the Open Siddur Project ✍︎ פְּרוֹיֶּקט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ
a community-grown, libre and open-source archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources
This project is sustained through reciprocity for those sharing prayers and crafting their own prayerbooks.
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Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff on 10 September 2021![]() ![]() ![]() The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 10 September 2021. . . . ![]() ![]() Invocation for a Memorial Day ceremony at the Washington DC Vietnam War Veterans Memorial. . . . תפלה להסרת מסכה | A Prayer for Removing the Mask, by Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx and Rabbi Inbar Bluzer Shalem (2021)![]() ![]() ![]() “A Prayer for Removing the Mask,” was composed by Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx and Rabbi Inbar Bluzer Shalem in June 2021. The English translation was made by Alex Cicelsky. . . . שמחת בת (זבד הבת) | Simḥat Bat: Zeved HaBat (The Gift of a Daughter), a Ceremony Guide to the Naming of a Jewish Girl by Dovi Seldowitz (2021)![]() ![]() This Simḥat Bat ceremony guide includes an order of blessings and ceremony with attention to various traditional customs regarding the use of blessings and prayers. The guide also includes words of Torah and rabbinic teachings which relate to the themes in the guide. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() Liturgy for a motsei shabbat havdallah ritual centering the experience of those with long-COVID. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer for America on the day upon which right-wing militias carried out an insurrection upon the representative democratic institution of the United States. . . . 💬 Purim 2021: From Darkness to Light, by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat & Rabbi David Evan Markus (Bayit: Building Jewish, 2021)![]() ![]() ![]() Tropified texts for Purim 2021 juxtaposing the text of Queen Esther with the words of Vice President Kamalla Harris and poet laureate Amanda Gorman. . . . ![]() ![]() This prayer for a parent (or primary caregiver) on the vaccination of their children by Cantor Hinda Labovitz was first shared via their Facebook page on 5 November 2021, . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer upon receiving a vaccination for COVID. . . . Inauguration Day Prayer for the Government of the United States, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org 2021)![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer for the government of the United States of America on the day of the 59th Presidential Inauguration. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer on being present in the moment of the inauguration of the 59th president of the United States. . . . לִשְׁמֹר הַשָּׁנָה שֶׁל שְׁמִטָּה | Candlelighting for Rosh haShanah, Shabbat, and Yom Tov during the Shmitah Year, by Rabbi Arthur Waskow![]() ![]() Four blessings to recite upon commencing the Shmitah year in candlelighting for Rosh haShanah, and to add to subsequent shabbat and festival candlelightings. . . . עד דלא ידע | Sources and Meditation Instructions for Not-knowing on Purim, by Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein (Applied Jewish Spirituality 2021)![]() ![]() Sources and meditation instructions excerpted from a larger source sheet on Not-knowing, Joy and Purim, from the Applied Jewish Spirituality “Kabbalah Through the Calendar” course. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer for the government on a day of violent insurrection in the heart of American democracy. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer of gratitude upon receiving a COVID vaccination. . . . ![]() ![]() paraliturgical elohai neshamah, 2020 coronavirus pandemic, אלהי נשמה Elohai neshamah, September 2020 Western United States wildfires, 2020 United States racial reckoning, 21st century C.E., State v. Chauvin, 58th century A.M., Prayers as poems, English vernacular prayer, paraliturgical nishmat kol ḥai A prayer-poem by Rabbi Arthur Waskow in 2021 reflecting on our difficulty breathing, as a society, as humanity, and as a interconnected, interbreathing biosphere. . . . הַכָּרָת רִבּוֹנוּת הָאָרֶץ | Indigenous Land Acknowledgment for Cincinnati, Ohio, by Aharon Varady (Havayah community, 2021)![]() ![]() ![]() An indigenous land acknowledgement for Jewish communities in Cincinnati, Ohio. . . . הושענא לימי הקרונה | Hoshana in the days of Corona for Sukkot 5782, by Rabbi Gustavo Surazski (2021)![]() ![]() ![]() A hoshana prayer in the times of the COVID pandemic. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A pre-Shavuot prayer in the shadow of the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. . . . 