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2018 —⟶ Page 8 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: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Early Religious Zionist, Labor Zionism, national anthems, physical labor, Prayers as poems, תחזקנה Teḥezaqnah Contributor(s): 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: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Greek speaking Jewry, Greek translation, minhag Corfu, Needing Decompilation, Needing Proofreading, Needing Transcription, Nusaḥ Sefaradi, Yevanit Contributor(s): 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) Tags: Contributor(s): The paraliturgical tkhine for the new month of Nissan read on the shabbat preceding the new moon during the blessing over new month. . . . Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Aries, Leah, Mazal Taleh, naḥshon ben aminadav, new moon, paraliturgical birkat haḥodesh, paraliturgical teḥinot, שבת מבורכים shabbat mevorkhim, Shevet Yehudah, תחינות teḥinot, the first month, תחינות tkhines, Yiddish vernacular prayer Contributor(s): 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 . . . Categories: 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 Contributor(s): 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 . . . 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 . . . 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 . . . Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Bilhah, Haman, Mazal Dagim, Mordekhai, Naphtali, Needing Transcription, new moon, paraliturgical birkat haḥodesh, paraliturgical teḥinot, Pisces, Queen Esther, שבת מבורכים shabbat mevorkhim, תחינות teḥinot, תחינות tkhines, Yiddish vernacular prayer Contributor(s): 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: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., American Reform Movement, Classical Reform, Needing Decompilation, Needing Transcription, North America Contributor(s): 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: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., American Reform Movement, Classical Reform, German Jewry, German Reform Movement, German-speaking Jewry, Needing Decompilation, Needing Transcription Contributor(s): This is Fanny Neuda’s prayer “on Simḥat Torah,” faithfully transcribed and proofread with the help of German Wikisource contributors from Fanny Neuda’s Stunden Der Andacht (1855), p. 66-67. We are happy to share your translation of Neuda’s tkhines in any language. The translation provided here was made by Julia Watts Belser for Hours of Devotion: Fanny Neuda’s Book of Prayers for Jewish Women (ed. Dinah Berland, Schocken 2007), and set here for the first time side-by-side with Neuda’s original German. . . . Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Bohemian Jewry, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, תחינות teḥinot, Teḥinot in German Contributor(s): This is the prayer for Rosh Ḥodesh (the day of the New Moon, and first day of the month in the Jewish calendar) included by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda in her collection of teḥinot in vernacular German, Stunden der Andacht (1855). Fanny Neuda likely either composed or translated this teḥinah into German (from Yiddish) while performing in the capacity of firzogerin (precentress) of the weibershul (women’s gallery) in her husband’s synagogue in Loštice, Bohemia. The translation in English was made by Moritz Mayer in his abridged translation of Neuda’s collection, Hours of Devotion (1866). . . . Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Bohemian Jewry, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, תחינות teḥinot, Teḥinot in German Contributor(s): This is Prayer for the Shabbat preceding the New Moon (Shabbat Mevorkhim) included by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda in her collection of teḥinot in vernacular German, Stunden der Andacht (1855). Fanny Neuda likely either composed or translated this teḥinah into German (from Yiddish) while performing in the capacity of firzogerin (precentress) of the weibershul (women’s gallery) in her husband’s synagogue in Loštice, Bohemia. . . . Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Bohemian Jewry, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, paraliturgical teḥinot, תחינות teḥinot, Teḥinot in German Contributor(s): A meditation and a teḥinah (supplicatory prayer) composed in parallel to the Prayer for Thursday, following in the paraliturgical tradition of Yiddish tkhines, albeit written in French. . . . This is a paraliturgical prayer for rain during the wet season, read during the festival of Sukkot, following in the tradition of Yiddish tkhines, albeit written in French. The prayer was included by Rabbi Arnaud Aron and Jonas Ennery in their opus, אמרי לב Prières d’un Coeur Israelite (first edition) published in 1848 by the Société Consistoriale de Bons Livres. . . . Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., French Jewry, French vernacular prayer, גשם geshem, hazon et hakol, paraliturgical tefilat geshem, Prayers for Precipitation, Rain, water is life Contributor(s): To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of a teḥinah (supplicatory prayer) composed in parallel to the Prayer for the New Moon, following in the paraliturgical tradition of Yiddish tkhines, albeit written in French. . . . On Tisha be’Av, Jewish communities all over the world add a paragraph called Tefilat Naḥem (the prayer of comfort) to the standard daily Amidah (either for the afternoon service or for all services) praying for a return to Jerusalem. The traditional text discusses Jerusalem being defiled, in the hands of the idol worshipers, putting our people to the sword. But post-1967, Jerusalem has been under Israeli control, and this text has, to many people, felt no longer appropriate in the face of a Jerusalem being rebuilt. Many have written their own versions of a new Tefilat Naḥem for a Jerusalem under Israeli control, but I have felt dissatisfied with a lot of these. Some treat Jerusalem as already fully redeemed, which any glance at the news tells you isn’t the case. Others treat the major step in redeeming Jerusalem as building the Temple, but this seems to me to be only one eschatological part of a larger hope for Jerusalem. Jews have often considered the peace of Jerusalem to be a microcosm of the peace of all the earth. Thus for the Shabbat and Yom Tov Hashkivenu we pray for God to “spread the shelter of peace over us, all Israel, and Jerusalem.” The name Jerusalem, ירושלים, has been analyzed as “they will see peace” יראו שלום, since the peace of Jerusalem means all will see peace. But it’s clear that the peace of Jerusalem is not final or eternal, and it remains a city on the edge of a knife. So my version of Tefilat Naḥem prays not for a return, nor for a Temple, but for the peace of Jerusalem. It can be used at the same time as the standard Tefilat Naḥem (as an extension of the Birkat Yerushalayim in the Shmoneh Esreh for Tisha b’Av) or on its own. Thus I used four asterisks (a tetrapuncta) instead of God’s name, for those who would prefer to avoid a b’rakhah levatalah. Those who would prefer to use this blessing in the Amidah itself could replace the tetrapuncta with the name itself. . . . Reb Noson’s Likutei Tefillot I:37 contains teḥinot derived from Rebbe Naḥman’s Likutei Moharan I:37. . . . Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., anti-Enlightenment, Breslov, children's education, curses, dveykut, fasting, גלגול נפשות gilgul nefashot, חסידי ברצלב Ḥasidei Bratslav (Breslov), kosher slaughter, Likutei Tefilot, memory, Needing Proofreading, pedagogy, Prayers adapted from teachings, Problematic prayers, שחיטה sheḥitah, שוחטים shoḥtim, spiritual hunger and thirst, תחינות teḥinot, transmigration of souls, צדקה tsedaqah Contributor(s): A prayer upon preparing ḥallot for Shabbat. . . . Categories: Tags: 18th century C.E., 56th century A.M., baking ḥallah, eros, German vernacular prayer, חלה challah ḥallah, taking dough, תחינות teḥinot Contributor(s): In many Jewish communities around the world, there have been traditional scrolls read for “local Purims,” celebrating redemptions for a specific community. Here in America, we don’t really have an equivalent to that. But we do have Thanksgiving, a day heavily inspired by Biblical traditions of celebration, and one long associated with all that is good about America. Some Jewish communities have a tradition on Thanksgiving of reading Washington’s letter to the Jews of Newport, where he vows to support freedom of religion, famously writing that the United States “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance” – thus rephrasing words originally written in a prior letter by Moses Seixas (say-shas), the sexton of the Touro Synagogue in Newport. This text includes the original English of both Moses Seixas’ letter to Washington and Washington’s return, as well as a somewhat simplified version of the story of Washington’s visit to Newport. Inspired largely by the style of the Book of Esther, it could be read on Thanksgiving morning during the service, using Esther melodies (or going on detours as per personal choice). . . . Categories: 🇺🇸 George Washington's Birthday Readings, Extracanonical Megillot, Modern Miscellany, 🇺🇸 Thanksgiving Day Readings, Purim Sheni Readings Tags: 18th century C.E., 56th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, George Washington, Newport, Revolutionary War, Spanish-Portuguese, State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Western Sepharadim Contributor(s): | ||
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