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2018 —⟶ Page 3 Prayer at the Presidential Signing Ceremony for the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act, by Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff on 22 December 2010A prayer offered by Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff at the Presidential signing ceremony for the repeal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) law on December 22, 2010, in Washington, D.C. . . . An Untitled Prayer for Shaḥarit on days without Taḥanun after Psalms 15, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-ShalomiIn his Siddur Tehilat Hashem Yedaber Pi (2009), this untitled teḥinah appears just below Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 15 (recited on joyful and celebrative days when Taḥanun is not recited) and just above the Psalms of the Day section. We are not certain whether this teḥinah is an original prayer by Reb Zalman, a translation of an existing teḥinah found for Taḥanun, or a composite of teḥinot found in the Taḥanun service. . . . Categories: 🤦︎ Taḥanun (Nefilat Apayim) Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included this list of peer blessings for after davvening in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . . Categories: Addenda 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. . . . Categories: Conflicts over Sovereignty and Dispossession, Shiv'ah Asar b'Tamuz, 🇮🇱 Yom Yerushalayim (28 Iyyar) Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included these Weekday Affirmations based on the Amidah, in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . . Categories: Weekday Amidah With gratitude to the One True God, and to the original creators, this is a derivation of the “Battlestar Seder Haggadah” prepared by David “Razor” Lieberman, Alison “Fat Six” Ogden, and Mary “Actual” Bruch, for “A Seder on Battlestar Galactica,” an event held on Saturday, 26 April 2008, on Earth. The seder was first posted to galacticahaggadah.com and later to battlestarseder.org under a GNU Free Document License. Both of these domains having gone to ruin, the Haggadah was thankfully preserved on the Wayback Machine thanks to the Internet Archives. I resurrected the Haggadah, adding the following: 1) alternate blessings for crypto-Cylons, 2) संस्कृतम् sourcetext in Sanskrit script along with annotation indicating the source of the prayer/mantra included, 3) a short prayer that Priestess Elosha recites at the very beginning of the funeral scene near the end of the miniseries. –Aharon Varady . . . Categories: Haggadot for the Seder Leil Pesaḥ Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Battlestar Galactica, crossovers, parody, Prayers of Cylons, Prayers of Kobol Contributor(s): David "Razor" Lieberman, Alison "Fat Six" Ogden, Mary "Actual" Bruch and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) 📄 the past didn’t go anywhere: making resistance to antisemitism part of all of our movements, by April Rosenblum (2007)It’s always a real struggle for the Left to successfully tackle oppression within its own ranks. But when we do it, our movements gain, every time, from the deeper understandings that emerge. To start the process this time, we need some basic information about what anti-Jewish oppression is and how to counter it. But it has to come from a perspective of justice for all people, not from opportunistic attempts to slander or censor social justice efforts that are gaining strength. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 16 June 2003. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 13 June 2003. . . . Categories: 🇺🇸 Flag Day (June 14), 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 21 May 2003. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 19 May 2003. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 5 May 2003. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 29 April 2003. . . . Categories: 🇮🇱 Yom haShoah (27 Nisan), 🇺🇸 Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 28 April 2003. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 22 January 2003. . . . Categories: 🇺🇸 Martin Luther King Jr. Day (3rd Monday of January), 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies Between the Fires: A Kavvanah for Lighting Candles of Commitment, by Rabbi Arthur Waskow (the Shalom Center)“Between the Fires: A Prayer for lighting Candles of Commitment” was composed by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, drawing on traditional midrash about the danger of a Flood of Fire, and the passage from Malachi. . . . Categories: Erev Shabbat, Erev Pesaḥ, Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Yom Kippur, Ecotastrophes 💬 An Adaptation of the Megillah of Esther, an English Rendition with Trōp, by Ḥazzan Jack Kessler (1990)The Megillah of Esther: An Original English Rendition (set to trop) by Ḥazzan Jack Kessler was first published in 1990. This second “version 2.0” edition was published in 2016. . . . Prayer at the National Civic Commemoration of the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, by Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff on 28 April 1987This prayer was delivered by the U.S. Navy Chaplain, Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff, at the 1987 National Civic Commemoration of the Days of Remembrance, in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. It was first published in Days of remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust: a Department of Defense guide for commemorative observance (Office of the Secretary of Defence, 1988). . . . Categories: 🇮🇱 Yom haShoah (27 Nisan), 🇺🇸 Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, 🇺🇸 United States of America Prayer at the Dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial by Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff on 13 November 1982The closing prayer at the Nov 13, 1982 dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. by Rabbi (Navy Chaplain) Arnold E. Resnicoff. . . . Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel’s speech, “On Prayer,” delivered at an inter-religious convocation held under the auspices of the U.S. Liturgical Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 28, 1969. His talk was printed in the journal Conservative Judaism v.25:1 Fall 1970, p.1-12. . . . Categories: Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer 💬 “I have a Dream” by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1963), cantillated by Rabbi David Evan MarkusIn 2017, Rabbi David Evan Markus prepared the end of Dr. King’s famous speech read at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (August 28, 1963) with trope (t’amim, cantillation). The following year on Facebook he shared a recording of the reading hosted on Soundcloud. Rabbi Markus writes, “This weekend at Temple Beth El of City Island, I offered the end of Dr. King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, which I set to haftarah trope because I hold Dr. King to be a prophet. When my community applauded, I offered President Obama’s response, ‘Don’t clap: vote.’ And do more than vote: organize, donate, volunteer, help, heal, advocate. Only then, in Dr. King’s words quoting Isaiah 40:5, will ‘all flesh see it together.'” . . . 💬 Excerpts from speeches by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1956-1968) selected by Rabbi Marcia Prager, cantillated by Ḥazzan Jack KesslerThese quotations from Dr. King’s speeches were edited by Rabbi Marcia Prager and set to Haftarah Trop by Hazzan Jack Kessler. This adaptation was first published in Kerem (Fall 2014), in Jack Kessler’s article, “English Leyning: Bringing New Meaning to the Torah Service.” . . . “The Spirit of Jewish Prayer,” by Abraham Joshua Heschel was a speech given at the Fifty-Third Annual Convention of the Rabbinical Assembly of America which took place at the Breakers Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey from Tammuz 9 to Tammuz 14, 5713 (June 22 To June 27, 1953). The speech was subsequently published in the Proceedings of the Rabbinical Assembly of America v.17. . . . Categories: Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer The service in 1953 by the S&P Synagogue (Bevis Marks, London) in celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth. . . . Categories: Coronations & Inaugurations “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). . . . Categories: Bedtime