נִשְׁמַת כָּל חַי (מנהג הספרדים) | Nishmat Kol Ḥai, arranged by Aharon Varady
Contributed on: 14 Jan 2020 by
❧The text of the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
O Tag des Herrn! (O Day of YHVH), a paraliturgical Kol Nidrei by Leopold Stein (1840)
Contributed on: 25 Jun 2022 by
❧“O Tag des Herrn!” is a paraliturgical Kol Nidrei by Leopold Stein. All the translations I’ve found from the 19th or early 20th century were produced for use in choirs and try to emulate the rhymed structure in the Stein’s German. So here is a straight translation I’ve made of the stanzas that avoids that pretense. –Aharon Varady . . .
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. . . .
אֶחָד | One, a song by Harry Nilsson (1967)
Contributed on: 19 Apr 2021 by
❧A Hebrew translation of the lyrics to Harry Nilsson’s “One” (1967) as sung by Aimee Mann (1995) . . .
תפילה קודם לימוד הקבלה | Prayer Before Studying Ḳabbalah, by Rabbi Yitsḥaq Luria (translated by Aharon Varady)
Contributed on: 12 Oct 2014 by
❧A traditional prayer before studying classic texts of ḳabbalah, by a celebrated ḳabbalist of the 16th century, in pointed Hebrew with an English translation. . . .
Prayer for Dwelling in the Sukkah of the Leviyatan, as taught in the name of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (ca. 13th c.)
Contributed on: 26 Sep 2023 by
❧This formula for recitation in the Sukkah at the conclusion of Sukkot (on the night of Shemini Atseret) is given in the name of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (1215-1293) and found in two sources: Siman 148 of the Teshuvot of Shimshon bar Tsadoq (a/k/a the Tashbets), and Siman 71.50 of the Sefer Kol Bo. . . .
תפילה לנספים בשטפונות | Prayer for Flash Flood Victims, by the Masorti Movement in Israel (2018)
Contributed on: 27 Apr 2018 by
❧Flash floods are dangerous in every season, but are rare in the dry season, after most rain and snow are thought to have fallen. Changes in the global climate due to global warming caused by anthropogenic activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and the conversion of land for raising animals for their meat is a significant contributor to extreme weather experienced around the world. The Masorti Movement of Israel’s prayer for flood victims was first published on their website, here. . . .
תפילה לחודש כסלו עד סוף חנוכה | Prayer for the month of Kislev through the end of Ḥanukkah (from Isaiah 60), by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman
Contributed on: 29 Nov 2017 by
❧Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman introduced the tradition of reading these verses from Isaiah during the month of Kislev through the end of Ḥanukkah in his Siddur Ha’Avodah Shebalev of Kehillat Kol HaNeshamah (R’ Levi Weiman-Kelman, R’ Ma’ayan Turner, and Shaul Vardi, 2007). The translation provided here was adapted from the one made by Shaul Vardi in Siddur Ha’Avodah Shebalev. –Aharon Varady. . . .
תפילה לשלום באירופה | Prayer for Peace in Europe during the Italian War of Independence (ca. 19th c.)
Contributed on: 27 Dec 2020 by
❧This is a transcription, vocalization, and translation of a manuscript of a prayer for peace in Europe held in the collection of the Columbia University Library. The prayer is undated but the language of the prayer and the use of Italian indicate to me that this was a prayer made by an Italian Jewish community during either the first Italian War of Independence 1848-9, or one of the two succeeding wars in 1860 and 1870. . . .
תְּפִילַּת הַנּוֹטֵעַ | Prayer for a Virtual Tree Planting in Israel, by Rabbi Eliyahu Yosef She’ar Yashuv Cohen (2012)
Contributed on: 01 Jul 2018 by
❧This is the prayer for planting trees by the late chief rabbi of Haifa, Eliyahu Yosef She’ar Yashuv Cohen zt”l (1927-2016). . . .
