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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice
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2012 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. . . . Categories: Erev Shabbat, Shavuot, Erev Pesaḥ, Sukkot, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Yom Kippur, 7th Day of Pesaḥ Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., candle lighting, English poetry, English vernacular prayer, entering, fire, כוונות kavvanot, kindling, Light, potential, Prayers as poems, welcoming Contributor(s): The following is a meditation I wrote (with the help of my friend Shira Gura, who teaches meditation and Yoga) to be used on Friday before Shabbat at the mikveh. It is based on midrashim related to Shabbat (for example, the notion that we receive an additional soul on Shabbat), as well as meanings behind mikveh in general (for example, the connection between the waters of Creation and the mikveh waters), and on some kavanot (sacred intentions) that came out of the Kabbalah and Ḥassidut movements. There is a strong tradition to write kavanot to use before immersing in the mikveh, since, as Maimonides writes in his Mishneh Torah 11:15, “If a person immerses but without buttressing him or herself [with sacred intention], it is as though he or she has not immersed at all.” . . . May the words we are with Your help sharing today, Speak deeply –- with Your help — to our nation and the world. Help us all to know that the sharing of our breath with all of life Is the very proof, the very truth, that we are One. . . . Categories: Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), 🌐 Earth Day (22 April) Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., eco-conscious, English vernacular prayer, global climate change, global warming, interbreathing, interconnectedness, Memorial prayers Contributor(s): A midrashic translation/ interpretation of the second paragraph of the Sh’ma. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., eco-conscious, interconnectedness, interpretation as prayer, paraliturgical shema, Philadelphia, Pnai Ohr, שמע shemaŋ, והיה אם שמע v'haya im shemo'a Contributor(s): The prayers for hurricane victims that are circulating through the Open Siddur Project and elsewhere are poignant and heartfelt, but they don’t speak an important piece of the truth that we need to hear. What about our collective responsibility for climate disruption that undoubtedly increases the harm caused by this and every major storm? And what about the Deuteronomic promise that God brings us recompense for our actions davka through the weather? Here’s an attempt at a prayer that incorporates a deeper understanding of our responsibility. For the final version of this prayer, I started with an anonymous Hebrew translation of my original English prayer, then I tweaked it and wove in scriptural references, and retranslated it back into English. . . . Categories: Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Dangerous Storms & Floods, Drought & Wildfire, Ecotastrophes Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., בקשות Baqashot, danger, eco-conscious, ecoḥasid, emergency, Hebrew translation, Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Sandy, taking responsibility, תחינות teḥinot, weather Contributor(s): The essential idea of the liturgy of Ushpizin is to invoke the energies of the seven lower Sefirot in the proper order, so that Shefa, blessing and sustenance, can be drawn down into the world. This is the essence of Kabbalistic liturgy, and a liturgy of the imahot would only make sense if it were to follow that pattern. That means we have the playfully serious task of finding a stable order for the imahot where no clear order exists. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Ancestors, archetypes, Avot and Imahot, ecoḥasid, in the merit of our ancestors, North America, Prayers inside sukkot, קבלה ḳabbalah, ספירות sefirot, spirits, אושפיזתא Ushpizata, אושפיזין ushpizin Contributor(s): From [the Holy One’s] form/to’ar the constellations are shimmering, and God’s form projects the exalted ones. And Her crown blazes [with] the mighty, and His garment flows with the precious. And all the trees will rejoice in the word, and the plants will exult in His rejoicing, and His words shall drop as perfumes, flowing forth flames of fire, giving joy to those who search them, and quiet to those who fulfill them. . . . A traveler’s prayer in English, adapted from the traditional formula vt Rabbi Menachem Creditor. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): In these still, quiet moments I am not asleep, and not yet awake. In the threshold of day and night, with the mixture of darkness and light, my body is once again coming to life. I am reborn, each day, from the womb of your compassion. May all of my actions be worthy of the faith you’ve placed in me. With words of thanks I’ll greet the dawn. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., blessings, Gratitude, Jewish Renewal, Needing Decompilation, paraliturgical reflections, Wakefulness Contributor(s): A holistic prayer for health in work. