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 Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady and Lieba B. Ruth
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 Categories: |
Sefirat ha'Omer, Nirtsah
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 Tags: |
eco-conscious, barley, wheat, counting, growing, apprehension, watchfulness, trepidation, growth, ecoḥasid, neo-lurianic, ספירת העומר sefirat haomer, ספירות sephirot
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Each day between the beginning of Passover and Shavuot gets counted, 49 days in all, 7 weeks of seven days. That makes the omer period a miniature version of the Shmitah and Yovel (Jubilee) cycle of 7 cycles of seven years. Just as that cycle is one of resetting society’s clock to align ourselves with freedom and with the needs of the land, this cycle too is a chance to align ourselves with the rhythms of spring and the spiritual freedom represented by the Torah. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Alan Wagman (translation)
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| Categories: |
Mourning, Ḳaddish
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interpretive translation, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., rhyming translation, קדיש יתום Mourner's Ḳaddish, prayers of orphans
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This is an English language interpretation of Kaddish, intended to capture the spirit of translations/interpretations that I have seen in various sources and also to capture the sound and rhythm of the Aramaic text, including syllables which, when read simultaneously with the Aramaic, rhyme with the Aramaic. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Gabbai Seth Fishman (translation)
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| Categories: |
Mourning, Tishah b'Av
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מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, ירושלם Jerusalem, 58th century A.M., Al Quds, הר הבית Har haBayit, free translation, ישראל Yisrael, Needing Vocalization
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During the time before there was a State of Israel, those ideals in our hearts which we tried to practice and which we wanted others to practice, seemed not achievable where we were because, we felt we had no influence over our world where we were. And so, the longing for our homeland was tied into the longing for our dreams and our vision. Now that the state of Israel is with us, our dreams and our visions still remain distant from our lives and therefore when we say the Tisha B’av prayers we need to remind ourselves of the distance between that which we would have in this world and that which we do have. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
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| Categories: |
Mourning, Ḳaddish
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| Tags: |
interpretive translation, English Translation, Aramaic, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Prayer by Proxy, קדיש יתום Mourner's Ḳaddish, prayers of orphans
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An interpretive translation of the Mourner’s Kaddish, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Isaac Seligman Baer and Jonah Rank
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| Categories: |
Mourning, Ḳaddish
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| Tags: |
19th century C.E., English Translation, personal, תחינות teḥinot, Without a Minyan, 57th century A.M., Memorial prayers, Paraliturgical Mourner's Kaddish, קדיש יתום Mourner's Ḳaddish, prayers of orphans, Needing Source Images, Needing Attribution
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Please Lord, Sovereign of Compassion, God, Arbiter of the spirits of all flesh, Parent of Orphans and Judge of widows: God, from the source of Your holiness! May my prayer and the Torah of life that I have learned come before you on account of the soul . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Joy Ladin
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| Categories: |
Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31), Well-being, health, and caregiving
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| Tags: |
transgender, transgender bodies, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, gender identity, gender expression, transition, gender transition
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The transition ritual poems below are an effort to hear in the Torah the voices of the various parts of the trans self calling one another toward wholeness. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Alan Jay Sufrin
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| Categories: |
Labor, Fulfillment, and Parnasah
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| Tags: |
preparation, פיוטים piyyutim, public performance, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., performing artists, working, Needing Translation (into English), מודים Modim
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This piyut (liturgical poem) arose after a very meaningful performance of mine in the summer of 2000. It was such a powerful experience that I was moved to say a prayer of thanks to G-d for the opportunity to perform my songs for audiences – but found no such prayer in existence. So I wrote this one. It took about a year to complete and I’ve been saying it backstage right before my performances, and sometimes before recording sessions, since then. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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| Categories: |
Erev Pesaḥ
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| Tags: |
eco-conscious, חמץ ḥametz, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., ecoḥasid
