אֲשֶׁר יָצַר | Asher Yatsar, interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Contributed on: 02 Sep 2017 by
❧This English translation of the prayer “Asher Yatsar” by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l, was first published in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). Versification by Aharon Varady according to the nusaḥ ha-ARI z”l. . . .
📖 סידור תהילת ה׳ ידבר פי לקוטי תפילה לשבת | Shabbat Supplement to Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (2009)
Contributed on: 14 Jan 2020 by
❧A sabbath Supplement to Reb Zalman’s Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi ~ As I Can Say It (for Praying in the Vernacular) (2009). . . .
? Proklamation der Grundrechte der Tiere | Proclamation of Fundamental Animal Rights | Proclamation des Droits Fondamentaux de L’animal (Die Grünen Bundesarbeitsgruppe “Mensch und Tier,” April 1989)
Contributed on: 08 Sep 2023 by
❧A Proclamation of Fundamental Animal Rights drafted by the West German Green Party in 1989 upon the 200th anniversary of the “Declaration of the Rights of Man” (1789), in German with translations in English, French, and Portuguese. . . .
গীতাঞ্জলি | גִּיטַאנְיַ׳אלִי (קרבן־זמרה) | Gitanjali (Song-offerings), by Rabindranath Tagore (1912); translated into Hebrew by David Frischmann (1922)
Contributed on: 29 Apr 2019 by
❧The Nobel prize winning collection of “song-offerings” or Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore, in Bengali and English, translated to Hebrew by David Frischmann. . . .
O Day of God, an English translation of Leopold Stein’s paraliturgical Kol Nidrei “O Tag des Herrn!” by Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1904)
Contributed on: 25 Jun 2022 by
❧“O Tag des Herrn!” is a paraliturgical Kol Nidrei by Leopold Stein. Here it is translated from German to English by the Unitarian minister Frederick Lucian Hosmer on behalf of the Reform rabbi Isaac S. Moses. Hosmer’s translation appears in Hymns and Anthems for Jewish Worship (ed. Isaac S. Moses, 1904), hymn №107 pp. 69-71. . . .
שַׁבָּת הַמַּלְכָּה | The Shabbat Queen, by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik (1903)
Contributed on: 03 Feb 2017 by
❧This translation of Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik’s “Shabbat ha-Malkah” by Israel Meir Lask can be found on pages 280-281 in the Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) where it appears as “Greeting to Queen Sabbath.” The poem is based on the shabbat song, “Shalom Alekhem” and first published in the poetry collection, Hazamir, in 1903. I have made a faithful transcription of the Hebrew and its English translation as it appears in the Sabbath Prayer Book. The first stanza of Lask’s translation was adapted from an earlier translation made by Angie Irma Cohon and published in 1920 in Song and Praise for Sabbath Eve (1920), p. 87. (Cohon’s translation of Bialik’s second stanza of “Shabbat ha-Malkah” does not appear to have been adapted by Lask.) . . .
📖 Songs and Prayers and Meditations for Divine Services of Israelites, arranged by Rabbi Benjamin Szold and translated by Rabbi Marcus Jastrow (1873)
Contributed on: 29 Sep 2019 by
❧A hymnal prepared by Rabbi Benjamin Szold and translated from German into English by Rabbi Marcus Jastrow. . . .
Schema Jisrael | Shema Yisrael, a hymn by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1867)
Contributed on: 26 May 2023 by
❧“Schema Jisrael (Shema Yisrael)” is a hymn written by Moritz Mayer (1821-1867) and posthumously published in Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871), hymn №33, pp. 66-67. It may have been published earlier in the author’s lifetime. If you know of an earlier source for this hymn, please leave a comment or contact us. . . .
📖 Hours of Devotion: A Book of Prayers & Meditations for the Use of the Daughters of Israel, an anthology of teḥinot compiled by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)
Contributed on: 24 Aug 2011 by
❧A collection of Jewish women’s prayers compiled by Rabbi Moritz Mayer, including twenty-four original English translations of prayers by Fanny Neuda from her collection, Stunden der Andacht 1855. . . .
