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May 2024 The genre of B’raḥ Dodi piyyutim, a variety of geulah piyyut oriented around many Shir haShirim citations, is exclusively associated with Pesaḥ in Ashkenazi practice. Maḥzorim for Pesaḥ include B’raḥ Dodi piyyutim for the first two days and Shabbat Ḥol ha-Moed of Pesaḥ and nowhere else. So to reflect the themes of Pesaḥ Sheni, a B’raḥ Dodi piyyut is a great fit! . . . Categories: Pesaḥ Sheni A zulat for Pesaḥ Sheni. Each line begins with a word from Numbers 9:11 followed by a letter spelling out “Remember me for good, amen,” excepting the final five lines. The first of these concluding lines is the refrain from the ahavah for the same set, and the final four all begin with hei and transition into the berakhah. This zulat focuses largely on the Temple, where Pesaḥ Sheni offerings were held. . . . Categories: Pesaḥ Sheni יִשְׂרָאֵל אִם־לֹא בְּשִׂמְחָה | Yisrael Im Lo b-Simḥah — an ahavah for Pesaḥ Sheni, by Isaac Gantwerk MayerAn ahavah for Pesaḥ Sheni. An acrostic spelling out “Yitsḥaq son of Avraham, the priest, ḥazaq,” with a refrain derived from Mishnah Pesaḥim 9:1. . . . Categories: Pesaḥ Sheni An ofan for Pesaḥ Sheni in tripartite stanzas. Each stanza begins with a citation of Numbers 9:12-14, then an acrostic spelling out “the son of Avraham the priest, ḥazaq.” . . . Categories: Pesaḥ Sheni A yotser for Pesaḥ Sheni. Each stanza is written with a threefold acrostic — the first two lines in atbash, the third spelling “Yitsḥaq Har’el Ḥazaq,” and the fourth a verse from Numbers 9. . . . Categories: Pesaḥ Sheni This is an original Al haNissim paragraph for Yom ha-Atsma’ut, focusing on the actual reason for Zionism’s necessity — European antisemitism. As I put it when I wrote the first draft of this paragraph, “Zionism was necessary because of the Europeans. The original enemy of Israel’s independence was the European nations who wanted us assimilated or dead. Israel was not declared independent from the Arab world, it was declared independent from Britain, and I think we should remember that on Yom ha-Atsma’ut.” . . . Categories: 🇮🇱 Yom ha-Atsma'ut (5 Iyyar) This prayer for Victory in Europe Day was written by Rabbi Lior Bar-Ami and first published to his Facebook page on 8 May 2024. . . . This prayer for Europe Day was written by Rabbi Lior Bar-Ami and first published to his Facebook page on 9 May 2024. . . . Categories: 🇪🇺 European Union This prayer for peace was written on 29 April 2024, at the end of Passover, by Rabbi Shira Levine as part of an ecumenical assembly, the “Spirit of Galilee.” The Arabic translation was made by Malek Hujerat. . . . “O Mother of Medicine” is an original prayer of intention by Baruch Jean Thaler, for use before a healing journey with the aid of entheogenic, psychedelic medicine. . . . A tabletop fantasy adventure roleplaying activity intended for learners to develop fluency in the landscape and lore of Jewish storytelling. . . . Categories: Roleplaying Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Irving J. Block on 2 June 1983The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 2 June 1983. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 12 May 1983. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Ely E. Pilchik on 12 May 1981The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 12 May 1981. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Albert Plotkin on 17 May 1978The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 17 May 1978. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Israel Schorr on 11 May 1976The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 11 May 1976. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 25 May 1972. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Israel O. Goldberg on 4 June 1971The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 4 June 1971. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 28 May 1970. . . . Categories: 🇺🇸 Memorial Day (last Monday of May), 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Howard A. Simon on 26 May 1969The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 26 May 1969. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi William Spigelman on 23 May 1967The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 27 May 1967 on the eve of the Six Day between the State of Israel and its neighbors. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 23 May 1967 on the eve of the Six Day between the State of Israel and its neighbors. . . . “A veritable universal pledge of allegiance to this planet and to its peoples,” by Adlai E. Stevenson Ⅱ (9 July 1965)This is an excerpt from a speech given on 9 July 1965 by Adlai Ewing Stevenson Ⅱ (1900-1965), his final speech before the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. (The US ambassador to the UN passed away less than a week later in London on 14 July.) In 1971, the prominent environmental leader (and then executive director of Friends of the Earth) David Brower (1912-2000), described the quote as “A veritable universal pledge of allegiance to this planet and to its peoples” in his own speech, “What Organizations and Industry Should Do,” delivered at the First International Conference on Environmental Future, held in Finland from 27 June to 3 July 1971. The speech was published in the proceedings of the conference, The Environmental Future (ed. Nicholas Polunin, 1973), p. 478. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Hersh M. Ginsberg on 21 May 1964The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 21 May 1964. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Harry Nelson on 23 May 1963The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 23 May 1963. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 28 May 1962. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Mordecai L. Brill on 28 May 1957The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 28 May 1957. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Arthur Schneier on 10 May 1956The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 10 May 1956. . . . “Ein Mensch ist ein räumlich und zeitlich beschränktes” (A human being is…limited in time and space) — a letter of consolation by Albert Einstein (1950)In a poignant reflection on human limitation and the role of religion, Albert Einstein (1879-1955) consoled two rabbis each grieving the painful loss of their children. The first letter dated 12 February 1950, drafted in German before its translation into English, was written for Rabbi Robert S. Marcus after the death of the rabbi’s eleven-year-old son, Jay, from polio in September 1949. The second letter, dated 4 March 1950, was written for Rabbi Norman Salit after the death of Salit’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Miriam. Einstein’s letter to Rabbi Salit borrowed from and expanded upon the composition of his letter to Rabbi Marcus. In a few short lines, the letter expresses Einstein’s opinion on the prison-like delusion of consciousness — and the work of “true” religion to escape this prison through the intentional expansion of compassion beyond one’s self. . . . Categories: Mourning The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 5 June 1944 on the eve of D-Day in World War Ⅱ. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Bernard Bergman on 26 May 1942The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 26 May 1942. . . . A teachable moment in the life of Emma Goldman to reflect upon whether our practice is liberating or in need of liberation. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 29 May 1929. . . . Categories: 🇺🇸 Memorial Day (last Monday of May), 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies The invocation offered at the opening of the Democratic National Convention in Kansas City in 1900. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Gustav Hausmann on 28 February 1899The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 28 February 1899. . . . The invocation offered at the opening of the Republican National Convention in St. Louis in 1896. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 20 May 1870. . . . The maaravot-cycle of piyyutim for the first night of Shavuot, by Joseph ben Samuel Bonfils. In normative maaravot fashion, it is one extended cycle with an overarching structure (the first words of each of the Ten Commandments) throughout the whole of the kriat shema, with additional piyyutim incorporated into the first blessing after the shema. . . . Categories: Shavuot יוֹם הַבִּכּוּרִים | Yom ha-Bikkurim, the bikkur piyyut for the first day of Shavˁuot in the Old French and Romaniote RitesA “bikkur” piyyut traditionally added at the end of Hashkivenu for Shavˁuot in the Old French (and Maḥzor Vitry) and Romaniote rites. From the acrostic we know the author was named Yosef ben Yaˁakov. Other than that we know very little about this poem’s origin and age, although its structure fits with the early Ashkenazi piyyut oeuvre. . . . Categories: Shavuot | ||
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