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Taanit Esther

This is an archive of prayers written for, or relevant to, תַּעֲנִית אֶסְתֵּר Ta'anit Esther (the Fast of Esther) on the day preceding the festival of Purim.

Click here to contribute a prayer you have written for Ta'anit Esther.

PrayersReadings

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תהלים כ״ב בלשון לאדינו | Psalms 22 by David in Ladino (Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit, ca. 1852/3)

A Ladino translation of Psalms 22 first published in mid-19th century Izmir.

Categories:

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Izmir, Ladino Translation, למנציח Lamnatse'aḥ, מזמור Mizmor, Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Jewry, תהלים Psalms, Psalms 22

Contributor(s):

Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit, David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), the Mesorah (TaNaKh) and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

קרובות לתענית אסתר | Ḳerovot for Taanit Esther by Yosef ibn Abitur (ca. 10th c.) with other seliḥot arranged by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

The poetic genre known as qerovot, brief poems woven throughout the repetition of the weekday Amidah, is nowadays most closely associated with Elazar haḲalir’s Purim “Ḳrovetz“, a majestically interwoven piece of piyyut if ever there was one. But there are many other ḳerovot that have historically been recited, many of which were discovered in the Cairo Geniza. This set of ḳerovot, composed by the prolific Spanish paytan Yosef ibn Abitur, is meant to be included within the Shaḥarit amidah for Ta’anit Esther, the fast day before Purim. Consequently, it only goes up to the sixth blessing (the blessing for forgiveness) and concludes by leading directly into Seliḥot, which (before R. Yosef Karo’s standardization of the liturgy, and even now among some Western Ashkenazim) were inserted into the aforementioned blessing. In order to demonstrate this structure on a large scale, the editor here has compiled a full Shaḥarit repetition, nusaḥ Ashkenaz, incorporating the qerovot of Yosef ibn Abitur as well as the three seliḥot piyyutim of the Ashkenazi rite.

Categories:

Taanit Esther

Tags:

11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, עמידה amidah, Cairo Geniza, fasting, קרובות ḳerovot, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Public Amidah, סליחות səliḥot

Contributor(s):

Yosef ibn Abitur and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

אַתָּה הָאֵל עוֹשֵׂה פְלָאוֹת | Atah ha-El Oseh Fela’ot, a seliḥah for Taanit Esther by Shimon bar Isaac (ca. 10th c.)

An alphabetic acrostic seliḥah piyyut for Taanit Esther in Hebrew with English translation

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Taanit Esther

Tags:

10th century C.E., 48th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Cairo Geniza, פיוטים piyyuṭim, סליחות səliḥot

Contributor(s):

Shimon bar Yitsḥaq of Mainz and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

אָדָם בְּקוּם עָלֵֽינוּ | Adam B’qum ‘Alenu, a seliḥah for Taanit Esther by Menaḥem ben Makhir (ca. 11th c.)

An alphabetic acrostic seliḥah piyyut for Taanit Esther in Hebrew with English translation

Categories:

Taanit Esther

Tags:

11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Cairo Geniza, פיוטים piyyuṭim, סליחות səliḥot

Contributor(s):

Menaḥem ben Makhir and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

בִּמְתֵי מִסְפָּר | BiM’tei Mispar, a seliḥah for Taanit Esther by Meshullam ben Ḳalonymus (11th c.)

A reverse alphabetic acrostic seliḥah piyyut for Taanit Esther in Hebrew with English translation

Categories:

Taanit Esther

Tags:

11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, Cairo Geniza, פיוטים piyyuṭim, סליחות səliḥot

Contributor(s):

Meshullam ben Ḳalonymus and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

Am Fasttage vor dem Purimfeste (תענית אסתר) | On the fast day before the Festival of Purim (Ta’anit Esther), a teḥinah by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829)

“Am Fasttage vor dem Purimfeste” was translated/adapted by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaicher Religion. It first appears in the 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaicher Religion as teḥinah №56 on pp. 82-83. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №58 pp. 104-106. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №61 on p. 109-111.

Categories:

Taanit Esther

Tags:

19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., German Jewry, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, self-sacrifice, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Andreas Rusterholz (transcription), Yehoshua Heshil Miro and Aharon N. Varady (translation)

אֵל שְׁמֹר הַמַּלְכָּה | God Save the Queen, an adaptation of Hyman Hurwitz’s Hebrew translation of “God Save the King” for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Celebration (1887)

“God Save the Queen” is an adaptation of “God Save the King,” a work by an unknown author, first circulated in three stanzas during the reign of Britain’s King George Ⅱ, circa 1745. This Hebrew translation was published in a pamphlet circulated by New Road (Whitechapel) Synagogue in 1892 “on the 73rd Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Victoria,” an event attended by then chief rabbi of the British Empire, Rabbi Dr. Hermann Adler.

Categories:

Purim, Taanit Esther, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., British Commonwealth, British Jewry, British Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy, אל שמר El Shemor, Great Britain, national anthems, Needing Attribution, Queen Victoria, Queens

Contributor(s):

Hyman Hurwitz, Unknown and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

תפילה למי שצריך לאכול בימי צום | Prayer for those who need to eat on fast days (A Mitzvah to Eat, 2022)

This prayer for those who must eat on Jewish fast days, was shared by Sarah Osborne for A Mitzvah to Eat on Facebook. The Hebrew translation of the prayer was offered by Rabba Dr. Anat Sharbat.

Categories:

Khaf Sivan, Fasting, Shiv'ah Asar b'Tamuz, Tishah b'Av, Tsom Gedalyah, Asarah b'Tevet, Shiv'ah b'Adar, Taanit Esther

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, fasting, עינוי Innui (self-affliction), Needing Vocalization, פיקוח נפש piqoaḥ nefesh, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Anat Sharbat (translation), Sarah Osborne and A Mitzvah to Eat

עֵת שַׁעֲרֵי אַרְמוֹן – תפילה לאסתר המלכה | ‘Et Sha’are Armon – Prayer of Queen Esther, a piyyuṭ for Purim by the Diwan Ashira Project

This piyyut envisions Queen Esther’s prayer as she enters King Ahasuerus’ palace unbidden. In Tractate Megilla 15b, the sages associate verses from Psalm 22 with Esther in these pivotal moments. Written in the first person, this poem weaves together verses from Psalms and the Book of Esther, along with interpretations and commentaries of Talmudic Sages, to evoke Esther’s prayer at this crucial moment. Its structure mirrors the Rosh Hashanah piyyut “‘Et Sha‘are Ratson”, which recounts the binding of Isaac through the perspectives of its protagonists. Like Isaac, Esther is headed to a sacrifice, but she goes with full awareness and intent for the sake of her people.

Categories:

Taanit Esther, Purim

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Esther, תענית אסתר Fast of Esther, משתה Mishteh, פיוטים piyyuṭim, זמירות zemirot

Contributor(s):

Adrienne Varady (translation) and Diwan Ashira Project

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Associated Image:

Queen Shalom Tsiyon (Salome) Alexandra, from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (1553)

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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)

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