A text of the Qaddish using feminine language for God and for the rabbis and their students. Inspired by Rabbi Debi Shoua Haim of the Reform congregation Kol HaNeshama in Jerusalem, who, in a conversation about feminine-language versions of liturgical texts, challenged me to write a feminine Qaddish variant.

This teḥinah (petitionary prayer) for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was composed by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer and first published on Bluesky in response to a request for just such a prayer by a Bluesky user, Uili (Sage).

This prayer by Rabbi Dr. Berman was offered while serving as guest chaplain before the 119th Congress, 1st Session of the US Senate on 10 September 2025. The prayer was published in the Congressional Record, v.171, n.148 (Wednesday, September 10, 2025), Senate, page S6511.

This abridged adaptation of the birkhot hashaḥr combines two separate works of Rivka Jaussi. The first: a translation of the blessing for distinguishing between day and night. The second: a series of haikus in German for seven out of the dozen or so “berakhot shenitani” (“blessings you [Hashem] gave me”).

This is an invitation to begin a new day with a short Jewish meditation for German speakers. I was inspired by Shefa Gold’s Chants, which takes a phrase from each of the daily Psalms and sets it to a melody. My German translation offers a wording that can also be sung alternately with the Hebrew phrase. (For the melodies, find Shefa Gold’s site here.) It works of course also as a way to pause briefly during the day for a Jewish meditative moment.

This prayer by Devorah Brous (fromsoil2soul), “A blessing for the bees (5786)” was first published as text rendered inside a video compiled by the author.

This blessing for the consumption of meat (or poultry, or fish) is based on a verse from Vayikra / Leviticus, ch. 17: כִּי נֶפֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר בַּדָּם הִוא וַאֲנִי נְתַתִּיו לָכֶם עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ לְכַפֵּר עַל־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם כִּי־הַדָּם הוּא בַּנֶּפֶשׁ יְכַפֵּר׃ (“For the life of the flesh is in the blood. And as for me, I have given it to you on the alter to ransom your lives, for it is the blood that ransoms in exchange for life.”) This verse helps us remember (and how can we ever forget?!) that any bloodshed, is a loss of life – human or animal. And, it helps us understand that even when we kill for our own sustanance (or even in a ritual offering), we cause a loss of life. The burden is on us. We are commanded to release the blood-life so we can use the meat. (I wrote more in detail about this blessing here.)

An original Aramaic-language “meturgeman piyyut” for Simḥat Torah and the reading of v-Zot haBerakha. I’m working on creating a seder meturgeman liturgy, akin to those for day 7 of Pesaḥ and for Shavuot, to be recited on Simḥat Torah. Mostly incorporating older Aramaic poems, I’ve also decided to write some originals myself. This is one of them, in praise of Moshe, to be recited after Deut. 34:10.

I composed this short blessing when passing by a dead coyote once. Crows and Magpies were congregating around the corpse and I felt this was a moment to notice, sanctify and bless. It was my way of connecting with all of them, dead and alive.

This invocation was given at the 78th annual George Washington Letter Reading Event, August 17, 2025 (23 Av, 5785), held by the Touro Synagogue Foundation to celebrate the famous 1790 letter exchange between the Jewish community of Newport, Rhode Island (represented by warden Moses Seixas) and first president of the United States, George Washington. Washington’s response to Seixas’s letter, in which he quotes some of his most iconic phrasings, is one of the first official statements by the US government on the value of religious freedom. This Letter Reading Event was held in the Old Colony House (where the Jewish community’s letter was probably presented to President Washington), rather than in the Touro Synagogue, due to Congregation Shearith Israel in New York’s barring of the Touro Synagogue Foundation from access to the building.

An ofan — a liturgical prayer to be inserted into the Shaḥarit qedusha d-yotzer — for the first of Elul, the new year for animals. Not as of yet part of a cycle but who knows, maybe a few other parts will be written in days to come!

A prayer written for the people of Washington DC during the Trump administration’s authoritarian push, August 2025.

A liturgy for counting the fifty days of consolation or comfort between Tishah b’Av and Rosh haShanah (non-inclusive), in the style of the liturgy for the omer.

A Mi SheBerakh for the 70th anniversary of the bar mitzvah ceremony, referred to by some as a “Ḥanukat Bar Mitzvah” or “second bar mitsvah.” Written for the ḥanukat bar mitzvah of the author’s grandfather, 30 August 2015.

A qinah for 7 October and the hostages, to be recited as part of the Tishah b’Av liturgy.

