Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his adaptation of Rabbi Joseph F. Stern’s (East London Synagogue, ca. early 20th c.) adaptation of the “Havinenu,” short form of the Amidah in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). While I have not been able to find where Rabbi Stern’s adaptation was originally published, it was reprinted in the Daily Prayer Book of Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz, p. 160. (See below for the page image.) To the best of my ability, I have set his English translation side-by-side with the nusaḥ of Havinenu as found in Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah.^[1] Mishneh Torah, Prayer and the Priestly Blessing 2:3  I have replaced anglicizations and removed capitalization for divine pronouns. –Aharon N. Varady

The earliest version of “Havinenu” appears in the Talmud in the name of Mar Shmuel. Here is Berakhot 29a with the version of Bavli Berakhot in Kol Bo 11:44-45 appearing in [brackets] and the version left out of the Yerushalmi Berakhot appearing in (parentheses). The version of the Havinenu found in the Mishneh Torah follows the Bavli and adds the verse from Isaiah and it’s explanation, both of which are also found in the Kol Bo’s version of the Bavli nusaḥ.

Source(s)

“הֲבִינֵנוּ | Havinenu, a short form of the Amidah by Mar Shmuel bar Abba, adapted by Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi from a paraphrasing by Rev. Joseph F. Stern” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Joseph Frederick Stern

Joseph Frederick Stern (1865-1934) was appointed Preacher, Reader and Secretary of the East London United Synagogue, Rectory Square, Stepney Green in 1887, and took full charge after the removal of his predecessor Victor Rosenstein after a series of scandals, serving until 1928. Sometimes dubbed the 'Jewish Bishop of Stepney' for his social work, he reformed the liturgy, introduced children's services, a mixed voluntary choir (under Bernard Cousins) and an 8' mahogany pulpit, and offered cheap marriage ceremonies. He is said to have chanted the prayers, in Hebrew and English, in a manner akin to Anglican clergy, and with a marked English accent! Although his innovations did not prevent the Chief Rabbis of the period (Dr. Hertz and Sir Israel Brodie) from visiting, traditionalist immigrants rejected the United Synagogue approach, and established Stepney Orthodox Synagogue, afiliated to the Federation of Synagogues. Charles Booth had interviewed Stern, and commented, "Mr. Stern would defy the foreign prejudice and carry and umbrella (on the Sabbath) if he needed one, but not a walking stick ... Mr. Stern preached on the preceding Sabbath on Gladstone's death. The congregation accepted it. In a ḥevra they would have said 'who is this William Ewart Gladstone?' Mr. Stern would like to go further than he is free to do so. He breaks the din [Jewish law] every day (according to the Interviewer) but has to be wary of offending the foreigner. He would abandon the annual cycle (of Sabbath readings from the Pentateuch, presumably in favour of the triennial cycle); use more English in the Service. He objects to Zionism and praying for the restoration of sacrifices ... although thought a little too much of an innovator by one, he is much respected and his energy and devotion are very great. On the whole, he is a good specimen of the Jew, full of his religion and filled with loyal English sympathies." His obituary in the Times said but for the wisdom, sympathy and unflagging courage of men like Canon Barnett, H.S. Lewis and J.F. Stern, the process of absorbing and digesting that great influx of foreign Jews would have caused a far more serious social upheaval than it in fact did. Marc Michaels in The East London Synagogue: Outpost of Another World (Kulmus 2008) comments that, although unpopular with most first generation immigrants, it paved a way for their descendants, but that anglicisation proved to be the victim of its own success, encouraging greater social mobility and the suburbanisation of the Jewish community. He was later honored as Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). (via this choice bit of oral history)

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Rabbi Dr. Zalman Meshullam Schachter-Shalomi, affectionately known as "Reb Zalman" (28 August 1924 – 3 July 2014) was one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement. Born in Żółkiew, Poland (now Ukraine) and raised in Vienna, he was interned in detention camps under the Vichy Regime but managed to flee the Nazi advance, emigrating to the United States in 1941. He was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi in 1947 within the ḤaBaD Hasidic movement while under the leadership of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, and served ḤaBaD communities in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He subsequently earned an M.A. in psychology of religion at Boston University, and a doctorate from the Hebrew Union College. He was initially sent out to speak on college campuses by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but in the early 1960s, after experimenting with "the sacramental value of lysergic acid", the main ingredient in LSD, leadership within ḤaBaD circles cut ties with him. He continued teaching the Torah of Ḥassidut until the end of his life to creative, free and open-minded Jewish thinkers with humility and kindness and established warm ecumenical ties as well. In September 2009, he became the first contributor of a siddur to the Open Siddur Project database of Jewish liturgy and related work. Reb Zalman supported the Open Siddur Project telling its founder, "this is what I've been looking forward to!" and sharing among many additional works of liturgy, an interview he had with Havurah magazine in the early to mid-1980s detailing his vision of "Database Davenen." The Open Siddur Project is proud to be realizing one of Reb Zalman's long held dreams.

Shmuel bar Abba

Shmuel of Nehardea or Shmuel bar Abba (Hebrew: שמואל or שמואל ירחינאה) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an Amora of the first generation; son of Abba bar Abba and head of the Yeshiva at Nehardea. He was a teacher of halakha, judge, physician, and astronomer. He was born about 165 CE at Nehardea, in Babylonia and died there in 254 CE. As in the case of many other great men, a number of legendary stories are connected with his birth (comp. Halakhot Gedolot, Giṭṭin, end; Tosefta Ḳiddushin 73a s.v. Mai Ikka). In Talmudic texts, Shmuel is frequently associated with Abba Arikha, with whom he debated on many major issues. He was the teacher of Rabbi Yehudah ben Yeḥezkel. From the little biographical information gleaned from the Talmud, we know that Shmuel was never ordained as a Tanna, that he was very precise with his words (Kiddushin 70a), and that he had a special affinity for astronomy: one of his best known sayings was that "The paths of heaven are as clear to me as the pathways of Nehardea."

Works of related interest:

 

עמידה | Another version of the Weekday Amidah, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

הַל״ב מִצְוֺת הַתְלוּיוֹת בַּלֵּב | Thirty-two Mitsvot One Can Do With Consciousness Alone, by Reb Ahrele Roth (trans. Rabbbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Hillel Goelman)

אֱלֹהַי נְשָׁמָה שֶׁנָּתַתָּ בִּי | Neshamah Shenatata Bi (the breath you have given me), interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

עמידה קצרה לליל שבת | Short Amidah for Leil Shabbat, by Rabbi Oded Mazor

תהלים צ״ג | Psalms 93, the psalm for Friday (translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)

תהלים ק׳ | Psalms 100, interpretive translation and adaptation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

סליחה מר׳ יצחק אבן גיאת | Seliḥah by Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah Ibn Ghayyat (ca. 11th century) translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

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