May 2020 • the Open Siddur Project ✍ פְּרוֺיֶּקט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ

Memorial Day Prayer at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, by Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff on 25 May 2020

Contributor(s):

Arnold E. Resnicoff

Categories:

Memorial/Decoration Day (last Monday of May)

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Invocation for a virtual Memorial Day ceremony at the Washington DC Vietnam War Veterans Memorial. . . .

📖 מחזור תפילות חיינו חלק א׳ | Maḥzor Tefilot Ḥayyeinu vol.1: For Weekday Mornings, by Joshua Giorgio-Rubin (2020)

Contributor(s):

Joshua Giorgio-Rubin

Categories:

Morning siddurim

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., weekdays

A weekday morning siddur in Hebrew with English translation prepared by Joshua Giorgio-Rubin adapted from traditional sources. . . .

📖 The Hill Ḥavurah High Holiday Maḥzor (2019)

Contributor(s):

Categories:

Maḥzorim for Rosh haShanah, Maḥzorim for Yom haKippurim

Tags:

District of Columbia, Hill Havurah, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M.

A bilingual Hebrew and English High Holiday (Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur) maḥzor prepared for the Hill Havurah congregation in Washington, D.C. . . .

אֱלֹהַי נְשָׁמָה | Elohai Neshamah, a paraliturgical reflection by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Contributor(s):

Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Categories:

Birkhot haShaḥar

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, shame resilience, paraliturgical elohai neshamah, אלהי נשמה Elohai neshamah

A paraliturgical reflection on the prayer over being animated with life sustaining breath, Elohai Neshamah, for a shame resilience practice. . . .

אֲשֶׁר יָצַר | Asher Yatsar, a paraliturgical reflection by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Contributor(s):

Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Categories:

Birkhot haShaḥar, Well-being, health, and caregiving

Tags:

all bodies, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., אשר יצר Asher Yatsar, Bathroom Prayer, English vernacular prayer, shame resilience, paraliturgical asher yatsar, excretion

A paraliturgical reflection on the prayer following urination and defecation, Asher Yatsar, for a shame resilience practice. . . .

ברכות השחר | Birkhot haShaḥar (Morning Blessings), paraliturgical reflections by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Contributor(s):

Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Categories:

Birkhot haShaḥar

Tags:

58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, 1st century C.E., shame resilience, paraliturgical birkhot hashaḥar

Paraliturgical reflections of the morning blessings for a shame resilience practice. . . .

בִּרְכוֹת הַתּוֹרָה | Birkhot haTorah, paraliturgical reflections by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Contributor(s):

Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Categories:

Birkhot haTorah, Birkhot haShaḥar, Torah Study

Tags:

English vernacular prayer, shame resilience, ברכות התורה birkhot haTorah, paraliturgical birkhot haTorah, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M.

A paraliturgical reflection on the blessings over learning Torah, the Birkhot haTorah, for a shame resilience practice. . . .

מַה־טֹּבוּ | Mah Tovu, a paraliturgical reflection by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Contributor(s):

Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Categories:

Entering Sacred Spaces

Tags:

shame resilience, paraliturgical mah tovu, מה טבו mah tovu, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer

A paraliturgical reflection of the prayer for entering sacred communal spaces, Mah Tovu, for a shame resilience practice. . . .

רִבּוֹן הָעוֹלָמִים | Ribon HaOlamim, a paraliturgical reflection by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Contributor(s):

Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Categories:

Birkhot haShaḥar

Tags:

shame resilience, kabbalat ol malkhut shamayim, paraliturgical ribon haOlamim, שמע shema, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., רבון העולמים Ribon haOlamim, English vernacular prayer

A paraliturgical reflection of the prayer Ribon haOlamim for a shame resilience practice. . . .

Thanksgiving Day Prayer, by Rabbi Max Klein (1954)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Max D. Klein

Categories:

Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday of November)

Tags:

thanksgiving, 20th century C.E., United States, 58th century A.M., Philadelphia, English vernacular prayer, American Jewry of the United States

A prayer of gratitude to be recited on Thanksgiving Day (or the Shabbat prior). . . .