📖 סדר סליחות מכל השנה | Seder Seliḥot mikol ha-Shanah :: The Order of Seliḥot for the entire year, translated by David Asher, Ph.D. (1866)
Contributed on: 07 Aug 2019 by
❧A comprehensive arrangement of seliḥot (סליחות, penitential prayers) for the entire year, translated into English by the great scholar David Asher. . . .
[Gebet] Am Sonntag, by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda (1855)
Contributed on: 29 Jul 2017 by
❧This is the prayer for Sunday, a paraliturgical teḥinah opposite the Shir shel Yom (Psalm of the Day) for Sunday, included by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda in her collection of teḥinot in vernacular German. Fanny Neuda likely either composed or translated this teḥinah into German while performing in the capacity of firzogerin (precentress) of the weibershul (women’s gallery) in her husband’s synagogue in Loštice, Bohemia. . . .
[Gebet] Am Dienstag, by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda (1855)
Contributed on: 31 Jul 2017 by
❧This is the prayer for Tuesday, a paraliturgical teḥinah opposite the Shir shel Yom (Psalm of the Day) for Tuesday, included by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda in her collection of teḥinot in vernacular German. Fanny Neuda likely either composed or translated this teḥinah into German (from Yiddish) while performing in the capacity of firzogerin (precentress) of the weibershul (women’s gallery) in her husband’s synagogue in Loštice, Bohemia. . . .
[Gebet] Am Mittwoch, by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda (1855)
Contributed on: 31 Jul 2017 by
❧This is the prayer for Wednesday, a paraliturgical teḥinah opposite the Shir shel Yom (Psalm of the Day) for Wednesday, included by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda in her collection of teḥinot in vernacular German. Fanny Neuda likely either composed or translated this teḥinah into German (from Yiddish) while performing in the capacity of firzogerin (precentress) of the weibershul (women’s gallery) in her husband’s synagogue in Loštice, Bohemia. . . .
[Gebet] Am Donnerstag, by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda (1855)
Contributed on: 31 Jul 2017 by
❧This is the prayer for Thursday, a paraliturgical teḥinah opposite the Shir shel Yom (Psalm of the Day) for Thursday, included by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda in her collection of teḥinot in vernacular German. Fanny Neuda likely either composed or translated this teḥinah into German (from Yiddish) while performing in the capacity of firzogerin (precentress) of the weibershul (women’s gallery) in her husband’s synagogue in Loštice, Bohemia. . . .
📖 אמרי לב | Prayers and Meditations, and abridged translation by Hester Rothschild (1855) of a collection of teḥinot and paraliturgial prayers by Rabbi Arnaud Aron & Jonas Ennery (1852)
Contributed on: 25 Apr 2020 by
❧This is an abridged translation by Hester Rothschild in 1855 titled אמרי לב Prayers and Meditations, adapted from Prières d’un Cœur Israelite published by the “Société Consistoriale de Bons Livres” (1848). The original work by Rabbi Arnaud Aron and Jonas Ennery contains tkhines translated into French, prayers by German reformers in French translation, and many additional liturgical translations and paraliturgical prayers. Rothschild’s work presents several prayers in English unique to her compilation by Anglo-Jewish writers. This second edition (1859) contains revisions and corrections (“there are some additions and many improvements”). This second edition was also later republished without permission in the United States by Isaac Leeser containing additional corrections. . . .
Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Last Days of Passover, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)
Contributed on: 31 Mar 2023 by
❧“Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Last Days of Passover” by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau was first published in his תחנות בנות ישראל Devotions for the Daughters of Israel (1852), pp. 21-22. . . .