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May it be Your will Hashem that we remember that just as we do not own this ḥametz, we do not own this earth. May we once again recall that Adam, the human, is made of afar, soil, dirt, and that God’s promise Abraham that his progeny will become “like the dirt of the earth,” in Aramaic, afra d’ar’a, means that we must live to nourish all Life. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Tzemaḥ Yoreh
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| Categories: |
Shabbat Siddurim
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| Tags: |
Jewish Humanism, Ethical Humanism, Post-Enlightenment Judaism, Humanist, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Needing Decompilation, Nusaḥ l'Yahadut Humanistit
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I am a humanist. I am a feminist. I am an environmentalist. I am a libertarian. I am a pacifist. I believe in democracy. I am an agnostic. Traditional Jewish prayer is not any of these “ists” or “ics”; it reflects the worldview of the rabbis 1500 years ago, who may have been quite sagacious but did not share many of my values. The minor and major edits, deletions, and additions to which liberal Jews of this day and age have treated their prayers have inserted some of these sentiments, but for the most part the macro structure of prayers has been preserved, making it difficult for people to engage with the prayer in a straightforward way. The composers of liberal prayer books understand this, and thus we find the phenomenon of alternative or additional English readings and/or very creative translations that bear little relationship to the original prayer. There is another way forward, though. We can compose new prayers and poetry in the original Hebrew that reflect our values and revitalize our canon. This is the way I chose. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Jacob Freund and Enrico Segre (transcription)
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| Categories: |
Personal & Paraliturgical Prayer collections
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| Tags: |
Deutsch, German, Liberal, Reform Movement, Jewish Women's Prayers
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After the popular reception among German speaking Jewry of Fanny Neuda’s Stunden Der Andacht (1855), additional sifrei teḥinnot, collections of prayers composed in the vernacular for women, were published in German. One of them, Hanna. Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für israelitische Frauen und Mädchen, published in 1867, was compiled with teḥinnot composed by the leading luminaries of Liberal Judaism in Breslau, Silesia: Jacob Freund (1827-1877), Rabbi Abraham Geiger (1810-1874), and Rabbi Moritz Güdemann (1835-1918), Manuel Joël (1826-1890), and Moritz Abraham Levy (1817-1872). The title of the collection is a direct reference to the biblical figure, Ḥanna whose petitionary prayer for a child was answered with the birth of her son, the prophet Shmuel. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Tsvi Hirsch Filipowski (translation) and Unknown Author(s)
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| Categories: |
Megillot, Ḥanukkah Readings
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| Tags: |
English Translation, Aramaic, Bar Kochba Rebellion, Late Antiquity, ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, Yiddish translation, Hebrew translation, Maccabees, Megillat Antiokhus, 40th century A.M., 2nd century C.E.
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The Megillat Antiochus was composed in Palestinian Aramaic sometime between the 2nd and 5th century CE, likely in the 2nd Century when the memory of the Bar Kochba revolt still simmered.. The scroll appears in a number of variations. The Aramaic text below follows the critical edition prepared by Menaḥem Tzvi Kaddari, and preserves his verse numbering. The English translation by Rabbi Joseph Adler (1936) follows the Hebrew translation in the middle column, the source of which is a medieval manuscript reprinted by Tzvi Filipowsky in 1851. Adler and Kaddari’s verse ordering loosely follows one another indicating variations in manuscripts. Where Aramaic is missing from Kaddari’s text, the Aramaic version from Adler’s work is included in parentheses. Adler also included a Yiddish translation which we hope will be fully transcribed (along with vocalized Hebrew text, a Hungarian translation, and perhaps even a Marathi translation from South India) for Ḥanukkah 5775 , G!d willing. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Eli Steier
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| Categories: |
Learning, Study, and School
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| Tags: |
children, אחדות aḥdut (togetherness), public performance, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Prayers of Jewish Educators, Lehrer, Teacher, professional intention
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I wrote this kavvanah a few years ago. At that time I lived in Ithaca, NY. I was a substitute teacher in the Ithaca Central School District. There was a community event at Fall Creek Elementary school, and the way families, faculty, students, and people from the area came together inspired the poem. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Rachel Barenblat
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| Categories: |
Shaḥarit l'Shabbat ul'Yom Tov
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| Tags: |
Breath, interconnectedness, interbreathing, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English poetry, Prayers as poems, English vernacular prayer, paraliturgical nishmat kol ḥai, נשמת כל חי Nishmat kol ḥai
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A prayer-poem inspired from the liturgical prayer, Nishmat. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Joshua Gutoff and Abba (Arikha) bar Aybo (traditional attribution)
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| Categories: |
Aleinu
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| Tags: |
