Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation), Unknown, the Mesorah (TaNaKh), the Mesorah (Masoretic layer 'J'), the Mesorah (Masoretic kernel 'E')
The prayers invoking the memory of the Aqeidat Yitsḥaq (Genesis 22:1-19) in the morning preparatory prayers in the liturgical custom of Ashkenaz. . . .
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. . . .
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. . . .
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. . . .
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. . . .
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). . . .
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
The blessings for kindling the Ḥanukkah lights in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
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. . . .
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
The formula for the abbreviated Birkat Hamazon, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (translation)
The text of the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
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. . . .
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. . . .
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. . . .