Benediction by Rabbi David Wolpe at the Democratic National Convention (2012)
Contributed by: David J. Wolpe, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The full text of Rabbi David Wolpe’s benediction offered at the end of the second day of the Democratic National Convention, September 6th, 2012. . . .
📄 סדר עבודת הלב שחרית | Seder Avodat Lev Shaḥarit: Service of the Heart, by the farmers of the Adamah Fellowship
Contributed by: Sarah Chandler, Shamu Fenyvesi Sadeh, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The prayer/songsheet used for the Avodat Lev dawn prayer service of the farmers in the Adamah Fellowship on the campus of the Isabella Freedman Retreat Center in Falls Village, Connecticut. . . .
Peas on Earth, a song by the Jewish environmental educators of the Teva Learning Center (Fall 2010)
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A pun filled ditty by the Fall 2010 Jewish environmental educators of the Teva Learning Center. . . .
📖 Siddur on the Hill for Friday Night, by Ḥavurah on the Hill at the Vilna Shul, Boston (trans. Rabbi Sam Seicol, 2010)
Contributed by: Rabbi Sam Seicol, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
We are grateful to the Vilna Shul in Boston and their Ḥavurah on the Hill program for preparing “Siddur on the Hill,” (2011) a beautiful siddur for Shabbat Friday night services and sharing it with free-culture compatible, open content licensing. The siddur includes original translations in English from Rabbi Sam Seicol, interpretive writings by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, and illustrations by Georgi Vogel Rosen, as well as contributions from numerous others. Thank you for sharing your siddur, open source! . . .
After the weekday Amidah, a prescription for taḥanun from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A prescriptive instruction from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi on the purpose of the taḥanun after the Amidah. . . .
Shabbat Affirmations for Erev Shabbat, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Shabbat Affirmations for erev shabbat in preparation of welcoming the shabbat. . . .
עמידה לשחרית שבת | The Amidah for Shabbat (Morning), by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The Amidah for the Shabbat Shaḥarit service in Reb Zalman’s devotional English adaptation, set side-by-side with the corresponding Hebrew liturgy. . . .
📖 סידור תהילת ה׳ ידבר פי לקוטי תפילה לשבת | Shabbat Supplement to Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (2009)
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A sabbath Supplement to Reb Zalman’s Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi ~ As I Can Say It (for Praying in the Vernacular) (2009). . . .
Invocation by Rabbi David Saperstein at the Democratic National Convention (2008)
Contributed by: David Saperstein, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The full text of Rabbi David Saperstein’s invocation offered on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention, August 8th, 2008. . . .
אוֹרָה הִיא | Orah Hee (She is light), a piyyut by Rabbi Jill Hammer (2008)
Contributed by: Rabbi Jill Hammer, Ph.D., Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
“Orah hee” was composed by Rabbi Jill Hammer in 2008 and first published at Tel Shemesh in romanized Hebrew and English translation. . . .
The First Battlestar Galactica Seder Haggadah [for Passover] (2008)
Contributed by: David "Razor" Lieberman, Alison "Fat Six" Ogden, Mary "Actual" Bruch, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
With gratitude to the One True God, and to the original creators, this is a derivation of the “Battlestar Seder Haggadah” prepared by David “Razor” Lieberman, Alison “Fat Six” Ogden, and Mary “Actual” Bruch, for “A Seder on Battlestar Galactica,” an event held on Saturday, 26 April 2008, on Earth. The seder was first posted to galacticahaggadah.com and later to battlestarseder.org under a GNU Free Document License. Both of these domains having gone to ruin, the Haggadah was thankfully preserved on the Wayback Machine thanks to the Internet Archives. I resurrected the Haggadah, adding the following: 1) alternate blessings for crypto-Cylons, 2) संस्कृतम् sourcetext in Sanskrit script along with annotation indicating the source of the prayer/mantra included, 3) a short prayer that Priestess Elosha recites at the very beginning of the funeral scene near the end of the miniseries. –Aharon Varady . . .
