📁 During the Aliyot :: (Next Category) 🡆

Before the Aliyot

This is an archive of prayers for using during the Torah Reading service, before the Torah reading begins after the scrolls are removed from the ark.

Click here to contribute a prayer you have written, translated, or transcribed for this portion of the Torah Reading Service.

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על הכל יתגדל ויתקדש | An Alternative Mourner’s Ḳaddish, from a prayer offered during the removal of the Torah from the Arōn (Seder Rav Amram Gaon)

This Kaddish was first published online at Jewish Renewal Chassidus by Gabbai Seth Fishman. Rabbi Oren Steinitz translated the kaddish on the 3rd yahrzeit after Reb Zalman’s passing.

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English Translation, geonic period, Geonic prayers, Jewish Renewal, קדיש יתום Mourner's Ḳaddish, Nusaḥ Ha-Ari z"l, הוצאת ספר תורה Removal of the Torah from the Ark, Without a Minyan, תשלומים tashlumim

Contributor(s):

Oren Steinitz (translation) and Unknown

תשלום לקדושה דסידרא ליחיד (סדר רב עמרם) | Replacement for the Qədushah d-Sidra for an individual praying alone or without a minyan, from Seder Rav ȝAmram

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 d-Sidra for an individual from Seder Rav ȝAmram, the oldest known full siddur. (The Qədusha d-Sidra is no longer considered dəvarim she-biqdushah, although Baladi-rite Yemenites replace “קדוש קדוש קודש” with one “קדושת.”) Much of the content is from the hekhalot literature or the Gemara, often demonstrating girsaot not otherwise known.

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Before the Aliyot

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English Translation, geonic period, Geonic prayers, קדושה Qedushah, Without a Minyan, Solo, תשלומים tashlumim

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Amram ben Rav Sheshna

📄 סדר עתיק לקריאות מהתנ״ך לפי מסכת סופרים | A Service for Scriptural Readings from Antiquity, reconstructed from Masekhet Soferim by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

The “minor tractate” Soferim is one of our best sources for early liturgical practice. It is the oldest known source for multiple practices still followed today, such as the blessing for the haftarah. Such luminaries as the Vilna Gaon considered it a vital work. But some of its practices are… well, odd. There are customs in Tractate Soferim which are found nowhere else in classical rabbinics — blessings for the recitation of books in Writings other than the scrolls, a three-year cycle of Torah readings, and a custom to divide the scrolls in half when reading them. This service is constructed based on the descriptions and passages of Tractate Soferim, mostly following the Gra’s edition. In some ways it may be very familiar, especially to Ashkenazim, but in others it is a fascinating glimpse into a heretofore lost practice of Judaism.

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Before the Aliyot

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46th century A.M., 8th century C.E., Geonic prayers, Masekhet Soferim, Nusaḥ Erets Yisrael, reconstructed text

Contributor(s):

Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

בְּרִיךְ שְׁמֵהּ דְּמָרֵא עָלְמָא | B’rikh Shmeih d’Marei Alma | Wenn man die Gesetzrolle aus der heiligen Lade nimmt (paraliturgical adaptation by Yehoshua Heshil Miro, 1829)

“Wenn man die Gesetzrolle aus der heiligen Lade nimmt” was translated/adapted from the prayer “Brikh Shmeih d’Marei Alma” (Zohar II 206a) by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaicher Religion. The translation appears in the 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaicher Religion as teḥinah №15 on pp. 19-20. In the 1835 and 1842 editions, it also appears as teḥinah №15 on pp. 22-23.

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Before the Aliyot

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13th century C.E., 19th century C.E., 51st century A.M., 56th century A.M., Aramaic, German Jewry, German translation, Jewish Women's Prayers, paraliturgical brikh shmeih, הוצאת ספר תורה Removal of the Torah from the Ark, תחינות teḥinot, Zoharic prayers

Contributor(s):

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

בְּרִיךְ שְׁמֵהּ דְּמָרֵא עָלְמָא | B’rikh Shmeih d’Marei Alma (Bendito sea Tu nombre, Senyor del Mundo), Ladino translation from the siddur El Nuevo Avodat haShanah (1904)

A Ladino translation of Brikh Shmei d’Marei Alma.

