ברכת המזון לחול ולשבת | Birkat haMazon for Weekdays and on Shabbat from the Cairo Genizah fragment Or.1080 15.4
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (translation), Shoshana Michael Zucker (translation)
A birkat haMazon found in the collection of Cairo Geniza fragments at the University of Cambridge library. . . .
כְּהַיּוֹם הַזֶּה בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם | k’Hayom HaZeh Birushalayim (This day in Jerusalem), a wedding prayer from the Seder Rav Amram Gaon (ca. 9th c.)
Contributed by: Gabriel Kretzmer Seed (translation), Jeffrey Saks (translation), Amram ben Rav Sheshna, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
A well-wishing prayer for couples on their wedding day found in the Seder Rav Amram Gaon. . . .
כשיוצא אדם בלילה | When a person goes out at night: an apotropaic invocation of angelic protection in the Seder Rav Amram Gaon (ca. 9th c.)
Contributed by: Dan Levene, Dalia Marx, Amram ben Rav Sheshna, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
An apotropaic prayer of protection for traveling at night containing an “angels on all sides” formula. . . .
גבריאל מימינהון | “Gavriel is on the right,” an apotropaic invocation of angelic protection in the amulet bowl SD12 (ca. mid-first millennium C.E.)
Contributed by: Dan Levene, Dalia Marx, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
The text and translation of an amulet bowl discussed in “‘Gabriel is on their Right’: Angelic Protection in Jewish Magic and Babylonian Lore” by Dan Levene, Dalia Marx, and Siam Bharyo in Studia Mesopotamica (Band 1: 2014) pp.185-198. The apotropaic ward found in the amulet bowl, SD 12, contains an “angels on all sides” formula similar to that appearing in the Jewish liturgy of the bedtime shema. . . .
סֵפֶר יְצִירָה | Sefer Yetsirah, a derivation of A. Peter Hayman’s experimental “earliest recoverable text” — vocalized and translated by Aharon Varady
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
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). . . .
ברכות לנרות חנוכה | the Blessings over Kindling the Light of Ḥanukkah
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
The blessings for kindling the Ḥanukkah lights in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם (שְׁלָמָא אֵילוֹכוּן) | Shalom Aleikhem (Shlama Elokhun), Aramaic translation by Yaacov Maoz
Contributed by: Yaacov Maoz, Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
The popular piyyut for welcoming the Shabbat, in Hebrew with translations in Assyrian-Aramaic and English. . . .
בִּרְכַּת הַמָּזוֹן בִּקְצָרָה | Birkat HaMazon Biqtsarah :: Abbreviated Blessing after the Meal
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
The formula for the abbreviated Birkat Hamazon, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
נִשְׁמַת כָּל חַי (מנהג הספרדים) | Nishmat Kol Ḥai, arranged by Aharon Varady
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
The text of the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
בִּרְכַּת נְטִילַת יָדָֽיִם | Blessing on preparing one’s hands for wakefulness and other holy activities (translation by Aharon Varady)
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation), Unknown
The blessing upon preparing one’s hands for attaining a state of ritual purity before a sacred activity. . . .
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 by: Shaul Vardi (translation), Levi Weiman-Kelman (translation), Yeshayahu ben Amōts, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
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. . . .
תהלים קל״ט | Psalms 139, a mizmor by David with verses attributed to Adam haRishon for the Winter Solstice
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Aharon N. Varady (translation)
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. . . .