This is an early wizard battle tale found in RSL Ms. Guenzburg 82, fol. 78b-79a, first transcribed by Joseph Dan in his article סיפורים דימונולוגיים מכתבי יהודה החסיד (“Demonological stories from the writings of Yehudah he-Ḥasid”) and published in Tarbits (vol. 30, 1961), as story #29 on pp. 288-289. The English translation by Dan, was re-printed in chapter 15 of Jewish Mysticism vol. 2: The Middle Ages, pp. 359-360, and first published in “An Early Source of the Yiddish Akdamot Story,” in Hebrew University Studies in Literature, vol. 1 (1993), pp. 39-46.

The ritual of kaparot using a bundle of money dedicated for tsedaqah.

This is a kavvanah (intention) distributed beginning in 2017 for Jewish soldiers on active service during Yom Kippur to use before eating or drinking a limited amount of nourishment in order to sustain their attention and readiness. The text of the prayer here is that which was distributed by Rabbi Captain Udi Schwartz, head of the chief rabbi for Tsahal (IDF), and published by Arutz 7. The kavvanah is derived from one published in 1983 by Rav Yitschok Zilberstein for those who, due to their state of health, must eat or drink in order to live (find Toras haYoledes (1983), chapter 52, section 10, p. 357; pp. 331-332 in the bilingual edition 1989). That kavvanah, according to Rabbi Zilberstein was, “הועתק ממחזור עתיק” (“copied from an old maḥzor”).

This “Prayer for the Safety of the American Military Forces” by an unknown author was first shared on the website of the Orthodox Union on 5 February 2014 with the note, “The RCA and the OU have circulated a special prayer to be said in synagogues during Shabbat services in support of our armed services courageously waging the battle against the scourge of global terrorism.”

A supplication of a woman cutting her hair as an act of tsanua, per a contemporary custom in many Ḥaredi communities.

This Earth Pledge is attested in The Earth Pledge Book: A Call for Commitment (1994), an environmentalist work compiled and introduced by John F. Ince. While Ince did not author this Earth pledge himself, on page 143 in his The Teacher’s Guide To The Earth Pledge, he includes the following detail: “On the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in 1990, the [following] Earth Pledge was introduced at Stanford University.”

This earth pledge appears without attribution in a justice, peace, and environmentally conscious Catholic textbook, Peace through Justice ((Diocese of Cleveland, 1983) by Louise Marie Prochaska. Sister Prochaska, however, does not recall composing it and it may have been circulating for some time in newsletters or other ephemeral works beforehand. On the page following the quoted pledge, the curricular resource recommends contacting the Union of Concerned Scientists for more information, but that recommendation may have more to do with the pedagogical theme of the section that included the text of the pledge. Among the earth pledges, it is unique. Instead of following the form of Bellamy’s Pledge of Allegiance, it uses an ABCB rhyme scheme.

This is a kavvanah (intention) for anyone in a desperate circumstance of needing to eat or drink for their mortal health, to do so with the full confidence that they are fulfilling a mitsvah required for them in the Torah, to preserve their life. The kavvanah was related by Rav Yitschok Zilberstein in his Toras haYoledes (1983), chapter 52, section 10, p. 357 (pp. 331-332 in the bilingual edition 1989), “הועתק ממחזור עתיק” (as “copied from an old maḥzor”). Unfortunately, we can’t provide a more direct reference to this maḥzor. If you know, please leave a comment or contact us.

“Land of Hope and Promise” was published in Gates of Prayer: The New Union Prayerbook (CCAR 1975), pp. 240-241. In 1984, it was published as the “Prayer for Israel” in the Prayerbook for Jewish Personnel in the Armed Forces of the United States (Jewish Welfare Board 1984), p. 436. The work appears to have been adapted from a much earlier paraliturgical hashkivenu prayer offered in the Evening Service for the Sabbath from the Union Prayer Book Newly Revised (CCAR 1924) to be said by the Reader between the Shema and the Amidah in a version (№5) of the Friday night service, pp. 68-69.

Variations of the original three lines culminating with “…walk beside me…” first appear in high school yearbooks beginning in 1970. The earliest recorded mention we could find was in The Northern Light, the 1970 yearbook of North Attleboro High School, Massachusetts. In the Jewish world of the early to mid-1970s, a young Moshe Tanenbaum began transmitting the lines at Jewish summer camps. In 1979, as Uncle Moishy, Tanenbaum published a recording of the song under the title “v’Ohavta” (track A4 on The Adventures of Uncle Moishy and the Mitzvah Men, volume 2).

“baShanah haBa’ah” (Next Year) by Ehud Manor written in 1968 in memory of his brother Yehudah.

A traditional tefilat haderekh supplemented by a 20th century prayer for airplane travel.

The service in 1953 by the S&P Synagogue (Bevis Marks, London) in celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth.

“On Entering a Child in Religious School” is the thirteenth prayer in the “Personal Prayers for Special Occassions” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), pp. 55-56.

“[Prayer for a] Silver or Golden Wedding Anniversary” is found in the “Family Worship” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), on page 33.

“[Prayer for a] Birthday Celebration” is found in the “Family Worship” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), page 31.

“A Prayer of Re-dedication” (also simply called “Rededication”) is the thirty-fifth prayer in the “Meditations” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 199. It is one of only three new prayers found in this section (the others having been reprinted from CCAR’s 1923 collection of teḥinot). A close read of the prayer suggests to me that this prayer was written in the shadow of World War Ⅱ and the Holocaust, giving voice to concerns over Jewish continuity in the midst of post–World War II economic expansion and largess in the United States.

“Lead Us, Lord” (also called, “God’s Guidance”) is the thirty-seventh prayer in the “Meditations” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 201. It is one of only three new prayers found in this section (the others having been reprinted from CCAR’s 1923 collection of teḥinot).

“Repentance” is the thirty-sixth prayer in the “Meditations” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 200. It is one of only three new prayers found in this section (the others having been reprinted from CCAR’s 1923 collection of teḥinot).

“Prayer After Passing Through Danger” is the second prayer in the “Personal Prayers for Special Occasions” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 42.