Aharon N. Varady (translation) • the Open Siddur Project ✍ פְּרוֺיֶקְט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ

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תְּפִלָּה לִסְגֻלַּת אִשִּׁים | Prayer for a practice of divine contemplation, attributed to a Rabbi Mosheh (as found in Leiden Or. 4779, et al)

Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation), Mosheh ben Yaaqov ibn Ezra

This prayer for divine contemplatives, beginning with the incipit “Tefilat Lisgulat Ishim” (prayer for distinguished individuals), is attested in several manuscripts prefaced by the title, תפלת הרב רבינו משה זצ״ל (prayer of our teacher, Rabbi Mosheh, may their righteousness be remembered for a blessing). The assumption of earlier scholars was that the Rabbi Mosheh here refers to Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon — Maimonides (1138-1204). While our reading of the prayer finds nothing outside the concepts articulated by Rambam in his Mishneh Torah (Yesodei haTorah) and Moreh Nevukhim, it seems more likely that the Rabbi Mosheh referred to here is the famous paytan Mosheh ben Yaaqov ibn Ezra (ca. 1055-after 1138), who is quoted sharing similar ideas as found in this prayer by Rabbi Abraham ben Azriel in Arugat ha-Bosem (ca. 1230). Transcribed from the manuscript Leiden Or. 4779, this is the first time this obscure and long overlooked prayer has been translated. . . .

הנסים שהיו על הים סוף | The Miracles at the Sea of Reeds as related in Rambam’s commentary on the Pirqei Avot

Contributed by: Moshe ben Maimon, Aharon N. Varady (translation)

A medieval manuscript illustration of the aggadah that the Yam Suf was split in 12 discrete channels, one for each tribe, as reflected above by a 12-color rainbow . . .

אָמוֹן יוֹם זֶה | Amon Yom Zeh, an introduction to the Azharot of ibn Gabirol by David ben Elazar ibn Paquda (ca. 12th c.)

Contributed by: Moses Gaster, David ben Elazar ibn Paquda, Aharon N. Varady (translation)

A poetic introduction to the Azharot of Solomon ibn Gabirol read in the afternoon of Shavuot by Sefaradim. . . .

יָהּ, אָנָה אֶמְצָאֶךָּ | Yah, Where shall I find you?, a piyyut by Yehudah haLevi (ca. early 12th c.)

Contributed by: Nina Davis Salaman (translation), the Ben Yehuda Project (transcription), Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi, Aharon N. Varady (translation)

A piyyut that expresses the paradox of a divinity that is both “Beyond” and “Present.” . . .

אֱלִי, רְפָאֵנִי וְאֵרָפֵא | Eli Refa’eni v’Erafé, the personal physician’s prayer of Rabbi Dr. Yehudah haLevi (ca. early 12th c.)

Contributed by: Nina Davis Salaman (translation), the Ben Yehuda Project (transcription), Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi, Aharon N. Varady (translation)

The physician’s prayer of Rabbi Dr. Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi in the 12th century CE. . . .

בָּרֲכִי נַפְשִׁי | Preise ihn, meine Seele! | Barkhi Nafshi, a piyyut by Yehudah haLevi in abridged translation by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1835)

Contributed by: Andreas Rusterholz (transcription), Yehoshua Heshil Miro, Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi, Aharon N. Varady (translation)

“Zweites Gebet vor Neïla” is an abridged, adapted translation by Yehoshua Heshil Miro of the piyyut by Yehudah haLevi “Barkhi Nafshi et Adonai.” There are seven stanzas missing near the end including the final stanza and a portion of the penultimate stanza. The translation was published in Miro’s anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaicher Religion. It first appears in the 1835 edition, as teḥinah №48 pp. 83-85. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №50 on pp. 86-90. . . .

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