Молитва про захист наших сердець від ненависті | תפילה לשמירה על ליבנו משנאה (בזמן המלחמה) | Prayer to Protect Our Hearts from Hatred in Wartime, by Miriam Klimova (2022)
Contributed on: 01 Mar 2022 by
❧Miriam Klimova’s prayer “Молитва про захист наших сердець від ненависті” תפילה לשמירה על ליבנו משנאה (בזמן המלחמה) (Prayer to Protect Our Hearts from Hatred in Wartime), in the context of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, was first shared in Hebrew and Ukrainian via her Facebook page. . . .
Prayer for the Jewish Militiamen of Suriname, by David Hizkiahu Baruch Louzada (ca. 1806)
Contributed on: 11 Jan 2024 by
❧This is a prayer composed by David Hizkiahu Baruch Louzada (1750–1825) for Jewish Militiamen in Suriname mustered in the event of Maroon attacks. . . .
תפילה לשלום ירושלים | Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, by Rabbi Eliyahu Yosef She’ar Yashuv Cohen
Contributed on: 01 Jul 2018 by
❧The “Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem” by the late chief rabbi of Ḥaifa, Eliyahu Yosef She’ar Yashuv Cohen zt”l (1927-2016), is often included in programs praying for peace in Jerusalem in periods of conflict. . . .
תפילת המדינה | Prayer for the State [of Israel], by S.Y. Agnon (1948)
Contributed on: 09 Oct 2017 by
❧In September 1948, while editing Rabbi Yitshak haLevi Hertzog’s new Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel, S.Y. Agnon (1888-1970) drafted this adaptation. . . .
תפילה לשלום העם הכורדי | Prayer for the Welfare of the Kurdish People (Masorti Movement in Israel, 2019)
Contributed on: 17 Oct 2019 by
❧A prayer for the welfare of the Kurdish People in Northern Syria (Rojava) following their betrayal by Donald Trump acting as commander-in-chief of the United States armed forces and their oppression by the Republic of Turkey. . . .
תפילה לשלום צוות אח״י אילת | Prayer for the Welfare of the Navy Personnel of the “INS Eilat,” by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau (1993)
Contributed on: 13 Apr 2021 by
❧A prayer for the well-being of the Navy personnel assigned to the newly built Sa’ar 5 corvette, INS Eilat, in 1993. . . .
תפילה לאוקראינה | Молитва за Україну | Prayer for Ukraine, by Miriam Klimova (2022)
Contributed on: 26 Feb 2022 by
❧A prayer for Ukraine by Miriam Klimova in Hebrew and Ukrainian first shared via her Facebook page on 24 February 2022. . . .
תפילה לבוחר טרם הבחירות | A Prayer for Voters Before the Israeli Election, by Rabbi Esteban Gottfried
Contributed on: 17 Jan 2013 by
❧A prayer for voting on election day in the State of Israel. . . .
תפילה בתגובה למגפה | Prayer in response to the Coronavirus Outbreak in Italy (Assemblea Dei Rabbini D’Italia 2020)
Contributed on: 29 Feb 2020 by
❧A prayer disseminated by the Assemblea Dei Rabbini D’Italia in response to the Coronavirus outbreak in Italy and around the world. . . .
תפילה נוכח הרעה מדרום | Prayer in the face of the worsening situation in southern Israel (Masorti Movement in Israel 2019)
Contributed on: 12 Nov 2019 by
❧A prayer for the safety of all the inhabitants of the Land of Israel offered during the November 12th, 2019 Tel Aviv rocket strike. . . .
Am Tage vor dem neuen Jahre oder dem Versöhnungsfeste, wenn man die Gräber besucht | [Prayer] for when you visit the graves on Erev Rosh haShanah or Yom Kippur before the Seudah Mafseket, by Fanny Neuda (1855)
Contributed on: 12 Jun 2020 by
❧A prayer offered on erev Rosh haShanah or Yom Kippur to visit the local Jewish cemetery. . . .
תפילה לפני שחיטה | Prayer before Kosher Slaughter, by Eliyah ben Shlomo Avraham haKohen (Sefer Shevet Musar, 1712)
Contributed on: 20 Feb 2018 by
❧This is a kavvanah for kosher slaughterers to say prior to the blessing over sheḥitah, first published in the early 18th century, and composed within the school of the ARI z”l. . . .
