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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice |
Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Levi Slonim on 25 July 2024The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 25 July 2024. . . . A prayer for the United States of America in the wake of the terrible events in Butler, Pennsylvania on 13 July 2024. . . . תפלה להצלחת ועד השלום בװאשינגטון | Prayer for the Success of the Disarmament Conference at Washington, by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, 12 November 1921)This “Prayer for the Success of the Disarmament Conference at Washington [D.C.]” (12 November 1921) was prepared by the Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire, Joseph Herman Hertz. The prayer was recited on Shabbat after the prayer for the British royal family. . . .  Categories: Social Justice, Peace, and LibertyOpening prayer at the 250th Anniversary of Jewish Settlement in the United States — by Rabbi Joseph Silverman (1905)The opening prayer offered by Rabbi Joseph Silverman for “the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of the Jews in the United States, 1655-1905,” at Carnegie Hall, New York City, Thanksgiving Day, 30 November 1905. The prayer was published in the Publications Of The American Jewish Historical Society number 14 (1906). . . . Prayer for a Thanksgiving Day Shabbat Service in Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Jewish Settlement in the United States (1905)This prayer was prepared for use in a special service on the Sabbath before Thanksgiving Day, 1905, in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of Jews in the United States. It was published in The two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of the Jews in the United States, 1655-1905 (New York Co-operative Society: 1906), pp. 253-256. (The prayer also appears in the 14th volume of Proceedings of the American Jewish Historical Society (1906).) It was prepared by a committee consisting of a seven-starred constellation of prominent Reform and early Conservative movement rabbis: Rabbi Dr. Henry Pereira Mendes (chair), Rabbi Dr. M.H. Harris, Rabbi Dr. Philip Klein, Rabbi Dr. Kaufmann Kohler, Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schechter, Rabbi Dr. Samuel Schulman, and Rabbi Dr. Joseph Silverman. . . . A prayerbook compiled for Rodeph Shalom, a Reform movement congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. . . . Categories: Comprehensive (Kol Bo) SiddurimPrayer on the 100th Anniversary of the Death of George Washington, by Rabbi Edward N. Calisch (1899)This “Washington Anniversary Prayer” was offered by Rabbi Edward Nathan Calisch during the Masonic ceremonies at Mt. Vernon, 18 December 1899, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of George Washington’s death. Rabbi Calisch published it in his autobiography, Three Score and Twenty (1945), pp. 47-48. . . . Categories: Washington's Birthday (3rd Monday of February)📖 תפלת בית אהבה (רפורמי) (Tefilat Beit Ahaḇah) A Book of Prayer for Jewish Worship, compiled by Rabbi Edward N. Calisch (1893)A prayerbook compiled for Beth Ahaḇa, a Reform movement congregation in Richmond, Virginia. . . . Categories: Comprehensive (Kol Bo) SiddurimA prayer for the recovery of President James A. Garfield was offered at Beth El Hebrew Congregation (Alexandria, Virginia) by Rabbi Leopold Rosenstraus in a public service on 9 July 1881 after the president was mortally wounded earlier that month (2 July) in an ultimately successful assassination attempt. The prayer was published on the front page of The Hebrew Leader (15 July 1881). . . . Categories: United States of AmericaPrayer for the cessation of a cattle plague and for protection from cholera, by Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler (1865)This is a prayer for cattle afflicted by an epizootic contagion (in this case, Rinderpest, a/k/a cattle plague), and for the protection of human beings from cholera, prescribed by the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain, Nathan Marcus Adler, and published in The Hebrew Leader (24 November 1865), p. 1. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the New York State Legislature: Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (in the week commencing 11 April 1853)This is one of three opening prayers offered by the guest chaplain, Rabbi Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, for the week commencing 11 April 1853. The prayer was published in “The Israelite Chaplain in the N.Y. Legislature,” The Asmonean (15 April 1853), p. 5. It is the only prayer we have from this week that he officiated in 1853. . . . Prayer №1 of the Guest Chaplain of the New York State Legislature: Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (in the week commencing 12 January 1852)This is one of three opening prayers offered by the guest chaplain, Rabbi Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, before the Legislature of the State of New York, in the State Assembly (on Tuesday, the 13th of January or Thursday the 15th of January 1852), and in the State Senate (on Monday the 12th, Wednesday the 14th, or Friday the 16th). The prayer was published in The Asmonean (30 January 1852), in a letter dated 20 January from a correspondent identified only under the pseudonym “Bassist.” This prayer is one of two prayers offered in the letter. . . . Prayer №2 of the Guest Chaplain of the New York State Legislature: Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (in the week commencing 12 January 1852)This is one of three opening prayers offered by the guest chaplain, Rabbi Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, before the Legislature of the State of New York, in the State Assembly (on Tuesday, the 13th of January or Thursday the 15th of January 1852), and in the State Senate (on Monday the 12th, Wednesday the 14th, or Friday the 16th). The prayer was published in The Asmonean (30 January 1852), in a letter dated 20 January from a correspondent