![the Open Siddur Project [logo]](https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Open-Siddur-Project-Logo-2016.svg){kind=logo}
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
|
|
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
| ||
⤷ You are here:
2012 —⟶ Page 2 [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. . . . This is Effron Esseiva’s morning Amidah (standing prayer) for weekdays. Effron writes, “It’s called Shmonei Esrei (18) because it used to have eighteen brakhot (blessings). However, it has an additional brakha to bring it to nineteen. This is my interpretation of the Teissa Esrei (19) with abridged kavvanot (intentions).” . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): Peri and Alex Sinclair’s adaptation of the traditional Eishet Ḥayil, replacing a number of verses with ones selected from Shir haShirim (the Song of Songs/Canticles), Genesis, and elsewhere in Mishlei (Proverbs). . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, eros, אשת חיל eshet ḥayil, Feminism, love, Masorti, Modi'in, role models, ישראל Yisrael Contributor(s): A haggadah shared by Michael Plotke that he made for his family many years ago based on the haggadah of the late Rebbe of ḤaBaD, R’ Menachem Mendel Schneerson. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The prayer for the welfare of IDF soldiers by Rabbi Shlomo Goren, with additional text as added by Dr. Alex Sinclair emphasizing our desire for soldiers to engage in righteous and ethical conduct in accord with the IDF code of conduct. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., צה״ל IDF, מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, מי שברך mi sheberakh, military, Progressive Zionism, Religious Zionism Contributor(s): A prayer offered in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in 2012. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): A UNESCO sponsored booklet of prayers submitted by religious leaders from around the world participating in the Elijah Interfaith Institute. . . . Fixated as we are by incalculable losses in our families, our neighbors, human beings spanning national borders, we are pummeled into shock, barely even able to call out to You. We are, as ever, called to share bread with the hungry, to take those who suffer into our homes, to clothe the naked, to not ignore our sisters and brothers. Many more of our brothers and sisters are hungry, homeless, cold, and vulnerable today than were just a few days ago, and we need Your Help. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., disaster, emergency, English vernacular prayer, Hurricane Sandy, storm, תחינות teḥinot, weather Contributor(s): A series of tests to determine how well some popular and some less well-known web browsers perform in supporting the technology for displaying Hebrew text. In particular, I’m interested to see which browsers are failing to use a web standard called CSS @font-face to properly display Unicode Hebrew fonts that support the full range of Hebrew diacritics and which contain excellent font logic for diacritical positioning. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): A prayer for thanksgiving day in the United States by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., על הנסים al hanissim, Colonialism, First Nations, Gratitude, Indigenous Peoples, Problematic prayers, Secular/National mythologies, United States Contributor(s): A prayer composed by Rabbi Isser Yehuda Unterman, chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, for the city’s 50th anniversary (Jubilee) celebration, amended by Rabbi Esteban Gottfried of Beit Tefillah Yisraeli. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Beit Tefillah Yisraeli, Jaffa, Needing Translation (into Arabic), peace, prayers for municipalities, Tel Aviv, Yaffo, Yapho, ישראל Yisrael Contributor(s): The prayer for the State of Israel, composed May 2008/lyyar 5768 on the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel, was first shared on the web on May 7th, 2008 here and published on paper and PDF on May 8th, 2008 in an event organized by Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, “Embracing Justice: An Alternative Celebration and Learning for Yom Ha’Atzma’ut/Israel’s 60th Independence Day.” . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Progressive Zionism, Religious Zionism Contributor(s): Every year on Yom ha-Atzmaut I feel a certain sense of frustration about its liturgy, and the failure of Religious Zionism to shape the holiday into one that would make a clear and definite religious statement. The “festive” prayer for Yom ha-Atzmaut is a hotchpotch of Yom Kippur, Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat Mevarkhim, and Pesaḥ. One gets a sense that there is an avoidance of hard issues. Even such a simple thing as saying Hallel with a blessing is not yet self-evident, but a subject of constant debate. Every year, there seem to be more leading rabbis, who adopt crypto-Ḥaredi stances, issuing pronunciamentos as to why one must not enter into the doubt of saying a brakha levatala, an unnecessary blessing, in this case. (As I was typing these words, I was interrupted by a phone call from a friend with this very question!) Bimhila mikvodam (no affront to the honor due them intended), but what on earth do they think the Talmud is talking about when it says that “On every occasion that Israel are in distress and then delivered, they are to recite the Hallel” (Pesaḥim 116a), if not the likes of Yom ha-Atzmaut? . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This is an intention that I composed for the conclusion of a performance piece, Inner Fire, created and performed by my Mistabra Institute for Jewish Textual Activism at Brandeis University in 2002. It is as relevant today as ever. Please use it for inspiration when you light Ḥanuka candles. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., kindling, lamp lighting, olive oil, Progressive Zionism, ישראל Yisrael Contributor(s): It is the responsibility of leadership in every generation to remove stumbling blocks from paths provided for seekers of Hashem. The needs of the faith community have dramatically changed. In our generation, many of the paths to Heaven that used to work very well in the past, don’t work any more. Why is that? For several reasons: . . . Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., etiquette, North America, pluralism, Renewal, tolerance of difference Contributor(s): The time we are in now is a time to ask: are we so determined to undo God’s rainbow covenant? Will we truly burn the sea, chemically and literally, with the oil we unleash from inside the Earth? Will we flood the sea with death as the land was flooded according to the Noah story of so long ago? As the cleanup continues and the effects will continue for decades, what new floods will we unleash in the coming years? . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): Lauren Deutsch designed a High Holy Days greeting card that is a yad (pointer) for all readers to use in their siddurim during services. It also functions as a place holder when one wishes to take a rest from following along. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., bookmarks, breadcrumbs, Finding Aids, Maḥzor supplements, North America, ימים נוראים yamim noraim Contributor(s): The following seven lessons by Rabbi Hillel Ḥayim Yisraeli-Lavery to help the student prepare for their reading of Megillat Esther. The nusaḥ taught is Israeli style Ashkenaz-Lithuanian. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): Exalted are you Lincoln. Who is like you! You were highly respected among Kings and Princes. All that you accomplished you did with a humble spirit. You are singular and cannot be compared to anyone else. Who among the great are like Lincoln? Who can be praised like you? . . . Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Abraham Lincoln, acrostic, Slaveholders' Rebellion (1861-1865), American Jewry of the United States, assassination, Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, civil rights, elegies, Emancipation, Memorial prayers, Prayers for leaders, Presidents Day, קינות Ḳinōt, United States Contributor(s): | ||
Sign up for a summary of new resources shared by contributors each week
  |