בָּרֲכִי נַפְשִׁי | Preise ihn, meine Seele! | Barkhi Nafshi, a piyyut by Yehudah haLevi in abridged translation by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1835)
Contributed on: 13 Mar 2022 by
❧“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. . . .
Prière après l’initiation | Prayer after initiation (of a Bar/Bat Mitsvah), by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 18 Jun 2020 by
❧A prayer offered by a Bar or Bat Mitsvah after they are confirmed in a public ceremony. . . .
Prière après l’instruction | A Child’s Prayer After School, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 28 Jun 2020 by
❧A prayer for children after school. . . .
Prière avant l’initiation | Prayer before initiation (of a Bar/Bat Mitsvah), by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 18 Jun 2020 by
❧A preliminary prayer offered by a Bar or Bat Mitsvah before they are confirmed in a public ceremony. . . .
Prière avant l’instruction | A Child’s Prayer Before School, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 28 Jun 2020 by
❧A prayer for children before school. . . .
Prière de table d’un enfant | A Child’s Table Prayer, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 28 Jun 2020 by
❧A birkat hamazon for children. . . .
Prière des assistants a l’initiation | Prayer of the (Bar/Bat Mitsvah) tutors at the initiation, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 18 Jun 2020 by
❧A prayer offered by the tutors of a Bar or Bat Mitsvah after they are confirmed in a public ceremony. . . .
Prière du Matin d’Un Enfant | A Child’s Morning Prayer, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 28 Jun 2020 by
❧A morning prayer for children. . . .
Prière du père et de la mère le jour de l’initiation de leur enfant | Prayer of the father and mother on the day of their child’s initiation (as a Bar/Bat Mitsvah), by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 18 Jun 2020 by
❧A prayer offered by the parents of a Bar or Bat Mitsvah after they are confirmed in a public ceremony. . . .
Prière du soir pour un enfant | A Child’s Evening Prayer, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 28 Jun 2020 by
❧An evening, bedtime prayer for children. . . .
Prière d’un enfant pour son père et sa mère | A child’s prayer for their parents, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 28 Jun 2020 by
❧A child’s prayer for the well-being of their parents. . . .
Prière d’un enfant pour un malade | A child’s prayer for a sick person, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 28 Jun 2020 by
❧A child’s prayer for someone suffering from an illness. . . .
מַה־טֹּבוּ | Priêre en entrant dans le Temple, a paraliturgical Mah Tovu by Rabbi Arnaud Aron & Jonas Ennery (1848)
Contributed on: 06 May 2020 by
❧A paraliturgical Mah Tovu, in French with English translation. . . .
Prière pour Demander la Lumière Divine | A Prayer for Divine Light [upon candlelighting], by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 25 Apr 2020 by
❧A prayer on Erev Shabbat upon lighting the Shabbes Candles, in French with English translation. . . .
Prière pour demander la subsistance | Prayer for sustenance, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 02 Jul 2020 by
❧A prayer for parnassah (livelihood) for someone impoverished or in danger of poverty. . . .
Prière pour une personne qui se met en voyage | Prayer on behalf of a person who goes on a journey, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 16 Jun 2020 by
❧A prayer on behalf of a friend or relative on their travels. . . .
Prière quand on se met en voyage | Prayer when you go on a journey, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852)
Contributed on: 16 Jun 2020 by
❧A prayer for travel. . . .
תהלים מ״ז | (Psalms 47) Dieser Psalm wird siebenmal vor dem Schofer blasen wiederholt (translation by Yehoshua Heshil Miro, 1829)
Contributed on: 19 Feb 2022 by
❧“Dieser Psalm wird siebenmal vor dem Schofer blasen wiederholt (Psalm 47)” was translated/adapted by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaicher Religion. It first appears in the 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaicher Religion as teḥinah №35 on p. 44. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №31 on pp. 47-48. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №33 on pp. 50-51. . . .
