נִשְׁמַת כָּל חַי | Nishmat Kol Ḥai, interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Contributed on: 19 Jan 2020 by
❧This “praying translation” of the piyyut Nishmat Kol Ḥai is included in Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s Sabbath Supplement to his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi ~ As I Can Say It (for Praying in the Vernacular) (2009). The translation includes several prayers that follow the piyyut: Ha-El B’ta’atsumot Uzekha, and Shoḥen Ad. . . .
נִשְׁמַת כָּל חַי | 每个生物的灵魂 | Nishmat Kol Ḥai (Měi gè shēngwù de línghún) — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)
Contributed on: 24 Jun 2023 by
❧This Chinese translation of an Ashkenazi nusaḥ for the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai is found on pages 1-2 of the liner notes for the Chinese edition of Richard Collis’s album We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service Prayers (Wǒmen gēchàng, wǒmen xiāngjù — Ānxírì chén dǎo qídǎo). . . .
הוֹ קְבַרְנִיט! קְבַרְנִיטִי! | O Captain! My Captain!, an elegy for President Abraham Lincoln by Walt Whitman (1865), Hebrew translation by Shimon Halkin (1952)
Contributed on: 12 Feb 2020 by
❧Walt Whitman’s famous poem eulogizing President Abraham Lincoln after his assassination, in English with Hebrew translation. . . .
אָ, קאפּיטאן! מײַן קאפּיטאן! | O Captain! My Captain!, an elegy for President Abraham Lincoln by Walt Whitman (1865), Yiddish translation by Avrom Valt-Lyessin (1913)
Contributed on: 11 Feb 2020 by
❧Walt Whitman’s famous poem eulogizing President Abraham Lincoln after his assassination, in English with Yiddish translation. . . .
אָ, קאפּיטאן! מײַן קאפּיטאן! | O Captain! My Captain!, an elegy for President Abraham Lincoln by Walt Whitman (1865), Yiddish translation by Eliezer Meler (1940)
Contributed on: 11 Feb 2020 by
❧Walt Whitman’s famous poem eulogizing President Abraham Lincoln after his assassination, in English with Yiddish translation. . . .
O Day of God, an English translation of Leopold Stein’s paraliturgical Kol Nidrei “O Tag des Herrn!” by Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1904)
Contributed on: 25 Jun 2022 by
❧“O Tag des Herrn!” is a paraliturgical Kol Nidrei by Leopold Stein. Here it is translated from German to English by the Unitarian minister Frederick Lucian Hosmer on behalf of the Reform rabbi Isaac S. Moses. Hosmer’s translation appears in Hymns and Anthems for Jewish Worship (ed. Isaac S. Moses, 1904), hymn №107 pp. 69-71. . . .
O God! Today Our Joyful Song of Praise – a hymn for Purim by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1856)
Contributed on: 08 Nov 2021 by
❧“O God! To-day our joyful song of praise,” by Rabbi Moritz Mayer, published in 1856, appears under the subject “Feast of Esther” as Hymn 196 in Hymns Written for the Use of Hebrew Congregations (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1856), pp. 191-192. . . .
O! Thou Possest of Health and Bloom, a hymn on “Immortality of the Soul” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 29 Oct 2021 by
❧“O! thou possest of health and bloom” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Immortality of the Soul” as Hymn 52 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 54-55. . . .
O Uncreated Holy One! – a hymn on Praise and Thanksgiving by Caroline de Litchfield Harby (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 12 Oct 2021 by
❧“O uncreated Holy One!” by Caroline de Litchfield Harby (ca.1800-1876), first published in 1842, appears under the subject “Praise and Thanksgiving” as Hymn 46 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 49. . . .
O’er All This Wide and Beauteous Earth, a hymn on Divine Mercy by Cordelia Moïse Cohen (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 11 Oct 2021 by
❧“O’er all this wide and beauteous earth” by Cordelia Moïse Cohen (1809-1869), first published in 1842, appears under the subject “Divine Mercy” as Hymn 13 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 17-18. . . .
Offerings, by Alice Lucas (1898)
Contributed on: 15 Mar 2021 by
❧A meditation on prayer and earnest offering. . . .
Oh! Fill our Hearts, Almighty King! – a “School Hymn” (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1856)
Contributed on: 08 Nov 2021 by
❧“Oh! fill our hearts, Almighty King” by an unknown author, published in 1856, appears under the subject “School Hymns” as Hymn 208 in Hymns Written for the Use of Hebrew Congregations (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1856), p. 208. . . .