📖 זמירות המזרח: מחזור ליום כפור (מנהג הספרדים) | Zemirot haMizraḥ: Maḥzor for Yom Kippur, by Daniel Cayre (Kanisse 2021)![]() ![]() ![]() A bilingual Hebrew-English Sepharadi Jewish prayerbook (maḥzor) for Yom Kippur, with gender inclusive language, compiled and translated by Daniel Cayre for Kanisse: a Modern Sephardic + Mizrahi Community. . . . כַּפָּרוֹת | Kaparōt (using money dedicated for charity), the ritual for the expiation of offenses before Yom Kippur![]() ![]() ![]() The ritual of kaparot using a bundle of money dedicated for tsedaqah. . . . Trōpifying English and other Latin Script Language Readings with Masoretic Hebrew cantillation marks (t’amim, trōp)![]() ![]() A digital font integrating Masoretic Hebrew cantillation marks in languages presented in Latin scripts. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() This version of Eyshet Ḥayil replaces valor with value, and while it speaks of man in terms of family, community, and the natural world, it is not heteronormative. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A kavvanah for clarifying and elevating the activity of tax preparation. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer for the observance of Memorial Day in the United States. . . . ![]() ![]() If you are doing a Rosh Hashanah seder of simanim (signs, augurs, portents) using food puns, here are some topical additions including for beginning the Shmitah year. . . . בַּעָל חוֹבֵנוּ | Ba’al Ḥoveinu, a piyut for Seliḥot on the advent of the Shmitah year by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)![]() ![]() This short piyut touches on these four themes related to Shmitah: release of debts, the rights of the land, the rights of wild animals (who share our food during Shmitah), and the freeing of slaves. The piyut would fit as part of Seliḥot before Rosh haShanah and during Yom Kippur. . . . כוונה לקראת ישיבת הבורד | Kavvanah before the Meeting of the Board of a Philanthropic Organization, by Limor Rubin![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer of intention before the meeting of the board of a philanthropic organization determining the recipients of the largess in their trust. . . . ![]() ![]() “Tilt: A Prayer for the Winter Solstice” was first published by the author on her website (17 December 2015). . . . ![]() ![]() “How Much Light? A Ḥanukkah Meditation” by Rabbi Menachem Creditor was first shared on the second night of Ḥanukkah 5782 (2021) via the Open Siddur Project discussion group on Facebook. . . . ![]() ![]() The African-American Christian spiritual adapted for a Pesaḥ song in Hebrew and English. . . . 💬 קְרִיאוֹת לִימֵי ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | Torah and Haftarah Readings for the New Year’s Day for Trees, selected by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer![]() ![]() ![]() Torah and Haftarah readings for Tu biShvat selected by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . אֶפְתַּח פִּי לְךָ אָדוֹן | Eftaḥ Pi L’kha Adōn, a seliḥah for Kristallnacht by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer![]() ![]() ![]() There’s a lot of controversy over Yom haShoah as a date. One of the key issues is this: traditionally, the ways Jews mourn communal tragedies is through establishing a fast day. It’s forbidden to fast during the month of Nisan. It’s hard to pick any specific date to commemorate a tragedy as enormous as the Shoah, but one which seems appropriate to me would be 16 Marḥeshvan, the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the November Pogrom. This piyyut is a seliḥah for Kristallnacht, to be recited on 16 Marḥeshvan (or 15 Marḥeshvan on years like 5782 where the sixteenth falls on a Thursday). . . . כַּוָּנָה וּבְרָכָה עַל רְאִיַּת נְחִיל רֶמֶשׂ גָּדוֹל עַד־מְאוֹד | Kavvanah and Blessing for Observing a Massive Swarm of Creeping Things, by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer![]() There are blessings for beautiful vistas, and there are blessings for powerful weather. But is there a blessing for giant swarms of bugs? Certainly! There just wasn’t a kavvanah for it… yet. Inspired by the appearance of Brood X in May 2021, this is a meditation and blessing for the unique experience of seeing an enormous number of non-dangerous insects. Cicadas are NOT a plague — they don’t eat crops or spread disease, but they do help revitalize the soil and keep forest ecosystems healthy. As a natural part of the universal order, we should work to see the divinity and goodness in them, even if we might normally think of them as gross. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() Some communities have a practice of singing a song about Miriam alongside the well-known Havdalah song about Elijah the Prophet. But Miriam isn’t really a parallel to Elijah — she’s a parallel to Moshe and Aaron. When we’re talking about distaff counterparts to Elijah the clearest example is Seraḥ bat Asher. Seraḥ, the daughter of Asher, is mentioned only a handful of times in the Tanakh, but is given great significance in the midrash. Like Elijah, she is said to have never died but entered Paradise alive, and comes around to the rabbis to give advice or teachings. This song, which includes several references to midrashim about Seraḥ, is meant to be sung to any traditional tune of “Eliyahu haNavi.” It is dedicated to Ḥazzan Joanna Selznick Dulkin (shlit”a), who introduced me to the legends of Seraḥ bat Asher. . . . קְלִפּוֹת לֶפֶת | Items for the Second Seder Plate: Turnip peels, after the Holocaust remembrance of Pearl Benisch![]() ![]() ![]() Pearl Benisch… remembers Passover in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany in the spring of 1945, just days before her liberation. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() Why is this coffee different from all other coffees? Because Maxwell House coffee is a deeply spiritual representation of the Diaspora experience. . . . ![]() ![]() An old Persian tradition involves hitting each other with leeks during the recitation of Dayenu. Nowadays this is replaced with a gentle tap with a scallion for safety reasons. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() Rabbi Yosi son of Rabbi Yehuda says: “Three good sustainers arose for Israel. These are they: Moses and Aaron and Miriam. And three good gifts were given because of them, and these are they: well, and cloud, and manna. The well was given in merit of Miriam… Miriam died and the well ceased, as it is written (Numbers 20:1-2) “And Miriam died there,” and it says right afterwards “and there was no water for the community.” . . . ![]() ![]() This mi sheberakh for the ill, and the two additional prayers, all appear on page 15-16 of Hayyim Obadya’s Seder Akhilat haSimanim for 5781. . . . ![]() ![]() A blessing for us and the year ahead from the last month of the Jewish calendar year. . . . ![]() The Mourner’s Ḳaddish, in Hebrew with English translation by Everett Fox after Franz Rosenzweig. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() This is a poetic Birkat haMazon, similar to those found in the Cairo Geniza, intended for this specific break-fast meal. The editor has included the text in Hebrew, English, and an attempted Liturgical Ge’ez translation. . . . קדיש דרבנן | Ḳaddish d’Rabanan (of Our Teachers), a translation by Everett Fox after Franz Rosenzweig![]() ![]() The Ḳaddish d’Rabanan, in Hebrew with English translation by Everett Fox after Franz Rosenzweig. . . . תְּפִלָה לְאִשָׁה לְאָמְרָהּ לִפְנֵי שֶׁמְגַלַּחַת אֶת שַׁעֲרוֹת רֹאשָׁהּ | Prayer for a woman to say before her hair is shorn![]() ![]() ![]() A supplication of a woman cutting her hair as an act of tsanua, per a contemporary custom in many Ḥaredi communities. . . . ![]() ![]() A covenantal document for an egalitarian wedding/partnership rooted in R’ Rachel Adler’s brit ahuvim legal structure, not based on kiddushin. Written for a woman and man marrying each other (see genders in Hebrew). . . . Prayer for Reparation and Restoration, an alternative to the Prayer for Welfare of the Government by Rabbi Brant Rosen (Tzedek Chicago 2020)![]() ![]() A prayer for collective and communal well-being with an emphasis on dismantling systems of oppression and repairing their harms. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A global and inclusive prayer for the well-being of the diverse congregation of the people of Yisrael. . . . ![]() ![]() A prayer for those administering vaccinations. . . . How Desolate Lie Our Borders, a prayer adaptated from Eikhah for a Tishah b’Av vigil at an immigrant detention center by Rabbi Brant Rosen (2019)![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer for the correction of the United States immigration policy in support of immigrants and open borders. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() Psalms 140 decries the injustice tolerated, supported, and rallied around within the community of Israel. This contemporary adaptation does the same. . . . ![]() ![]() An article in the Yiddish Daily Forverts (Forward) on the activities of the Open Siddur Project and its founder, Aharon Varady. . . . On the Reconciliation of Yitsḥaq: a meditation on the Offering of the Two Goats on Yom Kippur, by Rabbi Arthur Waskow (the Shalom Center)![]() ![]() Especially for those of us who use the Torah passages on the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael and the Binding of Isaac for Rosh Hashanah, together with Rabbi Phyllis Ocean Berman, I want to recommend that you read from the Sefer Torah the passage in Genesis 25:7-11 on the reconciliation of the two brothers as they come together to bury their dangerous father Avraham/Ibrahim/Abraham. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer for justice offered for the Poor People’s Campaign Rally for Action at Grace Lutheran Church in Evanston on March 22, 2018. . . . A Prayer for the Steadfast on the Global Shabbat Against Home Demolitions, by Rabbi Brant Rosen (2016)![]() ![]() A prayer for the Global Shabbat Against Home Demolitions in response to the State of Israel’s policy,under the military occupation of Area C in the West Bank, of demolishing structures without building permits. . . . ![]() ![]() A prayer for students studying-abroad in Israel. