← Back to Languages & Scripts Index When works are printed bearing shemot, any one of the ten divine names sacred to Judaism, they are cared for with love. If a page or bound work bearing shemot falls to the ground it’s a Jewish custom to draw up the page or book and kiss it. Just as loved ones are cared for after they’ve fallen and passed away, when the binding fails and leaves fall from siddurim and other seforim they are collected in boxes and bins and brought for burial, where their holy words can decompose back into the earth from which their constituent elements once grew, and were once harvested to become paper and books, and ink, string, glue. While teaching at the Teva Learning Center last Fall 2010, I collected all our shemot that we had intentionally or unintentionally made on our copy machine, or which we had collected from the itinerant teachers who pass through the Isabella Freedman Retreat Center on so many beautiful weekend shabbatonim. While leafing through the pages, I found one and kept it from the darkness of the genizah. . . . The popular practice of a night time prayer vigil is not well understood. In the siddur, most people pass by it because they don’t know what to do with it. Others are confused because of the lack of consistency in its presentation from one siddur to the next. At the end of the day, this ritual would be regarded as a rite reserved for the pious — for the great tzadikim who made regular use of it. . . . A digital reproduction of a Shiviti held in the Royal Library of Denmark’s Simonsen Manuscripts Collection. . . . “A Tkhine for a Kaleh before the Khupe” by an unknown author is a faithful transcription of the version published in Rokhl m’vakoh al boneho (Rokhel Weeps for her Children), Vilna, 1910. I have transcribed it without any changes from The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni. . . . The piyyut, Refa Tsiri, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . . The 7th of Adar is the traditional date for the yahrzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu and it is also remembered as the day of his birth 120 years earlier. This variation of of the piyyut, Hanenu Yah Hanenu (Forgive Us Yah, Forgive Us), sung on 7 Adar, is attributed to Rabbi Yosef Ḥayyim of Baghdad (the Ben Ish Ḥai, 1832-1909). The earliest published version we could find appears in בקשות: ונוסף עוד פתיחות ופיוטים הנוהגים לומר בזמה הזה (1912) containing piyyutim by Israel ben Moses Najara (1555-1625), a Jewish liturgical poet, preacher, Biblical commentator, kabbalist, and rabbi of Gaza. The contemporary audio recording of the Iraqi nusaḥ presented here was made by משה חבושה (Moshe Ḥavusha). . . . Arthur Earnest Cowley’s transcription of a 13th or 14th century manuscript of an Israelite-Samaritan defter held in the Vatican library (V 3. Ff. 193, vellum, sm. 4to.). Besides prayers, the second volume also contains an introduction, list of manuscripts used, and a glossary of terms in Samaritan Aramaic, among other materials. . . . A piyyut and table song for Shabbat by the chief rabbi of the Ottoman Empire. . . . This “Washington Anniversary Prayer” was offered by Rabbi Edward Nathan Calisch during the Masonic ceremonies at Mt. Vernon, 18 December 1899, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of George Washington’s death. Rabbi Calisch published it in his autobiography, Three Score and Twenty (1945), pp. 47-48. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 28 February 1899. . . . The project page for the transcription and translation of the Seder al-Tawḥid for Rosh Ḥodesh Nissan. . . . A meditation on prayer and earnest offering. . . . A Prayer for American Victory in the Spanish-American War by Rabbi Joshua Seigel (1846-1910), New York: Eliakum Zunser, [1898]. . . . This is the poem “דיא זרשטע טבילה” by Morris Rosenfeld (1862-1923) written sometime before 1898. We have transcribed the poem as it was published in Rosenfeld’s collection of poems Gezamelṭe lieder (1906) pp. 167-168. The poem was romanized and translated into English by Leo Wiener and published under the title, “Die erste Twile (The First Bath of Ablution)” in Songs from the Ghetto (1898), pp. 52-55. A rhyming translation by Rose Pastor Stokes & Helena Frank under the title, “The First Bath of Ablution” was published in Songs of Labor and Other Poems (1914), pp. 72-73. . . . This is the poem “קידוש לבנה” by Morris Rosenfeld (1862-1923) written sometime before 1898. We have transcribed the poem as it was published in Rosenfeld’s collection of poems Gezamelṭe lieder (1906) pp. 141-143. The poem was romanized and translated into English by Leo Wiener and published under the title, “Kidesch⸗Lewone (The Moon-Prayer)” in Songs from the Ghetto (1898), pp. 48-53. . . . This is the poem “פעלד־מעסטען” by Morris Rosenfeld (1862-1923) written before 1898. We have transcribed the poem as it was published in Rosenfeld’s collection of poems Gezamelṭe lieder (1906) pp. 135-136. The poem was romanized and translated into English by Leo Wiener and published under the title, “The Measuring of the Graves” in Songs from the Ghetto (1898), pp. 46-49. A rhyming translation by Rose Pastor Stokes & Helena Frank under the title, “Measuring of the Graves” was published in Songs of Labor and Other Poems (1914), pp. 70-71. If you know the date of the earliest publication of this prayer, please leave a comment or contact us. . . . “דיא חנוכה ליכט” by Morris Rosenfeld (1862-1923) p.132-134. It was translated from the Yiddish into English by Rose Pastor Stokes & Helena Frank and published under the title, “The Feast of Lights” in Songs of Labor