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שְׁפוֹךְ אֲהָבָתֵךְ | Shfokh Ahavatekh (Pour Out Your Love), by Rabbi Ḥayyim Bloch (1948)

A paraliturgical adaptation of the prayer/curse, “Shfokh Ḥamatekha,” this prayer, likely written during, or just after the Holocaust, recognizes those nations and righteous gentiles who fought and risked their lives to aid and rescue European Jewry. . . .

[Prayer on] the Birthday of the United Nations, by Rabbi Avraham Samuel Soltes (1947)

A prayer for United Nations Day, the anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. . . .

Closing Prayer for New Year’s Day, adapted by Mordecai Kaplan & Eugene Kohn from a prayer by Members of the Faculty of the Colgate Divinity School (1947)

This “Closing Prayer” for New Year’s Day was adapted by Mordecai Kaplan and Eugene Kohn from a prayer first published by unnamed “Members of the Faculty” of the Colgate-Rochester Divinity School (The Colgate-Rochester Divinity School Bulletin, “Prayers for the New Year,” vol. 19 no. 2 (1947), pp. 65-71). Kaplan & Kohn’s adapted prayer essentially contains excerpts from the prayer of the Faculty (excluding any with explicit Christian content). The adapted prayer was published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 25-26. –Aharon Varady . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Max Raisin on 30 January 1947

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 30 January 1947. . . .

Prayer for the United States after World War Ⅱ, by Rabbi Dudley Weinberg (AMVETS, ca. 1947)

This prayer by Rabbi Dudley Weinberg, National Chaplain of AMVETS after World War II, was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), pp. 79-80. The prayer was chosen for publication by the then National Commander of AMVETS, Harold Russell. . . .

תפלות למועדים (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Tefilot l’Mo’adim, arranged and translated by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1947)

A bilingual Hebrew-English maḥzor for the festivals of Pesaḥ, Shavuot, and Sukkot (with Shmini Atseret and Simḥat Torah) in the Sepharadic tradition compiled by David de Sola Pool in 1947. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld on 29 April 1946

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 29 April 1946. . . .

סדר תפלות ישראל (אשכנז)‏ | Seder Tefilot Yisrael: Sabbath and Festival Prayer Book, compiled by the Rabbinical Assembly & United Synagogue of America (1946)

The Rabbinical Assembly of America’s popular mid-20th century modern prayerbook for Conservative American Jewry based upon the work of Rabbi Morris Silverman. . . .

A Prayer for a New World Order, by Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Kaplan (ca. 1945-1951)

This prayer for a New World Order by Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Kaplan, representing many of the hopes of a United Nations after World War Ⅱ, was found by Mel Scult among Mordecai Kaplan’s papers and shared by Dr. Scult in a Facebook post. The prayer is undated, although we tentatively date it between 1945 and 1951. . . .

אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים | El Malé Raḥamim for Victims of the Shoah (the Netherlands, ca. late 1940s)

This is an undated El Malé Raḥamim prayer for the victims of the Shoah translated into Dutch for a Yom Kippur ne’ilah service, likely sometime soon after the Holocaust had ended. To this I have added an English translation for those not fluent in Dutch or Hebrew. We are grateful to Shufra Judaica (Ellie Fisher and David Selis) for sharing a digital copy of this prayer. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Solomon H. Metz on 6 June 1945

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 6 June 1945. . . .

💬 Iwo Jima Memorial Address at Fifth Marine Division Cemetery, by Rabbi Chaplain Roland B. Gittelsohn (21 March 1945)

A chaplain’s eulogy over the fallen soldiers of Iwo Jima (also known under the title, “The Highest and Purest Democracy”) . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Samuel Thurman on 26 February 1945

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 26 February 1945. . . .

Courage to Withstand the Ridicule of the Worldly, a prayer by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

“Courage to Withstand the Ridicule of the Worldly,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 433-4 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). . . .

A Prayer for Peace After War, by Norman Corwin (1945)

A prayer for peace from the end of World War II. . . .

💬 Preamble and Introduction to the United Nations Charter (1945) | מבוא לאמנת האומות המאוחדות (Hebrew trans., 1949)

The Preamble (followed by the first article of the first chapter) of the Charter of the United Nations from 1945 translated into Hebrew by the State of Israel in 1949. . . .

An American Covenant of Brotherhood, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan and Eugene Kohn (1945)

A civic prayer for the Sabbath occurring during Brotherhood Week (February 19th-28th) in the United States. . . .

