צוּר מִשֶּׁלּוֹ אָכַֽלְנוּ | Tsur Mishelo Akhalnu, a paraliturgical Birkat haMazon (rhymed translation by Alice Lucas, 1898)
Contributed on: 14 Mar 2021 by
❧A rhymed translation of Tsur Mishelo, a paralitugical Birkat haMazon. . . .
📄 סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט לִקּוּיֵי הַיָּרֵחַ | A Tu BiShvat Seder Haggadah for the Total Lunar Eclipse, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org, 5779/2019)
Contributed on: 16 Jan 2019 by
❧A Tu Bishvat Seder Haggadah prepared for a time when the Jewish New Year’s Day festival for trees coincides with a total lunar eclipse, as occurred in Tevet 5779 (January 2019). . . .
Tuesday’s Prayer, by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)
Contributed on: 09 May 2023 by
❧“Tuesday’s Prayer” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 12-13. . . .
Twilight, a poem by Rosa Emma Salaman (1849)
Contributed on: 02 Aug 2017 by
❧The poem, “Twilight” by Rosa Emma Salaman, was first published in the Occident 7:5, Ab 5609/August 1849, p.245. . . .
אסו ית ארסינואי | Two healing prayers for Arsinoë’s recovery (Amulets 80.AM.55.1 & 80.AM.55.2, J. Paul Getty Museum)
Contributed on: 13 Jul 2021 by
❧Healing prayers written on a pair of amulets for the recovery of a woman named Arsinoë . . .
Unglückliche Ehe | Unhappy marriage, a teḥinah by Pereẓ Beer (1815)
Contributed on: 20 Feb 2022 by
❧“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. . . .
💬 Universal Declaration of Animal Rights (ILAR, revised 1989)
Contributed on: 20 Aug 2023 by
❧The Universal Declaration of Animal Rights (UDAR) was first proclaimed in Paris on 15 October 1978 at the headquarters of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) with the ambition of it being formally adopted in the United Nations General Assembly. The French League of Animal Rights spurred the development of a revised text written during the General Assembly of the International League of Animal Rights, held June 3–4, 1989 in Luxembourg, and adopted on October 21, 1989. The declaration was submitted to the UNESCO Director General in 1990 however it has never been formally adopted. . . .
💬 Universal Declaration of Human Rights | אַלװעלטלעכע דעקלאַראַציע פֿון מענטשנרעכט | הַכְרָזָה לְכׇל בָּאֵי עוֹלָם בִּדְבַר זְכֻיוֹת הָאָדָם | Deklarasion Universal de Derechos Umanos (1948)
Contributed on: 10 Apr 2022 by
❧The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English with its translations in Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino. . . .
Universal Intercessory Prayer, a prayer for Queen Victoria and the United Kingdom by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1837)
Contributed on: 19 May 2023 by
❧“Universal intercessory prayer” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in the UK edition of Sacred Communings, pp. 76-77. It is not found in the US edition. . . .
Universal Praise, a hymn by David Nunes Carvalho (Reformed Society of Israelites, Charleston, South Carolina, 1826)
Contributed on: 08 Oct 2021 by
❧A hymn provided for opening or concluding the morning Sabbath service of the Reformed Society of Israelites (Charleston, S.C.) ca. 1826. . . .
תְשׁוּאוֹת מִקְהִלַת הָעִבְרִים בְּרוֹמָא | Universitatis Hebreorum urbis Gratiarum actio | Plaudit for Pope Benedict ⅩⅣ, by the Jewish Community of Rome (1751)
Contributed on: 07 Jun 2022 by
❧A plaudit of gratitude in Latin and Hebrew for Pope Benedict XIV’s interventions after the River Tiber overflowed its banks and flooded the Jewish Ghetto in Rome. . . .
Unless the Land Where Ye Abide (Psalms 127), a hymn on Divine Providence in Relation to Israel by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 20 Oct 2021 by
❧“Unless the land where ye abide (Psalm CXXVII),” by Penina Moïse, was published in 1842, and appears under the subject “Divine Providence in Relation to Israel” as Hymn 11 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 16. . . .
Unsung Heroism, a poem by Annie Josephine Levi (1900)
Contributed on: 23 Apr 2023 by
❧The poem “Unsung Heroism” was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), page 141. . . .