Prayer for the First Days of Passover (פסח), by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)
Contributed on: 31 Mar 2023 by
❧“Prayer for the First Days of Passover (פסח)” by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau was first published in his תחנות בנות ישראל Devotions for the Daughters of Israel (1852), pp. 20-21. . . .
📖 תחנות בנות ישראל | Devotions for the Daughters of Israel, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)
Contributed on: 10 Jun 2020 by
❧A collection of teḥinot translated, adapted, and republished in English. This is one of the first collections of teḥinot published for an English speaking audience. . . .
📖 רֻחָמָה | Ruḥamah: Devotional Exercises for the Use of the Daughters of Israel, by Rabbi Morris Jacob Raphall (1852)
Contributed on: 03 May 2022 by
❧A collection of teḥinot translated, adapted, and republished in English. This is one of the first collections of teḥinot published for an English speaking audience and the first prayerbook in English for use by Jewish women published in the United States. . . .
📖 Devotional Exercises for the Use of Jewish Women on Public and Domestic Occasions, an anthology of teḥinot by Miriam Wertheimer (1852) translated from the work of Dr. Meïr Letteris (1846)
Contributed on: 14 Dec 2021 by
❧This is the anthology of teḥinot, Devotional Exercises for the Use of Jewish Women on Public and Domestic Occasions (1852), translated by Miriam Wertheimer from Taḥnunei bat Yehudah (1846) by Meïr Letteris. On the title page and the preface, the author of the work translated by Wertheimer was somehow misidentified as Wolfgang Wessely. . . .
A Supplication Before the Divine Throne During an Outbreak of Asiatic Cholera in Montreal by Rabbi Abraham de Sola (1849)
Contributed on: 04 Aug 2017 by
❧This is a faithful transcription of a prayer appearing at the end of a sermon delivered by Rabbi Abraham de Sola in K.K. Shearith Yisrael (Montreal), “during the prevalence of asiatic cholera,” and subsequently published in the Occident and American Jewish Advocate (7:7, Tishrei 5610/October 1849). The English translation is a “free translation” made by Rabbi Abraham de Sola. . . .
Au Renouvellement Du Mois: Sur la Brièveté de la Vie | At the New Moon: On the Brevity of Life, by Rabbi Arnaud Aron & Jonas Ennery (1848)
Contributed on: 22 Mar 2018 by
❧To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of a teḥinah (supplicatory prayer) composed in parallel to the Prayer for the New Moon, following in the paraliturgical tradition of Yiddish tkhines, albeit written in French. . . .
Preis der Gotteslehre, a hymn translated by Felix Adler (1868) adapted from a songbook of the Cooperative for Reform Judaism in Berlin (1846)
Contributed on: 03 Aug 2022 by
❧“Preis der Gotteslehre” is a hymn translated by Felix Adler from one found in Gebete und Gesänge zu dem von der Genossenschaft für Reform im Judenthum zu Berlin eingerichteten Gottesdienst für die Zeit zwischen dem Schewuoth- und Roschhaschanah-Fest des Weltjahres 5606/7, hymn №23, pp. 19-20 (1846) and published in Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871), hymn №3, pp. 6-7. We have tentatively dated this translation to 1868, since another hymn by Adler (“School-hymn, no. 36”) can be found appended from another unattributed work in A Guide to Instruction in the Israelitsh Religion (Samuel Adler, trans. M. Mayer, Temple Emanu-El, 1864, 4th printing 1868). The original hymn in German has three stanzas. . . .
Gebet beim Eintritt in das Gotteshaus | Prayer on Entering the House of God, by Dr. Meïr Letteris (1846), translated by Miriam Wertheimer (1852)
Contributed on: 03 Jan 2022 by
❧“Gebet beim Eintritt in das Gotteshaus” was written by Meir Letteris and published in his anthology of teḥinot, תחנוני בת יהודה (Taḥnunei bat Yehudah) Andachtsbuch für israelitische Frauenzimmer…. In the 1846 printings, it appears on p. 1. The English translation here was made by Miriam Werheimer and for unknown reasons misattributed to Wolfgang Wessely in Devotional exercises for the use of Jewish women, on public and domestic occasions (1852). –Aharon Varady . . .