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A paraliturgical reflection of Ashrei for a shame resilience practice. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A paraliturgical reflection of the prayer Barukh She’amar for a shame resilience practice. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A paraliturgical reflection of the first blessing prior to the Shema, Yotser Ohr, for a shame resilience practice. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A paraliturgical reflection of the second blessing prior to the Shema, the Birkat Ahavah, for a shame resilience practice. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A paraliturgical reflection of the second blessing prior to the Shema, the Birkat Ahavah, for a shame resilience practice. . . . בִּרְכָּת גָּאַל יִשְׂרָאֵל | Emet v’Yatsiv, a paraliturgical reflection by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman![]() ![]() ![]() A paraliturgical reflection of the blessing following the Shema, the Birkat Ga’al Yisrael, for a shame resilience practice. . . . תפילת העמידה ביום חול | the Weekday Amidah, a paraliturgical reflection by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman![]() ![]() ![]() A paraliturgical reflection of the weekday Amidah for a shame resilience practice. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A paraliturgical reflection of the prayer Aleinu for a shame resilience practice . . . ![]() ![]() A creative, interpretive translation of the the Mourner’s Ḳaddish. . . . Kavvanah before the reading of parashat Aḥarei Mōt and the pain caused by Leviticus 18:22, by Rabbi Victor Reinstein (2015)![]() ![]() ![]() “A kavvanah (declaration of intention) that we bring to the reading of parashat Aḥarei Mot and the pain caused by Leviticus 18:22” was offered by Rabbi Victor Reinstein in 2015. . . . אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים | El Malé Raḥamim – Interfaith Memorial Service for the Homeless, by Rabbi Victor Reinstein (2014)![]() ![]() ![]() This paraliturgical adaptation of the El Malei prayer for an Interfaith Memorial Service for the Homeless was offered by Rabbi Victor Reinstein in 2014. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A desperate prayer against the dehumanization and reductive feelings of anger and desperation in the context of the conflict between Israel and Gaza in the summer of 2014. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer for the well-being of IDF Soldiers written during the 2014 Israel-Gaza Conflict. . . . ![]() ![]() ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Palestinian refugees, Palestinian Diapsora, סליחות seliḥot, 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Needing Translation (into Hebrew), מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Needing Translation (into Arabic), فلسطين Filasṭīn Palestine, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Refugee Crisis A Tishah b’Av seliḥah for Gaza during the 2014 Gaza War. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() The full text of Rabbi David Wolpe’s benediction offered at the end of the second day of the Democratic National Convention, September 6th, 2012. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() The opening prayer offered before the Boston City Council on April 13th, 2011. . . . Raising the Olive Branch in Solidarity with Palestinian Olive Farmers: A Tu biShvat Seder supplement by Rabbi Arik Ascherman (2010)![]() ![]() A Tu biShvat seder supplement recognizing the Israeli-Jewish settler violence and land theft under the State of Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank. . . . Opening Prayer for the Inaugural Boston City Council Meeting, by Rabbi Victor Reinstein (5 January 2009)![]() ![]() ![]() The opening prayer offered before the Boston City Council on January 5th, 2009. . . . ![]() ![]() The Amidah for the Shabbat Shaḥarit service in Reb Zalman’s devotional English adaptation, set side-by-side with the corresponding Hebrew liturgy. . . . על הניסים ליום העצמאות | Al haNissim for Yom ha-Atsma’ut, by Dr. Avi Shmidman and Rabbi Ben-Tzion Spitz (2009)![]() ![]() ![]() An al-hanissim prayer for Yom ha-Atsma’ut. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A supplement to the Al Ḥet of the Yom Kippur vidui. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A personal declaration to become a shomer/et shalom on Yom Kippur. . . . ![]() A contemporary Jewish prayer for healng, used at congregation Tzedek Chicago. . . . Prayer for Immigrant Justice at an Interfaith Vigil at the Broadview Detention Center, by Rabbi Brant Rosen (2008)![]() ![]() ![]() A prayer offered at the Broadview Detention Center for an interfaith vigil in support of the detainees and for change in US immigration policy. . . . |