מחזור של סוכות The Form of the Prayers for the Feast of Tabernacles According to the Custom of the German & Polish Jews was translated by Isaac Levi in 1807, ostensibly as a “revision” of a 1795 maḥzor compiled, translated, and published by David Levi (no relation). This later printing of Isaac Levi’s translation, made by the printer H. Abrahams (“Tsvi bar Michael” in Hebrew) in 1852, mistakenly credits “David Levy” instead of Isaac Levi. I’ve provided both editions so that their contents can more easily be compared with one another. –Aharon Varady

מחזור ליום כיפור The Form of the Additional and Afternoon Prayers for the Day of Atonement According to the Custom of the German & Polish Jews was translated by Isaac Levi in 1807, ostensibly as a “revision” of a 1795 maḥzor compiled, translated, and published by David Levi (no relation). This later printing of Isaac Levi’s translation, made by the printer H. Abrahams (“Tsvi bar Michael” in Hebrew) in 1852, mistakenly credits “David Levy” instead of Isaac Levi. I’ve provided both editions so that their contents can more easily be compared with one another. –Aharon Varady

מחזור מחזור ליום כיפור The Form of the Prayers for the Day of Atonement [Evening and Morning Services] According to the Custom of the German & Polish Jews was translated by Isaac Levi in 1807, ostensibly as a “revision” of a 1795 maḥzor compiled, translated, and published by David Levi (no relation). This later printing of Isaac Levi’s translation, made by the printer H. Abrahams (“Tsvi bar Michael” in Hebrew) in 1852, mistakenly credits “David Levy” instead of Isaac Levi. I’ve provided both editions so that their contents can more easily be compared with one another. –Aharon Varady

מחזור לראש השנה The Form of Prayers for the New Year According to the Custom of the German & Polish Jews was translated by Isaac Levi in 1807, ostensibly as a “revision” of a 1795 maḥzor compiled, translated, and published by David Levi (no relation). This later printing of Isaac Levi’s translation, made by the printer H. Abrahams (“Tsvi bar Michael” in Hebrew) in 1848, mistakenly credits “David Levy” instead of Isaac Levi. I’ve provided both editions so that their contents can more easily be compared with one another. –Aharon Varady

This is a prayer composed by David Hizkiahu Baruch Louzada (1750–1825) for Jewish Militiamen in Suriname mustered in the event of Maroon attacks.

A prayer by Rabbi David Sinzheim given during the Festival of Napoleon the Great on 15 August 1806, as recorded in Collection des Actes de l’Assemblée des Israélites de France et du Royaume d’Italie, pp. 218-219, and Raccolta degli atti dell’assemblea degli Israeliti di Francia e del regno d’Italia, p. 221.

“Composed for the Day of Atonement during the Prevalence of the Yellow Fever in New York in 1803,” this prayer was likely composed by Abraham Mears Isaacks (1765-1815). It was published in the Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society number 20 (1911), p. 158, as submitted by Rebecca E. Mitchell, one of Isaacks descendants.

The Birkat Habayit is perhaps the most popular blessing in the Jewish world, appearing as a hanging amulet inside the entrance of many houses of Jews of all streams. I have added niqud to the blessing and I am very grateful to Gabriel Wasserman for his corrections to my vocalization.

For the purpose of the unification of the Holy One and His divine (feminine) Presence, with trepidation and love and love and trepidation, to unify the name Yud-Kay with Vav-Kay (the four letters of the Tetragrammaton) with a complete unity in the name of all Israel, behold I intend in the lighting of the Hanukkah candle to fulfill the command of my Creator as our wise men of blessed memory have commanded us to repair her root in a supernal abode.

In North Africa, a unique custom developed of reciting a Mi Khamokha v-Ein Kamokha piyyut, inspired by the famed Shabbat Zakhor work of Yehuda haLevi, on the Shabbat before a local Purim (a celebration of community’s deliverance from destruction). This piyyut, written by R. Avraham ben Rafael Khalfon, was recited on the Shabbat before 29 Tevet in the community of Tripoli, to celebrate the victory of the Karamanlid dynasty over the despotic usurper Ali Burghul (after events transpiring from 1793-1804).

A common practice among Sephardim both eastern and western is to read the aftará for the morning of the fast of Aḇ with a verse-by-verse midrashic translation. Western Sephardim use an Early Modern Spanish text, while Eastern Sephardim use a Judezmo (or Judeo-Spanish proper) text. Attached is a transcript of a Western Sephardic verse-by-verse targum of the aftará for the Shabbat before 9 Aḇ, based on the text found in Isaac Leeser’s Siddur Siftei Tsadiqim, volume 6: Seder haTefilot laTaaniyot (1838), pp. 174-184. Each verse is included in Hebrew, as well as the original Spanish text, and a slightly modernized Spanish text underneath to clarify archaic forms or words that have fallen out of use. Also included are from-scratch English translations.