This is an original Hebrew tehillah/piyyuṭ that I composed in January 2025 for my local Nash Didan (Persian-Azerbaijani-Assyrian-Jewish) community. The composition weaves together classic liturgical motifs, echoing the themes of Psalms 1, Ashrei, and Aleinu, while remaining a distinct, contemporary composition. It may be recited during Pesuqei d’Zimra, as a supplementary reading near the conclusion of a service, or however best its cadence speaks to the heart of the worshipper—be it chanted in the polyphonic chorus of a congregation or whispered in solitary devotion. The piyyut also functions as a Maskilic shibutz “domestication” of the Gathic Avestan manthras—an endeavor inspired by Rav Meshullam Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s reclamation of universal sacred sparks, clothing ancient wisdom in the living vestments of the Holy Tongue.

“A Prayer for New York City After a Mass Shooting” was offered by Rabbi Menachem Creditor and shared through the Open Siddur Project discussion group on Facebook, 29 July 2025 after the 2025 Midtown Manhattan shooting the previous day.

A paraliturgical Aleinu on the theme of appreciating the overwhelming abundance of possibility in our lives in this world.

A paraliturgical Ashrei on the theme of finding gratitude in divine silence and uniqueness.

A Torah reading ceremony proposed for Rosh Hashanah using the traditional texts read but organized in a novel way to juxtapose the stories of Yitsḥaq and Yishmael.

A prayer offered immediately following the Omer count for those who find it difficult or problematic to simply ask for a return to the days of animal sacrifice in the Beit HaMiqdash, and who long for reconciliation, sensitivity and peaceful coexistence between and among all Jews and the other Peoples of the Earth (as well as all living creatures!), as envisioned by the Prophets.

This prayer for the return of the hostages taken captive by HAMA”S amidst their depraved devastation on 7 October 2023 was offered by Rabbi Menachem Creditor, published to his Facebook page, and shared through the Open Siddur Project’s Facebook discussion group on erev Shavuot 5785 (1 June 2025).

A Passover seder haggadah containing the traditional form of the text as well as other lesser known forms from across Jewish history and the Jewish world.

A prayer for America, its government and leaders, and its citizens, which I first posted in 2020, and reconsidered now in 2025, to speak to the challenges our country and public life today.

This Al ha-Nisim (addition to the Amidah) prayer for May the 4th, marks the success of the Rebel Alliance in defeating the Galactic Empire.

“A Prayer for Yom Hazikaron and Yom ha-Atsma’ut 5785” (2025) was prepared by Rabbi Tzachi Lehman in advance of the State of Israel’s days of remembrance and declaration of independence and published by Tzohar on its website on 23 April 2025.

An original set of weekday yotsrot, in the style of those found in the Cairo Geniza (and compiled at Weekday Yotzrot, thanks to the work of Dr. Avi Shmidman), for Yom ha-Atsma’ut. The weekday yotsrot of the Cairo Geniza have a structure quite different from normative Ashkenazi festival yotsrot, and much closer to that of Ashkenazi maaravot. There are no yotser or ofan piyyutim — each blessing has a stanza of an extended, unified poem before its ḥatimah, and the only stanzas inserted into the guf ha-berakha are in the final blessing, surrounding the Mi Khamokha. They’re also generally much shorter and more user-friendly than the complex and intricate mysticism of Ashkenazi festival yotsrot. This cycle is written in an alphabetical acrostic, followed by the author tag “Yitzḥaq Harel son of Avraham the Kohen and Ya’el, be strong and courageous, amen.” Each stanza begins with a different word from Isaiah 47:4, and ends with a citation of a different relevant verse.

This mi sheberakh by Rabbi David Seidenberg, for the safety and safe return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia detained by the United States government and deported “in error” to captivity under dangerous and vulnerable conditions in El Salvador, was first shared on his Facebook page on 10 April 2025.

In preparation for the coming days of Remembrance, which are the days of longing and questions about the meaning of life on this planet and the meaning of its end, I share in a prayer I wrote at the request of Nikki, a member of our family, who lost her only sister, Andy, to Alzheimer’s disease at such a young age (58). We also translated this prayer into English and it was recited in Melbourne, Australia, at a funeral service. During the shiva, the community rabbi asked for permission to recite it at more funerals, and since then it has been repeated and I am happy that it comforts more and more families. I am releasing it here in Israel as well and dedicating it to all the good souls who decided to watch over us from another dimension, and to the loving relatives who are left to miss and fix the world from within. –Limor Rubin

A prayer-poem inspired by the story of Noah and the ark to embrace all people regardless of gender identity or whom they love.

“Intentions for Dilation” (כוונות להתרחבות) by the Em haBanim is the sixth of seven prayers offered in their סדר תפילות לניתוח שינוי מין (The Em haBanim’s Prayers for Vaginoplasty).

“Prayer Before Surgery” (תפלה לפני הניתוח) by the Em haBanim is the fourth of seven prayers offered in their סדר תפילות לניתוח שינוי מין (The Em haBanim’s Prayers for Vaginoplasty).