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Before the Aliyot

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13th century C.E., 51st century A.M., Aramaic, Ladino Translation, הוצאת ספר תורה Removal of the Torah from the Ark, Zoharic prayers

Contributor(s):

Yaaqov Mosheh Ḥai Altarats (translation), Unknown and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

מַֽהֲרוּ כׇּל־שָׁרִים | Maharu Kol Sharim — a pizmon on the parting of the Sea of Reeds with stanzas added in the Shirei Yisrael b-Erets ha-Qedem

This pizmon, signed with the name Moshe but of otherwise unclear attribution, is recited in the Sephardic communities of Rhodes and Istanbul (and nowadays in Seattle) before the open ark on Shabbat Shirah and the seventh day of Pesaḥ. The main Hebrew text of the first and last two stanzas are as found in the Seattle Sephardic community’s 2002 Siddur Zehut Yosef (as well as the Gözlem Kitap press in Istanbul’s 2011 Şaloş Regalim), with footnotes marking differences in the Shirei Yisrael B’Erets HaḲedem (published in Istanbul in 1921) and the Yeshiva University Library diwan of Baruch Moshe Moreno, written by hand in the monastery neighborhood of Tiberias in 1867 (YU MS. 1126). In between are three additional non-rhyming stanzas found in substantially different form in the other two sources but not recited in modern Sephardic communities.

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Before the Aliyot, Parashat b'Shalaḥ, 7th Day of Pesaḥ

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Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Eastern Sefaradim, Nusaḥ Sefaradi, פיוטים piyyuṭim, פזמונים pizmonim, שבת שירה shabbat shirah, שירת הים Shirat haYam, Turkish translation

Contributor(s):

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

מַֽהֲרוּ כׇּל־שָׁרִים | Maharu Kol Sharim — a pizmon on the parting of the Sea of Reeds with stanzas added in YU MS 1126

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Before the Aliyot, Parashat b'Shalaḥ, 7th Day of Pesaḥ

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Acrostic signature, phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Eastern Sefaradim, מהרו כל שרים Maharu Kol Sharim, Nusaḥ Sefaradi, פיוטים piyyuṭim, פזמונים pizmonim, שבת שירה shabbat shirah, שירת הים Shirat haYam, Turkish translation

Contributor(s):

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

כתובה לחג השבועות | Ketubah for Shavuot, by Yisrael Najara (ca. 16th c.)

In many eastern Sephardic and Mizraḥi communities, there is a custom that a poetic “ketubah,” or marriage-contract, is recited before the Torah service on Shavuot. This custom, based on the midrashic idea that the Torah is the ketubah for the marriage between the bride Israel and the groom God, is beloved by the ḳabbalists. By far the most commonly used Shavuot ketubah is that of the great paytan and meḳubal Yisrael ben Moshe Najara, who wrote the following some time in the sixteenth century. This is a new translation of Najara’s poem.

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Before the Aliyot, Shavuot

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16th century C.E., 54th century A.M., Har Sinai, כתובה ketubah, Mizraḥi Jewry, פיוטים piyyuṭim, הוצאת ספר תורה Removal of the Torah from the Ark, theophany, wedding

Contributor(s):

Yisrael Najara, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם רָאֲתָה שְׁכִינָה עֵינֵֽימוֹ | Ashrei ha-Am Ra’ata Shekhinah Eineimo — a ketubah-piyyuṭ for Shavuot by Saadiyah ben Yosef ha-Levi (ca. 16th c.)

While the most famous ketubah-poem for Shavuot, still recited in Sephardic communities the world over, is by R. Yisrael Najara, many others have been written over the years. This one was written in the 16th century by Saadia ben Yosef ha-Levi. It is a marriage contract between the groom (Israel) and the bride (Torah).

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Before the Aliyot, Shavuot

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16th century C.E., 54th century A.M., Har Sinai, כתובה ketubah, פיוטים piyyuṭim, הוצאת ספר תורה Removal of the Torah from the Ark, theophany, wedding

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Saadiyah ben Yosef ha-Levi

An den Hauptfesten, wenn man Behufs der üblichen Vorlesungen die Gesetzrolle aus der heiligen Lade nimmt | On the Shalosh Regalim when one removes the Torah from the holy Ark, a teḥinah by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829)

“An den Hauptfesten, wenn man Behufs der üblichen Vorlesungen die Gesetzrolle aus der heiligen Lade nimmt” was translated/adapted by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. It first appears in the 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion as teḥinah №18 on pp. 22-23. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №18 on pp. 26-27. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №20 on pp. 29-31.