אלהים חיי הטבע | Elohim the Life of Nature, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

“God the Life of Nature” by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan was first published in his Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p. 382-391, where it appears side-by-side with its translation into Hebrew by Abraham Regelson. . . .

הִנֵּה שָׁם אֶמְצָאֶךָּ | Where We Can Find Yah, a prayer-poem by Eugene Kohn (1945) inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali (Song Offerings, 1912)

“Where We Can Find God,” a prayer-poem inspired by passages appearing in David Frishman’s Hebrew translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali. . . .

That America Fulfil the Promise of Its Founding, a prayer for Independence Day by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

A prayer for Independence Day in the United States by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, prefaced by an abridged reading of the Declaration of Independence. . . .

“That America’s Heroes Shall Not Have Died in Vain” with a special El Malé Raḥamim prayer for Memorial Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

A service and prayer for Memorial Day in the United States, containing a variation of El Malé Raḥamim, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. . . .

That Religion Be Not a Cloak for Hypocrisy, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

“That Religion Be Not a Cloak for Hypocrisy,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 435-5 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). . . .

Salvation through Labor, a prayer for the Sabbath before Labor Day, adapted from the writings of A.D. Gordon by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

“Salvation through Labor,” adapted by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan from the writings of Aaron David Gordon, can be found on p. 548-551 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). The translation was attributed in the Sabbath Prayer Book to its editors (Mordecai Kaplan & Eugene Kohn, assisted by Ira Eisenstein and Milton Steinberg). . . .

Life Is What We Make It, a prayer-poem based on the writings of Rabbi Leo Baeck by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

A prayer-poem by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan based on the writings of Rabbi Leo Baeck, as published in the Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p.426-7. . . .

מי שברך לתקופת יום הולדת | Mi sheBerakh on behalf of one celebrating a birthday, by Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

“Prayer in behalf of one celebrating a birthday,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 494-497 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) . . .

God’s Goodness — the Testament of Nature, a prayer for Thanksgiving Day by Rabbi Milton Steinberg (1945)

“God’s Goodness — the Testament of Nature” by Rabbi Milton Steinberg appears on pages 553-556 of The Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) as part of a service for Thanksgiving Day. It is the last of four “testaments,” the other three being the testament of Man, Israel, and America respectively. . . .

God’s Goodness — the Testament of Man, a prayer for Thanksgiving Day by Rabbi Milton Steinberg (1945)

“God’s Goodness — the Testament of Man” by Rabbi Milton Steinberg appears on pages 556-557 of The Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) as part of a service for Thanksgiving Day. It is the last of four “testaments,” the other three being the testament of Nature, Israel, and America respectively. . . .

סדר אכילת הסמנים | The Seder of Auspicious Foods for the Feast of Rosh Hashanah according to the Persian custom

Thank you to Nili Simhai and Yosh Schulman for sharing the Farsi (Persian) Nusaḥ of this punful minhag — the order of reciting kavvanot (intentions) for the New Year. Profound thanks are also due to Rabbi Simcha Daniel Burstyn of Kibbutz Lotan for his translation. Please help the Open Siddur Project by helping to translate and transcribe all of the Hebrew and Farsi in this seder. Sol’e nu Mobarak! سال نو مبارک — L’shanah Tova! . . .

God’s Goodness — the Testament of [Am] Yisrael, a prayer for Thanksgiving Day by Rabbi Milton Steinberg (1945)

“God’s Goodness — the Testament of Israel” by Rabbi Milton Steinberg appears on page 558 of The Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) as part of a service for Thanksgiving Day. It is the last of four “testaments,” the other three being the testament of Nature, Man, and America respectively. . . .

“Prayer,” by Abraham Joshua Heschel (1945)

The essay, “Prayer,” by Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel, then Associate Professor of Jewish Philosophy at Hebrew Union College, published in Review of Religion vol. 9 no. 2, January 1945. . . .

God’s Goodness — the Testament of America, a prayer for Thanksgiving Day by Rabbi Milton Steinberg (1945)

“God’s Goodness — the Testament of America” by Rabbi Milton Steinberg appears on pages 559-560 of The Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) as part of a service for Thanksgiving Day. It is the last of four “testaments,” the other three being the testament of Nature, Man, and Israel, respectively. . . .

ספר תפילות לשבת | Sabbath Prayer Book, by the Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation (1945)

Arranged and translated by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the Sabbath Prayer Book is the first Reconstructionist prayerbook we know of to have entered the Public Domain. . . .

הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה | Prayer for the Government on Thanksgiving Day, offered by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1945)

The Prayer for the Government offered by Rabbi David de Sola Pool in his service for Thanksgiving Day in 1945. . . .