“Prayer After Surgery” (תפלה לאחר הניתוח) by the Em haBanim is the fifth of seven prayers offered in their סדר תפילות לניתוח שינוי מין (The Em haBanim’s Prayers for Vaginoplasty).

“Prayer for the Night Before Surgery” (תפלה לליל ערב הניתוח) by the Em haBanim is the third of seven prayers offered in their סדר תפילות לניתוח שינוי מין (The Em haBanim’s Prayers for Vaginoplasty).

“Intention for Immersion [before Vaginoplasty]” (כוונה לפני הטבילה) by the Em haBanim is the second of seven prayers offered in their סדר תפילות לניתוח שינוי מין (The Em haBanim’s Prayers for Vaginoplasty).

“A Prayer upon Hair Removal for Vaginoplasty” (תפילה על הסרת שער תחתוני כהכנה לניתוח שינוי מין) by the Em haBanim is the first of seven prayers offered in their סדר תפילות לניתוח שינוי מין (The Em haBanim’s Prayers for Vaginoplasty).

This prayer by Rabbi Pinchus Ciment was offered while serving as guest chaplain before the 119th Congress, 1st Session of the US House of Representatives on 27 March 2025. The prayer was published in the Congressional Record, v.171, n.56 (Wednesday, March 27, 2025), House, page H1305.

Purim in walled cities (meaning, practically, in Jerusalem) occurs on the day after it does outside of them. This means that when Purim falls on a Friday, it falls on Shabbat in Jerusalem. This unique occurrence is called Purim Meshulash, “Threefold Purim,” because the practices for the day are divided into three. The megillah is read and gifts are given to the poor on Friday, the Torah reading is on Shabbat, and the festive meal and gifts to friends on Sunday. Since this practice of Shabbat Purim is unique to Jerusalem, and for much of Ashkenazi poetic history the Jewish community in Jerusalem was negligible, there are very few liturgical texts designed for Shabbat Purim Meshulash. This is, in the author’s opinion, a shame, because all the other special shabbatot surrounding it have a plethora of special piyyuṭim to insert into their cycles. This cycle of a shiv’ata (sevenfold piyyut) and an eloheikhem (Qedushah insertion) is meant to fill that void.

“Bricks Without Straw” is a prayer-poem written by Trisha Arlin, first shared in the Passover anthology, From the Depths: Pesach 5785/2025 (Bayit: Building Jewish) on 17 March 2025.

This is a prayer for reading the news, composed at the request of Rabbi Ariana Katz of Hinenu (Baltimore, Maryland). It is written in Hebrew, English, and Yiddish.

This is an original qinah written in response to the attack of October 7. Since the attack occurred on Simḥat Torah, this text is designed to follow the structure of the haqafot recited on Simḥat Torah. But it’s meant to be read on Tisha b’Av, or at least on another fast day.

A prayer for a friend who needs prompt and useful data in response to their Internet queries.

This prayer by the Masorti Movement in Israel and the Knesset HaRabanim b’Yisrael was first shared on 20 February 2025 in the final days of the first phase of the Three-phase Israel-Hamas war ceasefire, via the Masorti Movement website.

This prayer by Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, was offered as a benediction at the Inauguration ceremony for Donald Trump on 20 January 2025.

This is an original ḳedushtaot cycle for Yom Meturgeman, the eighth of Tevet, to be inserted into the ‘amidah.

This prayer was composed with gratitude by Rabbi Nathalie Lastreger, the Masorti minyan in Kfar Vradim. The prayer was first published to Rabbi Nathalie Lastreger’s Facebook page on 19 January 2025. The English translation was offered in a Facebook post by Susan Rand-Lakritz to accompany a video of the prayer being offered.

This prayer for the safe release of the hostages taken by HAMA”S and its allies on 7 October 2023 was shared by the Masorti Movement in Israel and the Knesset haRabanim b’Yisrael on 17 January 2025 in anticipation of the release of the remaining living hostages in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement. The prayer was first published via the Masorti Movement website, here.

This prayer for the safe return of the captives taken by HAMA”S and its allies on 7 October 2023 was offered by Rabbi Noa Mazor in the period anticipating the release of the surviving captives in January 2025 as part of a larger ceasefire agreement between the State of Israel and HAMA”S in Gaza. It was first published on her Facebook page on 13 January 2025.

This weekday Amidah was offered by Miriam Rubin as an exercise during the Davvening Leadership Training Initiative (Week 3). She writes, “I began writing this July of 2024 when I was still pregnant and finished it in February of 2025 when my daughter was about 4 months old.”

This Ḥanukkah prayer for the well-being of the captives taken during the massacres of HAMA”S and its allies on 7 October 2023, and for all in Israel affected by the ensuing war, was prepared by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow for Tzohar and Atid l’Otef. The prayer and its English translation were disseminated by social media and news services before Ḥanukkah on 25 December 2024.