Oh! How Shall Man With God Contend (Job 9), a hymn on “Obedience to the Will of God” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 25 Oct 2021 by
❧“Oh! how shall man with God contend (Job Chap. IX),” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Obedience to the Will of God” as Hymn 28 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 31-32. . . .
Oh King of Glory When We Contemplate, a hymn on Divine Mercy by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 21 Oct 2021 by
❧“Oh King of Glory! when we contemplate,” by Penina Moïse, was published in 1842, and appears under the subject of “Divine Mercy” as Hymn 15 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 19-20. . . .
Oh! That on Morning’s Dewy Wings, a hymn on “Submission to the Will of God” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 26 Oct 2021 by
❧“Oh! that on morning’s dewy wings,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Submission to the Will of God” as Hymn 33 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 36. . . .
Oh! Thou in Whom the Power Dwells, a hymn on “Submission to the Will of God” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 26 Oct 2021 by
❧“Oh! thou in whom the power dwells,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Submission to the Will of God” as Hymn 36 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 39-40. . . .
Oh! Thou Whose Shrine the Sweetest Incense Bears, a hymn on “Charity” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 26 Oct 2021 by
❧“Oh! thou, whose shrine the sweetest incense bears,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Charity” as Hymn 37 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 40-41. . . .
Oh! Turn At Meek Devotion’s Call, a hymn on “Piety” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 24 Oct 2021 by
❧“Oh! turn at meek devotion’s call,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Piety” as Hymn 24 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 28. . . .
בִּרְכָּת אַהֲבַה | Ahavat Olam, for Maariv/Arvit translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l
Contributed on: 10 Oct 2018 by
❧Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the blessing preceding the Shema in the evening “Ohev Amo Yisrael” in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . .
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. . . .
Olenu, a paraliturgical adaptation of Aleinu by Lise Tarlau (1907)
Contributed on: 01 Jan 2023 by
❧“Olenu” by Lise Tarlau can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), pages 80-81. . . .
אוֹמֶץ גְּבוּרוֹתֶיךָ | Omets G’vuratekha, a piyyut by Eleazar ben Qalir for the second night of Pesaḥ in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
Contributed on: 20 Mar 2021 by
❧The piyyut, Omets G’vurotekha by Elazar ha-Qalir, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel. . . .
On Beholding the New Synagogue, a poem by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, Charleston 1840)
Contributed on: 14 Apr 2023 by
❧“On Beholding the New Synagogue, 1840” was published in Secular and Religious Works of Penina Moïse, With Brief Sketch of Her Life (Council of Jewish Women, Charleston Section, 1911), pp. 269-270. . . .
On Composing Prayers Outside of the Prayerbook, an introduction by Isaac Leeser to “Two Short Prayers” (1851)
Contributed on: 23 Sep 2021 by
❧Thoughts on petitionary prayer literature (teḥinot) and Jewish women’s prayer literature in the mid-19th century United States of America. . . .
בְּכִסְלֵו – מאבן בֹחן | On Kislev, from the poem “Even Boḥan” by Rabbi Ḳalonymus ben Ḳalonymus ben Meir (1322)
Contributed on: 25 Nov 2017 by
❧Before potatoes entered the diet of Ashkenazi Jews, latkes were cheese pancakes, or cassola, as described in “Even Boḥan” (Touchstone), a satyrical poem by Rabbi Kalonymus ben Kalonymus ben Meir (b.1286-died after 1328). . . .
On the Decalogue, life wisdom for a Bnei Mitsvah by Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Kaplan (ca. 1920s)
Contributed on: 17 Aug 2024 by
❧This is a restatement of the Decalogue offered as life wisdom by Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Kaplan for his daughters, sometime in the 1920s, possibly as early as 1922 at the Bat Mitsvah of his oldest daughter Judith. The document was found by Mel Scult and shared by him from his Mordecai Kaplan Discussion Group on Facebook. . . .
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. . . .
On the Loss of a Beloved One, a prayer in the evening by Annie Josephine Levi (1900)
Contributed on: 22 Apr 2023 by
❧“On the loss of a beloved one (in the evening)” was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), pp. 156-157. . . .
On the Loss of a Beloved One, a prayer in the morning by Annie Josephine Levi (1900)
Contributed on: 23 Apr 2023 by
❧“On the loss of a beloved one (in the morning)” was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), pp. 148-149. . . .
יוֺם פּײַ | On the Rabbinical Approximation of π, by Boaz Tsaban and David Garber (1998)
Contributed on: 14 Mar 2014 by
❧There is a Rabbinical tradition that the value of pi is hidden within a ktiv-kri (reading-versus-writing disparity) in I Kings 7:23. According to Hebrew scriptural tradition, the word meaning ‘line’ is written as קוה, but read as קו. . . .
