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Benediction for Charity Meeting, by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)
Contributed on: 08 Sep 2022 by ❧
“Benediction for Charity Meeting” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 74, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .
Prayer of a Congregational Rabbi upon their Installation, by Rabbi Wolf Gunther Plaut (1961)
Contributed on: 04 Sep 2022 by ❧
“Installation Prayer” by Rabbi Wolf Gunther Plaut was first published in Rabbi Morrison David Bial’s anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 51, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .
Prayer for American Enterprise [at the opening of a Kresge’s department store], by Rabbi Avraham Samuel Soltes (1956)
Contributed on: 25 Jan 2020 by ❧
A prayer offered at the opening of a department store during the post-WWII economic expansion in the United States. . . .
[Prayer on the] Retirement of a Civic Servant (Mayor Charles Henry Martens), by Rabbi Avraham Samuel Soltes (1952)
Contributed on: 26 Jan 2020 by ❧
A prayer composed for a ceremony honoring the tenure of Charles Henry Martens, mayor of East Orange, New Jersey on his retirement from three decades of civic service. . . .
[Prayer for a] Nurses’ Commencement, by Rabbi Avraham Samuel Soltes (1951)
Contributed on: 18 Sep 2019 by ❧
A prayer for a Nurse’s Commencement ceremony at Beth Israel Hospital on 19 September 1951. . . .
[Prayer for a] Teachers’ Commencement, by Rabbi Avraham Samuel Soltes (1951)
Contributed on: 26 Jan 2020 by ❧
A prayer offered at a ceremony honoring the graduated of the New Jersey State Teachers’ College in Newark in 1951. . . .
A Psalm of Gratitude, a poem by Ben Aronin (ca. 1950)
Contributed on: 27 Jan 2019 by ❧
The poem, “Psalm of Gratitude” by the Jewish poet and educator, Ben Aronin. . . .
Opening prayer for the 12th U.A.W.–C.I.O. Labor Convention in Milwaukee, by Rabbi Joseph Baron (1949)
Contributed on: 09 Jun 2022 by ❧
This prayer, initially delivered by Rabbi Joseph Baron as an invocation at the opening of the 12th U.A.W.-C.I.O. Labor Convention in Milwaukee, July 1949, was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), pp. 81-82. The prayer was selected for the anthology by Walter P. Reuther (1907-1970), a Lutheran, a leader of organized labor, and a civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in American history. . . .
Courage to Withstand the Ridicule of the Worldly, a prayer by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)
Contributed on: 15 Jul 2018 by ❧
“Courage to Withstand the Ridicule of the Worldly,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 433-4 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). . . .
Prayer for Sustenance (Parnasah), by Rabbi Simon Glazer (1930)
Contributed on: 25 Jan 2020 by ❧
A prayer for lifegiving sustenance. . . .
Man Is Here for the Sake of Others, by Albert Einstein (1930) as excerpted by Rabbi Morrison David Bial
Contributed on: 12 Feb 2019 by ❧
“Man Is Here for the Sake of Others,” a short excerpt from a longer essay by Albert Einstein, was included by Rabbi Morrison David Bial in his collection of supplemental prayers and texts for personal prayer and synagogue services: An Offering of Prayer (Temple Sinai of Summit, New Jersey, 1962). The full text of Einstein’s essay appeared under the title “What I Believe” in Forum and Century 84 (October 1930), no. 4, p. 193-194. David E. Rowe and Robert Schulman (in Einstein on Politics 2007, p. 226) note, “The text was reproduced several times under the title ‘The World as I See It,’ most notably in Mein Weltbild and Ideas and Opinions, and in 1932 the German League of Human Rights released a phonograph recording of Einstein reading a slightly variant version entitled ‘Confession of Belief.'” . . .
“Coal Miners’ Prayer” (CCAR 1924)
Contributed on: 27 Sep 2023 by ❧
This prayer by an unknown author is first found in Evening Service for the Sabbath from the Union Prayer Book (Newly Revised) (1924), p. 45. (It also appears on the same page of the 1940 edition of the “newly revised” UPB.) The prayer is included as a third variation of a Reform synagogue’s Shabbat evening service, in the Amidah before the silent meditation. Rabbi Michael Satz of Temple B’nai Or (Morristown, New Jersey) affectionately refers to it as the “Coal Miner’s Prayer.” . . .
For the Day’s Round in Camp, a prayer for soldiers by Rev. Howard A. Bridgman adapted by Rabbi Morris Lazaron (1918)
Contributed on: 19 Jan 2023 by ❧
“[Prayer] for the Day’s Round in camp,” a variation of a prayer by Rev. Howard A. Bridgman (1860-1929), is found adapted (without Christian god-language) by Rabbi Morris S. Lazaron in his World War Ⅰ era prayerbook, Side Arms: Readings, Prayers and Meditations for Soldiers and Sailors (1918), on pages 24-25. The original version of the prayer was first published in The Service Song Book (Young Men’s Christian Associations, 1917), pp. 82-83 in the abridged edition. . . .
