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📖 סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | The Trees are Davvening: A Tu biShvat Seder Haggadah Celebrating our Kinship with the Trees and the Earth, by Barak Gale & Ami Goodman (1991, unabridged)

The unabridged edition of the Tu biShvat seder haggadah, The Trees are Davvening. . . .

עָלֵֽינוּ לְשַׁבֵּֽחַ | An Alternative Aleinu, by Aliza Arzt (Ḥavurat Shalom 1987, revised 2019)

Aleinu, as rewritten in Hebrew and English for Ḥavurat Shalom, Somerville, Massachusetts. . . .

תְּפִלָה לְשָׁלוֹם | Prayer for Peace, by Samuel Avital (March 1984)

This Prayer for Peace by Samuel Avital was composed in January 1984 for a gathering of spiritual teachers from all over the world at Mt. Sinai in March 1984. A month later, the State of Israel would return the Sinai to Egyptian sovereignty. While that event was not documented in any media, the prayer was first published in Four Worlds Journal vol. 2 no. 4, (January 1985), pp. 16-17. Of the event itself, Samuel Avital adds, “I performed there some of my mime performances like Jacob & Angel, Black & White and others.” The prayer for peace is included in Samuel Avital’s Passover Haggadah (2021). . . .

Kavvanah before eating or drinking on Yom Kippur for those who must eat for the safety of their life, as found in Torat ha-Yoledet (Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein 1983)

This is a kavvanah (intention) for anyone in a desperate circumstance of needing to eat or drink for their mortal health, to do so with the full confidence that they are fulfilling a mitsvah required for them in the Torah, to preserve their life. The kavvanah was related by Rav Yitschok Zilberstein in his Toras haYoledes (1983), chapter 52, section 10, p. 357 (pp. 331-332 in the bilingual edition 1989), “הועתק ממחזור עתיק” (as “copied from an old maḥzor”). Unfortunately, we can’t provide a more direct reference to this maḥzor. If you know, please leave a comment or contact us. . . .

פִּלְחֵי תָפּוּ״ז | Items for the Second Seder Plate: Orange segments, after the teaching of Dr. Susannah Heschel

In the early 1980s, while speaking at Oberlin College Hillel, Susannah Heschel was introduced to an early feminist haggadah that suggested adding a crust of bread on the seder plate, as a sign of solidarity with Jewish lesbians (suggesting that there’s as much room for a lesbian in Judaism as there is for a crust of bread on the seder plate). Heschel felt that to put bread on the seder plate would be to accept that Jewish lesbians and gay men violate Judaism like ḥamets violates Passover. So, at her next seder, she chose an orange as a symbol of inclusion of gays and lesbians and others who are marginalized within the Jewish community. She offered the orange as a symbol of the fruitfulness for all Jews when lesbians and gay men are contributing and active members of Jewish life. . . .

אל מלא רחמים לזכר הנרצחים | El Malé Raḥamim Prayer for the Victims of Terrorism in the Land of Israel

An El Malé Raḥamim prayer for Victims of Terror in Erets Yisrael, with an English translation by Rabbi Hillel Ḥayyim Lavery-Yisraeli from Prayers for Israel, for Protection from Terror Attacks, and In Memory of the Victims (15 October 2023), page 6. . . .

קִינָה עַל חֻרְבָּן הָאַחֲרוֹן | Lamentation on the Holocaust, by Shimon Zuker (1980)

A ḳinnah composed by a concentration camp survivor. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Chaim Z. Rozwaski on 8 June 1976

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 8 June 1976. . . .

“Prayer Song,” a hymn by Stephen Hanan Kaplan from the play, David Dances (1975)

A prayer written for the play David Dances (1997) by playwright Stephen Mo Hanan. . . .

Inauguration Day Prayer for President Richard M. Nixon, by Rabbi Seymour Siegel (1973)

This prayer by Rabbi Seymour Siegel at the second inauguration of President Richard M. Nixon was recorded in the United States’ Congressional Record on January 20, 1973. . . .

“Just Walk Beside Me” (לֵךְ פָּשׁוּט לְצִדִּי | امشي بجانبي | נאָר גיין לעבן מיר), lines from an unknown author circulating in 1970; Jewish adaptation with translations in Aramaic, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Arabic

Variations of the original three lines culminating with “…walk beside me…” first appear in high school yearbooks beginning in 1970. The earliest recorded mention we could find was in The Northern Light, the 1970 yearbook of North Attleboro High School, Massachusetts. In the Jewish world of the early to mid-1970s, a young Moshe Tanenbaum began transmitting the lines at Jewish summer camps. In 1979, as Uncle Moishy, Tanenbaum published a recording of the song under the title “v’Ohavta” (track A4 on The Adventures of Uncle Moishy and the Mitzvah Men, volume 2). . . .

