Interdependence, a prayer by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (19 November 1944)
Contributed on: 25 Aug 2022 by
❧“Interdependence” by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958) was originally written for the 50th Anniversary of the World’s Young Women’s Christian Association, 19 November 1944. The prayer was included by Rabbi Morrison David Bial in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 55. It’s likely that Rabbi Bial first read the prayer in an anthology of prayer by Stephen Hole Fritchman, Prayers of the Free Spirit (1945), p. 38. . . .
Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Solomon H. Metz on 5 June 1944
Contributed on: 25 May 2024 by
❧The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 5 June 1944 on the eve of D-Day in World War Ⅱ. . . .
💬 Declaration of Interdependence, by Meyer David, Christian Richard, and Will Durant (1944)
Contributed on: 06 Feb 2021 by
❧A Declaration of Interdependence co-authored during WW II as part of an interfaith Jewish-Christian response to fascism and “to mitigate racial and religious animosity in America.” . . .
זאָג ניט קײן מאָל | Partisaner Lid (the Partisan Song), by Hirsh Glik (Vilna Ghetto, 1943)
Contributed on: 25 Nov 2017 by
❧The Yiddish resistance song, “Partisaner Lid” (The Partisan Song) was composed by Hirsh Glick in the Vilna Ghetto in 1943. . . .
Memorial Prayer for Those Lost Through Human Strife, by Rabbi Chaplain (Lieutenant) Alexander David Goode (ca. 1943)
Contributed on: 13 Feb 2019 by
❧A memorial prayer for service members lost in times of war, given by a chaplain who sacrificed his life for others during WWII. . . .
Special Prayer for Our Soldiers and Sailors, edited by Rabbi Aaron Dym (1943)
Contributed on: 04 Sep 2023 by
❧This “Special Prayer for Our Soldiers and Sailors” edited by Rabbi Aaron Dym is found just after the preface to the siddur, סדור תפלת ישראל: כולל כל התפלות לכל השנה (Ziegelheim: 1943). . . .
[Children’s] Prayer for Ḥanukkah, by Lilian Helen Montagu (5 December 1942)
Contributed on: 26 Aug 2022 by
❧This “Prayer for Chanukah” (5 December 1942) by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), p. 352-353. . . .
Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Bernard Bergman on 26 May 1942
Contributed on: 18 May 2024 by
❧The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 26 May 1942. . . .
Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Israel Goldstein on 21 April 1942
Contributed on: 20 Apr 2024 by
❧The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 21 April 1942. . . .
Prayer for Brotherhood, by Stephen Vincent Benét on United Nations Flag Day (14 June 1942)
Contributed on: 24 Dec 2020 by
❧This prayer by Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943) was first publicly read in 1942 in the course of a United Nations Day speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. . . .
Needed Prophets for Our Day, a prayer-poem by Mordecai Kaplan (1942) adapted from “The Divinity School Address” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1838)
Contributed on: 07 Jun 2018 by
❧This prayer by Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, first penned in his diary for 23 August 1942, was first published in The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan, by Mel Scult (1990). Although the prayer was not included in Kaplan’s Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945), it was added to the loose-leaf prayerbook he kept at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism synagogue. . . .
[Children’s] Prayer for a Youth Service during World War Ⅱ, by Lilian Helen Montagu (11 April 1942)
Contributed on: 26 Aug 2022 by
❧This “Special Prayer” for a Youth Service (11 April 1942) by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), p. 351. April 11th that year would have corresponded to the 24th of Nissan, i.e., a day following Passover 5702. . . .
הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה | Prayer for the Royal Family of King George Ⅵ (1942)
Contributed on: 05 May 2021 by
❧The text of the prayer, haNoten Teshuah, as adapted for King George VI. . . .
A Kavvanah on Praying, Singing, and Listening to Torah Readings, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1942)
Contributed on: 11 Mar 2019 by
❧A prayer on praying, singing, and Torah learning by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. . . .
The Pious Man, a prayer-poem by Mordecai Kaplan adapted from the essay “An Analysis of Piety” by Abraham Joshua Heschel (1942)
Contributed on: 13 Jul 2018 by
❧“The Pious Man” is a prayer-poem from Mordecai Kaplan’s diary entry, September 19, 1942, on the virtue of piety as expressed in an essay published earlier that year by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Piety was a Roman virtue, but in this essay, A.J. Heschel appears to be describing an idealization of Ḥasidut. . . .
הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה | A Prayer for the Welfare of the Government of Franklin D. Roosevelt during WWII (from A Naye Shas Tkhine Rav Pninim, ca. 1942)
Contributed on: 07 Nov 2017 by
❧A prayer for the welfare of the government in Yiddish from A Naye Shas Tkhine Rav Pninim (after 1933). . . .
תְּפִילַּת הַנּוֹטֵעַ | Prayer for a Tree Planting in Israel, by Rav Ben-Tsiyon Meir Ḥai Uziel (before 1942)
Contributed on: 26 Mar 2018 by
❧This is the תפילת הנוטע (Prayer for Planting [trees]) by Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Ḥai Uziel. . . .
[Children’s] Prayer for Shabbat Teshuvah, by Lilian Helen Montagu (27 September 1941)
Contributed on: 26 Aug 2022 by
❧This “Prayer for Service” on Shabbat Teshuvah (27 September 1941) by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), pp. 350-351. . . .
Prayer [for Military Personnel] in Temptation (National Jewish Welfare Board 1941)
Contributed on: 19 Apr 2022 by
❧This “Prayer in Temptation” can be found in the Abridged Prayer Book for the Jews in the Armed Forces of the United States (Jewish Welfare Board 1941), p. 120. As far as we know, this prayer is unique to this prayerbook, although the text recalls the waking prayer “Elohai Neshama.” . . .
Prayer [of Military Personnel] for Home (National Jewish Welfare Board 1941)
Contributed on: 20 Apr 2022 by
❧This “Prayer for Home” can be found in the Abridged Prayer Book for the Jews in the Armed Forces of the United States (Jewish Welfare Board 1941), p. 119. . . .
שִׁיר הַגְאוּלָה (החיינו אל) | Shir ha-Ge’ulah (Song of Redemption), by an anonymous author (1940)
Contributed on: 15 Feb 2023 by
❧This is a vocalized transcription and translation of the World War Ⅱ era song, “Shir haGe’ulah (Song of Redemption)” from the source images shared in A Tribute to Rabbi Mordechai Meir Hakohen Bryski v”g Bryski (Rabbi Mordechai A. Katz, 2017), pp. 19-20. The song is also known by its incipit, “Heḥayyeinu El.” . . .
Prayer for a Service of Intercession [for European Jewry during the Holocaust], by Lilian Helen Montagu (ca. 1940)
Contributed on: 26 Aug 2022 by
❧This undated “Special prayer for Service of Intercession” by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), pp. 356-357. From the contents, it reads as if it was composed in response to the terrifying news of the tortuous treatment of European Jews during the Holocaust. In 1940, other “intercession” services were offered with comparative prayers; for example, this one by the chief rabbi J.H. Hertz included in the Prayer Book for H.M. Forces. . . .
Prayer of Intercession [for Britain in the War against Nazi Germany], by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire 1940)
Contributed on: 21 Jun 2022 by
❧“Prayer for Intercession,” almost certainly written by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz, was published in the Prayer Book of Jewish Members of H.M. Forces (Office of the Chief Rabbi 1940), pp. 18-19. . . .
Prayer on the Declaration of War [against Nazi Germany], by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire 1940)
Contributed on: 20 Jun 2022 by
❧This prayer for victory and deliverance in the war against Nazi Germany, simply titled “War Prayer,” appears in the Prayer Book of Jewish Members of H.M. Forces (Office of the Chief Rabbi 1940), pp. 16-17. Sections of the prayer were adapted from the prayer on the declaration of war by Rabbi Hertz in 1914 at the outset of World War I. In the preface to the payer book, Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz specifically mentions this prayer, among others, as having been newly revised for this publication. The initial version of the prayer, likely to have been written by Rabbi Hertz, was published by the Office of the Chief Rabbi for a 17 Tammuz service in July 1938. A revision was disseminated after Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938). This is the third version of the prayer. . . .
Prayer Before a Battle (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire 1940)
Contributed on: 20 Jun 2022 by
❧“Prayer Before a Battle” appears at the start of Prayer Book of Jewish Members of H.M. Forces (Office of the Chief Rabbi 1940), p. 5. . . .
