“[Gebet] Am Geburtstage (Prayer on a birthday)” was first published in Peter (Peretz) Beer’s Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion (1815), as teḥinah №34 on p. 115-118 where it was rendered in Judeo-German. The German rendering transcribed above follows teḥinah №34 in Henry Frank’s 1839 edition on p. 98-100. A variation can also be found in the Beer’s 1843 edition as teḥinah №34 on p. 95-97.

“[Gebet] In den letzten Monaten der Schwangerschaft (Prayer in the last months of pregnancy)” was first published in Pereẓ (Peter) Beer’s Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion (1815), as teḥinah №61 on pp. 173-175 where it was rendered in Judeo-German. The German rendering transcribed above follows teḥinah №61 in Henry Frank’s 1839 edition on pp. 148-150. A variation can also be found in Beer’s 1843 edition as teḥinah №62 on p. 147-149.

“Unglückliche Ehe (Unhappy Marriage)” was first published in Pereẓ (Peter) Beer’s Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion (1815), as teḥinah №39 on p. 127-129 where it was rendered in Judeo-German. The German rendering transcribed above follows teḥinah №39 in Henry Frank’s 1839 edition on p. 108-110. A variation can also be found in the Beer’s 1843 edition as teḥinah №40 on p. 107-109.

“Bei muthmaßlicher Gefahr zur Verführung (In suspected danger of seduction)” was first published in Pereẓ (Peter) Beer’s Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion (1815), as teḥinah №66 on pp. 184-187 where it was rendered in Judeo-German. The German rendering transcribed above follows teḥinah №66 in Henry Frank’s 1839 edition on pp. 158-160. A variation can also be found in the Beer’s 1843 edition as teḥinah №67 on p. 157-159.

The first anthology of teḥinot published in Judeo-German rather than Yiddish.

“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Tishrei [Rosh Hashanah]” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992.

“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the Blowing of the Shofar” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni.

“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the Torah Reading on Rosh Hashanah” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni.

The teḥinah for the blessing of the new moon is said each Shabbat Mevorkhim, addition to the specific teḥinah for that month. The prayer is recited when the Aron HaKodesh is opened, signifying the opening of the Heavenly gates of mercy (an especially propitious time to pray for health, livelihood, and all good).

“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for Yizkor on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Yamim Tovim” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni.

A prayer upon preparing ḥallot for Shabbat.

This is an expanded posthumous adaptation of the Yiddish translation of “Teḥinah Imahot” originally written by Leah Horowitz and published in the late 18th century. This variation is found in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled and translated by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992), pp. 84-88. The concluding prayer is longer in this variation than in the earliest published version.

This is the Aramaic source of Leah Horowitz’s teḥinah imahot, a teḥinah for Shabbat Mevorkhim, also known in its Yiddish translation (also by Leah Horowitz) as the “Teḥinah fun Sarah, Rivqah, Raḥel, vəLéah” as found in the manuscript: National Library of Israel (NLI), R41A460, vol. 6, no. 2.

Fred MacDowell: “Then, as now, war was looked upon by many as a great evil, especially between brothers, and many American Colonists only wanted the oppressive measures of King George III to be lifted, bloodshed ended, and peace restored. The nascent American Congress called for a day of “Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer” along these lines for May 17, 1776. It was for this occasion that this prayer was recited in Congregation Shearith Israel in New York. As you can see, a complete service was arranged for this occasion, meant to invoke the solemnity and seriousness of the occasion; after morning prayer, Taḥanun was to be sung to the tune of a Yom Kippur pizmon; a dozen Psalms recited, and then the Ḥazan would recite this prayer written for the occasion, and of course all were to be fasting. The prayer hopes for a change of heart for King George III and his advisors, that they would rescind their wrath and harsh decrees against “North America,” that the bloodshed should end, and peace and reconciliation should obtain between the Americans and Great Britain once more, in fulfillment of the Messianic verse that Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Of course this was not meant to be, and six weeks later the American Congress declared independence from Great Britain, and there was no walking back from the hostilities which had already occurred.”

This is the tkhine for candlemaking on erev Yom Kippur as found in Sarah bat Tovim’s Tkhine of Three Gates, likely written by her sometime in the early 18th century.

A prayer for a pregnant woman anticipating childbirth, from an unidentified volume of the Seder Tkhines (circa 1640-1720).

A prayer of a pregnant woman anticipating childbirth.

A prayer for a pregnant woman anticipating her childbirth.

This is the Hebrew text of a teḥinah for Shalom Aleikhem intended for women lighting candles on the commencement of Shabbat and festival days as found on the last page in the Basel edition of the [collection of prayers entitled] Birkhat ha-Mazon (Basel: Waldkirch, 1600). The English translation is by Rabbi Dr. Morris M. Faierstein as published in “An Early Modern Version of Shalom Aleichem for Women after Friday Candle Lighting” in Women in Judaism, 19(2), on page 4.

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