Leányka reggeli imája | Morning prayer for young girls, by Rabbi Ferenc Hevesi (1930)

Contributor(s):

Chana Deutsch (Magyar translation) and Ferenc Hevesi

Categories:

Birkhot haShaḥar

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Jewish Women's Prayers, children's prayers, Hungarian Jewry, Magyar vernacular prayer

A morning prayer for young girls composed in Magyar and published in 1930, with English translation. . . .

Ima a királyért és a hazáért | Prayer for the King and the Homeland [of Hungary], by Rabbi Simon Hevesi (1911)

Contributor(s):

Chana Deutsch (Magyar translation) and Simon Hevesi

Categories:

Government & Country, Hungary

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., paraliturgical prayer for the government, Magyar vernacular prayer

A paraliturgical prayer for the government presented opposite Hanoten T’shuah in Rabbi Simon Hevesi’s siddur Ateret Shalom v’Emet (1911). . . .

Az uralkodóház és a hazáért | Prayer for the King [Franz Joseph Ⅰ] and the [Hungarian] Homeland, by Rabbi Gyula Fischer (1908)

Contributor(s):

Chana Deutsch (Magyar translation) and Gyula Fischer

Categories:

Government & Country, Hungary

Tags:

Hungarian Jewry, Magyar vernacular prayer, Franz Joseph I of Austria, 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Jewish Women's Prayers, paraliturgical hanoten teshuah, הנותן תשועה haNotén Teshuah

Modeled after the prayer Hanoten T’shuah, this patriotic paraliturgical prayer for the Kingdom of Hungary by Rabbi Gyula Fischer was published in the prayerbook for Jewish women, Rachel: imák zsidó nők számára (1908). . . .

📖 Rachel: Imák Zsidó Nők Számára, by Gyula Fischer with József Patai (1908)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (digital imaging and document preparation), József Patai, Gyula Fischer and Gabor Weisz

Categories:

Personal & Paraliturgical Prayer collections

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Jewish Women's Prayers, Hungarian Jewry, teḥinot in Magyar

A prayerbook for women in Hebrew and Magyar. . . .

💬 מְגִלַּת לִינְקוֹן | Megillat Lincoln, a Purim Sheni scroll for the 13th of Tevet commemorating the revocation of Ulysses S. Grant’s General Order № 11 (1862, 2020)

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Categories:

Megillot, Modern Miscellany, Purim Sheni Readings

Tags:

Slaveholders' Rebellion (1861-1865), General Order No. 11, 19th century C.E., Ulysses Grant, United States, Cesar Kaskel, Emancipation, 57th century A.M., Abraham Lincoln, American Jewry of the United States

A megillah for a Purim Sheni commemorating a day of salvation the Jewry of the United States during the Civil War. . . .

מַה־טֹּבוּ | Priêre en entrant dans le Temple, a paraliturgical Mah Tovu by Rabbi Arnaud Aron & Jonas Ennery (1848)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (translation), Jonas Ennery and Arnaud Aron

Categories:

Entering Sacred Spaces

Tags:

57th century A.M., Synagogues, French Jewry, French vernacular prayer, paraliturgical mah tovu, מה טבו mah tovu, 19th century C.E., English Translation

A paraliturgical Mah Tovu, in French with English translation. . . .

אָב הָרַחֲמִים שׁוֹכֵן מְרוֹמִים | Av haRaḥamim Shokhein Meromim, a prayer for the martyred during the First Crusade & Rhineland massacres

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Unknown Author(s)

Categories:

Shavuot, After the Aliyot, Tishah b'Av, Pogroms & Genocide

Tags:

People's Crusade, Rhineland Massacres, prayers following pogroms, 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., First Crusade

A prayer for those martyred in the First Crusade and Rhineland Massacres, and by extension, all subsequent pogroms up until and including the Holocaust. . . .

אמעריקע | America (My Country, ‘Tis of Thee), a patriotic hymn by Samuel Francis Smith (1832) with Yiddish translation by Berl Lapin (1950)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Berl Lapin (translation) and Samuel Francis Smith

Categories:

National Arbor Day (last Friday in April), Independence Day (July 4th)

Tags:

doikayt, hereness, 19th century C.E., United States, זמירות zemirot, 57th century A.M., Yiddish translation, Yiddish songs, American Jewry of the United States, Patriotic hymns

The well-known patriotic hymn with a Yiddish translation. . . .

