אַחֵֽינוּ וְאַחֱיוֹתֵנוּ | Aḥeinu v’Aḥeiyoteinu, an inclusive adaptation of the prayer for captives after 7 October 2023 by Me’ira Rakhel Pitkapaasi

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28 September 2025 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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2023-2025 Israel–Hamas war, captives, Distress, gender inclusive, Geonic prayers

My translation of Acheinu was written for the hostages taken in Israel on 7 October 2023. It was written to musically match the version composed by Abie Rotenberg. While my words are poetry, they also follow a close to linear translation of the Hebrew. It is important to note that the Hebrew has been reconstructed to include both Acheinu (brothers) and Achyoteinu (sisters).

Source (Hebrew)	Transliteration (Hebrew, romanized)	Translation (English)
אַחֵינוּ כָּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, אַחֵיוֹתֵנוּ כָּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, הַנְּתוּנִים בְּצָרָה, בְּצָרָה וּבַשִּׁבְיָה הָעוֹמְדִים בֵּין בַּיָּם וּבֵין בַּיַּבָּשָׁה,	Aḥeinu kol beit Yisrael, aḥ’yoteinu kol beit Yisrael han’tunim b’tsarah uvashivyah, ha’omdim bein bayam u’vein bayabashah.	Our family, the whole house of Yisrael, Our brothers and our sisters, each and everyone In distress, in captivity, On dry land or on the sea
		We send prayers of freedom, Please come home everyone.
הַמָּקוֹם יְרַחֵם עֲלֵיהֶם, וְיוֹצִיאֵם מִצָּרָה לִרְוָחָה, וּמֵאֲפֵלָה לְאוֹרָה, וּמִשִּׁעְבּוּד לִגְאֻלָּה, הַשְׁתָּא בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב.	Hamaḳom y’raḥeim aleihem v’yotsiem mitsarah lirvaḥah, ume’afailah l’orah umishibud lig’ulah, hashta ba’agala uvizman ḳariv.	May Raḥameem spread mercy upon you Remove you from the Narrows, Bring you into comfort, From darkness into the light, From oppression into redemption, Swiftly, we pray that you will Come home soon!

This adaptation and translation of the prayer “Aḥeinu” was offered by Me’ira Rakhel Pitkapaasi for the wellbeing of the hostages taken captive in the 7 October 2023 massacre.

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Me'ira Rakhel Pitkapaasi (translation)

Me'ira Rakhel Pitkapaasi has been singing and teaching Hebrew liturgy for over forty years. She is based in Media, Pennsylvania, and travels virtually to her students throughout the United States and Europe.

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=63635

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Kidnapped posters with photographs of the hostages and missing held in Gaza by Hamas, at the wall outside of the Kirya military base area. (credit: Yossipik, license: CC BY-SA)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "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)