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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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🡄 (Previous year) :: 📅 2024 📅 Resources published in 2025 |
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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 📅 Resources published in 2025 Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? A meorah — a piyyuṭ to be inserted before the ḥatima of the first blessing of the Shema’ — by the great payṭan Yehuda haLevi. This piyyuṭ was traditionally recited in eastern Ashkenazi communities on Shabbat Yitro and VaEtḥanan, the two Shabbatot where the Ten Commandments are read. Some also included it on the first day of Shavuot for the same reason. Emma Lazarus’s translation, “In the Night” — derived from the piyyut נַפְשִׁי אִוִּיתִיךָ בַּלַּיְלָה by Moses ibn Ezra — was first published in her anthology, Songs of a Semite: The dance to death and other poems (1882), pages 78-80. Categories: Tags: 12th century C.E., 49th century A.M., night, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation, תשובה teshuvah, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah Contributor(s): This prayer for divine contemplatives, beginning with the incipit “Tefilat Lisgulat Ishim” (prayer for distinguished individuals), is attested in several manuscripts prefaced by the title, תפלת הרב רבינו משה זצ״ל (prayer of our teacher, Rabbi Mosheh, may their righteousness be remembered for a blessing). The assumption of earlier scholars was that the Rabbi Mosheh here refers to Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon — Maimonides (1138-1204). While our reading of the prayer finds nothing outside the concepts articulated by Rambam in his Mishneh Torah (Yesodei haTorah) and Moreh Nevukhim, it seems more likely that the Rabbi Mosheh referred to here is the famous paytan Mosheh ben Yaaqov ibn Ezra (ca. 1055-after 1138), who is quoted sharing similar ideas as found in this prayer by Rabbi Abraham ben Azriel in Arugat ha-Bosem (ca. 1230). Transcribed from the manuscript Leiden Or. 4779, this is the first time this obscure and long overlooked prayer has been translated. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): 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. An adaptation in rhymed English verse of an excerpt of Shlomo ibn Gabirol’s Keter Malkhut Elsie Davis. First published in The Jewish Quarterly Review, Vol. 7, No. 3 (April 1895), pp. 461-464. The adaptation begins with section 34 of the piyyut. Emma Lazarus’s translation, simply referred to as “Hymn” — derived from the piyyut יְיָ מָה אָדָם by Shlomo ibn Gabirol — was first published in her anthology, Songs of a Semite: The dance to death and other poems (1882), pages 68-70. A seliḥah for 17 Tammuz by the great payṭan and philosopher Shlomo ibn Gabirol. This seliḥa is referred to as pizmon, meaning that (in the Ashkenazi rite) each stanza is recited aloud by the congregation followed by the shaliaḥ tzibbur. This piyyuṭ, in Ashkenazi practice, serves as the final unique seliḥa of the 17 Tammuz seliḥot. (There are other piyyutim recited as part of fast day seliḥot but they aren’t unique to 17 Tammuz.) This translation Rabbi J. Leonard Levy of Shlomo ibn Gabirol’s “Adon Olam” was first published in The Children’s Service for Use in Religious Schools (1902). In the second edition from 1904, it is found on page 127. Categories: Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., ABCB rhyming scheme, אדון עולם Adon Olam, cosmological, חתימות ḥatimot (concluding prayers), Openers, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation Contributor(s): This is the piyyut “Pesaḥ Emunim (At Passover, the faithful…)” by Yosef bar Yaaqov Kalai for maariv (after the shema) on the seventh night of Pesaḥ, published in Adler and Davis’s Maḥzor for Shavuot, Avodat Ḥag ha-Matzot (1909), pp. 219-222. 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): This is the piyyut “Asher Eimatekha (Thou whose fear…)” a piyyut by Meshullam ben Ḳalonymous for the reader’s repetition of the Yom Kippur musaf amidah, published in Adler and Davis’s Maḥzor for Yom Kippur, Avodat Yom ha-Kippurim vol. 2 (1904), pp. 147-149. Categories: Tags: 10th century C.E., 48th century A.M., acrostic, Angels, double acrostic, Humanist, קרובות ḳerovot, פיוטים piyyuṭim Contributor(s): This is the piyyut “Asher Omets Tehilatekha (Thou, the might of whose praise)” a piyyut by an unknown paytan (possibly Meshullam ben Ḳalonymous) in the qerovot section of the reader’s repetition of the Yom Kippur shaḥarit amidah, published in Adler and Davis’s Maḥzor for Yom Kippur, Avodat Yom ha-Kippurim vol. 2 (1904), p. 68. Categories: Tags: 10th century C.E., 48th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, קרובות ḳerovot, פיוטים piyyuṭim Contributor(s): This is the piyyut “Ma’aseh Eloheinu (The work of our God)” a piyyut by Meshullam ben Ḳalonymous in the qerovot section of the reader’s repetition of the Yom Kippur shaḥarit amidah, published in Adler and Davis’s Maḥzor for Yom Kippur, Avodat Yom ha-Kippurim vol. 2 (1904), p. 67. Categories: Tags: 10th century C.E., 48th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, קרובות ḳerovot, פיוטים piyyuṭim 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 translation of Aḥeinu was written for the hostages taken in Israel on 7 October 2023. It was written to musically match the version composed by Abie Rotenberg. The Hebrew has been reconstructed to include both Aḥeinu (brothers) and Aḥyoteinu (sisters). It is somewhat well known that in the Italian rite, there are alternative texts for the first and third blessings of the evening Shemaˁ liturgy on Shabbat, texts which were rejected by Ashkenazi practice out of fear the community could become confused and recite them on weekdays. But these Shabbat-specific blessings, derived from the old Erets Yisrael rite and preserved in the siddur of Rav Saˁadia Gaon (RaSaG), are not alone! All the blessings of the Shabbat evening Shemaˁ service — as well as all the blessings of the Saturday night Motsaei Shabbat Shemaˁ service! — have unique poetic forms in RaSaG’s siddur. This part, the Saturday night rite, is part two of a two-part series posting these liturgical texts found in the siddur of — and approved of by — the gaon. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): It is somewhat well known that in the Italian rite, there are alternative texts for the first and third blessings of the evening Shemaˁ liturgy on Shabbat, texts which were rejected by Ashkenazi practice out of fear the community could become confused and recite them on weekdays. But these Shabbat-specific blessings, derived from the old Eretz Yisrael rite and preserved in the siddur of Rav Saˁadia Gaon, are not alone! All the blessings of the Shabbat evening Shemaˁ service — as well as all the blessings of the Saturday night Motzaei Shabbat Shemaˁ service! — have unique poetic forms in RaSaG’s siddur. This is part one of a two-part series posting these liturgical texts found in the siddur of — and approved of by — the gaon. For this part, the blessings for Friday night, locations where Italian rite’s modern versions of the first and third blessings differ from the version of RaSaG are marked. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): In Jewish liturgy, some passages are dəvarim she-bi-qdushah, passages that require public communal prayer. Most famous among these are the Qaddish, Barkhu, and Qədushah. But people are not always able to pray in a community! In liturgical history both ancient and modern many different tashlumim (replacements) for these texts when praying individually have been suggested. The following is the Qədusha of Minḥah for an individual from Seder Rav ȝAmram, the oldest known full siddur. Much of the content of these tashlumim is from the hekhalot literature or the Gemara, often demonstrating girsaot not otherwise known. | ||
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