מגלת המתיקות Megillat HaMetiḳut (Scroll of the Sweetness), written and sealed by the hand of Noraa Neither Kaplan, upon the deliverance of the Jews from confectionary catastrophe on the 17th of Tishrei, 5787 (the 28th of September, 2026).

This is an early wizard battle tale found in RSL Ms. Guenzburg 82, fol. 78b-79a, first transcribed by Joseph Dan in his article סיפורים דימונולוגיים מכתבי יהודה החסיד (“Demonological stories from the writings of Yehudah he-Ḥasid”) and published in Tarbits (vol. 30, 1961), as story #29 on pp. 288-289. The English translation by Dan, was re-printed in chapter 15 of Jewish Mysticism vol. 2: The Middle Ages, pp. 359-360, and first published in “An Early Source of the Yiddish Akdamot Story,” in Hebrew University Studies in Literature, vol. 1 (1993), pp. 39-46.

An original Aramaic-language seder ushpizata, as a parallel to the patriarchal ushpizin, to invite matriarchal figures from history. While other “ushpizot” or “ushpizata” texts have been written before, most of them are not in Aramaic, and I think that is a shame. So this one is. Also included is a poster I designed last year, to be hung up in a sukkah alongside the more traditional ushpizin poster.

This is a prayer for Yom Kippur. It started out as a meditation on Yizkor, hence the אל מלא רחמים form at the beginning. It quickly changed to a prayer for insight and change and the possiblity of tshuvah in this moment.

An original Aramaic-language “meturgeman piyyut” for Simḥat Torah. 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 piyyut, written in the structure of the famous Aqdamut Milin reshut still recited on Shavuot, is meant to be inserted before the translation of the first verse of the first aliyah on Simḥat Torah. It discusses the halakhic status and history of Shmini Atzeret, as well as the final blessing and death of Moses.

A prayer is for all members of עם ישראל who are in dangerous or oppressive conditions: Israeli soldiers including those who are in combat at this moment, captives and wounded soldiers and civilians alike, “all those threatened by malice in our land and in exile,” and “all those in need of Your comfort” — especially the families of dead or wounded soldiers and civilians in Israel and in exile.

An ofan for Tu b’Av, the second part of an intended cycle of yotsrot. Structured around Hosea 11:1 and Ezekiel 3:12, and focusing on the bridal love between Israel and God as well as the corresponding of Israel’s and angelic hymning. Written in honor of my friend Eliran’s anniversary.

In the era of the Sanhedrin, every fast day would have a Ne’ilah service between Minḥah and the conclusion of the fast. While these are no longer in practice for any days other than Yom Kippur, the editor personally feels like it could be worth bringing them back. The following is a fourth blessing for the Amidah intended to serve as the center of a Tishah b’Av Ne’ilah service, incorporating passages from other Tishah b’Av and Yom Kippur liturgies as well as some original passages.

This is a prayer of lament and warning for the sake of the lives of all the peoples of the land, and for the sake of the heart of the Jewish and Israeli people, to help us all resist the cruelty that beckons. Dedicated to Awdah al-Hathaleen, whose spirit and kindness and courage remain with us.

A ritual and liturgy for Jews who have felt compelled to withdraw from friendships, organisations, or social and religious environments in which antisemitism, hostility towards Israel, or the dismissal of Jewish grief had become tolerated or normalised. It is intended particularly for those who have already established a practical boundary—by leaving, blocking, unfollowing, or ending a relationship—and who need a Jewish ritual through which to acknowledge the resulting grief and affirm their dignity, solidarity, and continued connection to the Jewish people.

In the style of the full Eliyahu haNavi piyyuṭ recited by some communities every Havdalah, a piyyuṭ in honor of Seraḥ bat Asher, retelling the events of her life according to the midrashim. This is not the first time I’ve written a Havdalah piece on Seraḥ, the distaff counterpart to Elijah in the midrash. She also inspired this shorter song. Like the full Eliyahu haNavi piyyuṭ, this is in three-line rhyming stanzas with a repeated refrain. Unlike it, it is in a tashraq reverse alphabetical acrostic, followed by an authorial tag — this time using a matronymic.

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. 34:11. In an atbash structure, it celebrates the great actions that Moshe did in the senses of Israel, using the ten names of Moshe listed in Vayikra Rabba 1:3:3.

A friend of mine moving into a new apartment complained that his washing machine was infested by demons. So I made this amulet in the style of the Babylonian magic bowl corpus (specifically, mostly based on the form of JBA 26 (MS 1928/43)) to help him. Then I was asked to upload my amulet text here so I generalized it a bit, vocalized it, and added gender instructions. For maximum efficacy, the text should be written in a spiral pattern in the concave side of an unglazed ceramic bowl and buried face-down at the threshold of your apartment. That being said, my friend just printed the included image out, and the technician managed to find the problem pretty quickly.

A poem / blessing made for the 2026 Pittsburgh Dyke March, framed with a Hebrew blessing for Lesbian Pride written by Rabbi Robin Podolsky.

A shiv’ata is a sevenfold blessing inserted into the Musaf service on Shabbat. This original shiv’ata is for a bat mitsvah following the traditional count, where a girl turns twelve. Each stanza begins with an example of twelve as used in our tradition, followed by an alphabetical acrostic.

A shiv’ata is a sevenfold blessing inserted into the Musaf service on Shabbat. This shiv’ata was written for use at a bar mitsvah. Each stanza begins with an example of thirteen as used in our tradition, followed by an alphabetical acrostic. This piyyuṭ is for a bar mitsvah, where a boy turns thirteen.

