September 2020 • the Open Siddur Project ✍ פְּרוֺיֶקְט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ

אדמה ושמים | Adamah v’Shamayim (Earth & Heaven), a prayer-poem by Rabbi Louis Polisson after the song by Shimon Lev-Tahor (Suissa)

Contributor(s):

This poem was composed at the end of August 2020 / Elul 5780 as part of Rabbi Katy Allen’s Earth Etudes for Elul 5780. . . .

The Sweeping Story of Rosh haShanah Musaf — in Color! by Rabbi Barry Kornblau

Contributor(s):

Barry Kornblau

The major themes of the Rosh haShanah musaf liturgy, color coded with the three central blessings of the service presented comparatively in parallel columns. . . .

Al Ḥeyt, a paraliturgical translation by Shelby Handler & Maia Brown

Contributor(s):

Shelby Handler and Maia Brown

This prayer is not a comprehensive list of every single sin we sinned, every error we erred, every mark we missed. The original Al Ḥeyt is intended to show us the roots of all failures, to dig beneath how we harm, to see where that hurt came from. We follow these trails together, not absolved from our own repairs, but never alone in struggles to uproot, to propagate new ways of being ourselves, new ways of being ourselves, of being together. . . .

💬 קריאות לראש השנה לבהמה | Torah and Haftarah Readings for Rosh haShanah la-Behemot on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and the Masoretic Text

A reading for the New Year’s Day for Animals — Rosh haShanah laBehemot — on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul. . . .

ברכת המזון לסעודה מפסקת לפני יום הכפורים | Birkat haMazon for the Pre-Fast Meal for Yom Kippur, by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

This acrostic poetic form of Birkat haMazon was written for the se’udah mafseqet (pre-fast meal) before Yom Kippur, in the manner of the poetic Birkat haMazon variants recorded in the Cairo Geniza. . . .

📄 סֵדֶר סִימָנִים לְרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה – שִׁכְתּוּב אַנְגְּלִי שֶׁשּׁוֹמֵר לָשׁוֹן־שֶׁנּוֹפֵל־עַל־לָשׁוֹן | Order of Simanim for Rosh haShanah — an English paraphrase that preserves wordplay, by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Many communities have a custom of reciting “simanim” on the night of Rosh haShanah — invocations on a series of foods punning over their Hebrew or Aramaic names. This is an assortment of common simanim, along with English loose translations that preserve the punning aspects of the foods. . . .

Blessing for Rosh Ḥodesh Tishrei, by Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit

Contributor(s):

Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit

A soulful, playful, embodied, grounded poem for announcing the new moon of Tishrei, for Rosh Ḥodesh Tishrei (otherwise known as Rosh HaShanah) and for the whole month. . . .

Kavvanot for before and after Tashlikh, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)

Contributor(s):

David Seidenberg and neohasid.org

Two kavvanot, one for before and one for after casting away in a Tashlikh ritual. . . .

A Blessing for all our Children [at the Onset of the School Year], by Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Contributor(s):

Menachem Creditor

A prayer for children on the first day of a new year of school. . . .

ברכה לילדים | Blessing for Children [at the Onset of the School Year] (Siddur Tefilat ha-Adam, Israeli Reform Movement 2020)

Contributor(s):

Louis Polisson, Alona Lisitsa and Anonymous Author(s)

A prayer for children at the onset of the school year. . . .

I can’t breathe, We can’t breathe, Earth can’t breathe, a prayer-poem by Rabbi Arthur Waskow (the Shalom Center 2020)

Contributor(s):

Arthur Waskow and the Shalom Center

A prayer-poem by Rabbi Arthur Waskow reflecting on our difficulty breathing, as a society, as humanity, and as a interconnected, interbreathing biosphere. . . .

תחינה לימי נגיף הקורונה | Supplication for the Days of the Coronavirus (Masorti Movement in Israel 2020)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (translation) and Masorti Movement in Israel

A prayer disseminated by the Masorti Movement in Israel in response to the Coronavirus outbreak in Israel and around the world. . . .

A Prayer for the New Year (5781), by Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Contributor(s):

Menachem Creditor

“A Prayer for the New Year (5781)” was first published by Rabbi Menachem Creditor online at his Facebook Page and shared with the Open Siddur Project through our Facebook discussion group. . . .

תפילה קודם תפילה בציבור בימי קורונה | Prayer Preceding Communal Prayer During the Coronavirus Pandemic, by Rabbi Binyamin Holtzman (2020)

Contributor(s):

Louis Polisson and Binyamin Holtzman

A prayer for health and safety in public, communal prayer during the time of the coronavirus pandemic. . . .

ברכה למורים | Blessing for Teachers (Siddur Tefilat ha-Adam, Israeli Reform Movement 2020)

Contributor(s):

Alona Lisitsa

A prayer for teachers at the onset of the school year. . . .

Just for a Moment, a prayer-poem by Rabbi Menachem Creditor (2020)

Contributor(s):

Menachem Creditor

A prayer-poem by Rabbi Menachem Creditor reflecting on the challenges of the year 2020 up till Rosh haShanah. . . .