Shema, Labor, Fulfillment, and Parnasah, 🌐 International Workers' Day (May 1st), Well-being, health, and caregiving “God the Life of Nature” by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan was first published in his Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p. 382-391, where it appears side-by-side with its translation into Hebrew by Abraham Regelson. . . . Categories: Rosh Ḥodesh Contributor(s): Abraham Regelson (translation), Mordecai Kaplan and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) “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). . . . Categories: Tishah b'Av, 🇺🇸 Abraham Lincoln's Birthday (February 12th), Repenting, Resetting, and Reconciliation, Roleplaying Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., communal shame, corruption, difference disagreement and deviance, English vernacular prayer, false piety, חלול ה׳ Ḥillul Hashem, improper use of the crown, inclusion and exclusion, labor exploitation, Psalms 5, religious hypocrisy, tolerance and intolerance Salvation through Labor, a prayer for the Sabbath before Labor Day, adapted from the writings of A.D. Gordon by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)“Salvation through Labor,” adapted by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan from the writings of Aaron David Gordon, can be found on p. 548-551 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). The translation was attributed in the Sabbath Prayer Book to its editors (Mordecai Kaplan & Eugene Kohn, assisted by Ira Eisenstein and Milton Steinberg). . . . מי שברך לתקופת יום הולדת | Mi sheBerakh on behalf of one celebrating a birthday, by Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Kaplan (1945)“Prayer in behalf of one celebrating a birthday,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 494-497 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) . . . The essay, “Prayer,” by Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel, then Associate Professor of Jewish Philosophy at Hebrew Union College, published in Review of Religion vol. 9 no. 2, January 1945. . . . Categories: Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer Needed Prophets for Our Day, a prayer-poem by Mordecai Kaplan (1942) adapted from “The Divinity School Address” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1838)This prayer by Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, first penned in his diary for 23 August 1942, was first published in The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan, by Mel Scult (1990). Although the prayer was not included in Kaplan’s Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945), it was added to the loose-leaf prayerbook he kept at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism synagogue. . . . The Pious Man, a prayer-poem by Mordecai Kaplan adapted from the essay “An Analysis of Piety” by Abraham Joshua Heschel (1942)“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. . . . תְּפִילַּת הַנּוֹטֵעַ | Prayer for a Tree Planting in Israel, by Rav Ben-Tsiyon Meir Ḥai Uziel (before 1942)This is the תפילת הנוטע (Prayer for Planting [trees]) by Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Ḥai Uziel. . . . הַל״ב מִצְוֺת הַתְלוּיוֹת בַּלֵּב | Thirty-two Mitsvot One Can Do With Consciousness Alone, by Reb Ahrele Roth (trans. Rabbbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Hillel Goelman)A good preparation and a bridge for the next phase of prayer, as you enter into the world of B’riyah,[foot]i.e., the Shaḥarit service beginning with the blessings prededing the Shema[/foot] is Reb Ahrele Roth’s list of Mitsvot One Can Do With Consciousness Alone. Reb Ahrele Roth, a”h, wrote a list of 32 mitsvot whose fulfillment is completed in the brain, the heart and the mouth. (The Hebrew alphabetical equivalent of 32 is ל”ב, the letters of which spell the Hebrew word LEV for Heart.) –Reb Zalman . . . Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., devotional interpretation, English vernacular prayer, חסידות Ḥasidut, interpretive translation, כוונות kavvanot, Openers Contributor(s): Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), Hillel Goelman, Aharon Roth and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) Das Gebet Als Äußerung Und Einfühlung | Prayer as Expression and Empathy, by Abraham Joshua Heschel (1939)Abraham Joshua Heschel’s essay “Das Gebet Als Äußerung Und Einfühlung” published in Monatsschrift Für Geschichte Und Wissenschaft Des Judenthums, vol. 83 (1939). . . . Categories: Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer גאָט בענטש אַמעריקע | God Bless America, for Armistice Day by Irving Berlin (1918/1938) with Yiddish translationThe words of the prayer for Armistice Day 1938, “God Bless America” by Irving Berlin, in English and Yiddish. . . . Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, doikayt, hereness, Patriotic hymns, United States, Yiddish songs, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): Henry Sapoznik (translation/Yiddish), Irving Berlin and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) This prayer by Hillel Zeitlin was published as “That We Be Reborn” with an English translation by Eugene Kohn in the Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1945) of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. I have slightly modified Kohn’s translation by replacing thee and thou with you and your, etc. Zeitlin’s prayer is undated and likely was published earlier and elsewhere. If you have more information on the original publication of this prayer, please contact us or leave a comment. . . . כַּוָּנָה לִפְנֵי עֲבוֹדָה בְּאַדְמַת הַקֹּדֶשׁ | Kavvanah before working with the holy soil of Erets Yisrael, by Rabbi Shalom Ḥayyim Sharabi (ca. 1911)A kavvanah for focusing one’s intention before working with the soil of Erets Yisrael. . . . Categories: Labor, Fulfillment, and Parnasah, 🇮🇱 Yom haNətiōt (Planting Day), Planting, 🇮🇱 Medinat Yisra'el (the State of Israel) 📖 רָחֵל מְבַכָּה עַל־בָּנֶיהָ | Rokhl M’vako al Boneho: A Nayye Shas Tekhine :: Raḥel Weeps for Her Children: A New Collection of Teḥinot (Vilna 1910)A compilation of Jewish women’s prayers in Yiddish published in Vilna in 1910, with prayers attributed to Rokhl Esther bat Aviḥayil, a Jewish woman living in Jerusalem. . . . Categories: Personal & Paraliturgical collections of prayers The poem, Ayekh (Where are you?), by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik. . . . בִּרְכַּת עָם (תֶחֱזַקְנָה) | The People’s Blessing (a/k/a Teḥezaqnah), by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik (1894)Before HaTikvah was chosen, Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik’s “People’s Blessing” (בִּרְכַּת עָם, also known by its incipit תֶחֱזַֽקְנָה Teḥezaqnah) was once considered for the State of Israel’s national anthem. Bialik was 21 years old when he composed the work in 1894. It later was chosen as the anthem of the Labor Zionist movement. We hereby present the first ever complete English translation of this poem. . . . Categories: 🇮🇱 Yom ha-Atsma'ut (5 Iyyar) 📖 סדר תפילות (מנהג הספרדים) | Καθημεριναι Προσευχαι | Seder Tefilot, a bilingual Hebrew-Greek prayerbook translated and arranged by R’ Yosef Naḥmuli (Corfu 1885)Index page for the transcription, proofreading, and decompilation of Καθημεριναι Προσευχαι (Yosef Naḥmuli 1885), a Greek-Hebrew kol bo siddur, nusaḥ sefaradi (minhag Corfu). . . . Categories: Comprehensive (Kol Bo) Siddurim דער נײער קאָלאסוס | The New Collosus, a paean to the Shekhinah/”Mother of Exiles” by Emma Lazarus (1883, Yiddish translation by Rachel Kirsch Holtman 1938)This is the sonnet, “The New Collosus” (1883) by Emma Lazarus set side-by-side with its Yiddish translation by Rachel Kirsch Holtman. Lazarus famously penned her sonnet in response to the waves of Russian-Jewish refugees seeking refuge in the Unites States of America as a result of murderous Russian pogroms following the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881. Her identification and revisioning of the Statue of Liberty as the Mother of Exiles points to the familiar Jewish identification of the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence, in its feminine aspect) with the light of the Jewish people in their Diaspora. . . . Categories: 🇺🇸 Mother's Day (2nd Sunday of May), 🇺🇸 Independence Day (July 4th), 🇺🇸 Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday of November) Contributor(s): Rachel Kirsch Holtman (translation), Emma