The “Tkhine of the Gate of Tears” by an unknown author presented here derives from the Vilna, 1848 edition. 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. If you can scan an image of the page from the edition this was copied from, please share it with us.

A popular prophylactic amulet in the event of an epidemic.

This paraphrase of Psalms 71 in English verse by Sir Robert Grant was first published posthumously under the title “Psalm ⅬⅩⅩⅠ” by Robert’s brother Charles Grant (Lord Glenelg) in Sacred Poems by the Late Right Hon. Sir Robert Grant (1839), pp. 31-32.

This paraphrase of a portion of Psalms 84 in English verse by Sir Robert Grant was first published posthumously under the title “Part of Psalm ⅬⅩⅩⅩⅣ. Imitated” by Robert’s brother Charles Grant (Lord Glenelg) in Sacred Poems by the Late Right Hon. Sir Robert Grant (1839), pp. 36-37.

This paraphrase of the second half of Psalms 19 in English verse by Sir Robert Grant was first published posthumously under the title “Psalm ⅩⅠⅩ” by Robert’s brother Charles Grant (Lord Glenelg) in Sacred Poems by the Late Right Hon. Sir Robert Grant (1839), pp. 28-30. As Charles Grant writes as introduction to the poem, it “is intended as a sequel or counterpart to Addison’s hymn, “The spacious firmament.” It corresponds to the latter portion of the 19th Psalm, as Addison’s does to the former.”

Before our hands can fix, we need to care. Before we can care, we need our eyes open. But how can we remind ourselves to see, and sustain our sensitivity and capability for compassion? We can shy from the pain that comes with empathy, and we can shy from the pain that comes with taking responsibility for the suffering we cause. But there are consequences to shying away, to disaffection and callous disassociation. If there is any hope, it is as Rebbe Naḥman explained so succinctly: “If you believe that you can damage, then believe that you can fix.” In 1806, Rebbe Naḥman of Bratslav taught that the recitation of ten psalms could act as a powerful Tiqun (remedy) in a process of t’shuvah leading to an awareness of the divine presence that permeates and enlivens this world but is alas, hidden though an accretion of transgressive thoughts and actions. Five years later, Rebbe Naḥman revealed the specific ten psalms of this tiqun to two of his closest disciples, Rabbi Aharon of Bratslav and Rabbi Naftali of Nemyriv.

This is a prayer for the welfare of domesticated animals (behemot), specifically cattle. “Tefilat mashbit milḥamot v’ha-dever min ha-behemot” (HUC MS 465) was composed by an unknown author, sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century, and possibly in a Jewish community in Italy. The text contains the following clues: 1) a prayer for a local Duke (instead of the Emperor Napoleon), 2) mention of warfare, and 3) mention of some variety of epizootic contagious disease among cattle. Rinderpest, known since ancient times, is the most likely candidate for the latter, especially in Italy in the 18th century (where it was first described by early veterinary science) but it was also in Europe following the defeat of Napoleon. While typhus and hoof-and-mouth disease are also possible, Dr. Susan Einbinder, who brought our attention to this prayer via a lecture on epidemic prayers for the HUC Klau Library, notes that the biblical reference to the “bellowing of the cattle” evokes the actual tortuous lived experience of the afflicted animals, and the suffering of their human minders, helpless to relieve them. The tragedy of rinderpest only ended in the 20th century after a concerted multi-national effort to eradicate the disease — one of the earliest modern multinational initiatives to improve the world. (A related disease, Ovine Rinderpest, first described in the 20th century, has not yet been eradicated and affects goats and sheep as well as cattle.)

The shabbos table song “Yah Ekhsof No’am Shabbat” by Rabbi Aharon of Karlin, translated by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 29-30, from where this translation was transcribed.

An interpretive translation of the shabbes hymn, Yah Ekhsof.

In 1785 Friedrich Schiller wrote his ‘An die Freude an ode ‘To Joy’, describing his ideal of an equal society united in joy and friendship. Numerous copies and adaptations attest to its popularity at the time. The slightly altered 1803 edition was set to music not only by Ludwig van Beethoven in his Ninth Symphony but also by other composers such as Franz Schubert and Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Hs. Ros. PL B-57 contains a Hebrew translation of the first edition of the ode (apparently rendered before the 1803 alteration), revealing that the spirit of the age even managed to reach the Jewish community in the Netherlands. Whereas the imagery of Schiller’s original is drawn from Greek mythology, the author of the שִׁיר לְשִׂמְחָה relies on the Bible as a source. In fact, he not only utilises Biblical imagery, but successfully avoids any allusion to Hellenistic ideas whatsoever.