📖 סדר אכילת הסמנים | Seder Akhilat haSimanim for Rosh Hashanah 5881, by Ḥayyim Obadyah (2020)

Contributor(s):

Ḥayyim Obadyah

A liturgy of symbolic foods exclusively for the eve of the Hebrew new year 5781. A traditional egalitarian Hebrew text being a newly revised liturgy with contemporary text and additional prayers suitable to our perilous and worrisome state at the beginning of this second year of the pandemic and including a modern English translation together with learned annotations and guidance for observance in the home. . . .

📖 Abridged Prayer Book for Jews in the Army and Navy of the United States (National Jewish Welfare Board 1917)

Contributor(s):

the National Jewish Welfare Board

The first bilingual and interdenominational prayerbook prepared for soldiers and sailors in the United States Army & Navy in World War I. . . .

📖 ש״ס תחנה רב פנינים | Shas Teḥinah Rav Peninim (Hebrew Publishing Company 1916)

Contributor(s):

Hebrew Publishing Company

A popular collection of tkhines compiled from earlier collections by the Hebrew Publishing Company. . . .

Prayer for the Congregation and the Government, by the Central Conference of American Rabbis (1895)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR)

A prayer for the government composed by the Central Conference of American Rabbis and included in their Union Prayer Book. . . .

📖 סדר תחנות ובקשות | Seder Teḥinot u’Baqashot (Rödelheim 1891)

Contributor(s):

J. Lehrberger & Company (Druck und Verlag, Rödelheim)

An authoritative edition of the Seder Teḥinot (Seyder Tkhines) from the esteemed Rödelheim publishing house. . . .

כִּי־בַיּוֹם הַזֶּה | Ki vaYom haZeh, a Ḳaraite song for Yom Kippur

Contributor(s):

Ḳaraite Jews of America and Unknown Author(s)

A Karaite song for the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). . . .

תְחִינָה פון דיא מִצְוה הַדְלָקַת הַנֵר | Prayer for the Mitsvah of Kindling the Shabbat Lights, by Sarah bat Tovim from the Tkhine of Three Gates (ca. early 18th c.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Tracy Guren Klirs (translation) and Sarah bat Tovim

The Prayer for the mitsvot of kindling the lights of Shabbat from the Teḥinah of the Three Gates by Sarah bat Tovim (18th century). . . .

תחנה פאר די ליכט מאכין אום ערב יום כפור | Tkhine for Candlemaking on Erev Yom Kippur, by Sarah bat Tovim (ca. early 18th c.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Tracy Guren Klirs (translation) and Sarah bat Tovim

This is the tkhine for candlemaking on erev Yom Kippur as found in Sarah bat Tovim’s Tkhine of Three Gates, likely written by her sometime in the early 18th century. . . .

תְחִינָה פון דיא מִצְוֺת חַלָה | Prayer for the Mitsvot of Preparing Ḥallah, by Sarah bat Tovim from the Tkhine of Three Gates (ca. early 18th c.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Tracy Guren Klirs (translation) and Sarah bat Tovim

The Prayer for the mitsvot of preparing Ḥallah from the Teḥinah of the Three Gates by Sarah bat Tovim (18th century). . . .

זֶה יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן [א׳]‏ | Zeh Yom Rishon [a], a song for Yom T’ruah by Ḥakham Zeraḥ ben Nathan of Troki (early 17th c.)

Contributor(s):

Ḳaraite Jews of America and Zeraḥ ben Natan of Troki

An early 17th century song for Yom T’ruah (Rosh haShanah) by Karaite Ḥakham, Zeraḥ ben Nathan of Troki. . . .

זֶה יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן [ב׳]‏ | Zeh Yom Rishon [b], a song for Yom T’ruah by Ḥakham Zeraḥ ben Nathan of Troki (early 17th c.)

Contributor(s):

Ḳaraite Jews of America and Zeraḥ ben Natan of Troki

An early 17th century song for Yom T’ruah (Rosh haShanah) by Karaite Ḥakham, Zeraḥ ben Nathan of Troki. . . .

אֲדוֹן הַסְּלִיחוֹת | Adon haSeliḥot (Lord of Forgiveness), a pizmon for Seliḥot and Yom Kippur

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Masorti Movement in Israel and Unknown Author(s)

A pizmon in the nusaḥ hasepharadim recited at Seliḥot during the monh of Elul and Yom Kippur. . . .

אבלה נפשי | Avlah Nafshi (My soul mourns), a seliḥah for Tsom Gedalyah attributed to Rav Saadia Gaon (10th c.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), David Asher (translation) and Saadiah ben Yosef Gaon

A seliḥah for the Fast of Gedalyah, attributed to Rav Saadia Gaon. . . .

הַיּוֹם תְּאַמְּצֵנוּ | haYom T’amtseinu, a piyyut for the end of musaf on Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation) and Unknown Author(s)

The full text of the alphabetic mesostic piyyut, Hayom, according to the Italian nusaḥ. . . .

תהלים ע״ט | Psalms 79, a new translation for 17 Tamuz by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), the Masoretic Text and Asaph ben Berechiah

A new translation of Psalms 79 for the 17th of Tamuz fast day of mourning. . . .