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם | Untitled Prayer, by Isaac Bashevis Singer (ca. 1952)
Contributed on: 19 Jul 2022 by
❧This untitled prayer written by Isaac Bashevis Singer on the back of a receipt (dated 1 March 1952) was discovered by David Stromberg in 2014 in the archives at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, and published online by Tablet (1, 2) with permission of the Susan Schulman Literary Agency. . . .
וּבְמַקְהֲלוֹת | uvMaqhalōt, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
Contributed on: 21 Mar 2021 by
❧The text of the short prayer uv’Maqhalōt in Hebrew with a Latin translation. . . .
וּבְמַקְהֲלוֹת רִבְבוֹת | 你的子民 | Uvmaqhalot Riv’vot (Nǐ de zi mín) — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)
Contributed on: 24 Jun 2023 by
❧This Chinese translation of an Ashkenazi nusaḥ for the prayer “Uvmaqhalot Riv’vot” following Nishmat Kol Ḥai is found on page 3 of the liner notes for the Chinese edition of Richard Collis’s album We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service Prayers (Wǒmen gēchàng, wǒmen xiāngjù — Ānxírì chén dǎo qídǎo). . . .
“A veritable universal pledge of allegiance to this planet and to its peoples,” by Adlai E. Stevenson Ⅱ (9 July 1965)
Contributed on: 05 May 2024 by
❧This is an excerpt from a speech given on 9 July 1965 by Adlai Ewing Stevenson Ⅱ (1900-1965), his final speech before the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. (The US ambassador to the UN passed away less than a week later in London on 14 July.) In 1971, the prominent environmental leader (and then executive director of Friends of the Earth) David Brower (1912-2000), described the quote as “A veritable universal pledge of allegiance to this planet and to its peoples” in his own speech, “What Organizations and Industry Should Do,” delivered at the First International Conference on Environmental Future, held in Finland from 27 June to 3 July 1971. The speech was published in the proceedings of the conference, The Environmental Future (ed. Nicholas Polunin, 1973), p. 478. . . .
A Vision, a poem by Rosa Emma Salaman (1850)
Contributed on: 11 Aug 2017 by
❧The poem, “A Vision” by Rosa Emma Salaman, was written November 1850 and first published in the Occident and American Jewish Advocate 9:1, Nissan 5611/April 1851, p.31-33. . . .
The Voice of the Lord, a poem by Rosa Emma Salaman (before 1883)
Contributed on: 05 Dec 2021 by
❧A poem, inspired by psalms, about a dangerous ocean storm or else the violent nature calmed during one of the nights and days of creation. . . .
A Waking Prayer in the Morning, by Dinah Julia Levi (1900)
Contributed on: 24 Apr 2023 by
❧This untitled “morning mediation,” a waking prayer, was written by Dinah Julia Levi née Emanuel and included by her daughter, Annie Josephine Levi, in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), pp. 56-57. . . .
War Can Be Abolished, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)
Contributed on: 16 Oct 2021 by
❧“War Can Be Abolished,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 262-265. . . .
We Bless Thee, Oh Lord! As the Bountiful Source – a hymn on “Praise and Thanksgiving” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 28 Oct 2021 by
❧“We bless thee, oh Lord! as the bountiful source” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Praise and Thanksgiving” as Hymn 45 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 48-49. . . .
We Bring Not to Our Holy Shrine, a hymn for Shavuot by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 04 Nov 2021 by
❧“We bring not to our holy shrine,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Pentecost (Shabbungote)” as Hymn 71 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 74-75. . . .
Wednesday’s Prayer, by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)
Contributed on: 09 May 2023 by
❧“Wednesday’s Prayer” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 13-14. . . .
העמידה לימות החל עם טעמי המקרא | Weekday Amidah and Ḳaddish with Ta’amei haMiqra (cantillation), by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (Nusaḥ Ashkenaz)
Contributed on: 17 Jun 2018 by
❧The full Weekday Amidah (or Eighteen Blessings), according to Nusach Ashkenaz with optional additions for egalitarian rites or for within Israel, fully marked with ta’amei miqra (also known as cantillation marks or trope). Ta’amei miqra originally marked grammar and divisions in any Hebrew sentences, and older Hebrew manuscripts such as those from the Cairo Geniza often show ta’amei miqra on all sorts of texts, not just the Biblical texts we associate them with today. This text has the Eighteen Blessings (which number nineteen) of the weekday Amidah, and is suitable to use as a text for any standard weekday service. Note: this does not include any of the pre- or post-Amidah texts, such as Ashrei, Kriyat Shema, Tachanun, or Aleinu. It also doesn’t include additions for festivals, fast days, or the Days of Repentance. Those may be coming in the future, though! . . .