Prayer for Military Personnel on Active Service (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire 1940)
Contributed on: 20 Jun 2022 by
❧“Prayer for Men on Active Service” is the opening prayer in the Prayer Book of Jewish Members of H.M. Forces (Office of the Chief Rabbi 1940), p. 4. . . .
הַל״ב מִצְוֺת הַתְלוּיוֹת בַּלֵּב | Thirty-two Mitsvot One Can Do With Consciousness Alone, by Reb Ahrele Roth (trans. Rabbbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Hillel Goelman)
Contributed on: 04 Aug 2018 by
❧A good preparation and a bridge for the next phase of prayer, as you enter into the world of B’riyah,[foot]i.e., the Shaḥarit service beginning with the blessings prededing the Shema[/foot] is Reb Ahrele Roth’s list of Mitsvot One Can Do With Consciousness Alone. Reb Ahrele Roth, a”h, wrote a list of 32 mitsvot whose fulfillment is completed in the brain, the heart and the mouth. (The Hebrew alphabetical equivalent of 32 is ל”ב, the letters of which spell the Hebrew word LEV for Heart.) –Reb Zalman . . .
On the Good of Prayer, an essay by Lilian Helen Montagu (March 1939)
Contributed on: 27 Aug 2022 by
❧An essay on the praxis of prayer as contained in “Club Letter №3” (March 1939) written by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) and found in the Private Collection of Hannah Feldman, London. The essay was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), pp. 51-54. . . .
Das Gebet Als Äußerung Und Einfühlung | Prayer as Expression and Empathy, by Abraham Joshua Heschel (1939)
Contributed on: 27 Aug 2018 by
❧Abraham Joshua Heschel’s essay “Das Gebet Als Äußerung Und Einfühlung” published in Monatsschrift Für Geschichte Und Wissenschaft Des Judenthums, vol. 83 (1939). . . .
Prayer for the Success of the Conference on Palestine Convened by His Majesty’s Government (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, 19 February 1939)
Contributed on: 18 Jul 2023 by
❧A prayer for the success of the London Conference of 1939 which ultimately resulted in the publication of the 1939 White Paper. . . .
הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה | Oração Pelos Governantes, translated by Artur Carlos de Barros Basto (1939)
Contributed on: 05 Aug 2023 by
❧This is the Hanoten Teshua formula of the Prayer for the Wellbeing of the Government as translated by Artur Carlos de Barros Basto in Portuguese on page 34 of his Shabbat morning prayer-pamphlet Oração Matinal de Shabbath (1939). I have set Barros Basto’s Portuguese translation side-by-side with the Hebrew text of Hanoten Teshua (the variation of the prayer corresponding to Barros Basto’s translation). . . .
תפילה לעזרת היהודים תושבי גרמניה | Prayer for German Jewry under Nazi oppression before and after Kristallnacht (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire 1938)
Contributed on: 10 Jun 2022 by
❧An untitled prayer on behalf of German Jewry under Nazi oppression disseminated in Bombay, likely after Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938). . . .
גאָט בענטש אַמעריקע | God Bless America, for Armistice Day by Irving Berlin (1918/1938) with Yiddish translation
Contributed on: 10 Nov 2018 by
❧The words of the prayer for Armistice Day 1938, “God Bless America” by Irving Berlin, in English and Yiddish. . . .
Ohne dich | Without you, a prayer for Natalie Baeck by Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck (7 March 1937)
Contributed on: 08 Feb 2024 by
❧This is Rabbi Dr. Leo Beack’s prayer for his wife Natalie Baeck née Hamburger (1878-1937), dated 7 March 1937. Natalie had died two days prior on 5 March. . . .
תְּפִלָּה בְּעַד שְׁלוֹם הַמַּמְלָכָה | Modlitwa za Rzeczpospolitą | Prayer for the Second Polish Republic, by Mojżesz Schorr (1936)
Contributed on: 11 Feb 2022 by
❧“Modlitwa za Rzeczpospolitą” by Rabbi Moses Schorr was published in his סדר תפלה Modlitewnik na wszystkie dni w roku oraz modlitwę za Rzeczpospolitą (1936), recto of p. 232. . . .