תהלים קל״ט | Psalms 139, a mizmor by David with verses attributed to Adam haRishon for the Winter Solstice
Contributed on: 21 Dec 2019 by
❧A well-known midrash explaining the universality of the Kalends festival beginning after the Winter Solstice attributes this psalm to Adam haRishon, the primordial Adam, as they describe being knitted together within the Earth in Psalms 139:13-16. In the Roman calendar, the calends or kalends (Latin: kalendae) is the first day of every month. Named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, and derived from ianua, “door,” January began with the first crescent moon after the winter solstice, marking the natural beginning of the year. Marcus Terentius Varro, in his Res Rusticae (37 BCE) divided the agricultural year into eight parts. In the final part beginning on the winter solstice, no hard work was to be done outdoors. . . .
אַ פּאָלףּ קדיש | A Ḳaddish by Reb Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction, 1994)
Contributed on: 22 Jan 2011 by
❧Tired of people who can’t tell their ḳiddish (blessings for the Sabbath) from their ḳaddish (prayer for the dead)? Well, it sets Samuel L. Jackson off too! But he found a way of making a bracha (blessing) and mourning the dead at the same time. Now I can’t vouch for the origins of his nusaḥ (custom) but it sounds very effective! Most people haven’t noticed, the only real part from the Bible is that last section, the first part is actually his own spiel: . . .
מוֹדה אֲנִי | Returning the body to the soul: an adaptation of Modeh Ani by Moshe ibn Makhir
Contributed on: 10 Feb 2013 by
❧Modeh Ani first appeared as an addendum in Seder ha-Yom (1599) by Moshe ibn Makhir of Safed. A slightly different formula offers a deep insight into who and what has returned to one’s self upon waking. . . .
רבון העולמים | Ribon HaOlamim from the Seder Tefilot of the RaMBaM in MS Constantinople 1509
Contributed on: 10 Aug 2017 by
❧A variation of the prayer Ribon ha-Olamim from the section of prayers preceding Psukei d’Zimrah/Zermirot. . . .
סֵדֶר תַּשְׁלִיךְ | Seder Tashlikh, as translated by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1833)
Contributed on: 25 Sep 2022 by
❧“סֵדֶר תַּשְׁלִיךְ (Seder Tashlikh)” was translated/adapted by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. It first appears in the 1833 edition on pp. 145-146. In the 1835 edition it is arranged as teḥinah №84 on p. 157. . . .
סֵפֶר יְצִירָה | Sefer Yetsirah, a derivation of A. Peter Hayman’s experimental “earliest recoverable text” — vocalized and translated by Aharon Varady
Contributed on: 14 Jun 2016 by
❧The text of the Sefer Yetsirah presented here follows the “experimental exercise” produced by A. Peter Hayman in his Sefer Yeṣira: Edition Translation and Text-Critical Commentary, “Appendix III: The Earliest Recoverable Text of Sefer Yesira” (Mohr Siebeck, 2004). For details on his construction and his review of the available recensions of Sefer Yetsirah, please refer to Hayman’s complete commentary. Numbers in parentheses indicate sections. I have added spaces between sections indicate traditional chapter breaks. Square brackets indicate some doubt as to whether the included wording was present in the earlier form of the text (p.124). . . .
שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם (שְׁלָמָא אֵילוֹכוּן) | Shalom Aleikhem (Shlama Elokhun), Aramaic translation by Yaacov Maoz
Contributed on: 01 Nov 2020 by
❧The popular piyyut for welcoming the Shabbat, in Hebrew with translations in Assyrian-Aramaic and English. . . .
שַׁוְעַת נָשִׁים: תפילה לשלומן של נשים קורבנות אלימות | Shav’at Nashim, a prayer for the safety of women who are victims of violence (Masorti Movement in Israel)
Contributed on: 02 Dec 2020 by
❧A prayer for the safety and well-being of women who are victims of violence, and especially domestic violence. . . .
שבע ברכות | The Seven Blessings over a Wedding (interpretive translation by Aharon Varady)
Contributed on: 23 May 2012 by
❧A translation of the Seven Blessings shared just in time for Shavuot, and in honor of several of my friend’s weddings. . . .
📖 סִימָן לְבָנִים | Siman l’Vanim: a birkon celebrating the wedding of Honi Sanders and Simona Dalin (2019)
Contributed on: 07 Jul 2019 by
❧The birkon/bentsher (blessing-book) prepared for the wedding of Honi Sanders and Simona Dalin on July 7th, 2019. . . .