ברכת המזון לשבועות ‬| Birkat haMazon for Shavuot, according to the Cairo Geniza fragment ‫T-S H6.37 vocalized and translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)

Categories:

Shavuot, Blessings After Eating

Tags:

acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, Cairo Geniza, ברכת המזון birkat hamazon

A Birkat haMazon for Shavuot presenting an alphabetic acrostic from a manuscript preserved in the Cairo Geniza. . . .

אֶת כּוֹס יְשׁוּעוֹת | Et Kos Yeshu`ot, a Havdalah song by Elyaqim

Contributor(s):

Neria Haroeh (translation), Ḳaraite Jews of America and Elyaqim haPayyetan

Categories:

Tags:

Acrostic signature, הבדלות havdalot, זמירות zemirot, acrostic

A zemirah for havdallah by an otherwise unknown rabbinic payyetan known only by his signature acrostic. . . .

אָמוֹן יוֹם זֶה | Amon Yom Zeh, an introduction to the Azharot of ibn Gabirol by David ben Elazar ibn Paquda (ca. 12th c.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (translation), Moses Gaster (translation) and David ben Elazar ibn Paquda

Categories:

Tags:

Har Sinai, Decalogue, התורה the Torah, Nusaḥ Sefaradi, Azharot, acrostic, פיוטים piyyutim, 12th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Acrostic signature, theophany

A poetic introduction to the Azharot of Solomon ibn Gabirol read in the afternoon of Shavuot by Sefaradim. . . .

מימיני מיכאל | “Mikhael is on my right,” an apotropaic invocation of angelic protection in the Bedtime Shema from the Maḥzor Vitry (ca. 11th c.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (translation), Dan Levene, Dalia Marx and Simḥah ben Shmuel of Vitry

Categories:

Incantations, Adjurations, & Amulets, Bedtime Shema

Tags:

night, Angels of Healing, sleep, Angels, Before Sleep, Angelic Protection, 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., שכינה Shekhinah, apotropaic prayers of protection, danger

An “angels on all sides” formula included with the Bedtime Shema service in the Maḥzor Vitry. . . .

אַקְדָמוּת מִילִין | Aḳdamut Milin, a preface to the Targum for the Shavuot Torah Reading, attributed to Meir ben Isaac Nehorai of Orléans (ca. 11th c.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Cantor Hinda Labovitz and Meir ben Isaac Nehorai of Orléans

Categories:

Tags:

11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Acrostic signature, אקדמות Aqdamut, acrostic, בהמות behemot, Aramaic, פיוטים piyyutim, תרגום targum, Alphabetic Acrostic

An Aramaic piyyut composed as an introduction to the reading of the Targum for the Torah reading on Shavuot. . . .

כְּהַיּוֹם הַזֶּה בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם | k’Hayom HaZeh Birushalayim (This day in Jerusalem), a wedding prayer from the Seder Rav Amram Gaon (ca. 9th c.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (translation), Gabriel Kretzmer Seed (translation), Jeffrey Saks (translation) and Amram Ben Rav Sheshna

Categories:

Engagements & Weddings

Tags:

wedding blessings, 9th century C.E., 47th century A.M., Geonic prayers, Needing Vocalization

A well-wishing prayer for couples on their wedding day found in the Seder Rav Amram Gaon. . . .

כשיוצא אדם בלילה | When a person goes out at night: an apotropaic invocation of angelic protection in the Seder Rav Amram Gaon (ca. 9th c.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (translation), Dan Levene, Dalia Marx and Amram Ben Rav Sheshna

Categories:

Travel, Bedtime Shema

Tags:

night, Angels, Angelic Protection, שכינה Shekhinah, mid-first millennium CE, apotropaic prayers of protection, 9th century C.E., traveler, 47th century A.M., danger

An apotropaic prayer of protection for traveling at night containing an “angels on all sides” formula. . . .

