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 Contributor(s): |
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the Masoretic Text and David haMelekh ben Yishai (traditional attribution)
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 Categories: |
Tehilim Book 1 (Psalms 1–41), Taḥanun
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 Tags: |
interpretive translation, Psalms 15, the Holy Mountain, middot, virtuous attributes, devotional interpretation
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Psalms 15 is read on special days of festive joy in place of Taḥanun. Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of Psalms 15 in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). To the best of my ability, I have set his translation side-by-side with the verses comprising the Psalm. –Aharon N. Varady . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Rachel Grant Meyer, Marisa Elana James and HIAS
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Modern Miscellany, Tishah b'Av Readings
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21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Alphabetic Acrostic, Cantillized readings in English, Immigration policy of Donald Trump, Trump administration family separation policy
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As we prepare to observe Tishah b’Av and commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem that led to the exile of the Jewish people for centuries to come, we are acutely aware that we find ourselves in the midst of the worst refugee crisis in recorded history, with more than 68 million people displaced worldwide. Given these extraordinary numbers, the continued attacks on asylum and the refugee resettlement program in the United States over the last eighteen months are even more inhumane. Of course, we know that the proverbial 10th of Av will come, and we will rise up from our mourning with renewed resolve to support refugees and asylum seekers. First, though, we take time to dwell fully in the mourning demanded by the 9th of Av. We fervently lament the many cruel actions this administration has taken to limit the ability of refugees and asylum seekers to seek safety in our country, and we mourn for lives destroyed and lives lost. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Unknown Author(s)
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| Categories: |
Birkhot haShaḥar
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blessings, ברכות brakhot, interpretive translation, Dawn, Late Antiquity, Prayers in the Babylonian Talmud, 100 blessings a day, wrestling, challenge, devotional interpretation, ישראל Yisrael
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Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the Birkhot haShaḥar in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Mordecai Kaplan
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| Categories: |
Tishah b'Av, Lincoln's Birthday (February 12th), Roleplaying, Repenting, Resetting, and Forgiveness
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20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Psalms 5, English vernacular prayer, false piety, religious hypocrisy, labor exploitation, Ḥillul Hashem, corruption, improper use of the crown, communal shame, difference disagreement and deviance, tolerance and intolerance, inclusion and exclusion
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“That Religion Be Not a Cloak for Hypocrisy,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 435-5 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Mordecai Kaplan and Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira
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Second Temple Period, Rosh Ḥodesh Readings
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hymns of creation, Openers, 2nd century B.C.E., 36th century A.M., Classical Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, Ecclesiasticus, Jews of Alexandria
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Ecclesiasticus (ben Sira) 42:21-43:31 is presented as “God the Lord of Nature” in The Sabbath Prayer Book of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (The Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p. 376-372 in the Supplements subsection, “God in Nature.” The text of Ben Sira used here differs in places found in other manuscripts. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Abba (Arikha) bar Aybo (traditional attribution)
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| Categories: |
Aleinu
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| Tags: |
interpretive translation, Amoraic prayers, 40th century A.M., 3rd century C.E., Closing Prayers, Closers, redemptive translation, revisionist translation, devotional interpretation, עלינו Aleinu
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Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of an abridged form of the prayer Aleinu in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Mordecai Kaplan
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| Categories: |
Labor, Fulfillment, and Parnasah, Bedtime Shema, International Workers' Day (May 1st), Well-being, health, and caregiving
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20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Psalms 4, English vernacular prayer, Amits Koaḥ, lonely man of faith, social anxiety, yetser hara, loneliness, ayin hara, lashon hara, apotropaic prayers of protection
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“Courage to Withstand the Ridicule of the Worldly,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 433-4 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Tsvi Hirsch Filipowski (translation) and Unknown Author(s)
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Megillot, Ḥanukkah Readings
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English Translation, Bar Kochba Rebellion, Late Antiquity, ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, Hebrew translation, Megillat Antiokhus, Seleucid Greek Occupation, Classical Antiquity, 40th century A.M., 2nd century C.E.
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Perhaps Megillat Antiokhus could be read a la Esther on Purim (the holiday with the most similarities), going to Eicha trope in the upsetting parts. A few notes: on the final mention of Bagris the Wicked I included a karnei-farah in the manner of the karnei-farah in Esther. I also included a merkha kefulah in the concluding section, which (according to David Weisberg’s “The Rare Accents of the Twenty-Eight Books”) represents aggadic midrash material. It also serves as a connection to the Chanukah haftarah, which is famously the only one that has a merkha kefulah. –Isaac Mayer . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
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| Categories: |
Tehilim (Psalms), Reading Schedules
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תהלים Psalms, Jewish Calendar, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Revival, Lu'aḥ
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This system attempts to remedy that, selecting psalms that reflects the meaning of the holiday in some way. It includes every single commonly celebrated holiday, including sub-ethnic celebrations like Mimouna or Sigd as well as more recent national holidays like Yom haAtzmaut. It also includes a system for dividing Psalm 119, a massive 176-verse acrostic hymn to Torah, throughout the weeks of the Omer season as a preparation for Sinai. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the Masoretic Text and Unknown Author(s)
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| Categories: |
Rosh Ḥodesh, Tehilim Book 4 (Psalms 90–106)
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| Tags: |
interpretive translation, hymns of creation, Openers, Psalms 104, Barkhi Nafshi, devotional interpretation
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Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of “Barkhi Nafshi” (Psalms 104) for Rosh Ḥodesh in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). To the best of my ability, I have set his translation side-by-side with the verses comprising the Psalm. –Aharon N. Varady . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, David haMelekh ben Yishai (traditional attribution) and the Masoretic Text
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Tehilim Book 5 (Psalms 107–150), Psukei D'zimrah/Zemirot, Daily Hallel, Ashrei
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interpretive translation, Psalms 145, אשרי Ashrei, Alphabetic Acrostic, Poteaḥ et Yodekha, שפע shefa, divine abundance, satisfying the desire of all life, devotional interpretation, Daily Hallel
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Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of Ashrei in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Mordecai Kaplan and Abraham Joshua Heschel
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| Categories: |
Roleplaying, Repenting, Resetting, and Forgiveness
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20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Prayers as poems, English vernacular prayer, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Ḥasidut, neoḥasidic idealization
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“The Pious Man” is a prayer-poem from Mordecai Kaplan’s diary entry, September 19, 1942, on the virtue of piety as expressed in an essay published earlier that year by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Piety was a Roman virtue, but in this essay, A.J. Heschel appears to be describing an idealization of Ḥasidut. . . . |
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| Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (translation) and Eliyahu Yosef She'ar Yashuv Cohen
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| Categories: |
Conflicts over Sovereignty and Dispossession, Shivah Asar b'Tamuz, Yom Yerushalayim (28 Iyyar)
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ירושלם Jerusalem, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Yerushalayim, religious Zionist, prayers for municipalities, Israeli–Palestinian conflict
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The “Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem” by the late chief rabbi of Ḥaifa, Eliyahu Yosef She’ar Yashuv Cohen zt”l (1927-2016), is often included in programs praying for peace in Jerusalem in periods of conflict. . . . |
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