According to Rabbinic tradition, the 21st of Nissan is the day in the Jewish calendar on which Pharaoh’s army was drowned in the Sea of Reeds, and the redeemed children of Yisrael sang the Song of the Sea, the (Shirat Hayam, Exodus 15:1-19). The song, as included in the the morning prayers, comprises one of the most ancient text in Jewish liturgy. The 21st of Nissan corresponds to the 7th day of Passover, and the recitation of the Shirat HaYam is part of the daily Torah Reading. Rabbi Hillel Ḥayim Yisraeli-Lavery shares a performance of a melody he learned for the Shirat Hayam from צוף דבש Tzuf Devash, a Moroccan synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. If there is something about this tune that strikes one as particularly celebratory, it might be because the relationship between G!d and the Jewish people is traditionally described as a marriage consummated with the Covenant at Mt. Sinai. The passage of Bnei Yisrael through the Sea of Reeds towards Mt. Sinai thus begins a bridal march commencing in the theophany at Mt. Sinai, 42 days later. . . .

Categories:

Sefer Shemot (Exodus), Pesaḥ Readings, Shirat ha-Yam, Parashat b'Shalaḥ, 7th Day of Pesaḥ

Tags:

אז ישיר Az Yashir, conflicting messages, קריעת ים סוף qriyat yam suf, safe passage, שירת הים Shirat haYam, Song of the Sea, symplegades, Yom Vayosha

Contributor(s):

the Mesorah (TaNaKh) and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

📜 פָּרָשַׁת בְּשַׁלַּח | Parashat b’Shalaḥ (Exodus 13:17-17:16), color-coded according to its narrative layers

The text of parashat B’shalaḥ, distinguished according to the stratigraphic layers of its composition according to the Supplementary Hypothesis. . . .

Categories:

Sefer Shemot (Exodus), Pesaḥ Readings, Parashat b'Shalaḥ

Tags:

31st century A.M., 8th century B.C.E., annual Torah reading cycle, liberation from mitsrayim, mythopoesis, פרשת השבוע Parashat haShavua, פרשות parashot, קריעת ים סוף qriyat yam suf, redaction criticism, שבת shabbat, פרשת בשלח parashat B'shalaḥ, שירת הים Shirat haYam, Song of the Sea, supplementary hypothesis, ימי השובבים Yemei haShovavim

Contributor(s):

Tzemaḥ Yoreh, the Mesorah (TaNaKh), the Mesorah (Masoretic kernel 'E'), the Mesorah (Masoretic layer 'J'), the Mesorah (Masoretic layer 'P'), Masoretic layer 'H', the Mesorah (Masoretic layer 'B') and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים | Shir haShirim :: the Song of Songs, chantable English translation with trōp by Len Fellman

A reading of Shir haShirim (the Songs of Songs, a/k/a Canticles) with English translation, transtropilated. . . .

Categories:

Shabbat Readings, Pesaḥ Readings, Shir haShirim (the Song of Songs, Canticles)

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Cantillated readings in English, English Translation, transtropilation

Contributor(s):

Len Fellman (translation) and the Mesorah (TaNaKh)

יהי רצון אחרי שיר השירים | Yehi Ratson after Shir haShirim, cantillated and translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

After the recitation of Shir haShirim — which, in some circles, is recited every Friday night — the kabbalists instituted a yehi ratzon, a petition to be recited in the merit of what was just read. In many communities, this petition is recited using the same melodies as the recitation of the scroll itself. As an extension of this custom, here I’ve added cantillation marks to the yehi ratzon after Shir haShirim. Included also is a recitation of the text following said cantillation marks. . . .

Categories:

Shabbat Readings, Pesaḥ Readings, Shir haShirim (the Song of Songs, Canticles), Torah Study

Tags:

cantillated liturgy, Five Megillot, גלגול נפשות gilgul nefashot, קבלת שבת kabbalat shabbat, Liturgical customs of Kabbalists, Lurianic Kabbalah, קבלה ḳabbalah, reincarnation

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Unknown

💬 שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים | Shir haShirim (The Song of Songs), English translation by Paltiel Birnbaum (1949)

Paltiel (Philip) Birnbaum’s translation of The Song of Songs (Shir haShirim) in Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem (The [Complete] Daily Prayer Book), Hebrew Publishing Company, 1949. . . .

Categories:

Shabbat Readings, Pesaḥ Readings, Shir haShirim (the Song of Songs, Canticles)

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English Translation, eros, Five Megillot, קבלת שבת kabbalat shabbat, Ketuvim, North America

Contributor(s):

Paltiel Birnbaum (translation) and the Mesorah (TaNaKh)

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/index.php?cat=3024

Associated Image:

Arthur Szyk's black-and-white frontispiece for an illustrated Polish-language edition of Song of Songs: Pieśń nad Pieśniami [Song of Songs] Translated by Zygmunt Bromberg-Bytkowski. Łódź: M. Szajniak, 1924.

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)

Terms of Use: Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:

Properly attribute any information in the description of this archive page to the Open Siddur Project (<https://opensiddur.org>).
Clearly indicate the date you accessed this page and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
Provide the stable link to this archive: <https://opensiddur.org/index.php?cat=3024>.
Indicate that the original page was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this page in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the CC BY-SA license.)

Additional Notes:

The views expressed on this page and in these shared works represents the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.

Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.

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

Pocket Reddit Facebook Bluesky Telegram WhatsApp SMS Email