Lazarus and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) תְּחִנָה לְשַׁבָּת מְבָרְכִים רֹאשׁ חוֺדֶשׁ נִיסָן | Tkhine for Shabbat Mevorkhim Rosh Ḥodesh Nisan (1877)The paraliturgical tkhine for the new month of Nissan read on the shabbat preceding the new moon during the blessing over new month. . . . תְּחִנָה לְשַׁבָּת מְבָרְכִים רֹאשׁ חוֺדֶשׁ אִיָּר | Tkhine for Shabbat Mevorkhim Rosh Ḥodesh Iyyar (1877)To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of the תְּחִנָה לְשַׁבָּת מְבָרְכִים רֹאשׁ חוֺדֶשׁ אִיָיר (“Tkhine for Shabbat Mevorkhim Rosh Ḥodesh Iyyar”) which appeared in תחנות מקרא קודש (Teḥinot Miqra Qodesh, Widow and Brothers Romm, Vilna 1877). English translation adapted slightly from Techinas: A Voice from the Heart “As Only A Woman Can Pray” by Rivka Zakutinsky (Aura Press, 1992). –A.N. Varady . . . Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., In the merit of Miriam, Jewish Women's Prayers, Leah, Manna, Mazal Shor, Miriam, Miriam's well, new moon, paraliturgical birkat haḥodesh, paraliturgical teḥinot, שבת מבורכים shabbat mevorkhim, Shevet Issachar, Taurus, תחינות teḥinot, the second month, תחינות tkhines, Yiddish vernacular prayer תְּחִנָה לְשַׁבָּת מְבָרְכִים רֹאשׁ חוֹדֶשׁ שְׁבָט | Tkhine for Shabbat Mevorkhim Rosh Ḥodesh Shvat (1877)To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of the תְּחִנָה לְשַׁבָּת מְבָרְכִים רֹאשׁ חוֺדֶשׁ שְׁבָט (“Tkhine for Shabbat Mevorkhim Rosh Ḥodesh Shvat”) which appeared in תחנות מקרא קודש (Teḥinot Miqra Qodesh, Widow and Brothers Romm, Vilna 1877). English translation adapted slightly from Techinas: A Voice from the Heart “As Only A Woman Can Pray” by Rivka Zakutinsky (Aura Press, 1992). –A.N. Varady . . . תְּחִנָה לְשַׁבָּת מְבָרְכִים רֹאשׁ חוֹדֶשׁ אַדָר רִאשׁוֹן | Tkhine for Shabbat Mevorkhim Rosh Ḥodesh Adar א on Leap Years (1877)To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of the תְּחִנָה לְשַׁבָּת מְבָרְכִים רֹאשׁ חוֺדֶשׁ אַדָר רִאשׁוֹן (“Tkhine for Shabbat Mevorkhim Rosh Ḥodesh Adar I”) which appeared in תחנות מקרא קודש (Teḥinot Miqra Qodesh, Widow and Brothers Romm, Vilna 1877). English translation adapted slightly from Techinas: A Voice from the Heart “As Only A Woman Can Pray” by Rivka Zakutinsky (Aura Press, 1992). –A.N. Varady . . . תְּחִנָה לְשַׁבָּת מְבָרְכִים רֹאשׁ חוֹדֶשׁ אַדָר | Tkhine for Shabbat Mevorkhim Rosh Ḥodesh Adar ב and Adar on regular non-leap years (1877)To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of the תְּחִנָה לְשַׁבָּת מְבָרְכִים רֹאשׁ חוֺדֶשׁ אַדָר (“Tkhine for Shabbat Mevorkhim Rosh Ḥodesh Adar [II]”) which appeared in תחנות מקרא קודש (Teḥinot Miqra Qodesh, Widow and Brothers Romm, Vilna 1877). English translation adapted slightly from Techinas: A Voice from the Heart “As Only A Woman Can Pray” by Rivka Zakutinsky (Aura Press, 1992). –A.N. Varady . . . 📖 עלת תמיד (רפורמי) | Olath Tamid: Book of Prayers for Israelitish Congregations, by David Einhorn (English translation, 1872)Rabbi David Einhorn’s (1809-1878) prayer book `Olat Tamid (lit. the perpetual sacrifice)…first penned in Germany, served as the model for the Union Prayer Book,….the prayer book of the American Reform movement for almost eight decades. It reflected what is now called “classical Reform,” eliminating prayers for the restoration of Zion, mentions of the messiah, and bodily resurrection of the dead, while diminishing mentions of Jewish chosenness and the like. . . . Categories: Comprehensive (Kol Bo) Siddurim 📖 עלת תמיד (רפורמי) | Olat Tamid: Gebetbuch für Israelitische Reform-Gemeinden, by Rabbi David Einhorn (1858)Rabbi David Einhorn’s prayer book `Olat Tamid (lit. the perpetual sacrifice)…first penned in Germany, served as the model for the Union Prayer Book,….the prayer book of the American Reform movement for almost eight decades. It reflected what is now called “classical Reform,” eliminating prayers for the restoration of Zion, mentions of the messiah, and bodily resurrection of the dead, while diminishing mentions of Jewish chosenness and the like. This is עלת תמיד Olat Tamid by Rev. Dr. David Einhorn (1809-1878), in its German-Hebrew edition (1858). . . . Categories: Comprehensive (Kol Bo) Siddurim | ||
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