📄 the past didn’t go anywhere: making resistance to antisemitism part of all of our movements, by April Rosenblum (2007)
Contributed by: April Rosenblum, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
It’s always a real struggle for the Left to successfully tackle oppression within its own ranks. But when we do it, our movements gain, every time, from the deeper understandings that emerge. To start the process this time, we need some basic information about what anti-Jewish oppression is and how to counter it. But it has to come from a perspective of justice for all people, not from opportunistic attempts to slander or censor social justice efforts that are gaining strength. . . .
A Blessing over Water for Peace, Health, Joy, Prosperity, and Kindness — by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (ca. 2004)
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Netanel Miles-Yépez, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A blessing by Reb Zalman for Peace, Health, Joy, Prosperity, and Kindness which he wrote in spray paint on a municipal water tank behind his house in Colorado. . . .
Invocation by Rabbi Ronne Friedman at the Democratic National Convention (2004)
Contributed by: Ronne Friedman, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The full text of Rabbi Ronne Friedman’s invocation offered on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention, July 29th, 2004. . . .
Prayer for Peace in Israel, by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth, 2003)
Contributed by: Jonathan Sacks, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UHC of the UK & the Commonwealth, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
According to the Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust (RSLT), “A Prayer for Peace in Israel” was composed by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks following terror attacks in Israel in 2003 (i.e., during the Second Intifada). The text of the prayer appearing here was shared by the RSLT via their Facebook page in the context of the 2022 Tel Aviv Shooting. . . .
Kavvanot for a Shaḥarit Service, by Rabbi Emanuel S. Goldsmith (ca. 2003)
Contributed by: Emanuel S. Goldsmith, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
These are a series of kavvanot prepared by Rabbi Emanuel S. Goldsmith (1935-2024), z”l, for a Shaḥarit service containing the call to prayer (Barkhu), the blessings preceding the Shema, tthe conclusion of the Amidah, before and after the Torah reading service, and Aleinu. Rabbi Ben Newman, who shared these kavvanot in eulogy for Rabbi Goldsmith in a Facebook post, writes, “My dear teacher, friend, and mentor Rabbi Dr. Emanuel Goldsmith died on Friday. He was an amazing man who taught me a lot about how to be a rabbi, a Reconstructionist, a liturgist, philosopher of religion, and Yiddishist. He also was the “head rabbi” who officiated at my wedding to Rabbi Shoshana Leis….I had him write out for me [these kavvanot] when I substituted for him leading at Congregation Mvakshe Derekh in Scarsdale, NY, 20 years ago as a student rabbi.” . . .
על השואה ועל התפלתה | Prayer in the Shoah, an essay and a prayer by Rabbi Dr. David Weiss Halivni (2000)
Contributed by: Peter W. Ochs (translation), David Weiss Halivni, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A meditation on a unique prayer heard by Rabbi Dr. David Weiss Halivni at the Rosh Hashanah services at the Wolfsberg Labor Camp in 1944. . . .
Invocation by Rabbi Irving Greenberg at the Democratic National Convention (2000)
Contributed by: Irving Greenberg, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The full text of Rabbi Irving Greenberg’s invocation offered on the third day of the Democratic National Convention, August 16th, 2000. . . .
תְּפִלָה לְאִשָׁה לְאָמְרָהּ לִפְנֵי שֶׁמְגַלַּחַת אֶת שַׁעֲרוֹת רֹאשָׁהּ | Prayer for a woman to say before her hair is shorn
Contributed by: Yahnatan Lasko (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A supplication of a woman cutting her hair as an act of tsanua, per a contemporary custom in many Ḥaredi communities. . . .
יוֺם פּײַ | On the Rabbinical Approximation of π, by Boaz Tsaban and David Garber (1998)
Contributed by: Boaz Tsaban, David Garber, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
There is a Rabbinical tradition that the value of pi is hidden within a ktiv-kri (reading-versus-writing disparity) in I Kings 7:23. According to Hebrew scriptural tradition, the word meaning ‘line’ is written as קוה, but read as קו. . . .