מי שברך לשבויים | Mi sheBerakh for the Captives, after Kristallnacht (Hamburg, November 1938)

Contributor(s): Elie Kaunfer and Unknown Author(s)

Shared on: 26 October 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories: 🇩🇪 Kristallnacht (16 Marḥeshvan)

Tags: 20th century C.E., מי שברך mi sheberakh, 57th century A.M., captives, Needing Vocalization

This is a prayer for captives, written in November 1938 in Hamburg, following Kristallnacht (my translation following the Hebrew). “May each and every one of them return to their family…who are worrying about them.”

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Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
מי שברך אבותינו אברהם יצחק ויעקב המוציא את עמו ישראל מתחת סבלות מצרים ויוליכם קוממיות לארצם הוא יברך ויעזור וינצור את כל אחינו השבויים האומללים האסורים בכבלי עוני וברזל	May the One who blessed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the One who took His nation Israel from the sufferings of Egypt And led them upright to their land Bless, help, and protect all our brethren, the suffering captives, who are bound with bonds of suffering and iron.
ויחזק את זרועם ויתן אומץ לנפשם לעמוד כגבורים בכל עבודתם	Strengthen their hands and grant vigor to their souls To stand as mighty ones in all their labors.
ואת מלאכיו הקדושים יצוה להם לשמרם מכל נגע ומחלה ובחסדו הגדול יחיש להם פדות וחופש והרוחה	May God command all His holy angels to guard them from all harm and sickness. And in God’s great love, may God speedily grant them redemption and freedom and expanse.
שיצאו במהרה מבור שבי לחרות עולם וישובו איש אל משפחתו ואיש אל ביתו הדואגים בעדם וכלים ליום פדיונם…	May they escape quickly from the prison of their captivity to an eternal freedom. And may each of them return to their family, and each to their household, who are worrying about them, and desiring the day of their redemption…
ובעבור שכל הקהל הקדוש הזה נודרים צדקה בעד קרוב הצלתם יעלה לפני כסא כבודו תפילת דוד משיחנו: שובה ה׳ את שביתנו כאפיקים בנגב הזורעים בדמעה ברנה יקצורו (תהלים קכו:ד-ה)	On account of all this holy congregation giving tsedaqah in honor of their speedy salvation May the prayer of David our anointed one rise up to the holy throne [of God]: “Return our exiles, O God, like streams in the desert May those who sow in tears reap in joy” (Psalms 126:4-5)
ובקרוב יגיענו ה׳ ליום גאולתנו ופדות נפשנו	And soon may God lead us to the day of our redemption and salvation of our souls
כן יהי רצון ונאמר אמן	May it be Your will, and let us say: Amen

As found in, הערות ומלואים למחקרו של א. יערי על תפלות ‘מי שברך’ מאת דניאל כהן קרית ספר מ-1965. English translation offered by Rav Elie Kaunfer.

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“מי שברך לשבויים | Mi sheBerakh for the Captives, after Kristallnacht (Hamburg, November 1938)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Elie Kaunfer

Rabbi Elie Kaunfer is co-founder, rosh yeshiva and executive director of Mechon Hadar and on the Talmud faculty at Yeshivat Hadar. A graduate of Harvard College, he was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he also completed an MA and is pursuing a doctorate in liturgy. A Wexner Graduate Fellow, Elie is a co-founder of Kehilat Hadar and in 2009 Newsweek named him one of the top 50 rabbis in America. He was selected as an inaugural AVI CHAI Fellow, and is the author of Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us About Building Vibrant Jewish Communities (Jewish Lights, 2010).

Unknown Author(s)

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

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מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ לְבָּרְוָחָה הַנַּפְשִׁית | Mi sheBerakh for Mental Health Wellness (the Blue Dove Foundation, 2021)

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מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ לְפִדְיוֹן שְׁבוּיִם | Mi sheBerakh for the redemption of those in captivity (or whose whereabouts are unknown)

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Women prisioners at Ravensbrück Concentration Camp 1939. (Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1985-0417-15, Ravensbrück, Konzentrationslager)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17