Licht und Wahrheit | Light and Truth, translated by Felix Adler (1868) from a poem by Eduard Kley (1826)
Contributed on: 03 Aug 2022 by
❧“Licht und Wahrheit (Light and Truth)” is a hymn translated by Felix Adler from Allgemeines Israelitisches Gesangbuch: eingeführt in dem Neuen Israelitischen Tempel zu Hamburg (1833), hymn №125, pp. 155-157, and published in Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871), hymn №12, pp. 24-25. We have tentatively dated this hymn to 1868, since another hymn by Adler (“School-hymn, no. 36”) can be found appended from another unattributed work in A Guide to Instruction in the Israelitsh Religion (Samuel Adler, trans. M. Mayer, Temple Emanu-El, 1864, 4th printing 1868). The hymn as printed in the Hamburg Temple Hymnal is nine stanzas long. That hymnal credits the hymn as printed in the collected sermons of Eduard Kley, Sammlung der neuesten Predigten (1826) where it appears on pages 49-50 in three stanzas as part of a discourse on Passover. . . .
Brich aus in lauten Klagen | Break out in loud lamenting, a qinah by Heinrich Heine (1824)
Contributed on: 18 Jul 2022 by
❧“Brich aus in lauten Klagen” by Heinrich Heine was preserved in a letter he wrote to his friend Moses Moser dated 25 October 1824. The poem is included in Heinrich Heine’s Letters on The Rabbi of Bacharach, the manuscript of which only survived in a fragment, the rest having been lost, according to Heine, in a fire. The English translation here by Nina Salaman was transcribed from her anthology, Apples & Honey (1921) where it appears under the title of “Martyr-Song,” published at an earlier date in The Jewish Chronicle. . . .
הֲלֹא אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲנִי מָלֵא | Do not I fill heaven and earth? (Liqutei Tefilot I:7 part 1) by Reb Noson Sternhartz of Nemyriv (ca. 1820s), translated by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)
Contributed on: 08 Sep 2022 by
❧“Do not I fill heaven and earth?” is a translation by Rabbi Morrison David Bial of a portion of Reb Nosson of Nemyriv’s Liqutei Tefilot I:7.1, as adapted from the teachings of Rebbe Naḥman of Bratslav in Liqutei Moharan I:7.1. The translation was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 76, from where the English was transcribed. I have set this translation side-by-side with the Hebrew noting some elisions in Rabbi Bial’s adaptation. –Aharon Varady . . .
Ya Komimos (We have eaten), a piyyut for the Birkat haMazon in Ladino
Contributed on: 28 Jan 2020 by
❧A paraliturgical birkat hamazon in Ladino. . . .
Bendigamos al Altísimo, a Spanish song for the Birkat haMazon
Contributed on: 08 Sep 2015 by
❧Bendigamos is a hymn sung after meals according to the custom of Spanish and Portuguese Jews. It has also been traditionally sung by the Jews of Turkish descent. It is similar in meaning to the Birkat Hamazon that is said by all Jews. Bendigamos is said in addition to Birkat Hamazon, either immediately before or immediately after it. The text is in modern Spanish, not Ladino. The prayer was translated by David de Sola Pool. Below is the actual text as well as the translation by de Sola Pool. The melody is one of the best known and loved Spanish and Portuguese melodies, used also for the Song of the Sea (in the Shabbat morning service) and sometimes in “Hallel” (on the first day of the Hebrew month and on festivals). . . .
רבון כל העולמים | Master of the Cosmos, a teḥinah for entering Shabbat by Rabbi Yitsḥaq Luria (circa 16th c.)