מִימִינִי מִיכָאֵל | “Mikhael is on my right,” the angelic invocation for divine protection from the Ḳriyat Shema al haMitah

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Unknown Author(s)

Categories:

Tags:

danger, night, sleep, Angels, Before Sleep, Angelic Protection, שכינה Shekhinah, apotropaic prayers of protection

The “angels on all sides” formula included with the Bedtime Shema service in many contemporary siddurim. . . .

גבריאל מימינהון | “Gavriel is on the right,” an apotropaic invocation of angelic protection in the amulet bowl SD12 (ca. mid-first millennium C.E.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (translation), Dan Levene and Dalia Marx

Categories:

Incantations, Adjurations, & Amulets, Bedtime Shema, Homes & Community Centers

Tags:

קמעות qame'ot (amulets), amulet bowls, Angels, prophylactic, Angelic Protection, שכינה Shekhinah, mid-first millennium CE, apotropaic prayers of protection

The text and translation of an amulet bowl discussed in “‘Gabriel is on their Right’: Angelic Protection in Jewish Magic and Babylonian Lore” by Dan Levene, Dalia Marx, and Siam Bharyo in Studia Mesopotamica (Band 1: 2014) pp.185-198. The apotropaic ward found in the amulet bowl, SD 12, contains an “angels on all sides” formula similar to that appearing in the Jewish liturgy of the bedtime shema. . . .

💬 מזמור לבן סירא על זכות אבותינו (פרקים מד-נ)‏ | Paean of Ben Sira on the Merit of the Ancestors (ch. 44-50), vocalized and cantillated with the Poetic Masoretic System by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira

Categories:

Second Temple Period, Yom Kippur

Tags:

36th century A.M., Classical Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, Ecclesiasticus, Jews of Alexandria, Cairo Geniza, Mar'eh Kohen, 2nd century B.C.E.

The poem lauding the ancestors from Chapters 44 to 50 of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) is considered by many scholars to be the original influence for the Yom Kippur Avodah service, and the paean to Shimon the Righteous bears a striking similarity to the beloved piyyut “Mar’eh Khohen.” This passage from Ben Sira, the great paean on the merit of the ancestors, takes the Hebrew text of one of the Cairo Geniza manuscripts — Bodleian MS Heb e62 — and versifies it according to the standard Septuagintal text, along with vocalization and cantillation per the standard Masoretic EMe”T system for poetic books. It could be read on Yom Kippur for the avodah service, or just studied as a fascinating piece of Jewish history. . . .

תהלים קנ״א | Psalms 151a, according to the Nusaḥ of the Judean Desert Scrolls, Edited, Vocalized, Cantillated, and Translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Unknown Author(s) and David haMelekh ben Yishai (traditional attribution)

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

Antiquity, apocryphal psalms, Psalms 151, Judaean Desert Scrolls

Psalm 151a is unlike any other psalm, because it is openly and clearly a description of David’s own life. He describes his childhood as the youngest of the family, and his anointing. It may have not been included as part of the Masoretic canon because this dissimilarity leads to just a whiff of pseudepigraphical overcompensation. [The psalm is designated Psalms 151a to destinguish it from the text of Psalms 151 found in the Septuagint. –ANV] . . .

תהלים קנ״ד | Psalms 154, according to the Nusaḥ of the Judean Desert Scrolls, Edited, Vocalized, Cantillated, and Translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Unknown Author(s)

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

Psalms 151, Judaean Desert Scrolls, Antiquity, apocryphal psalms

Psalm 154 seems to be a hymn of communal eating, very appropriate for the communal life of Qumran, but also features a very Proverbs-like anthropomorphization of Wisdom as a woman. Of the three apocryphal psalms recorded in the Dead Sea Scrolls, this one seems the most likely to have been written with sectarian intent, which may have been why it wasn’t included in the Masoretic canon. . . .

תהלים קנ״ה | Psalms 155, according to the Nusaḥ of the Judean Desert Scrolls, Edited, Vocalized, Cantillated, and Translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Unknown Author(s)

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, Antiquity, apocryphal psalms, Psalms 151, Judaean Desert Scrolls

Psalm 155 is an incomplete acrostic (the Dead Sea Scrolls text records it going from ב to נ, and the Syriac can be reconstructed to include up to פ) with similarities to petitionary psalms like Psalm 3, 22, and 143. It is unclear why it was not included in the Masoretic canon, but one can hazard a guess that it was just not familiar to the compilers. . . .