📖 מנחת תודה | Minḥat Todah :: Service for Thanksgiving Day, arranged by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1945)

A special service prepared by Rabbi David de Sola Pool for Thanksgiving Day in the United States at K.K. Shearith Israel and published by the Union of Sephardic Congregations in 1945. . . .

Interdependence, a prayer by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (19 November 1944)

“Interdependence” by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958) was originally written for the 50th Anniversary of the World’s Young Women’s Christian Association, 19 November 1944. The prayer was included by Rabbi Morrison David Bial in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 55. It’s likely that Rabbi Bial first read the prayer in an anthology of prayer by Stephen Hole Fritchman, Prayers of the Free Spirit (1945), p. 38. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Solomon H. Metz on 5 June 1944

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 5 June 1944 on the eve of D-Day in World War Ⅱ. . . .

💬 Declaration of Interdependence, by Meyer David, Christian Richard, and Will Durant (1944)

A Declaration of Interdependence co-authored during WW II as part of an interfaith Jewish-Christian response to fascism and “to mitigate racial and religious animosity in America.” . . .

💬 מְגִילַּת הִיטְלֶיר | Megillat Hitler — a Purim Sheni scroll for French Armistice Day [after World War Ⅱ] by Asher P. Ḥassine (Casablanca, 1943)

A megillah attesting to the terrible events of World War II from the vantage of North African Jewry in Casablanca. . . .

זאָג ניט קײן מאָל | Partisaner Lid (the Partisan Song), by Hirsh Glik (Vilna Ghetto, 1943)

The Yiddish resistance song, “Partisaner Lid” (The Partisan Song) was composed by Hirsh Glick in the Vilna Ghetto in 1943. . . .

Memorial Prayer for Those Lost Through Human Strife, by Rabbi Chaplain (Lieutenant) Alexander David Goode (ca. 1943)

A memorial prayer for service members lost in times of war, given by a chaplain who sacrificed his life for others during WWII. . . .

Special Prayer for Our Soldiers and Sailors, edited by Rabbi Aaron Dym (1943)

This “Special Prayer for Our Soldiers and Sailors” edited by Rabbi Aaron Dym is found just after the preface to the siddur, סדור תפלת ישראל: כולל כל התפלות לכל השנה (Ziegelheim: 1943). . . .

תְּפִלּוֹת וּזְמִרוֹת לִכְבוֹד שַׁבָּת | Sabbath Eve Services and Hymns, a Friday night prayerbook compiled and arranged by Rabbi Sidney Guthman and Robert Segal (1944)

A Friday night siddur compiled by two Conservative movement rabbis for use in traditional leaning congregations familiar with Reform movement arrangements. Besides containing four alternative services for Friday nights, the prayerbook also contains extensive musical notation for congregational participation in singing liturgical melodies and hymns. . . .

[Children’s] Prayer for Ḥanukkah, by Lilian Helen Montagu (5 December 1942)

This “Prayer for Chanukah” (5 December 1942) 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), p. 352-353. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Israel Goldstein on 21 April 1942

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 21 April 1942. . . .

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Bernard Bergman on 26 May 1942

The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 26 May 1942. . . .

Prayer for Brotherhood, by Stephen Vincent Benét on United Nations Flag Day (14 June 1942)

This prayer by Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943) was first publicly read in 1942 in the course of a United Nations Day speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. . . .

Needed Prophets for Our Day, a prayer-poem by Mordecai Kaplan (1942) adapted from “The Divinity School Address” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1838)

This prayer by Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, first penned in his diary for 23 August 1942, was first published in The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan, by Mel Scult (1990). Although the prayer was not included in Kaplan’s Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945), it was added to the loose-leaf prayerbook he kept at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism synagogue. . . .

As Noites de Hanukah ou Da Festa dos Macabeus, compiled by Artur Carlos de Barros Basto (1943)

A guide and reader for use on the Festival of Ḥanukkah in Portuguese translation, according to Portuguese Jewish custom, prepared by Artur Carlos de Barros Basto under the auspices of the Insituto Teológico Israelita (Yeshiba Rosh-Pinah) in 1943. . . .

[Children’s] Prayer for a Youth Service during World War Ⅱ, by Lilian Helen Montagu (11 April 1942)

This “Special Prayer” for a Youth Service (11 April 1942) 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), p. 351. April 11th that year would have corresponded to the 24th of Nissan, i.e., a day following Passover 5702. . . .

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. . . .