interpretive translation, Rosh Hashanah, English Translation, North America, tolerance of difference, Late Antiquity, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., particularism and universalism, עלינו Aleinu, על כן נקוה al ken n'qaveh
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A “redemptive translation” of Aleinu emphasizing universalist Jewish values. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Jonah Rank and Raysh Weiss
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| Categories: |
Ketubot & other Shtarot (Documents)
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| Tags: |
gender, wedding, כתובה ketubbah
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On [day of the week] of the [day of the month] of the month of [month] in the year [year], as we count here in [location], behold, the soul of [name of one member of the couple] and the soul of [name of the other member of the couple] wrote one to the other in documents indicating that the entirety of each soul is consecrated one to the other in accordance with the law of Moses and Israel. They both shall serve, cherish, sustain, and support one another, in accordance with the laws of the Jews. Behold, all that which is written above has been accepted upon these two souls in the valid manner of interconnecting souls. All of the above is in proper, good standing. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Stephen Belsky
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| Categories: |
Terror, United States of America
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| Tags: |
Boston, bombing, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Massachusetts, 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, prayers for municipalities
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May the One who spoke the world into being, and who blessed humanity created in God’s image, and who brought about the miracle of these United States to promote freedom and peace among all people — bless, guard, and protect all the inhabitants of the Boston area, and strengthen and encourage their leaders, representatives, police officers, and detectives; bring them out from the shadow of death to light, and from danger to relief; and may the verse be fulfilled for them which says, ‘God is good to all, and shows mercy to all God’s creatures.’ And let us say: amein. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
חיים היימס-עזרא and Jonah Rank
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| Categories: |
Yom Habḥirut, Elections & Voting
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| Tags: |
מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Parliamentary Election, democratic process, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Needing Vocalization
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May it be the will [before the Lord our God and the God of our ancestors] that this ticket which I am placing in my ballot will join thousands of other tickets that will promise reasoned leadership that will strengthen democratic values, aspire towards peace with our neighbors, separate religion and state, be concerned with the weak and protect the laborers, fight corruption and exercise leadership through personal role modeling. May it be the will [before the Lord our God and the God of our ancestors] that the nation sitting in Zion will merit years of freedom, quiet, productivity, education and good health and that our children may never fear at all. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Elli Fischer and חיים היימס-עזרא
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| Categories: |
Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies
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| Tags: |
מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Parliamentary Election, democratic process, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., inauguration, Yesh Atid, Needing Vocalization
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May it be Your will, Lord our God, God of our fathers and mothers, that I leave this house as I entered it – at peace with myself and with others. May my actions benefit all residents of the State of Israel. May I work to improve the society that sent me to this chamber and cause a just peace to dwell among us and with our neighbors. May I always remember that I am a messenger of the public and that I must take care to keep my integrity and innocence intact. May I, and we, succeed in all our endeavors. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Shelley Frier List
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| Categories: |
Agunah Day, Slavery & Captivity
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| Tags: |
North America, agunot, מסרבות גט mesorvot get, divorce, תחינות teḥinot, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer
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Shelley Frier List’s prayer for agunot was originally printed in JOFA JOURNAL, Summer 2005 (5:4), p.5, wherein was added a Hebrew adaptation made by the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA). . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady
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| Categories: |
Conflicts over Sovereignty and Dispossession, Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Yom ha-Atsma'ut (5 Iyyar), Flag Day (June 14), Independence Day (July 4th), Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday of November)
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eco-conscious, Gratitude, על הנסים al hanissim, acquisition, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Indigenous Peoples, נודה לך Nodeh L'kha, primordial scream, stewardship, shomrah ul'ovdah, colonization, conquest, settlement, refugees, immigration, sanctuary, subjugation, hegemony, Needing Translation (into Hebrew), מודים Modim
