אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים לְנִשְׁמוֹת תּוֹשָׁבֵי מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל מֶהַיִשּׁוּבֵי עוֹטֵף עַזָּה | El Malé Raḥamim for the residents of the State of Israel from the communities on the Gaza Border, by Cantor Amnon Seelig

Contributor(s):

Oren Steinitz (translation) and Amnon Seelig

Shared on:

15 October 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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Tags:

2023-2025 Israel–Hamas war, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., אל מלא רחמים El Malé Raḥamim

Source (Hebrew)

Translation (English)

אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים שׁוֹכֵן בַּמְּרוֹמִים,
דַּיַּן אַלְמָנוֹת וַאֲבִי יְתוֹמִים,
הַמְצֵא מְנוּחָה נְכוֹנָה עַל כַּנְפֵי הַשְּׁכִינָה,
בְּמַעֲלוֹת קְדוֹשִׁים וּטְהוֹרִים
כְּזֹהַר הָרָקִיעַ מְאִירִים וּמַזְהִירִים
לְנִשְׁמוֹת תּוֹשָׁבֵי מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל,
גְּבָרִים וְנָשִׁים, זְקֵנִים וָטַף,
שֶׁנֶּהֶרְגוּ, שֶׁנִּשְׁחֲטוּ, שֶׁנִּטְבְּחוּ
לְלֹא רַחֵם עַל יְדֵי חַיּוֹת אָדָם
בִּשְׂדֵרוֹת, אֳפָקִים, נְתִיבוֹת,
יַעַר רֵעִים, בְּאֵרִי, נְתִיב הָעֲשָׂרָה,
חוֹלִית, נִיר עֹז וּבִשְׁאַר יִשּׁוּבֵי עוֹטֵף עַזָּה,
בַּעֲבוּר שֶׁאָנוּ מִתְפַּלְּלִים לְעִלּוּי נִשְׁמוֹתֵיהֶם.

Exalted, Merciful God,
who upholds the widows and embraces the orphans,
grant perfect rest under the wings of Your presence,
in the lofty heights of the sacred and pure,
whose light forever lights up the skies,
to the souls of the residents of the State of Israel,
men and women, young and old,
who were killed, slaughtered, and ruthlessly massacred
by cold-blooded terrorists
in S’derot, Ofakim, Netivot,
Ya’ar Re’im, Be’eri, Netiv Ha-Asara,
Holit, Nir Oz and other communities on the Gaza Border.
Let their souls ascend.

לָכֵן בַּעַל הָרַחֲמִים
יַסְתִּירֵם בְּסֵתֶר כְּנָפָיו לְעוֹלָמִים
וְיִצְרוֹר בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים אֶת נִשְׁמוֹתֵיהֶם.
בְּגַן עֵדֶן תְּהֵא מְנוּחָתָם.
ה׳ הוּא נַחֲלָתָם.
וְיָנוּחוּ בְּשָׁלוֹם עַל מִשְׁכְּבוֹתָם,
וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן.

O Master of Mercy,
and cradle them eternally under Your wings [forever].
[and bind their souls in the bond of everlasting life.]
[May the Garden of Eden be their resting place.]
The Eternal One is their legacy,
and may they find everlasting peace.
[and let us say,] Amen.

This is an El Malé Raḥamim prayer by Cantor Amnon Seelig for the victims of the invasion of HAMA”S from Gaza on Shemini Atseret 5784, with an English translation by Rabbi Oren Steinitz. Added text in translation appears in brackets. –Aharon Varady

Oren Steinitz (translation)

Rabbi Dr. Oren Z. Steinitz is the spiritual leader of Congregation Kol Ami in Elmira, NY. He was ordained in 2014 at the Mesifta Adas Wolkowisk Rabbinical Academy, and is a member of OHALAH Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal. The same year he completed his doctorate at the University of Calgary‘s Interdisciplinary Graduate Program (Religious Studies, Communications and Israel Studies), researching the attitude towards the “Other” in Jewish and Islamic legal websites. Rabbi Oren holds BA and MA degrees from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev (Israel). His fields of expertise include the history of Jewish-Muslim relations; modern Jewish fundamentalism; Jewish and Islamic Law; and the religious online world. Before assuming his current position, Rabbi Oren served for five years as the University of Calgary’s Jewish Chaplain, taught at Mount Royal University in Calgary, and worked for the Masorti Movement in Israel.

Amnon Seelig

Cantor Amnon Seelig was born in Munich in 1982 and grew up in Israel. He completed his vocal and music theory studies at the Jerusalem Academy of Music, each with a Bachelor's degree, and his vocal studies with Prof. Donald Litaker at the Karlsruhe University of Music with a Master's degree. Beginning in 2010, a master's degree in Jewish Studies followed at the University of Potsdam, and in 2015 Amnon Seelig was ordained as a synagogue cantor by the Abraham Geiger College. From 2011- 2015, Cantor Amnon Seelig was a regular performer in Berlin synagogues, and from 2015-2017 he was Cantor of the Jewish Community of Düsseldorf. Amnon Seelig is a sought-after baritone and has sung in Israel and in Germany in renowned choirs and vocal ensembles, including the Rundfunk Chor Berlin, the Stuttgarter Kammerchor, the Vokalquintett Berlin, the Vokalensemble Rastatt and the Vokalensemble Berlin. He is a founding member of the trio "Die Drei Kantoren", which has been performing in Jewish communities and various venues throughout Germany since 2013. Since 2017 Amnon Seelig is cantor of the Jewish Community Mannheim.

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=53095

Associated Image:

Israeli soldiers walk past houses destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. The kibbutz was overrun by Hamas militants from the nearby Gaza Strip on Oct.7, when they killed and captured many Israelis. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "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)