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March 2021 A prayer upon receiving a vaccination for COVID. . . . Categories: Epidemics & Pandemics קְלִפּוֹת לֶפֶת | Items for the Second Seder Plate: Turnip peels, after the Holocaust remembrance of Pearl BenischPearl 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.” . . . פִּלְחֵי תָפּוּ״ז | Items for the Second Seder Plate: Orange segments, after the teaching of Susanna HeschelIn the early 1980s, while speaking at Oberlin College Hillel, Susannah Heschel was introduced to an early feminist haggadah that suggested adding a crust of bread on the seder plate, as a sign of solidarity with Jewish lesbians (suggesting that there’s as much room for a lesbian in Judaism as there is for a crust of bread on the seder plate). Heschel felt that to put bread on the seder plate would be to accept that Jewish lesbians and gay men violate Judaism like ḥamets violates Passover. So, at her next seder, she chose an orange as a symbol of inclusion of gays and lesbians and others who are marginalized within the Jewish community. She offered the orange as a symbol of the fruitfulness for all Jews when lesbians and gay men are contributing and active members of Jewish life. . . . אֲדוֹן הַסְּלִיחוֹת | Adon haSeliḥot, a pizmon for Seliḥot and Yom Kippur with an alphabetic acrostic translation by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1937)An alphabetic acrostic pizmon for seliḥot and Yom Kippur with an alphabetic acrostic English translation. . . . Categories: Yom Kippur בְּרִיךְ שְׁמֵהּ דְּמָרֵא עָלְמָא | B’rikh Shmeih d’Marei Alma (Bendito sea Tu nombre, Senyor del Mundo), Ladino translation from the siddur El Nuevo Avodat haShanah (1904)A Ladino translation of Brikh Shmei d’Marei Alma. . . . Categories: Before the Aliyot Tags: 13th century C.E., 51st century A.M., Aramaic, Ladino Translation, הוצאת ספר תורה Removal of the Torah from the Ark, Zoharic prayers Contributor(s): Yaaqov Mosheh Ḥai Altarats (translation), Unknown Author(s) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) A rhyming translation of the pizmon for maariv on Yom Kippur. . . . Categories: Yom Kippur A meditation on prayer and earnest offering. . . . Categories: Weekday Amidah A rhymed paraliturgical translation of the prayer over sleeping. . . . Categories: Bedtime Shema צוּר מִשֶּׁלּוֹ אָכַֽלְנוּ | Tsur Mishelo Akhalnu, a paraliturgical Birkat haMazon (rhymed translation by Alice Lucas, 1898)A rhymed translation of Tsur Mishelo, a paralitugical Birkat haMazon. . . . Categories: Blessings After Eating A rhyming translation of the evening prayer Hashkivenu. . . . Categories: Hashkivenu A rhyming translation of Elohai Neshamah. . . . Categories: Birkhot haShaḥar בּױגעזאנג | Baugesang (Building Song): an alphabetical Yiddish adaptation of the piyyut Adir Hu (1769)This Western Yiddish alphabetical adaptation of Adir Hu is first found in the 1769 Selig Haggadah, under the name of “Baugesang” (meaning Building Song). It grew to be a beloved part of the Western Ashkenazi rite, to the point where the traditional German Jewish greeting after the Seder was “Bau gut,” or “build well!” . . . Categories: Nirtsah In Yemenite practice, directly after the four questions are recited the youngest literate person at the table reads a brief Judeo-Arabic passage, here transcribed per the Yemenite transliteration system (wherein gimel dagesh = j and qof = g) and translated into Arabic and Hebrew. Instructional notes say this passage is “for the benefit of women and toddlers,” the two main classes of people who would have not had access to Hebrew education at the time. . . . Categories: Magid הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא | Ieste el pan de la afrisiyon | Ha laḥ’ma anya (This is the Bread of Oppression): the opening of Magid in a Ladino translationThis is Ha Laḥma Anya in Aramaic with translations in Ladino and English, from the Passover Seder Haggadah of Rabbi Emily Aviva Kapor-Mater, Haggadah Shir Geulah (2015, v.2.1/2016). . . . Categories: Magid אוֹמֶץ גְּבוּרוֹתֶיךָ | Omets G’vuratekha, a piyyut by Eleazar ben Qalir for the second night of Pesaḥ in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)The piyyut, Omets G’vurotekha by Elazar ha-Qalir, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel. . . . Categories: Nirtsah The piyyut, Dayenu, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel. . . . Categories: Magid The text of the short prayer uv’Maqhalōt in Hebrew with a Latin translation. . . . The text of the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai in Hebrew with a Latin translation . . . הָאֵל בְּתַעֲצֻמוֹת עֻזֶּךָ | ha-El b’Taatsumōt Uzekha, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)The text of the short prayer ha-El b’Taatsumōt Uzekha in Hebrew with a Latin translation. . . . אָז רוֹב נִסִּים | Az Rov Nissim, a piyyut by Yanai for the first night of Pesaḥ in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)The piyyut, Omets G’vurotekha by Elazar ha-Qalir, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel. . . . Categories: Nirtsah The text of the short prayer Shokhen Ad in Hebrew with a Latin translation. . . . אַדִּיר הוּא | Adir Hu, the acrostic piyyut in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)The