📖 סדור לימות החול (אשכנז) | Siddur Limot hê-Ḥol :: Weekday Prayer Book (Rabbinical Assembly of America 1961)
Contributed on: 27 Apr 2022 by
❧A weekday prayerbook (not including the prayers for Shabbat or specific festivals beyond Rosh Hodesh and intermediate festival days) prepared by the Prayerbook Commission of the Rabbinical Association of America under the chair of Rabbi Gershon Hadas and published in 1961. . . .
Wenn eine Frau den stiel vom Esrog ausbeißt | When a woman bites the pitom from the etrog, by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829)
Contributed on: 17 Dec 2021 by
❧“Wenn eine Frau den stiel vom Esrog ausbeißt” was written by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. In the original 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion, it appears as teḥinah №51, on pp. 73-74. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №52, on pp. 91-92. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №55, on pp. 96-97. . . .
Wenn man Chala nimmt | When One Takes Ḥallah, by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829)
Contributed on: 16 Dec 2021 by
❧“Wenn man Chala nimmt” was written by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. In the original 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion, it appears as teḥinah №14, on pp. 18-19. In the 1835 and 1842 editions, it appears as teḥinah №14, on pp. 21-22. . . .
When Faith Too Young for a Sublimer Creed, a hymn by Penina Moïse for the consecration of her synagogue (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 20 Oct 2021 by
❧This hymn for the 1842/5601 consecration of Congregation Beth Elohim by Penina Moïse, and was published that year as Hymn 1 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 5-6. . . .
When I Am Old, a poem by Miriam del Banco (1932)
Contributed on: 02 Jun 2022 by
❧The poem “When I Am Old” by Miriam del Banco (1858-1931) was included in her posthumously published anthology, Poetry and Prose (1932), p. 111-112. . . .
When I Remember, My God! (Exodus 20:13), a hymn on “Filial Love” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 28 Oct 2021 by
❧“When I remember, my God! (Exodus chap. XX v. 13),” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Filial Love” as Hymn 40 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 43-44. . . .
When Light Broke Forth at God’s Command (Genesis 9:13), a hymn on Divine Mercy by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 20 Oct 2021 by
❧“When light broke forth at God’s command (Genesis, Chap. IX. v. 13)” by Penina Moïse, was published in 1842, and appears under the subject of Divine Mercy as Hymn 14 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 18. . . .
When Morning Paints the Eastern Sky, a hymn on the Immortality of the Soul by Cordelia Moïse Cohen (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 11 Oct 2021 by
❧“When morning paints the eastern sky,” by Cordelia Moïse Cohen (1809-1869), first published in 1842, appears under the subject “Immortality of the Soul” as Hymn 54 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 57. That page is missing in the one copy of the first edition we know to exist. Thankfully, the hymn appears under the same subject as Hymn 40 in Hymns Written for the Use of Hebrew Congregations (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1856), p. 44. . . .
הִנֵּה שָׁם אֶמְצָאֶךָּ | Where We Can Find Yah, a prayer-poem by Eugene Kohn (1945) inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali (Song Offerings, 1912)
Contributed on: 18 Feb 2019 by
❧“Where We Can Find God,” a prayer-poem inspired by passages appearing in David Frishman’s Hebrew translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali. . . .
While Man Explores With Curious Eye, a hymn on “Self-Knowledge” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 24 Oct 2021 by
❧“While man explores, with curious eye, ” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Self-Knowledge” as Hymn 23 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 27. . . .
White Day of Peace, a poem by Miriam del Banco for the Jewish Women’s Congress (World Parliament of Religion at the World’s Columbian Exposition, 1893)
Contributed on: 04 Dec 2021 by
❧A poem on interfaith tolerance during the Jewish Women’s Congress held at Chicago, September 4-7, 1893, part of the World Parliament of Religion at the World’s Columbian Exposition. . . .