Contributed on: 11 Feb 2017 by
❧Ribon Kol Ha-Olamim is a teḥinah (supplication) for entering the Shabbat that can be found in many siddurim following after the custom of the school of Rabbi Yitsḥak Luria. In his Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem, Paltiel (Philip) Birnbaum includes it, commenting as follows: “Ribon kol Ha’Olamim is attributed to Rabbi Joseph of Rashkow, Posen, who lived towards the end of the eighteenth century. The adjectives in the first paragraph are in alphabetic order.” This can’t be correct however as a copy of Ribon Kol Ha-Olamim can be seen in the siddur Tikunei Shabbat from 1614 (see below for source images). Google Books attributes Tikunei Shabbat to Rabbi Yitsḥak Luria (1534-1572), which is the attribution we have followed, although as a posthumously published work we wonder whether it might be more properly attributed to “the School of Rabbi Isaac Luria.” Please comment below if you know of another attribution. The English translation is that of Paltiel (Philip) Birnbaum, with some minor changes that I have made to divine names and appelations.– Aharon Varady . . .
💬 מגילת אנטיוכס עם טעמי מקרא | Megillat Antiokhus, with ta’amei miqra (for cantillation) by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed on: 21 Jul 2018 by
❧Perhaps Megillat Antiokhus could be read a la Esther on Purim (the holiday with the most similarities), going to Eicha trope in the upsetting parts. A few notes: on the final mention of Bagris the Wicked I included a karnei-farah in the manner of the karnei-farah in Esther. I also included a merkha kefulah in the concluding section, which (according to David Weisberg’s “The Rare Accents of the Twenty-Eight Books”) represents aggadic midrash material. It also serves as a connection to the Chanukah haftarah, which is famously the only one that has a merkha kefulah. –Isaac Mayer . . .
מְגִילַּת אַנטְיוּכַס | Megillat Antiokhus for Ḥanukkah in Aramaic, translated in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English
Contributed on: 09 Dec 2013 by
❧The Megillat Antiochus was composed in Palestinian Aramaic sometime between the 2nd and 5th century CE, likely in the 2nd Century when the memory of the Bar Kochba revolt still simmered.. The scroll appears in a number of variations. The Aramaic text below follows the critical edition prepared by Menaḥem Tzvi Kaddari, and preserves his verse numbering. The English translation by Rabbi Joseph Adler (1936) follows the Hebrew translation in the middle column, the source of which is a medieval manuscript reprinted by Tzvi Filipowsky in 1851. Adler and Kaddari’s verse ordering loosely follows one another indicating variations in manuscripts. Where Aramaic is missing from Kaddari’s text, the Aramaic version from Adler’s work is included in parentheses. Adler also included a Yiddish translation which we hope will be fully transcribed (along with vocalized Hebrew text, a Hungarian translation, and perhaps even a Marathi translation from South India) for Ḥanukkah 5775 , G!d willing. . . .
💬 מְגִילַּת אַנטְיוּכַס | Megillat Antiokhus in Aramaic, critical text by Menaḥem Tsvi Kaddari with English translation by John C. Reeves
Contributed on: 20 Dec 2019 by
❧The critical text of Megillat Antiokhus in its original Aramaic, prepared by Menaḥem Tsvi Kaddari and translated into English by John C. Reeves. . . .
תְּהִלִּים ל״ו | Psalms 36 by David (trans. Aharon Varady after JPS 1917)
Contributed on: 28 Aug 2019 by
❧Psalms 36 with an English translation updated from the 1917 JPS Tanakh. . . .
תְּהִלִּים ס״ה | Psalms 65, a mizmor by David (trans. Aharon Varady after JPS 1917)
Contributed on: 28 Aug 2019 by
❧Psalms 65 with an English translation updated from the 1917 JPS Tanakh. . . .
תהלים צ״ד | Psalms 94, the psalm for Wednesday (translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)
Contributed on: 26 Jul 2017 by
❧This psalm was the Wednesday song of the Levites in the Holy Temple. . . .