The “Dona Nobis Pacem” blues from Leonard Bernstein’s MASS (1971), original Hebrew translation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

An original Hebrew translation of the blues-rock portion of the Agnus Dei movement from Leonard Bernstein’s MASS (note: always spelled with ALL CAPS), where the crowd of disaffected and disillusioned young parishioners interrupts the offertory to demand peace now, and hold God to account for not giving it to us. It’s unsurprising that for a composer as proudly and openly Jewish as Bernstein that even his setting of the Tridentine Mass has major “shaking your fist at God” energy. Not gonna lie, I was listening to this on a plane out of Jerusalem as the war was starting, and I started to tear up. I immediately started writing this translation and finished it up in the process of about an hour while stuck somewhere a few thousand feet above Greenland. It’s amazing and moving and tragic and enraging and a little full of itself in exactly the right way to hit me in the heart. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Jack M. Rosoff on 18 February 1969

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 18 February 1969. . . .

📖 הַסִּדּוּר הַשָּׁלֵם (נוסח האר״י)‏ | HaSiddur HaShalem (Ḥassidic-Sefardic), a bilingual Hebrew-English prayerbook translated and annotated by Paltiel Birnbaum (1969)

The Ḥassidic-Sefardic edition of Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem, a bilingual Hebrew-English comprehensive prayerbook arranged and translated by Paltiel Birnbaum for the Hebrew Publishing Co. in 1969. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Saul Israel Wisemon on 2 May 1968

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 2 May 1968 in the event of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel. . . .

בַּשָּׁנָה הַבָּאָה | baShanah haBa’ah (Next Year), an elegy by Ehud Manor for his brother killed during the War of Attrition (1968)

“baShanah haBa’ah” (Next Year) by Ehud Manor written in 1968 in memory of his brother Yehudah. . . .

📖 מַחֲזוֹר לְיוֹם כִּפּוּר | Majzor leYom Kipur, a bilingual Hebrew-Spanish maḥzor for Yom Kippur compiled and translated by Rabbi Meir Matsliaḥ Melamed (1968/1972)

מַחֲזוֹר לְיוֹם כִּפּוּר Majzor leYom Kipur (Mexico: 1972) is the second edition of a bilingual Hebrew-Spanish nusaḥ Sefaradi Yom Kippur prayerbook compiled and translated by Rabbi Meir Matsliaḥ Melamed (1920-1989), first published in 1968. (This “second edition” appears to be more of a “second printing” than an update or revision of the first edition.) As no Hebrew type with vocalization and cantillation marks was available to Rabbi Melamed at the time, liturgy was reproduced from images of older siddurim. Rabbi Melamed’s translation appears to the sides of these images and his commentary underneath. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Jay Kaufman on 17 April 1967

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 17 April 1967. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Dr. Israel Goldstein on 21 February 1967

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 21 February 1967. . . .

אֶחָד | One, a song by Harry Nilsson (1967)

A Hebrew translation of the lyrics to Harry Nilsson’s “One” (1967) as sung by Aimee Mann (1995) . . .

תפילת הדרך | The Traveler’s Prayer (with a Supplement for Airplane Travel)

A traditional tefilat haderekh supplemented by a 20th century prayer for airplane travel. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Max M. Landman on 27 April 1966

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 27 April 1966. . . .

📖 סִדּוּר תְּפִלַּת מַצְלִיחַ (מנהג הספרדים) | Sidur Tefillat Matsliaḥ, a bilingual Hebrew-Portuguese prayerbook compiled and translated by Rabbi Meir Matsliaḥ Melamed (1966)

This is the first edition of Sidur Tefillat Matsliaḥ (1966), a bilingual Hebrew-Portugues nusaḥ Sefaradi prayerbook compiled and translated by Rabbi Meir Matsliaḥ Melamed (1920-1989). . . .

עמידה לשבת מנחה | Amidah for Shabbat Minḥah, translation with an alternative “atah eḥad” prayer by Dr. Jakob Petuchowski (1966)

This is the scholar Dr. Jakob Petuchowski’s translation of the Amidah for Shabbat Minḥah from his Shabbat Minḥah prayer-pamphlet (1966), p.5r-13r. . . .

📖 תפלת מנחה לשבת | Shabbat Minḥah Prayers, a prayer-pamphlet by Dr. Jakob J. Petuchowski (1966)

This prayer-leaflet was primarily intended for a group of Hebrew Union College students who met every sabbath afternoon for extra-curricular (noncredit) Torah study with Rabbi Dr. Jakob Petuchowki in the mid-1960s. Their service was conducted entirely in Hebrew and in the traditional nusaḥ with some minor but interesting Liberal innovations. Petuchowki writes, “We have omitted only the various repetitions as well as the prayer for the restoration of the sacrificial service. (But we have retained the place of Zion as the symbol of the messianic hope.) In the ‘Alenu prayer, we have preferred a positive formulation of the “Election of Israel” to the traditional negative one.” . . .