alphabetic acrostic piyyut, Adir Hu, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel as found in his translation of the Pesaḥ seder haggadah, Liber Rituum Paschalium (1644). . . . Categories: Nirtsah יִשְׁתַּבַּח שִׁמְךָ | Yishtabaḥ Shimkha, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)The text of the prayer Yishtabaḥ Shimkha, in Hebrew with a Latin translation . . . אַדִּיר בִּמְלוּכָה | Adir Bimlukhah, the piyyut in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)The text of the popular piyyut “Adir Bimlukhah” (a/k/a “Ki lo na’eh”) in Hebrew, with a Latin translation. . . . Categories: Nirtsah אֶחָד מִי יוֹדֵעַ | Unum (est &) quis scit? | Eḥad Mi Yode’a, a Latin translation of the counting song by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)The text of the popular counting song “Who Knows One?” in its original Hebrew, with a translation in Latin. . . . Categories: Nirtsah חַד גַּדְיָא | Бир Улакъ | Bir Ulaq (בִּיר אוּלָק) — a Qrımçah tılyı (Krymchak) translation of Ḥad Gadya by Rabbi Nisim haLevy Tsahtsir (1904)A Judeo-Tajik translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . Categories: Nirtsah Tags: 16th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., Aramaic, Bukharan Jewry, Crimean Tatar, חד גדיא Ḥad Gadya, Krymchak, פיוטים piyyutim, predation, salvation, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): Nisim haLevy Tsahtsir, Unknown Author(s) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) A Latin translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . . Categories: Nirtsah 📄 וּתְקוֹל | U-tqol of Djerba — a Midrashic Addition to the Haggadah relating the story of Avraham & Nimrod’s Furnace in Judeo-Tunisian ArabicThe ancient Jewish community of Djerba, an island off the coast of southern Tunisia, has many unique customs and practices. Among them is that during the Maggid, after the citation of Joshua 24:2-4 and before the paragraph beginning “Praise the One who keep faith with the people Israel,” an extensive work in Judeo-Tunisian Arabic is recited, telling the well-known story of Abraham’s realization of divine unity and his ordeal in the oven of fire. Here is a transcript of that text, vocalized according to the original manuscripts, transcribed, and translated into English and modern Hebrew. . . . Categories: Magid Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) 📄 אָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵֽינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה | “Said our Sages of Blessed Memory” — a Midrashic Addition to the Extrapolation of the First FruitsIn many eastern communities, including the communities of Aleppo and Yemen as well as the haggadah of Ḥakham Ovadia Yosef, this text is added to the extrapolation of the First Fruits declaration found in the Pesaḥ Maggid. Specifically, it is found after the citation of Exodus 12:12, specifically within or after the passage concluding “…who is Me and there is no other.” . . . Categories: Magid Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) Emunim ʿIrkhu Shevaḥ is a brief piyyut recited in North African communities in Rabban Gamliel’s list, between Pesaḥ and Maror. It spells out “Aaron the Priest” as an alphabetical acrostic, but it is uncertain whether this is an authorial signature or a mystical reference to the Biblical figure. . . . Categories: Magid Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) יוֹם זֶה לְיִשְׁרַאֵל | Yom Zeh l’Yisrael, a piyyut by Rabbi Yitsḥaq Luria (abridged rhymed translation by Alice Lucas, 1898)An abridged rhymed translation of the piyyut Yom Zeh l’Yisrael. . . . Categories: Se'udat Yom Shabbat יָהּ רִבּוֹן | Yah Ribōn, a piyyut by Rabbi Yisrael Najara (16th c.) translated by Rabbi Israel Brodie (1962)The piyyut, Yah Ribon, in Aramaic with an English translation. . . . יָהּ רִבּוֹן | Yah Ribōn, a piyyut by Rabbi Yisrael Najara (16th c.) translated by Paltiel Birnbaum (1949)The piyyut, Yah Ribon, in Aramaic with an English translation. . . . The philosophical-creed-as-piyyut, Yigdal, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . . יִגְדַּל (מנהג הספרדים) | Yigdal, by Daniel ben Yehudah (rhyming translation by Rabbi David de Sola Pool, 1937)The philosophical-creed-as-piyyut, Yigdal, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . . The philosophical-creed-as-piyyut, Yigdal, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . . Tags: 15th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., doctrinal, פיוטים piyyutim, statements of belief, יגדל yigdal, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): Alice Lucas (translation), Daniel ben Yehudah Dayyan and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) The cosmological piyyut, Adon Olam, in its Ashkenazi variation in Hebrew with an English translation. . . . The cosmological piyyut, Adon Olam, in its Ashkenazi variation in Hebrew with an English translation. . . . The cosmological piyyut, Adon Olam, in its Ashkenazi variation in Hebrew with an English translation. . . . אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם | Adōn Olam, translated by Rabbi Marcus Jastrow after the abridged arrangement of Rabbi Benjamin Szold (1873)An English translation of an abridged arrangement of the piyyut, Adon Olam. . . . Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., אדון עולם Adon Olam, cosmological, חתימות ḥatimot (concluding prayers), Openers, פיוטים piyyutim Contributor(s): Marcus Jastrow, Benjamin Szold, Shlomo ibn Gabirol and Aharon N. Varady (transcription) הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Ben Ḳodesh l’Ḥol, a piyyut attributed to Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah ibn Ghayyat (rhymed translation by Alice Lucas, 1898)A rhymed translation of the piyyut sung following the Havdallah ritual. . . . דָּג לְמִרְיָם | Items for the Second Seder Plate: Miriam’s Fish, recorded by Rav Sherira Gaon in 10th-century IraqA millennium-old tradition, recorded by Rav Sherira Gaon in 10th-century Iraq. He would always have three cooked foods on the seder plate. The egg, a product of the birds of the sky, a sign of renewal and rebirth, represented Moses, the law, the heavens, and the revelational aspects of faith. The shankbone, a product of the animals of the field, a commemoration of the original Pesaḥ sacrifice, represented Aaron, the priesthood, the earth, and the ritual aspects of faith. And the fish, representing the constant flowing nature of water, represented Miriam, prophecy, the waters, and the spiritual aspects of faith. . . . אתה גאלת | Atah Ga’alta (You Redeemed Our Ancestors), a Poetic Rendition of the Blessing of Redemption in the Pesaḥ Seder (ca. 9th c.)Rav Saadia Gaon lists three additions to the Seder Pesaḥ which he considers not necessary, but acceptable. This is the third, a poetic insert of the blessing of redemption known as Ata Ga’alta. In the form of an alphabetical acrostic, this poem is still recited in many eastern communities including the Babylonians, Persians, and Yemenites, and was a feature of the the old Kaifeng rite. Here it is recorded and translated into English according to the nusaḥ of Saadia Gaon, with notes in several locations for additional phrases used in some customs. . . . Categories: Magid Tags: 47th century A.M., 9th century C.E., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, Geonic prayers, Mizraḥi Jewry, Needing Source Images, Yemenite Jewry Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) תרומה הבדילנו | T’rumah Hivdilanu (A Gift Distinguished Us) — A Poetic Ḳiddush for the Pesaḥ Seder, according to two of its nusḥaot (ca. 9th c.)Rav Saadia Gaon lists three additions to the Seder Pesaḥ which he considers not necessary, but acceptable. This is the first, a poetic version of the Kiddush. Interestingly enough, it is still recited in many Yemenite communities, which are in general less likely to incorporate poetic sections to their liturgy. Here it is recorded and translated into English according to two nusḥaot — that recorded in the siddur of Rav Saadia (marked in blue), and that recorded in modern Yemenite texts (marked in red). In cases where only the spelling differs rather than the meaning, the editor generally went with Rav Saadia as the older variant. . . . Categories: Ḳadesh Tags: 47th century A.M., 9th century C.E., Geonic prayers, קידוש ḳiddush, Needing Source Images, Yemenite Jewry Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) סִילְקָא דְּרָב הוּנָא | Items for the Second Seder Plate: Beets, after the rabbinic teaching of Rav Huna (ca. 3rd c.)The color of beets, which never leaves our hands, symbolizes the teachings of the sages, which are still passed down. And the redness symbolizes the blood of the covenant, still there after all these years. . . . This letter, written in Imperial Aramaic in 419 BCE, is among the vast number of papyrus letters found in Elephantine, also known as Yeb. The Jewish (or more accurately, Judean) community of Yeb is a fascinating bit of history — a group of Judean mercenaries who settled in Egypt and built their own smaller temple! Although their origin was clearly Judean, and they referred to themselves as the ḥeila yehudaya = Judean garrison, their form of worship featured no Deuteronomic centralization, no discussion of the patriarchs, and questionable monotheism! Although the primary deity was YHW (note the difference in spelling), multiple other deities or hypostatized aspects of divinity were worshipped, and verbs for the word “God” are conjugated in the plural rather than the singular. This text is one of a series of letters written between the brothers Yedaniah and Ḥananiah. In this case, it is giving instructions for keeping the holiday of Pesaḥ. These instructions are interesting in their own right — the prohibition on beer could alternatively be read as a prohibition on any alcoholic drink, which would align with Karaite practice rather than rabbinic. But what’s even more interesting is what isn’t mentioned — the instructions given mention nothing whatsoever about the exodus from Egypt, or even God! The diktat to observe the holiday is accredited not to God or Moses, but to Darius, king of the Achaemenid Empire! This passage is a fascinating taste of a part of Judaism that we know very little about. Vocalization according to Tiberian norms and translation into English by the translator. . . . Tags: 34th century A.M., 5th century C.E., Aramaic, Elephantine, military, Nusaḥ Yeb, reconstructed text Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | ||
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