identified only under the pseudonym “Bassist.” This prayer is one of two prayers offered in the letter. . . . This is an opening prayer offered by Rabbi Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, before an address by Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894) sponsored by the Young Men’s Hungarian Liberty Association in Albany, New York on 5 June 1852. The prayer was published as part of the “Programme of Exercises,” in The Asmonean (12 June 1852). . . . The opening prayer offered by Rabbi Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, in his role as guest chaplain before the 74th New York State Senate on 24 June 1851, and published under the header, “Albany” in The Asmonean (11 July 1851), on page 5. The prayer is one of the earliest offered by a rabbi before a state legislature in the United States. . . . An opening prayer offered by the guest chaplain before the Virginia House of Delegates (1849-1850 legislative session) in the week of January 15-18, 1850, and published in The Richmond Enquirer (25 January 1850), p. 1. . . . An original prayer for the government of the United States, Ohio, and the city of Cincinnati by Rabbi H.A. Henry was published in an article, “Emendation of the Liturgy” in The Asmonean (21 June 1850), p. 6. . . . This is a prayer for those fallen in the battle of Kápolna, a decisive battle during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, written by István Roboz (1826-1916). Translated into numerous languages, the prayer was widely misattributed to enlightened president of Hungary, Lajos Kossuth. Circulated in translation and attributed to Kossuth, the prayer helped to cement his popularity among Jews worldwide praying for liberty from despotic regimes inclined for various reasons towards Jew hatred. . . . A prayer of repentance and thanksgiving recited at the Shaare Shalom synagogue in Kingston, Jamaica in response to the massive Guadeloupe earthquake of 1843. . . . Categories: Earthquakes & Tsunamis Tags: Spanish-Portuguese, 57th century A.M., Western Sepharadim, English vernacular prayer, Jamaica, 1843 Guadeloupe earthquake, 19th century C.E. Contributor(s): Moses N. Nathan (translation), Isaac Lopez and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)💬 Haftarót for the First Two of the Three Weeks of Mourning with their Spanish translations from a compilation by Rabbi Isaac Lopez (Jamaica, ca. 1843)In the 18th and 19th centuries, the common practice among Western Sephardim was to read some or all of the aftarót recited in the three weeks before the fast of Aḇ with a verse-by-verse “Ladino” (in this case meaning standard Early Modern Spanish, not Judezmo) translation. According to Joseph Jesurun Pinto (ḥazzan of Shearith Israel in New York from 1759 to 1766), it was customary in Amsterdam for only the final of the three aftarót, the aftará of Shabbat Ḥazon, to be recited with this Spanish targum, while in London it was customary for all three to be recited. This practice fell out of common usage in the past few centuries, although the Western Sephardic community of Bayonne preserved it up until the Shoah. But to this day a unique cantillation system is used in most Western Sephardic communities for the three aftarót before the fast. . . . Categories: Tishah b'Av Readings Tags: 56th century A.M., Western Sepharadim, Y'mei Bein haMitsrim, Three Weeks of Mourning, Shabbatot of Admonition, nine days, 19th century C.E., Jamaica, Haftarah supplement, Spanish-Portuguese, Spanish Translation Contributor(s): Isaac Lopez, Yeshayahu ben Amōts and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)“Composed for the Day of Atonement during the Prevalence of the Yellow Fever in New York in 1803,” this prayer was likely composed by Abraham Mears Isaacks (1765-1815). It was published in the Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society number 20 (1911), p. 158, as submitted by Rebecca E. Mitchell, one of Isaacks descendants. . . . Categories: Epidemics & PandemicsThis undated 18th century prayer (before 1756) by an unknown author for “the opening of [a] lodge, etc., and used by Jewish Freemasons” was published in “Old Forms of Lodge Prayers,” The Hebrew Leader (31 December 1889), p. 4. (The Hebrew Leader regularly included news of interest to Jewish member of masonic fraternities.) The provenance of the prayer is offered in the lede: “Appended to a copy of the Constitutions of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of F. and A. Masons, published in 1801, by Bro. D. Longworth, at the Shakespeare Gallery, New York City (kindly loaned to us by R.W. Henry C. Banks), we find a number of forms which at the present day appear unique. These forms are spoken of as having been in use for a long period during the last century; and from them we extract two or three Prayers, one or the other of which it was customary to repeat, according to the religious faith of the members of the lodge’ which had assembled. We give them for the benefit of our readers.” The source for the prayer in its re-printed form is a 1756 work, Ahiman Rezon: or, a help to a brother; shewing the excellency of secrecy, … Together with Solomon’s temple an oratorio, as it was performed for the benefit of free-masons by Laurence Dermott (1756). . . . Categories: Congregation & CommunityWritten by future founding father Benjamin Franklin in 1755, “A Parable Against Persecution,” also known as “the 51st Chapter [of Genesis],” is an example of what is often called ‘pseudo-biblicism,’ a trend from the 1740s to the mid-19th century of writing modern events in the already-archaic style of the King James Bible. More strictly, “A Parable Against Persecution” is an example of pseudepigrapha in that it is meant to be read as part of the book of Genesis, telling a story of Abraham facing a non-coreligionist, acting rashly, and learning a lesson about religious tolerance. Already in 1755 we can see Franklin’s radically liberal religious views. . . . |
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