A full qedushta cycle, in the Qallirian style, for the Shabbat between Yom haShoah and Yom ha-Atsma’ut, referred to in the recently published Israeli Reform siddur Tefilat haAdam as “Shabbat Tequmah” (the sabbath of renewal). Partially based on the structure of the qedushta for Shabbat haGadol, the culmination of this qedushta is an azhara, a poetic retelling of the entire Megilat ha-Atsma’ut.

These teḥinot on descending into and ascending out of a shelter were written as a response to the Iran war of 2026, which featured a lot of descending into and ascending out of shelters. The teḥinah on ascending is inspired by the minhag not to write the book of Eikha on klaf, because klaf represents permanence, and we pray someday to no longer need to recite it.

“Geula for Shaagat HaAri” by Benny Powers was first published to the author’s website on 11 March 2026.

A prayer for the welfare of the State of Israel, its people and its military personnel during the war with Iran begun at the end of February 2026.

An egalitarian liturgical innovation for the ḥatimah of the first blessing of the Amidah, magen avot in which the divine is described as the fortress of Sarah.

This mi sheberakh prayer was offered by Rabbi Gila Caine for those reviewing and compiling the documentary evidence of the depraved violence committed by HAMA”S and its allies on 7 October 2023.

An adaptation of the fourth berakhah of a festival musaf, for Sigd. Since halakhically there is technically no Sigd musaf, this does not end with shem u-malkhut in the ḥatimah.

A meditation prior to laying tefillin that takes into regard the creature whose skin was repurposed for this sacred ritual activity.

While the time for beginning to mention God’s power to bring rain in our prayers has a dramatic introductory piyyut (see my work here for a version with Immahot), the time when we begin actually asking for said rain is unadorned by any poetry, and is simply a change in one phrase in our liturgy. Therefore, inspired by a Facebook post by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (who since wrote his own version here), I wrote the following piyyut over the course of 5785, to be added to the Maariv service on the evening when one begins praying for rain in their location. Each stanza of the piyyut is intended to be added before the ḥatimah of each of the four blessings surrounding the Maariv Shema. I have signed my name to the acrostic, and provided a translation that highlights said acrostic and structure. May we have a year of abundance and goodness.

This al hanissim for the day of the release of the remaining living hostages taken by HAMA”S to Gaza on 7 October 2023, was offered by Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny (Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles) on 13 October 2025, on Hoshana Rabba 5786. The text of the prayer was first published in a Google Doc with a link shared over social media.

“תפילת הודיה לשוב החטופים (A prayer of thanks on return of the hostages)” was written and translated by Ze’ev Kainan on behalf of the Masorti Movement in Israel and Knesset haRabanim b’Yisrael, and shared by email and social media on 13 October 2025, erev Shemini Atseret, on the day of the return of the remaining living hostages taken captive by HAMA”S two years prior.

A new introductory piyyut-meturgeman serving as a reshut for the targum of the haftarah. This genre used to be very popular, especially among the old French paytanim, but nowadays the only one still recited is Yetsiv Pitgam, said in some communities on the second day of Shavuot — although the targum is no longer. I think that’s a shame, so I wrote a new one. I’m probably one of the first people to write one of these since the expulsion of 1394. So of course, it’s meta as all get-out, being a reshut not just for the targum of the haftarah but for the custom of reading the targum of the haftarah with a reshut at all.

A Hoshana for Sukkot 5786 to balance the memory of the horrors of 7 October 2023 and the tense anticpation of October 2025, after the ceasefire agreement was signed but not fully implemented.

An original Aramaic-language “meturgeman piyyut” for Simḥat Torah and the reading of Bereshit. 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, a reverse acrostic woven into the recitation of Genesis 1.

The Office of the Chief Rabbi’s prayer on the day following the terror attack in Manchester on Yom Kippur 5786 (2025).

This is a seliḥah in piyut form. The first line borrows from the famous seliḥah במוצאי מנוחה. The seliḥah is driven by the question: How can we ask for forgiveness as the death and destruction in Gaza continues?

A pizmon for calling up a (male) Jew-by-choice for his first aliyah to the Torah after completing his conversion process. (Pizmonim for female and non-binary Jews-by-choice forthcoming!) To be recited before the blessing, led by the gabbai with the community responding with the refrain.

Rabbi David Seidenberg writes, “This piyyut is a response to what I think of as the second war with Gaza since October 7, the one started on March 18, 2025, when Israel broke the ceasefire. At that point it became clear that war was being driven not by the hostages or even by eliminating Hamas, but rather by Netanyahu’s coalition and its fascist members and elements eager to colonize Gaza. I am also responding to examples of the glee to destroy that accompanied some soldiers’ desire to punish all of Gaza, expressed in song, tik tok, etc., and the repeated declaration made by various Hardal rabbis that all of Gaza is Amalek, and the apparent careless way of that life gets taken by sniper and drone. I have put those feelings in the first person, in the spirit of all of us taking responsibility for any of our sins, as a community. What is real above all is the sin enumerated in the Syrian Vidui Hagadol: ‘Lo Bacharta Bachayyim, We did not choose Life.'”

This is a piyyuṭ which was originally commissioned (by Maeera Shreiber who largely translated it into English) and written as an introductory piyyuṭ for the ‘arvit service for a gathering of HUC faculty. It draws on the image of Jacob (who is credited in the Talmud with instituting the ‘arvit prayer) and the angels he met at the place that he rested; and many other images from the tradition (as is made clear in the footnotes). This year it is being chanted in my community (Shtibl in Los Angeles) before the ne’ilah service.

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 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 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.

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 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.

The seder sheva brakhot for a rabbinic Jewish wedding together with a Yiddish translation.

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 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.

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.