“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in 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.

“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Tishrei [Rosh Hashanah]” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in 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.

Master of all realms! You hear from all worlds. You look with love and grace upon all of your creations for whose sake you created Your world. Seize and fulfill the pure request from Your servant who comes before You after a full week, having shown her heart is full and her mood somber. The beloved Shabbes koidesh is already going away, and with our Shabbes, our rest has also disappeared. A new week comes up to meet us, against us, Master of the universe. We are people who know, just like You know, the heavy and difficult life of Your people Yisruel: their bitter mood, how difficulty and bitterly each Jew acquires his meager piece of bread through worry and heartache, the fear and hardship with which each Jew scrapes together his seemingly hopeless living.

The ḳaddish prayer of Rebbi Levi Yitsḥaq of Berditchev in Yiddish with Hebrew, and English translations.

“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the Blowing of the Shofar” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in 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.

A profound song invoking divine presence.

“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the Torah Reading on Rosh Hashanah” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in 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 teḥinah for the blessing of the new moon is said each Shabbat Mevorkhim, addition to the specific teḥinah for that month. The prayer is recited when the Aron HaKodesh is opened, signifying the opening of the Heavenly gates of mercy (an especially propitious time to pray for health, livelihood, and all good).

“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for Yizkor on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Yamim Tovim” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in 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.

A prayer upon preparing ḥallot for Shabbat.

Bénissons is the French version of the well-known Bendigamos, a prayer and melody of the Spanish & Portuguese Jewish communities, most probably originating in Bordeaux, France.

The Prayer for Rosh Ḥodesh from the Teḥinah of the Three Gates by Sarah bat Tovim (18th century).

This is a full transcription of a patriotic and civic prayer service offered on 29 November 1798 at the German Jews’ Synagogue in London, composed by chief Rabbi Moses Myers and translated into English by David Levi. The unique prayers by Rabbi Myers are openly anti-French and anti-Napoleonic, in alignment with British sentiment in the war against the forces of Napoleon and thrilled with the naval defeat of Napoleonic forces at the Battle of the Nile in August of that year by rear admiral Horatio Nelson.

מחזור לשבועות The Form of Prayers for the Feast of Pentecost According to the Custom of the German & Polish Jews was compiled and translated in 1796 by David Levi (1742-1801). It is the sixth volume in a set of nusaḥ Ashkenaz maḥzorim by Levi.

מחזור לפסח The Form of Prayers for the Feast of Passover According to the Custom of the German & Polish Jews was compiled and translated in 1796 by David Levi (1742-1801). It is the fifth volume in a set of nusaḥ Ashkenaz maḥzorim by Levi.

This is De Rechten van den Menschen van den Burger (“The Rights of Man and of the Citizen” 1795) and its Hebrew translation, דברי הברית החקים והמשפטים אשר בין אדם לאדם (1798), upon the establishment of the Batavian Republic and the ensuing emancipation of Dutch Jewry in the Netherlands. The text of the Declaration, with nineteen articles, follows after the French Republic’s much expanded Déclaration des droits de l’Homme et du citoyen de 1793 written by Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles. (The French Declaration, ratified by popular vote in July 1793, was a revision of the initial Declaration from 1789 written by the commission that included Hérault de Séchelles and Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just during the period of the French Revolution.) Declarations such as these enshrined the liberal values of the Enlightenment which changed the situation and status of Jews under their aegis. Ultimately, these values were largely enshrined under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by member states of the nascent United Nations in 1945.

This is a full transcription of a patriotic and civic prayer service offered on 29 October 1795 at the German Jews’ Synagogue in London, composed by chief Rabbi Moses Myers and translated into English by David Levi. The prayers on behalf of King George Ⅲ came in the aftermath of the unraveling of the “Popgun Plot,” an alleged 1794 conspiracy by three members of the London Corresponding Society to assassinate the kning by means of a poison dart fired from an airgun. Three members, Paul Thomas LeMaitre, John Smith, and George Higgins, were arrested in late 1794, and Robert Thomas Crossfield in December 1795. Ultimately, all four were acquitted of treason in May 1796, on the grounds that the chief witness against them was dead.

מחזור לסוכות The Form of the Prayers for the Feast of Tabernacles According to the Custom of the German & Polish Jews was compiled and translated in 1795 by David Levi (1742-1801). Besides Sukkot, additional services for Shemini Atseret and Simḥat Torah are included. It is the fourth volume in a set of nusaḥ Ashkenaz maḥzorim by Levi.

