A comprehensive (“kol bo”) siddur in the liturgical tradition of the eastern Sefaradim, prepared for the Bene Israel community in India. . . .

“Purim Kirtan” is a traditional Purim song of the Bene Israel community of Mumbai, India. Many thanks to our friends at the Jewish Language Project and to their team member Jacob Kohn for recording, transcribing, and translating the song as sung by Rivkah Moshe. . . .

In the communities of Morocco and Mumbai, the day after Yom Kippur was a holiday for priests known as Yom Simḥat Kohen. The origins of this practice can be found in Mishnah Yoma 7:4, where the high priest makes a festival for his loved ones after successfully completing the Yom Kippur rituals. In Mumbai, the practice (as recorded in Joseph Ezekiel Rajpurkar’s bilingual Hebrew/Marathi siddur) was to recite Psalms 85 on Yom Simḥat Kohen. The editor has included the text of Psalms 85, Rajpurkar’s Marathi translation, a new English translation, and a vocalized version of the Arabic tafsir of Rav Saadiah Gaon. . . .