ברכות־הנפטרין על פי האמונה הבוקוניסטית | the Last Rites of Bokonon, by Kurt Vonnegut (1963, Hebrew translation by Amatsyah Porat 1978)

This is an adaptation of the “Last Rites of Bokonon” from the 99th chapter of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle (1963) translated by Amatsyah Porat for the 1978 Hebrew language edition of the novel. . . .

תְּפִלַּת הַדֶּרֶךְ לְצֶוֶת הַצּוֹלְלוֹת | Traveler’s Prayer for a Submarine Crew, by Rabbi Shlomo Goren (IDF, 1963)

“Tefilat haDerekh l’Tsevet haTsolelot,” a prayer by Rabbi Shlomo Goren for missions of submariners in the service of the IDF was first published in his Siddur Tefilot l’Ḥayyal (p. 76 in the 1963 printing). . . .

תְּפִלָּה לִפְנֵי יְצִיאָה לַקְרָב | Prayer Before Setting Off to Battle, by Rabbi Shlomo Goren (IDF, 1963)

Rabbi Shlomo Goren’s “Tefilah Lifnei Yetsiah laQrav,” a prayer for IDF soldiers before embarking on a combat mission was first published in his Siddur Tefilot l’Ḥayyal (pp. 72-73 in the 1963 printing). . . .

תְּפִלַּת הַדֶּרֶךְ לְטַיָּס | Traveler’s Prayer of a Fighter Pilot, by Rabbi Shlomo Goren (IDF, 1963)

“Tefilat haDerekh l’Tayas,” a prayer for sorties by military aviators in the service of the IDF by Rabbi Shlomo Goren was first published in his Siddur Tefilot l’Ḥayyal. . . .

תְּפִלַּת הַדֶּרֶךְ לְצַנְחָן | Traveler’s Prayer of a Paratrooper, by Rabbi Shlomo Goren (IDF, 1963)

“Tefilat haDerekh l’Tsanḥan,” a prayer by Rabbi Shlomo Goren for missions of paratroopers in the service of the IDF was first published in his Siddur Tefilot l’Ḥayyal (p. 75 in the 1963 printing). . . .

📖 סדור תפלות לחייל לכל השנה (נוסח אחיד) | Siddur Tefilot l’Ḥayyal, by Rabbi Shlomo Goren (IDF, 1963)

A comprehensive prayer book compiled by the chief rabbi of the IDF for military personnel serving the State of Israel. . . .

📖 תְּפִלַּת עַרְבִית לְשַׁבָּת וְלַשָּׁלֹשׁ רְגָלִים (מנהג הספרדים) | Ritual de Oraciones para Servicios Vespertinos Sabaticos y Festividades, a bilingual Hebrew-Spanish prayerbook for Shabbat and Festival evenings compiled and translated by Rabbi Marcos Edery (Masorti Olami, 1963)

תפלת ערבית לשבת ולשלש רגלים Ritual de Oraciones para Servicios Vespertinos Sabaticos y Festividades (1963) is a bilingual Hebrew-Spanish prayerbook for Shabbat and Festival evenings compiled and translated by Marcos Edery and published by the World Council of Synagogues for Latin America. . . .

Service for the Blessing of a Baby, by Lilian Helen Montagu (1962)

This undated “Service for the Blessing of a Baby” by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), pp. 339-341. Based on the name of the baby for whom the service was performed, we feel confident in dating this service to June 1962. . . .

הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה | Prayer for the Royal Family of Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ (1962)

The text of the prayer, haNoten Teshuah, as adapted for Queen Elizabeth II. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Alex J. Goldman on 20 April 1961

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 20 April 1961. . . .

Inauguration Day Benediction for President John F. Kennedy by Rabbi Dr. Nelson Glueck (1961)

This benediction for President John F. Kennedy by Rabbi Dr. Nelson Glueck, was recorded in the United States’ Congressional Record on January 20, 1961. . . .

📖 סדר תפלות כל השנה (אשכנז)‏ | The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth of Nations (2nd Revised Edition, 1962)

The second revised edition of Rabbi Simeon Singer’s Authorised Daily Prayer Book, enlarged under the direction of chief rabbi Israel Brodie and published by Singer’s Prayer Book Publishing Committee in 1962. . . .

