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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
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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
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2025 —⟶ May 🡄 (Previous month) :: 📅 April 2025 📅 June 2025 :: (Next month) 🡆 📅 Resources published in May 2025 Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? A prayer offered immediately following the Omer count for those who find it difficult or problematic to simply ask for a return to the days of animal sacrifice in the Beit HaMiqdash, and who long for reconciliation, sensitivity and peaceful coexistence between and among all Jews and the other Peoples of the Earth (as well as all living creatures!), as envisioned by the Prophets. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., grain offering, HaRaḥaman, post-Temple animal slaughter, Temple restoration Contributor(s): A prayer for America, its government and leaders, and its citizens, which I first posted in 2020, and reconsidered now in 2025, to speak to the challenges our country and public life today. This Al ha-Nisim (addition to the Amidah) prayer for May the 4th, marks the success of the Rebel Alliance in defeating the Galactic Empire. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., על הנסים al hanissim, עמידה amidah, anti-fascist, crossovers, droid liberation, Star Wars Contributor(s): “A Prayer for Yom Hazikaron and Yom ha-Atsma’ut 5785” (2025) was prepared by Rabbi Tzachi Lehman in advance of the State of Israel’s days of remembrance and declaration of independence and published by Tzohar on its website on 23 April 2025. This piyyut tells the story of Naomi and Ruth through an imagined dialogue. Naomi, aged and alone, is taken aback by Ruth’s unwavering attachment. Ruth explains that it is with Naomi—and her faith—that she finds the truth and authenticity she longs for. It can also be read as an allegorical dialogue between the Torah and the people of Israel, you insist on remaining loyal to her. פתרונו כפול: פשוטו על נעמי ורות ורומז לתורה עם כנסת ישראל. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., French translation, Naomi, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Ruth, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): In Margaliyot Tovot (“Precious Pearls,” 1665), Yaaqov ben Yitsḥaq Tsahalon abridged Baḥya ibn Paquda’s Ḥovot ha-Levavot (“Duties of the Heart,” ca. 1080) and interspersed it with prayers including this prayer for healers (Tefilat ha-Rof’im) which he recommended should be recited by physicians at least once every week. Categories: Tags: 17th century C.E., 55th century A.M., Needing Vocalization, prayers of health care workers, Prayers of Primary Caregivers, professional intention Contributor(s): A series of ten short couplets describing the ten plagues afflicting the Egyptians in Egypt, written in Judeo-Italian and first published in the famous 1609 Venice Haggadah of Isaac Gershon. The Italian used in the Venice Haggadah lacks a lot of the most divergent aspects of the Judeo-Italian languages, sticking to a more mainline Tuscan grammatical norm, but there are enough obsolete, poetic, or dialectal forms that several footnotes have been included to explain them. Also included is an original English-language rhyming translation! This meorah, by R. Avraham bar Shmuel of Speyer (the elder brother of R. Yehuda heḤasid and a great scholar in his own right) is recited on Shabbat Naso. This is usually after Shavuot, but sometimes (in 2025, for instance) it is before. This meorah is a poetic interpretation of the Priestly Blessing, and a plea for vengeance against the antisemitic nations. As a meorah, it is recited prior to the final line of the guf and the ḥatima of the Yotser Or blessing. This geulah piyyut, by R. Yehuda heḤasid, is, similar to the prior zulat, a response to the massacres of the First Crusade. It specifically focuses, in the way only a maverick like heḤasid could, on holding God to account for breach of covenant, and calls out both Christians and — on a much rarer theme — Muslims for their slaughter of Jews during the Crusades. As a geulah, it is recited right before concluding berakha of the Emet blessing and the Amidah. This zulat piyyut, by R. Shmuel bar Yehuda (fl. 12th c.), is a keening cry in response to the traumatic First Crusade Rhineland massacres, known as the Gzerot TaTN”O in Hebrew, specifically focusing on the 3 Sivan massacre and martyrdoms in Mainz. The massacres of the Gzerot TaTN”O were so traumatic to Ashkenazi Jewry that to this day, the Av haRaḥamim prayer for martyrs, usually elided on Shabbat Mevorkhim, is not elided on Shabbat Mevorkhim Iyar or Sivan. As a zulat, it is recited at the end of the “Emet v-Emuna” paragraph. Generally the second half of the paragraph is altered slightly when a zulat is inserted. In this case, the alteration, according to the old Nusaḥ Polin, is included. This ahavah piyyut, likely by the paytan Yitsḥaq ben Reuven Albargeloni (the acrostic signature is ambiguous), is a longing love song between Israel, the “amazing one,” and God, the “Mighty One.” As an ahavah, it is recited prior to the final line of the guf and the ḥatima of the Ahavah Rabba blessing. This yotser, by the great eleventh-century payṭan R. Binyamin bar Zeraḥ, goes through the entire alphabet with which the Torah was written, giving midrashic and mystical interpretations of each letter. As a yotser, it is recited immediately after the petiḥah of the Yotser Or blessing. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Nusaḥ Ashkenaz, פיוטים piyyuṭim, יוצר אור yotser ohr, יוצרות yotsrot Contributor(s): This anonymous ofan, also recited on the second day of Shavuot in some communities, uses alliteration to describe the many hosts of angels descending upon Sinai in awe and reverence as the Torah was given. The translation preserves the alliteration over the alphabet, seeing as the ofan in this form doesn’t include the entire alphabet either. As an ofan, it is recited within the Ḳedusha d-Yotser, between the verses of Isaiah and Ezekiel (included here). The ofan is recited on the second day of Shavuot in some communities. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., Alphabetic Acrostic, Nusaḥ Ashkenaz, ofanim, פיוטים piyyuṭim, יוצר אור yotser ohr Contributor(s): The ancient Land of Israel rite was most well-known for its three-and-a-half-year Torah-reading cycle, but until recently very little was known about the haftarot recited alongside this cycle. Through studies of piyyuṭim and midrashim lists of opening verses to the hafṭarot were reconstructed, but an opening verse does not a full hafṭara make. All that changed when the St. Petersburg Manuscript, MS. EVR II B 42, was rediscovered by Prof. Ezra Shevat and publicized in this blog post. This manuscript, which had been lumped in as just another of the many codices haphazardly gathered by Abraham Firkovich, actually records what may be our most complete record of the hafṭarot of the ancient Land of Israel rite, at least as kept in one community. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The ancient Land of Israel rite was most well-known for its three-and-a-half-year Torah-reading cycle, but it had its own unique aspects for festivals and special Sabbaths as well. Recorded in this manuscript is what may be our most complete record of the hafṭarot of the ancient Land of Israel rite, at least in one community. Some, but not all, of the hafṭarot for festivals and special Sabbaths are the same as those found in the Babylonian practice, but all of them are substantially shorter, with some as short as three verses. It seems the Babylonian prohibition on hafṭarot shorter than twenty-one verses was not taken into account in the West! Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This is a Birkat ha-Mazon in the Ashkenazi nusaḥ incorporating a reconstruction of a liturgy for a Birkat haMazon for Shavuot witnessed in the Cairo Geniza fragment T-S H6.37 (page 4, recto and verso). Visit here, for a transcription and translation of the former (without the full Birkat ha-Mazon). Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): | ||
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