/off):ADJUST COLUMN POSITIONS: select the column header cell and drag it where you want. show me!COPY INDIVIDUAL COLUMN(S): use CopyTables, a browser extension.
It is up to us to praise the Foundation of all,
to attribute greatness to the One who formed creation,
who made many nations,
all of whom seek
to perceive God’s ways,
and who gave to us a unique destiny
by revealing to us Divine laws.
Rabbi David Seidenberg, founder of NeoHasid.org, teaches text and music, Jewish thought and spirituality, in their own right and in relation to ecology and the environment. With smikhah (ordination) from the Jewish Theological Seminary and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, he has taught at over 100 synagogues, communities, retreats and conferences across North America (and a few in Europe and Israel). Rabbi Seidenberg's teaching empowers learners to become creators of Judaism through deep study and communion with texts and tradition. Areas of specialty include Kabbalah and Ḥasidut, Talmud, davenning, evolution and cosmology, sustainability, Maimonides, Buber, and more. Rabbi Seidenberg has published widely on ecology and Judaism. He is the author of the acclaimed book Kabbalah and Ecology: God's Image in the More-Than-Human World (Cambridge U. Press, 2015). To read selections and find out about ordering the book, go to kabbalahandecology.com.
neohasid.org
NeoHasid.org was created by Rabbi David Seidenberg to help folks integrate Chasidic song, learning, and nusach into their davenning and communities and to explore embodied Torah. It evolved to focus on eco-Torah and to share liturgy that honors our relationship with the Earth and/or expresses gender parity.
I’m not sure there’s a connection between Israel’s ritual laws, beyn adam lamakom, (be they divine or man made) and its destiny; as for beyn adam lahavero, I prefer to see us as partners with all of humanity. In other words, I don’t resonate to the particularism of Alenu, something Zalman achieves by reading the “lo”s of the Alenu (shelo asanu, etc.) with a vav instead of with an aleph
I’m not sure there’s a connection between Israel’s ritual laws, beyn adam lamakom, (be they divine or man made) and its destiny; as for beyn adam lahavero, I prefer to see us as partners with all of humanity. In other words, I don’t resonate to the particularism of Alenu, something Zalman achieves by reading the “lo”s of the Alenu (shelo asanu, etc.) with a vav instead of with an aleph
interesting aleinu really