כַּוָּנָה לִפְנֵי עֲבוֹדָה בְּאַדְמַת הַקֹּדֶשׁ | Kavvanah before working with the holy soil of Erets Yisrael, by Rabbi Shalom Ḥayyim Sharabi (ca. 1911)
Contributed on: 28 Jan 2018 by ❧
A kavvanah for focusing one’s intention before working with the soil of Erets Yisrael. . . .
Night Prayer [after Work], by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)
Contributed on: 08 May 2023 by ❧
“Night Prayer” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 9-10. . . .
Morning Prayer [before Work], by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)
Contributed on: 08 May 2023 by ❧
“Morning Prayer” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 7-8. . . .
Meditation on Work, by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)
Contributed on: 08 May 2023 by ❧
“Meditation on Work” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 5-6. . . .
A Prayer for Girls entering Domestic Service, by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)
Contributed on: 07 May 2023 by ❧
“A Prayer for Girls entering Domestic Service” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), page 24. . . .
[Prayer] on Ending Apprenticeship and Beginning Paid Work, by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)
Contributed on: 07 May 2023 by ❧
“On Ending Apprenticeship and Beginning Paid Work” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 22-23. . . .
[Prayer] on Leaving School and Beginning Apprenticeship, by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)
Contributed on: 07 May 2023 by ❧
“On Leaving School and Beginning Apprenticeship” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 21-22. . . .
Prayer for those who are unavoidably prevented from keeping the Sabbath, by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)
Contributed on: 05 May 2023 by ❧
“Prayer for those who are unavoidably prevented from keeping the Sabbath” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 20-21. . . .
[Prayer for Wisdom on] Saturday Night, by Grace Aguilar (25 February 1837)
Contributed on: 18 May 2023 by ❧
“Saturday night, Feb. 25, 1837” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section “Sacred Communings,” pp. 208-210. In the UK edition of Sacred Communings (1853) the prayer appears with small variations of spelling and punctuation on pages 124-126. . . .
Prayer [at the commencement of a writing project] (Father of mercies), by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)
Contributed on: 15 May 2023 by ❧
“Prayer (Father of mercies)” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section “Sacred Communings,” pp. 219-221. In the UK edition of Sacred Communings (1853) the prayer appears with small variations of spelling and punctuation on pages 132-134. This prayer at the commencement of an as yet unidentified writing project seems to me to be possibly related to her “Hymn of Praise,” a prayer of gratitude at the culmination of a writing project. . . .
Hymn of Praise, by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)
Contributed on: 15 May 2023 by ❧
“Hymn of praise” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section “Sacred Communings,” pp. 184-185. In the UK edition of Sacred Communings (1853) the prayer appears with small variations of spelling and punctuation on pages 102-103. This prayer at the conclusion of an as yet unidentified writing project seems to me to be possibly related to her “Prayer (Father of mercies),” a prayer of gratitude at the commencement of a writing project. . . .
Prayer for a Blessing on Daily Pursuits, by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)
Contributed on: 12 May 2023 by ❧
“Prayer for a Blessing on Daily Pursuits” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section “Sacred Communings,” pp. 227-228. . . .
Gebet einer Handelsfrau | Prayer for a merchant woman, a teḥinah by Pereẓ Beer (1815)
Contributed on: 23 Jan 2022 by ❧
“Gebet einer Handelsfrau (Prayer for a merchant woman)” was first published in Pereẓ (Peter) Beer’s Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion (1815), as teḥinah №40 on p. 129-132 where it was rendered in Judeo-German. The German rendering transcribed above follows that of Henry Frank’s 1839 edition on p. 110-112. . . .
דיזי שיני נייאי תפילה | Dize sheyne naye tfile (This Beautiful New Prayer), by the typesetter Gele bat Moshe v’Freyde (1710)
Contributed on: 15 Jul 2017 by ❧
This is a faithful transcription of the prayer of Gele (Gella), daughter of the printer Moshe, as found at the end of Tefillah l’Mosheh (2nd ed., Halle, Germany, 1710), a prayerbook Gele typeset when she was only 11-years-old. This prayerbook is rare owing to the destruction of the press following the incarceration of Gele’s father for publishing a prayerbook containing the prayer “Aleinu,” which had been forbidden by royal decree. The translation provided here was made by Dr. Kathryn Hellerstein as found in A Question of Tradition: Women Poets in Yiddish, 1586-1987 (2014, Stanford University Press), p. 63-4. The layout of Gele’s prayer follows that of Ezra Korman from his anthology of Jewish women’s poetry, Yiddishe Dikhterins, also the source of the page image provided. If you know the location of a copy or digital scan of this siddur, please contact us. . . .