and Other Poems (1914), p. 65-66. Another translation, by Helena Frank alone was published in Apples & Honey (ed. Nina Salaman 1921), p. 242-244. The German translation by Berthold Feiwel was published in Lieder des Ghetto (1902), p. 81-83, and illustrated by Efraim Moses Lilian. . . . Birkonim (bentschers) with table songs sung on the Sabbath with accompanying translations are now commonplace, but they not always were. The first major collection with accompanying translations was Dr. Leo Hirschfeld’s בזמרות נריע לו Die häuslichen Sabbathgesänge für Freitag⸗Abend, Sabbath⸗Tag und Sabbath⸗Ausgang (1898), an anthology of Sabbath table songs organized according to their traditional feast (Sabbath night, day, and Sabbath afternoon) in the Ashkenazi tradition. . . . This prayer of thanksgiving by Rabbi Arnold Kiss for deliverance from danger, “Hálaima a bajból való menekülésért,” was first published in his anthology of prayers for Jewish women, Mirjam (1897) on p.286-288. . . . This paraliturgical Birkat haMazon by Rabbi Arnold Kiss, “Étkezés utáni ima” (Magyar, 1897) and “Gebet nach dem Speisen” (German, 1907), was first published in his anthology of prayers for Jewish women, Mirjam on p.200-202 of the original Magyar edition and p.354-357 of the subsequent German edition. I’ve set separate English translations side-by-side with the Magyar and German in order to highlight the subtle differences between the two. –Aharon Varady . . . This prayer by Rabbi Arnold Kiss for when one is confronted by grave difficulties, “Bajban,” was first published in his anthology of prayers for Jewish women, Mirjam (1897) on p.285-286 . . . This prayer for the well-being of children by Rabbi Arnold Kiss, “Gyermekek üdvéért” (Magyar, 1897) and “Gebet für das Heil des Kindes” (German, 1907), was first published in his anthology of prayers for Jewish women, Mirjam on p.291-293 of the original Magyar edition and p. 546-549 of the subsequent German edition. I’ve set separate English translations side-by-side with the Magyar and German in order to highlight the subtle differences between the two. As I am not a native speaker of German or Magyar, please correct and improve upon my effort. –Aharon Varady . . . This prayer by Rabbi Arnold Kiss for the well-being of a husband by their wife, “A nő imája férjéért,” was first published in his anthology of prayers for Jewish women, Mirjam (1897) on p.246-248. It doesn’t appear to me to have been translated in the subsequent German edition (1907). I’ve set my English translation side-by-side with the Magyar. –Aharon Varady . . . This prayer by Rabbi Arnold Kiss for the kingdom of Hungary in a time of national crisis, “Országos bánat, közös baj idején,” was first published in his anthology of prayers for Jewish women, Mirjam (1897) on p.289-291. . . . This prayer by Rabbi Arnold Kiss for the well-being of a husband by their wife, “A nő imája férjéért,” was first published in his anthology of prayers for Jewish women, Mirjam (1897) on p.246-248. It doesn’t appear to me to have been translated in the subsequent German edition (1907). I’ve set my English translation side-by-side with the Magyar. –Aharon Varady . . . “Morning Song [splendor of the morning sunlight]” is a hymn by Felix Adler, published in The Sabbath School Hymnal, a collection of songs, services and responses for Jewish Sabbath schools, and homes (4th rev. ed., 1897), hymn no. 23. . . . The invocation offered at the opening of the Republican National Convention in St. Louis in 1896. . . . This tkhine offers a formula for providing relief to a very ill person, and as such, should only be used as a supplement to recommendations provided by an expert physician or nurse. The source of the tkhine is Tkhine of a Highly Respected Woman, Budapest, 1896; and transcribed from The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. . . . Siddur Qorban Minḥah, a Jewish prayerbook collecting the customs of the school of the ARI z”l, accompanied by tkhines and translations in Yiddish. . . . A collection of prayers in Magyar for Jewish women composed by the rabbi of Veszprém, later, the chief rabbi of Buda. . . . The first edition of the Union Hymnal by the Central Conference of American Rabbis. . . . This is Rabbi Emil Hirsch’s 1896 translation and adaption of Rabbi David Einhorn’s original German volumes of עלת תמיד Olath Tamid. (This edition followed after the first English translation that was published in 1872.) Besides his adapted translation, Hirsch also introduced a number of other changes which he summarized in his preface. . . . “Prayer of Thanksgiving” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 6-7. This prayer reads to me as possibly intended to be used as a prayer of transition, before the tradition of the bat mitsvah was universally adopted, at a time when a young woman might be old enough to begin contemplating their future, their marriage prospects, and their general “usefulness” — especially in regards to their future work — the overarching theme of this collection of prayers. This affirmation in particular stands out to me as radically important for Lilian Montagu and other young suffragettes to express in 1895: “Lord, whether in the future I marry or whether I remain single, I shall be able to lead a useful, happy life” and “Lord, I thank Thee for my womanhood!” . . . “Prayer for a Dear Relation or Friend Who is Ill” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 26-27. . . . “Prayer for a Dear Relation or Friend Who is Ill” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 26-27. . . . |
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