📖 סדור לימות החול (אשכנז) | Siddur Limot hê-Ḥol :: Weekday Prayer Book (Rabbinical Assembly of America 1961)

A weekday prayerbook (not including the prayers for Shabbat or specific festivals beyond Rosh Hodesh and intermediate festival days) prepared by the Prayerbook Commission of the Rabbinical Association of America under the chair of Rabbi Gershon Hadas and published in 1961. . . .

בָּאנוּ חֹשֶׁךְ לְגָרֵשׁ | Banu Ḥoshekh l’Garesh (We come to chase the dark away), by Sara Levi-Tanai (1960)

In 1960, the Publishing House of the Composers’ League in cooperation with the Center for Culture and Education (בית הוצאה של איגוד הקומפוזיטורים בשיתוף עם המרכז לתרבות ולחינוך), published the songbook זמר־חן (Zemer Ḥén), containing the now popular Ḥanukkah song and melody “Banu Ḥoshekh l’Garesh” (p. 49), originally simply titled “Ḥanukkah” by Sara Levi-Tanaiׁ (1910-2005). . . .

📖 סדר עבודה מחזור לימים נוראים (אשכנז)‏ | Seder Avodah Maḥzor l’Yamim Nora’im, arranged and translated by Rabbi Max D. Klein (1960)

A maḥzor for Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur, prepared for a mid-20th century Conservative Jewish congregation in Philadelphia. . . .

📖 המחזור לראש השנה ויום כּיפּור (אשכנז)‏ | HaMaḥzor l’Rosh haShanah v’Yom Kippur, translated and arranged by Rabbi Ben-Zion Bokser (1959)

A prayer book ( maḥzor ) for the Jewish penitential holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, translated and arranged by Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser (1907-1984). . . .

📖 Prayer Book for Jewish Personnel in the Armed Forces of the United States (National Jewish Welfare Board 1958)

A trans-denominational prayer book compiled for the use of United States personnel in the Armed Services. . . .

📖 מַחֲזוֹר הַשָּׁלֵם לְרֹאשׁ הַשָׁנָה (נוסח האר״י)‏ | Maḥzor haShalem l’Rosh haShanah, translated and arranged by Paltiel Birnbaum (1958)

A bilingual Hebrew-English maḥzor for Rosh Hashanah (“Sephardic-Ḥasidic”). . . .

📖 הַסִּדוּר (אשכנז)‏ | HaSiddur, a bilingual Hebrew-English prayerbook translated and arranged by Rabbi Ben-Zion Bokser (1957)

Ben Zion Bokser’s popular mid-20th century modern prayerbook for Conservative American Jewry. . . .

📖 מַחֲזוֹר הַשָּׁלֵם לְיוֹם כִּפּוּר (נוסח האר״י)‏ | Maḥzor haShalem l’Yom Kippur, translated and arranged by Paltiel Birnbaum (1958)

A bilingual Hebrew-English maḥzor for Yom Kippur (“Sephardic-Ḥasidic”) from the mid- 20th century. . . .

תְּפִלָּה לִשְׁלוֹם הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה | Prayer for the Wellbeing of the Government of the USSR, by Rabbi Solomon Shleifer (Choral Synagogue, Moscow 1956)

The prayer for peace and prayer for the government of the Choral Synagogue in Moscow in 1956. . . .

📖 המדריך | Ha-Madrikh: The Rabbi’s Guide by R’ Hyman E. Goldin (1939, rev. 1956)

This manual has been devised for the express purpose of giving the Rabbi, or anyone officiating at a Jewish ceremonial or ritual, a concise and practical aid that will facilitate the task of officiating , and will obviate the necessity of resorting to the voluminous literature pertaining thereto. . . .

מי שברך לחיילי צה״ל | Mi sheBerakh for the Welfare of Israel Defense Forces Soldiers, by Rabbi Shlomo Goren (1956)

The mi sheberakh for the IDF composed by Rabbi Shlomo Goren in the context of the Suez Crisis and Israel-Egypt conflict of 1956. . . .

Prayer for the Success of the Four-Power Conference at Geneva, by Rabbi Israel Brodie (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth, 16 July 1955)

This “Prayer for the Success of the Four-Power Conference at Geneva, Switzerland (18 July 1955)” was composed in 1955 by the Office of the Chief Rabbi (of the United Hebrew Congregations of the UK and the Commonwealth) for the success of a meeting of the “Big Four” (President Dwight D. Eisenhower of the United States, Prime Minister Anthony Eden of Britain, Premier Nikolai A. Bulganin of the Soviet Union, and Prime Minister Edgar Faure of France), ostensibly to promote international trade, but hopefully as well, to reduce international tensions and make some progress towards ending the Cold War. . . .

הַנָּאוָה בַּבָּנוֹת | Hana’avah Babanōt, a song by Amitai Ne’eman (1955)

The popular Israeli song from the 1950s. . . .