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Before the Aliyot, Shavuot, Sukkot, Pesaḥ Yamei Ḥag, Shemini Atseret

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19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., German Jewry, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, הוצאת ספר תורה Removal of the Torah from the Ark, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

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

Am Neujahrs⸗, am Versöhnungstage und am siebenten Tage des Laubhüttenfestes, wenn man Behufs der üblichen Vorlesungen die Gesetzrolle aus der heiligen Lade nimmt | On Rosh haShanah, Yom Kippur, and Hoshana Rabbah when one removes the Torah from the holy Ark, a teḥinah by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829)

“Bei eben dieser Gelegenheit am Neujahrs⸗, am Versöhnungstage und am siebenten Tage des Laubhüttenfestes” was translated/adapted by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. It first appears in the 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion as teḥinah №19 on pp. 23-24. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №19 on pp. 27-28. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №21 on pp. 30-31.

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Before the Aliyot, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Yom Kippur, Hoshana Rabba

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19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., German Jewry, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, הוצאת ספר תורה Removal of the Torah from the Ark, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

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

Lord! When I Hear Thy Holy Law, a hymn on Divine Law by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)

“Lord! when I hear Thy holy law,” by Penina Moïse, was published in 1842, and appears under the subject “Divine Law” as Hymn 17 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 21-22.

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Before the Aliyot

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19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., ABAB rhyming scheme, English vernacular prayer, hymns, South Carolina, התורה the Torah

Contributor(s):

Ḳahal Ḳadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, South Carolina), Penina Moïse and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

The Word, a poem by Lady Kate Magnus (1905)

“The Word” by Lady Kate Magnus was published in her Book of verse (1905), on pages 7-8.

Categories:

Before the Aliyot, Torah Study

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20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., AABB rhyming scheme, English poetry, logos

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Katie Magnus

A Kavvanah on Praying, Singing, and Listening to Torah Readings, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1942)

A prayer on praying, singing, and Torah learning by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan.

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Before the Aliyot

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20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Openers, Prayers for Praying

Contributor(s):

Mel Scult, Mordecai Kaplan and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Kavvanot for a Shaḥarit Service, by Rabbi Emanuel S. Goldsmith (ca. 2003)

These are a series of kavvanot prepared by Rabbi Emanuel S. Goldsmith (1935-2024), z”l, for a Shaḥarit service containing the call to prayer (Barkhu), the blessings preceding the Shema, tthe conclusion of the Amidah, before and after the Torah reading service, and Aleinu. Rabbi Ben Newman, who shared these kavvanot in eulogy for Rabbi Goldsmith in a Facebook post, writes, “My dear teacher, friend, and mentor Rabbi Dr. Emanuel Goldsmith died on Friday. He was an amazing man who taught me a lot about how to be a rabbi, a Reconstructionist, a liturgist, philosopher of religion, and Yiddishist. He also was the “head rabbi” who officiated at my wedding to Rabbi Shoshana Leis….I had him write out for me [these kavvanot] when I substituted for him leading at Congregation Mvakshe Derekh in Scarsdale, NY, 20 years ago as a student rabbi.”

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Before the Aliyot, Barkhu, Birkat Ahavah, Aleinu, After the Aliyot, Social Justice, Peace, and Liberty

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עלינו Aleinu, blessings prior to the shema, English vernacular prayer, כוונות kavvanot, paraliturgical barkhu, paraliturgical birkat ahavah, paraliturgical priestly blessing, Reconstructionist Jewry, שמע shemaŋ, Yiddish translation

Contributor(s):

Emanuel S. Goldsmith and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Kavvanah before the reading of parashat Aḥarei Mōt and the pain caused by Leviticus 18:22, by Rabbi Victor Reinstein (2015)

“A kavvanah (declaration of intention) that we bring to the reading of parashat Aḥarei Mot and the pain caused by Leviticus 18:22” was offered by Rabbi Victor Reinstein in 2015.

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Before the Aliyot, Parashat Aḥarei Mōt

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21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, LGBTQIA+, Prayers of redress, same-sex relationships, פרשת אחרי מות parashat Aḥarei Mot

Contributor(s):

Victor Reinstein

תפילה קודם קריאת פרשת אחרי מות | Prayer to be Recited Before the Reading of Parashat Aḥarei Mōt, by Rabbi Steven Greenberg

A prayer to recognize lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer-identifying folk before reading Parshat Aḥarei Mot (Leviticus 16:1–18:30) in the synagogue.

Categories:

Before the Aliyot, Parashat Aḥarei Mōt

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., inclusion, LGBTQIA+, North America, Prayers of redress, same-sex relationships, sexual attraction, פרשת אחרי מות parashat Aḥarei Mot

Contributor(s):

Steven Greenberg

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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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