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, health, North America, self-care, שמירת הגוף shmirat haguf, workers, working Contributor(s): The Tu Bishvat seder is a metaphor. But usually we use metaphor in our daily lives to accomplish, persuade, inspire or explain. There is something we’re bending metaphor to accomplish. This meditation is an exercise in free-thinking. Here, just play with metaphor for the sake of expressing and exploring your emotional state, history, anticipations and apprehensions. Each of the quotations from the Torah or rabbinical writings below represents an emotion. After we say the blessing over the olives, read the quotations, pick one (or more) that resonate, and play with the metaphor to reach a deeper understanding of yourself and others. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): We lift Miriam’s cup, Dancing prophet celebrating the world that is now. And we tell God we are grateful For the water from the earth that was Miriam’s gift, Welcome necessity, On God’s behalf. Miriam announces joy! And teaches us to save ourselves. Miriam, the bringer of mercy, There’s no prayer for her in the haggadah— So make one up! . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., אליהו הנביא Eliyahu haNavi, Jewish Feminist Prayers, Miriam, Passover, Passover seder, Prayers as poems, Psychopomp Contributor(s): A prayer-poem for healing by Trisha Arlin. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English poetry, English vernacular prayer, first person, Prayers as poems, refuah Contributor(s): Ḥazal, — some of our Jewish Sages, May Their Memory Be For A Blessing — suggest that ‘simanah milsah‘ — a symbol has significance. Some of the teachers of Jewish tradition encourage us on Rosh HaShanah to partake of a variety of foods suggestive of prosperity and happiness. This usage is alluded to in the directive of the prophet Nechemiah to the assembly: ‘Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet …” (Nechemiah 8:10). Our kavvanoth — sacred intentions — are that these Symbolic Foods Of Life are to help us effect a good coming year. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., ecoḥasid, festive meals, four worlds, neo-lurianic, סגולות segulot, סעודות seudot, סימנים simanim Contributor(s): In honor of the birth of their son born 23 Shvat 5772 ~ 15 February 2012, Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman and Benjamin Kamm share their Brit Shmot (Naming Covenant). The ceremony took place February 23rd, 2012 (Rosh Ḥodesh Adar ~ 30 Shvat 5772) at Congregation Kehillath Israel, Brookline, Massachusetts. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): A mi sheberakh prayer on behalf of a scribe who has recently completed copying a sefer Torah. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, hadran, מי שברך mi sheberakh, North America, siyyum, soferut Contributor(s): Rain is important in every society, but particularly so in places like Eretz Yisrael, where rain only falls during a defined portion of the year. It is critical, then, that the “rainy season” in fact be rainy, since no rain can be expected for the remainder of the year. Accordingly, prayers, liturgies, and fast days relating to rain (or the lack thereof) played, and continue to play, a prominent role in Jewish tradition. Our tefillot today contain two major references to rain: “hazkarat geshamim” (better known as “mashiv haruaḥ umorid hagashem“) and “she’eilat geshamim“, found in the weekday Amidah in the 9th berakhah, “birkat hashanim“. There, an alternating liturgy was established: during the dry months, we say “v’tein berakhah“, whereas during the rainy season, we say “v’tein tal umatar livrakhah“, an explicit request for the rain to fall. Consensus emerged around the opinion of Rabban Gamliel in Mishnah Ta’anit 1:3 that “she’eilat geshamim” should begin on the 7th of Marḥeshvan (15 days after Shmini Atzeret, the 22nd of Tishrei). This would give pilgrims from as far away as the Euphrates (a 15-day journey) sufficient time to return home in dry weather. This is current practice in Eretz Yisrael to this day. . . . Categories: Tags: birkat shanim, Gregorian, Jewish Calendar, Julian Calendar, ותן טל ומטר v'tein tal u'matar, water cycle Contributor(s): Every Jewish holy day, even Shabbat and the highest ones, we call forth all the 22 Hebrew Letters to join us in celebration. For those of us who study Kabbalah from within the realm of the Alef-Bet, Ḥanukkah is unique in that we are given a magical tool with which to activate these signs and wonders. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., dreidel, four worlds, Los Angeles, neo-lurianic, North America Contributor(s): A translation of the Seven Blessings shared just in time for Shavuot, and in honor of several of my friend’s weddings. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English Translation, eros, interpretive translation, love, marriage, שבועות Shavuot, שבע ברכות sheva brakhot, יחוד yiḥud Contributor(s): [In Parshat Vayigash] we read of the members of Jacob’s family who went down to Egypt. There were 53 grandsons listed, but only a single granddaughter – Seraḥ, the daughter of Asher. The commentators wonder, what was so exceptional about this girl that her name was recorded? The Midrash spills forth with stories portraying an image of a unique and endearing Biblical heroine. Seraḥ stands as a trusted, beloved sage of the people. She possessed an uncommon gift of healing through poetry and music. Somewhat as Orpheus is to Greek myth, so is Seraḥ to the Biblical myth – the archetypal poet and bard. . . . | ||
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