מחזור ליום כיפור The Form of the Additional and Afternoon Prayers for the Day of Atonement According to the Custom of the German & Polish Jews was compiled and translated in 1795 by David Levi (1742-1801). It is the second volume in a set of nusaḥ Ashkenaz maḥzorim by Levi. The Arvit and Shaḥarit services for Yom Kippur are found in the previous volume in this six volume set of maḥzorim.

מחזור מחזור ליום כיפור The Form of the Prayers for the Day of Atonement [Evening and Morning Services] According to the Custom of the German & Polish Jews was compiled and translated in 1795 by David Levi (1742-1801). It is the second volume in a set of nusaḥ Ashkenaz maḥzorim by Levi. The Musaf, Minḥah, and Neilah services for Yom Kippur are found in the next volume in this six volume set of maḥzorim.

מחזור לראש השנה The Form of Prayers for the New Year According to the Custom of the German & Polish Jews was compiled and translated in 1794 by David Levi (1742-1801). It is the first volume in a set of nusaḥ Ashkenaz maḥzorim by Levi, and his introduction sets forth his principles of translation used throughout the rest of the volumes. Due to the high esteem accorded it, this set served as a template for later maḥzorim in their translations and layout.

Kabbalistic kavvanot and blessing formulations for the eight nights of Ḥanukkah.

“Lamnatseaḥ Shir” composed by Moses Ensheim, and its accompanying paraliturgical French translation by Isaïah Berr Bing, was first published in 1792 when it was sung in the synagogue of the Jewish community of Metz in celebration of the victory of the French Revolution and their emancipation as full citizens of France in 1791.

“La Marseillaise” is the national anthem of France. This Hebrew translation was made by Efrayim Dror for the Free French Army (Forces Françaises Libres) and its many Jewish volunteers during the early years of World War II. The translation was published in 1951. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled “Chant de guerre pour l’Armée du Rhin” (“War Song for the Army of the Rhine”). The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic’s anthem in 1795. The song acquired its nickname after being sung in Paris by volunteers from Marseille marching to the capital. After the fall of Napoleon in 1815 “La Marseilles” was banned and it became the anthem of the French left. The Government brought back the iconic anthem in an attempt to motivate the French people during the Franco-Prussian War. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, “La Marseillaise” was recognized as the anthem of the international revolutionary movement; as such, it was adopted by the Paris Commune in 1871, albeit with new lyrics under the title “La marseillaise de la Commune.” Eight years later, in 1879, it was restored as France’s national anthem. On Simḥat Torah (18–19 October) 1973, the Lubavitcher Rebbe adapted the melody to the Jewish prayer “Ha’aderet v’ha’emuna”. In ḤaBaD, the melody is believed to convey the idea of a “spiritual French revolution” – in that Torah should be spread around the world as an advent to the messianic era.

The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America, were first adopted in 1791. They were closely modeled on the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights drafted by George Mason in May 1776. This translation, by Judah David Eisenstein was published in 1891.

In many Jewish communities around the world, there have been traditional scrolls read for “local Purims,” celebrating redemptions for a specific community. Here in America, we don’t really have an equivalent to that. But we do have Thanksgiving, a day heavily inspired by Biblical traditions of celebration, and one long associated with all that is good about America. Some Jewish communities have a tradition on Thanksgiving of reading Washington’s letter to the Jews of Newport, where he vows to support freedom of religion, famously writing that the United States “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance” – thus rephrasing words originally written in a prior letter by Moses Seixas (say-shas), the sexton of the Touro Synagogue in Newport. This text includes the original English of both Moses Seixas’ letter to Washington and Washington’s return, as well as a somewhat simplified version of the story of Washington’s visit to Newport. Inspired largely by the style of the Book of Esther, it could be read on Thanksgiving morning during the service, using Esther melodies (or going on detours as per personal choice).

The following prayer for the government was composed by Congregation Beth Shalome in Richmond, Virginia in 1789. Please note the acrostic portion of the prayer in which the initial letters of the succeeding lines form the name: Washington.

A ḥatimah (closing) prayer delivered by Ḥazzan Gershom Seixas at a special Thanksgiving Day service by K.K. Shearith Israel in 1789.

This is an expanded posthumous adaptation of the Yiddish translation of “Teḥinah Imahot” originally written by Leah Horowitz and published in the late 18th century. This variation is found in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled and translated by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992), pp. 84-88. The concluding prayer is longer in this variation than in the earliest published version.