Prayer for all Jewish Communities in Germany for the Eve of the Day of Atonement, by Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck (10 October 1935)
Contributed on: 05 Feb 2024 by
❧This is the prayer which Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck had disseminated to Jewish communities throughout Germany to recite on Yom Kippur, 10 October 1935. The German text here is as found in the archival notes of Helmut Grünewald, Ein Judenjunge durfte kein Deutscher sein (Bristol, 1998), pp. 20-21 in the collection of the Leo Baeck Institute. The English translation is as published by Dr. Michael Meyer in Rabbi Leo Baeck: Living a Religious Imperative in Troubled Times (2020), pp. 106-107. . . .
מזמור לתודה לכבוד משה איש האלהים | A Thanksgiving in Commemoration of Moses Maimonides, an octocentennial prayer by Ḥakham Shem Tov Gaguine (Bevis Marks Synagogue, 27 May 1935)
Contributed on: 10 Jun 2023 by
❧“A Thanksgiving in Commemoration of Moses Maimonides” with its accompanying Hashkabah is found in the Service of Praise and Thanksgiving to Commemorate the 800th Anniversary of the Birth of Moses Maimonides prepared by Bevis Marks Synagogue in London on 27 May 1935. . . .
Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Dr. Sidney S. Tedesche on 26 March 1935
Contributed on: 24 Mar 2024 by
❧The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 26 March 1935. . . .
Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Leon Fram on 25 March 1935
Contributed on: 23 Mar 2024 by
❧The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 25 March 1935. . . .
Gebet im Judentum | Prayer in Judaism, by Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck (1935)
Contributed on: 24 Feb 2024 by
❧Rabbi Leo Baeck’s essay on prayer “Gebet im Judentum,” was published in the “Judentum und Gebet” issue of Bne Briss (September/October 1935), top of page 82. . . .
ספר רפואת הנפש, פרק ב׳ — תפלה | Sefer Refuat haNefesh — chapter 2: Prayer, by Rabbi Morris Lichtenstein (Society of Jewish Science 1934)
Contributed on: 17 May 2023 by
❧A brief explanation of the role of prayer in the Jewish Science movement of Rabbi Morris Lichtenstein and his wife Tehilla Lichtenstein, co-founders of the Society of Jewish Science, in Yiddish with an English translation. . . .
[Prayer] on Education Week, by Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg (24 April 1933)
Contributed on: 22 Jun 2023 by
❧“On Education Week” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 24 April 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, pp. 77-78. . . .
[Prayer] on Abandoning the Gold Standard, by Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg (21 April 1933)
Contributed on: 22 Jun 2023 by
❧“On Abandoning the Gold Standard” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 21 April 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, p. 74. . . .
[Prayer] on the Disaster of the USS Akron, by Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg (5 April 1933)
Contributed on: 22 Jun 2023 by
❧“On the Disaster of the Akron” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 5 April 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, pp. 61-63. . . .
[Prayer on] the German Crisis, by Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg (3 April 1933)
Contributed on: 22 Jun 2023 by
❧“The German Crisis” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 3 April 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, pp. 59-60. . . .
[Prayer] on the Los Angeles Earthquake, by Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg (12 March 1933)
Contributed on: 22 Jun 2023 by
❧“On the Los Angeles Earthquake” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 12 March 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, pp. 44-45. The earthquake, now known as the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, registered 6.4 on the Richter scale. . . .
[Prayer] on the Inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States, by Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg (4 March 1933)
Contributed on: 21 Jun 2023 by
❧“On the Inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 4 March 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, p. 37. . . .
[Prayer] on the Eve of Inauguration, by Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg (3 March 1933)
Contributed on: 21 Jun 2023 by
❧“On the Eve of Inauguration” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature on 3 March 1933, and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, p. 36. . . .
[Prayer] on the Legalization of Beer, by Rabbi Norman M. Goldburg (22 February 1933)
Contributed on: 21 Jun 2023 by
❧“On the Legalization of Beer” by Rabbi Norman Michael Goldburg, was offered before the California state legislature and published in California Legislature 50th Session 1933: Prayers Offered at the Daily Sessions of the Assembly, p. 32. . . .
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. . . .