💬 מגילת רות | Megillat Rūt: Chantable English translation with trōp, by Len Fellman

Contributor(s):

Len Fellman (translation) and the Masoretic Text

Categories:

Rūt (Ruth), Shavuot Readings

Tags:

English Translation, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Five Megillot, Cantillated readings in English, Megillah Readings in English, transtropilation

A Megillah reading of Rūt (Ruth) with English translation, transtropilized. . . .

💬 Haftarah Reading for Parashat Naso (Judges 13:2-25): Chantable English translation with trōp, by Len Fellman

Contributor(s):

Len Fellman (translation) and the Masoretic Text

Categories:

Parashat Naso, Shoftim (Judges)

Tags:

English Translation, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Cantillated readings in English, transtropilation, הפטרות haftarot

The haftarah reading for Parashat Naso, in English translation, transtropilized. . . .

💬 Haftarah Reading for the Second Day of Shavuot (Ḥabaquq 2:20-3:19): Chantable English translation with trōp, by Len Fellman

Contributor(s):

Len Fellman (translation), the Masoretic Text and Ḥabaquq haNavi

Categories:

Shavuot Readings, Ḥabaquq

Tags:

transtropilation, הפטרות haftarot, English Translation, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Cantillated readings in English

The haftarah reading for the second day of Shavuot, in English translation, transtropilized. . . .

💬 Haftarah Reading for Parashat b’Midbar (Hosea 2:1-22): Chantable English translation with trōp, by Len Fellman

Contributor(s):

Len Fellman (translation) and the Masoretic Text

Categories:

Parashat b'Midbar, Hoshea

Tags:

הפטרות haftarot, English Translation, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Cantillated readings in English, transtropilation

The haftarah reading for Parashat b’Midbar, in English translation, transtropilized. . . .

💬 Haftarah Reading for the First Day of Shavuot (Ezekiel 1:1-28 & 3:12): Chantable English translation with trōp, by Len Fellman

Contributor(s):

Len Fellman (translation), the Masoretic Text and Yeḥezqel ben Būzi haKohen

Categories:

Yeḥezqel (Ezekiel), Shavuot Readings

Tags:

58th century A.M., Cantillated readings in English, transtropilation, הפטרות haftarot, English Translation, 21st century C.E.

The haftarah reading for the first day of Shavuot, in English translation, transtropilized. . . .

💬 Haftarah Reading for Parashat Emor (Ezekiel 44:15-31): Chantable English translation with trōp, by Len Fellman

Contributor(s):

Len Fellman (translation) and the Masoretic Text

Categories:

Yeḥezqel (Ezekiel), Parashat Emor

Tags:

English Translation, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Cantillated readings in English, transtropilation, הפטרות haftarot

The haftarah reading for Parashat Emor, in English translation, transtropilized. . . .

💬 Haftarah Reading for Parashat b’Ḥuqotai (Jeremiah 16:19-17:14): Chantable English translation with trōp, by Len Fellman

Contributor(s):

Len Fellman (translation), the Masoretic Text and Yirmiyah ben Ḥilkiyah haKohen

Categories:

Yirmiyah (Jeremiah), Parashat b'Ḥuqotai

Tags:

English Translation, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Cantillated readings in English, transtropilation, הפטרות haftarot

The haftarah reading for Parashat b’Ḥuqotai, in English translation, transtropilized. . . .

💬 Haftarah Reading for Parashat beHar (Jeremiah 32:6-27): Chantable English translation with trōp, by Len Fellman

Contributor(s):

Len Fellman (translation), the Masoretic Text and Yirmiyah ben Ḥilkiyah haKohen

Categories:

Yirmiyah (Jeremiah), Parashat b'Har

Tags:

English Translation, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Cantillated readings in English, transtropilation, הפטרות haftarot

The haftarah reading for Parashat beHar, in English translation, transtropilized. . . .