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Opportunities to express gratitude on civic days of patriotic thanksgiving demand acknowledgement of an almost unfathomably deep history of trauma — not only the suffering and striving of my immigrant ancestors, but the sacrifice of all those who endured suffering dealt by their struggle to survive, and often failure to survive, the oppressions dealt by colonization, conquest, hegemony, natural disaster. Only the Earth (from which we, earthlings were born, Bnei Adam from Adamah) has witnessed the constancy of the violent deprivations we inflict upon each other. The privilege I’ve inherited from these sacrifices has come at a cost, and it must be honestly acknowledged, especially on civic days of thanksgiving, independence, and freedom. I insert this prayer after Al Hanissim in the Amidah and in the Birkat Hamazon on national days of independence and thanksgiving. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Miriam Rubin
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| Categories: |
Yom Kippur, Repenting, Resetting, and Forgiveness
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| Tags: |
וידוי vidui, סליחות seliḥot, North America, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., New York, על חטא Al Ḥeyt, Prayers to self, Correspondence to self, Correspondence as prayer
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A prayer of forgiveness to convey to one’s inner and vulnerable self during the period of sometimes unrelenting and harsh introspection prior to the blessing for rain. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Rachel Barenblat
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| Categories: |
Terror, United States of America
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| Tags: |
Boston, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Massachusetts, Prayers as poems, English vernacular prayer, 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, Eulogy
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I wrote this a few days after the Boston Marathon bombing. It arose out of a meditation service which I led at my synagogue. The doors to our sanctuary were open, so we had the sounds of the nearby wetland in our ears, and I invited the meditators to join me in cultivating compassion and sending it toward Boston. The line “My heart is in the east and I am in the west” is adapted from the medieval Spanish poet Judah haLevi. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Ella Stiniguță (translation) and Meïr Leibush ben Yeḥiel Michel Wisser
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| Categories: |
Romania, Coronations & Inaugurations
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| Tags: |
19th century C.E., Wallachia, Moldavia, emancipation, 57th century A.M., Romanian Jewry, Prayers for leaders, Needing Vocalization
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The life of Rabbi Meir Leibush ben Yeḥiel Michel (MALBIM, 1809-1879) as a wandering rabbi and brilliant intellect reflects the changing expectations of Jews and Jewish religious authorities during the period of emancipation in 19th century Eastern Europe. In his capacity as the chief rabbi of Bucharest, Romania, MALBIM composed a prayer for Prince Alexander Ioan I Cuza (1820-1873), Domnitor. The prince had united the Danube principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1862 to form the Kingdom of Romania. During his reign, he managed to bring about a series of important land reforms benefiting the peasantry of Romania, and he did try to improve the situation for Jews under his rule. The emancipation of the Jews of Romania, announced with the Proclamation of Islaz during the Wallachian Revolution of 1848, had never actually gone into effect. In 1865, the prince announced a project which would lead to the “gradual emancipation of the people of Mosaic faith” but this effort was never realized due to Alexandru Ioan’s forced abdication and replacement by a Prussian King in 1866. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Virginia Spatz
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| Categories: |
Liturgical traditions
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| Tags: |
20th century C.E., North America, Grateful Dead, Blues for Ḥalah, Parashat Shlaḥ, 58th century A.M.
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I believe that even those who actively dislike the Grateful Dead, or always happily ignored them, will find ideas worth considering in this comparison. “I guess they can’t revoke your soul for trying.” – Robert Hunter Some years ago, my husband and I dragged our kids (then 11 and 13) to see the Dead. The kids asked why the folks in the parking lot were staying outside, even though the concert was scheduled to start: “How do they know when to go inside? Or, is the band waiting for them?” My husband, a non-Jew, noted that he was often similarly mystified by worship services: “How do they know when to it’s time for….?” Not long after that I was part of a small havurah gathering waiting for a minyan, and we got to talking about when we might expect various regulars. This started me thinking about when, how and why Jews show up to services. I realized my husband’s sentiment about worship services – like my kids befuddlement about Dead concerts – is shared by many Jews, even regular service-goers…. Over the years, I’ve been thinking about ways that Jewish text and worship and the Grateful Dead parallel one another. The result is this chart. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Seth (Avi) Kadish
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| Categories: |
TaNaKh (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim)
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| Tags: |
תנ״ךְ TaNaKh, sourcetext, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Masoretic Text, critical texts
