Oración por nuestra tierra | תְּפִילָת הָאָרֶץ | A Prayer for Our Earth, an ecumenical prayer by Pope Francis, translated and adapted by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), David Seidenberg, neohasid.org and Jorge Mario Bergoglio

Shared on:

11 September 2015 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Earth Day (22 April)

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Hebrew translation, ecoḥasid, Northampton, Catholic and Apostolic Church, Vatican City, eco-conscious, ecumenical prayers, North America

On May 24th, 2015, Pope Francis published an ecumenical prayer in his encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, a prayer for our earth.

Here’s my Hebrew translation of Pope Francis’ prayer. It turns out no one had translated it yet. I noticed that many of his themes translated quite directly into liturgical or Biblical Hebrew, but two things did not: the Pope’s emphasis on beauty, which I think is just not a central theme in Biblical or rabbinic thought, and the way justice is approached (even though both traditions put a huge emphasis on justice). In order to compensate for this inequalities I’ve added some words here and there in the English to show where I’ve added to the Hebrew. Below, these words are italicized so you can pick them out.

The translation includes sparks from the High Holiday liturgy. I thought we should have it available for Rosh Hashanah 5776. A PDF of the prayer can be also be downloaded from neohasid.org (PDF link).

Please emend to your satisfaction, but please do mention neohasid.org if you benefit from this offering. One caveat I will make is that I use traditional (read: masculine) language for God so that the prayer can be used comfortably in most shuls, but I very much support emendations that introduce feminine God language.

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Spanish (source)	Hebrew (translation)	English (modified source)
Oración por nuestra tierra	תְּפִילָת הָאָרֶץ	A prayer for our earth
Dios omnipotente, que estás presente en todo el universo y en la más pequeña de tus criaturas, Tú, que rodeas con tu ternura todo lo que existe,	אֵל עֶליוֹן, הָאֵל הַגָּדוֹל וְהַגִּבּוֹר אַתָּה מְלֹא כׇּל הָאָרֶץ, וּכְבוֹדְךָ מָלֵא עוֹלָם וְכׇּל הַבְּרִיוֹת עַד הַקָּטָן שֶׁבַּהֶן אַתָּה מַחֲזִיק וּמַחֲסֶה כׇּל הַנִמְצָאִים בְּחֶמְלָה	All-powerful God, great and mighty you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace and shelter with your tenderness all that exists.
derrama en nosotros la fuerza de tu amor para que cuidemos la vida y la belleza. Inúndanos de paz, para que vivamos como hermanos y hermanas sin dañar a nadie.	שְׁפוֹךְ עָלֵינוּ כֹּחַ אַהֲבָתֶךָ לְמַעַן נִשְׁמֹר עָל הָחֲיִים וְנוֹעָם תִּפְאָרְתָם מִלֵאנוּ בְּשַׁלְוָה, וְשִׂים שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ שֶׁנֵשֵׁב יָחַד כְּאַחִים וְאֳחָיוֹת שֶׁלֹא יֵרַע אַף אֶחָד	Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and its beauty. Fill us with peace, and settle peace upon us that we may live together as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
Dios de los pobres, ayúdanos a rescatar a los abandonados y olvidados de esta tierra que tanto valen a tus ojos.	אֱלֹהֵי הַדַּלִּים וְהַגֵר וְהַיָּתוֹם וְהָאֲלְמָנָה תֵּן כֹּחַ בְּיָדֵינוֹ לְהַצִּיל הָעֲזוּבִים וְהַפְּלִיטִים בְּאֶרֶץ תֵּבֵל שֶׁהֵם אֲהוּבִים בְּעֵינֶיךָ	O God of the poor, and the stranger orphan, and widow, help us to rescue the abandoned and the refugees of this earth, so beloved in your eyes.
Sana nuestras vidas, para que seamos protectores del mundo y no depredadores, para que sembremos hermosura y no contaminación y destrucción.	שְׁלַח רְפוּאָה לְנַפְשֵׁנוּ בַּחַיִּים וְאַז נָגֵן הָעוֹלָם וְלֹא נִדְלַק בַּעוֹלָם וְאַז נִזְרָע תִּפְאֶרֶת הָחֲיִים וְלֹא הַשְׁחָתָה וְהַשְׁמָדָה	Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow life’s beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Toca los corazones de los que buscan sólo beneficios a costa de los pobres y de la tierra. Enséñanos a descubrir el valor de cada cosa, a contemplar admirados, a reconocer que estamos profundamente unidos con todas las criaturas en nuestro camino hacia tu luz infinita.	פְּתַח לֵבָב כׇּל בּוֹצֵעַ לַחֲטוֹף הָעֲנִי וְהָאָדָמָה לַמְּדֶנּוּ לְגַלּוֹת מַעֲלַת הַבּוֹרֵא בְּכׇל הַנִּבְרָאִים לִהְיוֹת מָלֵא יִרְאָה וְהִתְבּוֹנְנוּת לְהַכִּיר שֶׁנֵעֲשׂוּ אֲגֻדָּה אַחַת עִם כׇּל הַבְּרִיוֹת, בְּדָרְכֵנוּ לְהַגִּיעַ אֶל אוֹר הָאֵין סוֹף	Touch the hearts of those who look for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth. Teach us to discover the divine worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature, as we journey towards your infinite light.
Gracias porque estás con nosotros todos los días. Aliéntanos, por favor, en nuestra lucha por la justicia, el amor y la paz.	נוֹדֶה לְךָ הַשׁוֹכֵן בְּתוֹכֵנוּ שֶׁאַתָּה עִמָּנוּ תָּמִיד בְּכׇל יוֹם אַנָא תּוֹמְכֵנוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם לִרְדוֹף צֶדֶק בְּרִיבֵנוּ בְּעַד מִשְׁפָּט אַהָבָה וְשָׁלוֹם	We thank you who dwells within us for being with us each day. Encourage us, we pray, to do your will with a whole heart and to pursue righteousness in our struggle for justice, love and peace.

“Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home” was published as a foreign government document and thus is considered a document in the Public Domain in the United States.

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“Oración por nuestra tierra | תְּפִילָת הָאָרֶץ | A Prayer for Our Earth, an ecumenical prayer by Pope Francis, translated and adapted by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

David Seidenberg

Rabbi David Seidenberg, founder of NeoHasid.org, teaches text and music, Jewish thought and spirituality, in their own right and in relation to ecology and the environment. With smikhah (ordination) from the Jewish Theological Seminary and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, he has taught at over 100 synagogues, communities, retreats and conferences across North America (and a few in Europe and Israel). Rabbi Seidenberg's teaching empowers learners to become creators of Judaism through deep study and communion with texts and tradition. Areas of specialty include Kabbalah and Ḥasidut, Talmud, davenning, evolution and cosmology, sustainability, Maimonides, Buber, and more. Rabbi Seidenberg has published widely on ecology and Judaism and is the author of Kabbalah and Ecology: God's Image in the More-Than-Human World (Cambridge University Press, 2015).

neohasid.org

NeoHasid.org was created by Rabbi David Seidenberg to help folks integrate ḥasidic song, learning, and nusaḥ into their davenning and communities and to explore embodied Torah. It evolved to focus on eco-Torah and to share liturgy that honors our relationship with the Earth and/or expresses gender parity.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio

Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, [b] 17 December 1936) is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church, a title he holds ex officio as Bishop of Rome, and Sovereign of the Vatican City. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked briefly as a chemical technician and nightclub bouncer before beginning seminary studies. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969 and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina's provincial superior of the Society of Jesus. He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European pope since the Syrian Gregory III in 741. (via wikipedia)

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3 comments to Oración por nuestra tierra | תְּפִילָת הָאָרֶץ | A Prayer for Our Earth, an ecumenical prayer by Pope Francis, translated and adapted by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)

Basia
2015-09-11 at 1:50 pm · Reply.
Thank you Rabbi David for this translation. It occurred to me that the Pope may have written this prayer in Spanish. Hopefully some of the chèvre who are fluent in Spanish will compare the Spanish text to the Hebrew. Blessings Blessings, Basia
- The Hierophant
  2015-09-11 at 7:26 pm · Reply.
  updated with the Spanish text of Pope Francis’ prayer.
Rabbi Riqi Kosovske
2015-09-25 at 11:29 am · Reply.
Great to use this on Sukkot too.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17