מה אלו | “Who are these?” — the Origin of the Angels of Healing: Sanoi, Sansanoi, and Semanglof, as told in the Alphabet of ben Sira (ca. late first millennium)
Contributed on: 30 Nov 2020 by
❧The origin story of Lilith as told in the Alphabet of ben Sira. . . .
Why Mourneth Zion’s Daughter Now, a hymn for Tishah b’Av by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 04 Nov 2021 by
❧“Why mourneth Zion’s daughter now,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Commemoration of the Destruction of Jerusalem (Tishnga Beab)” as Hymn 72 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 75-76. . . .
“Why should I torture myself” a prayer for reassurance by Rabbi Clifton Harby Levy (1927)
Contributed on: 19 Apr 2023 by
❧This untitled prayer by Rabbi Clifton Harby Levy accompanied his short reflection, “I Must Not Worry” found in The Helpful Manual (Centre of Jewish Science, 1927), pp. 19-20. . . .
💬 What I Believe | Wie ich die Welt sehe (How I see the World), an essay by Albert Einstein (in English and German, 1930/1934)
Contributed on: 29 Aug 2022 by
❧This is Albert Einstein’s essay in English, “What I Believe” as published in Forum and Century 84 (October 1930), no. 4, 193–194, set next to his essay in German, “Wie ich die Welt sehe” (How I see the World) as published in Mein Weltbild (1934). The German version includes some thoughts elided in the English which I hope are elucidated in my translation into English of the German version. 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.” [It]…differs significantly from that in [published in Ideas and opinions: based on Mein Weltbild by] Einstein (in) 1954.” . . .
Winter, a hymn on “Immortality of the Soul” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 29 Oct 2021 by
❧“Winter (Oh! sad is nature’s aspect now)” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Winter” as Hymn 51 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 53-54. . . .
Wise Counsel: Selected verses from the Book of ben Sira for a Seliḥot Service by Paltiel Birnbaum
Contributed on: 11 Jul 2020 by
❧Selected verses from the book of ben Sira for a Seliḥot service . . .
A Wish, a poem by Rosa Emma Salaman (1853)
Contributed on: 02 Mar 2022 by
❧“A Wish” by Rosa Emma Collins née Salaman was published in her bound collections of poetry, Poems (1853), pp. 66-68. . . .
With Grateful Hearts of Song and Praise, a “School Hymn” by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1856)
Contributed on: 08 Nov 2021 by
❧“With grateful hearts of song and praise” by Rabbi Moritz Mayer, published in 1856, appears under the subject “School Hymns” as Hymn 209 in Hymns Written for the Use of Hebrew Congregations (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1856), pp. 208-209. . . .
With Rapture I Behold the Light, a hymn for Shabbat by Gershon Lazarus (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 15 Oct 2021 by
❧“With Rapture I Behold the Light,” by Gershon Lazarus (1809-1869), published in 1842, appears under the subject “Sabbath” as Hymn 58 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 60. . . .
Wo Unto Zion! She is Spoiled – a hymn for Tishah b’Av by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 04 Nov 2021 by
❧“Wo unto Zion! she is spoiled,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Commemoration of the Destruction of Jerusalem (Tishnga Beab)” as Hymn 73 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 76-77. . . .
דיא װײבּער װאס האבּין אײן שׁװערין מזל צו קינדר זאלין דיא תחנה זאגין | Women who Have Bad Luck with Children Should Recite this Tkhine (1910)
Contributed on: 04 Jul 2016 by
❧“Women who Have Bad Luck with Children Should Recite this Tkhine” by an unknown author is a faithful transcription of the tkhine published in Rokhl m’vakoh al boneho (Rokhel Weeps for her Children), Vilna, 1910. I have transcribed it without any changes from 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. If you can translate Yiddish, please help to translate it and share your translation with an Open Content license through this project. . . .
Wormicide, a poem by Rabbi Alter Abelson (1931)
Contributed on: 25 Jan 2019 by
❧The poem “Wormicide” (1931) by Rabbi Alter Abelson. . . .
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. . . .
יָהּ אֶכְסוֹף נוֹעַם שַׁבָּת | Yah Ekhsof No’am Shabbat, a Shabbes hymn by Reb Aharon of Karlin (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)
Contributed on: 19 Jan 2020 by
❧An interpretive translation of the shabbes hymn, Yah Ekhsof. . . .