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Miqra `al pi ha-Mesorah is a new experimental edition of the Tanakh in digital online format, now available as a carefully corrected draft of the entire Tanakh. Two features make this edition of the Tanakh unique: Full editorial documentation and a free content license. Full editorial documentation: Various editions of the Torah or Tanakh in Hebrew may seem identical to the untrained eye, but the truth is that each and every edition—from Koren to Breuer and from Artscroll to JPS—makes numerous important editorial decisions. In most editions these decisions are not transparent, and the student of Torah therefore relies upon the good judgment of the editor. But in Miqra `al pi ha-Mesorah the entire editorial process and the reasoning behind it are fully described in all of their details: Every stylistic alteration and every textual decision made regarding every letter, niqqud, and ta`am in the entire Tanakh is documented. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow
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| Categories: |
Ḳedushah
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| Tags: |
romanticism, 19th century C.E., Keter, Crown, Wreath, Wheel, Hekhalot, Angels, 57th century A.M., סנדלפון Sandalfon, English Romanticism, Coronation, Angelic Nature, English poetry, קדושה Qedushah
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The poem, “Sandalphon,” as composed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882) and completed January 18, 1858, first published in Birds of Passage (1858), section “Flight the First,” page 62. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Lieba B. Ruth
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| Categories: |
Roleplaying
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| Tags: |
nistar, hidden, revealed, masks, giving, צדקה tsedaqah
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Because we cannot live on two planes, we are granted the opportunity to disguise our external features. We develop the capacity to know each others hearts and find even greater satisfaction in the exchange. Yet, too often, we act as if someone else — who looks remarkably like oneself — is going to provide the support for nonprofit organizations we deem are necessary for a decent life. We assume / hope / pray that someone “else” is doing our part. It’s their turn to make a critical contribution, even a small one, that gives relief, replaces a worn-out part, opens the door wide enough to make a difference. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Abby Jacobson
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| Categories: |
Dangerous Storms & Floods
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| Tags: |
weather, storm, catastrophe, tornado, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Oklahoma, English vernacular prayer, 2013 Moore tornado
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Merciful God, a great and powerful windstorm has passed, and it has torn apart the buildings and shattered the rocks before You. You told Elijah, the prophet, that You were not in the windstorm. Please, then, be in the still, small voices of the children crying out to be found. Be in the voices of the rescuers calling out for survivors. Be in the cries of those who are lost and of those who have lost. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady, R' Hillel Ḥayyim Lavery-Yisraëli and the Masoretic Text
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| Categories: |
Sefer Shemot (Exodus), Pesaḥ Readings, 7th Day of Pesaḥ, Parashat b'Shalaḥ, Psukei D'zimrah/Zemirot
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| Tags: |
symplegades, Az Yashir, שירת הים Shirat haYam, Song of the Sea, קריעת ים סוף qriyat yam suf, conflicting messages, safe passage, Yom Vayosha
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According to Rabbinic tradition, the 21st of Nissan is the day in the Jewish calendar on which Pharaoh’s army was drowned in the Sea of Reeds, and the redeemed children of Yisrael sang the Song of the Sea, the (Shirat Hayam, Exodus 15:1-19). The song, as included in the the morning prayers, comprises one of the most ancient text in Jewish liturgy. The 21st of Nissan corresponds to the 7th day of Passover, and the recitation of the Shirat HaYam is part of the daily Torah Reading. Rabbi Hillel Ḥayim Yisraeli-Lavery shares a performance of a melody he learned for the Shirat Hayam from צוף דבש Tzuf Devash, a Moroccan synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. If there is something about this tune that strikes one as particularly celebratory, it might be because the relationship between G!d and the Jewish people is traditionally described as a marriage consummated with the Covenant at Mt. Sinai. The passage of Bnei Yisrael through the Sea of Reeds towards Mt. Sinai thus begins a bridal march commencing in the theophany at Mt. Sinai, 42 days later. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
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| Categories: |
Dreaming, Well-being, health, and caregiving, Repenting, Resetting, and Forgiveness
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| Tags: |
anxiety, judgement, dreams, sleep
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If one has a dream which makes him sad he should go and have it interpreted in the presence of three. He should have it interpreted! Has not Rav Ḥisda said: A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read? — Say rather then, he should have a good turn given to it in the presence of three. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady
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| Categories: |
Self-Reflection
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| Tags: |
North America, reflective practice, journaling, writing, petiḥah, תחינות teḥinot, 21st century C.E., Openers, 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, teḥinot in English
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May my thoughts seek truth and integrity, the humility that is commensurate with my ignorance, the compassion that arises from the depths of awareness, as depths speak to depths… . . . |
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