The Open Door of the Heart, a prayer by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)
Contributed on: 03 Sep 2022 by
❧“The Open Door of the Heart” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), pp. 43-44, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .
Opening prayer at the 250th Anniversary of Jewish Settlement in the United States — by Rabbi Joseph Silverman (1905)
Contributed on: 03 Jul 2024 by
❧The opening prayer offered by Rabbi Joseph Silverman for “the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of the Jews in the United States, 1655-1905,” at Carnegie Hall, New York City, Thanksgiving Day, 30 November 1905. The prayer was published in the Publications Of The American Jewish Historical Society number 14 (1906). . . .
Opening prayer before the Tennessee State Senate by Rabbi Isidor Kalisch on 15 January 1873
Contributed on: 22 Jun 2024 by
❧This prayer of Rabbi Isidor Kalisch was offered on 15 January 1873 before the Tennessee State Senate, and published in the Republican Banner (16 January 1863), page 4. . . .
Opening prayer for the 12th U.A.W.–C.I.O. Labor Convention in Milwaukee, by Rabbi Joseph Baron (1949)
Contributed on: 09 Jun 2022 by
❧This prayer, initially delivered by Rabbi Joseph Baron as an invocation at the opening of the 12th U.A.W.-C.I.O. Labor Convention in Milwaukee, July 1949, was included in the anthology, The Prayer Book of the Armed Forces (ed. Daniel A. Poling, 1951), pp. 81-82. The prayer was selected for the anthology by Walter P. Reuther (1907-1970), a Lutheran, a leader of organized labor, and a civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in American history. . . .
Opening prayer for the Ceremonies at the Site of the Statue of Religious Liberty by the Independent Order of B’nai Brith, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (5 July 1875)
Contributed on: 30 Jun 2024 by
❧This was the opening prayer offered by Rabbi Sabato Morais at the “Ceremonies at the Site of the Statue of Religious Liberty by the Independent Order of B’nai Berith” for the Celebration of the Ninety-Ninth Anniversary of American Independence in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, July 5th, 1875 and published in a booklet containing the same. The site of the ceremonies was “the Walnut Street Railway, near the Centennial grounds.” The statue, “Religious Liberty,” was commissioned by B’nai B’rith and dedicated “to the people of the United States” as an expression of support for the Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. It was created by Moses Jacob Ezekiel, a B’nai B’rith member and the first American Jewish sculptor to gain international prominence. . . .
Opening Prayer for the Jewish Women’s Congress, by Rachel Frank-Litman (World Parliament of Religion at the World’s Columbian Exposition, 1893)
Contributed on: 04 Dec 2021 by
❧The opening prayer of the Jewish Women’s Congress held at the World Parliament of Religion at the World’s Columbian Exposition as published in the Papers of the Jewish Women’s Congress: held at Chicago, September 4-7, 1893 (1894), p. 8. . . .
Opening Prayer for United Nations Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)
Contributed on: 16 Oct 2021 by
❧This opening prayer for United Nations Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 249-250. . . .
Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the New York State Senate: Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise on 24 June 1851
Contributed on: 11 Jul 2024 by
❧The opening prayer offered by Rabbi Dr. Isaac Mayer Wise, in his role as guest chaplain before the 74th New York State Senate on 24 June 1851, and published under the header, “Albany” in The Asmonean (11 July 1851), on page 5. The prayer is one of the earliest offered by a rabbi before a state legislature in the United States. . . .
Opening Prayer on the Significance of Arbor Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)
Contributed on: 11 Jan 2021 by
❧This opening prayer for Arbor Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 3-4 — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. . . .
Opening Prayer on the Significance of Flag Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)
Contributed on: 14 Jun 2023 by
❧This opening prayer for Flag Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 117 . . .
Opening Prayer on the Significance of Labor Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)
Contributed on: 11 Apr 2021 by
❧“Opening Prayer on the Significance of [Labor] Day” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p.165. . . .
Opening Prayer on the Significance of Lincoln’s Birthday, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)
Contributed on: 10 Feb 2021 by
❧This opening prayer-essay for Lincoln’s Birthday, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951) — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. . . .
Opening Prayer on the Significance of New Year’s Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)
Contributed on: 22 Dec 2020 by
❧This opening prayer for New Year’s Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 3-4 — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. . . .
Opening Prayer on the Significance of Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)
Contributed on: 22 Dec 2020 by
❧This opening prayer for Thanksgiving Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 304 — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. . . .
Opening Prayer on the Significance of Washington’s Birthday, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)
Contributed on: 20 Feb 2021 by
❧This opening prayer for Washington’s Birthday, “The Significance of the Day,” as first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951). . . .
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). . . .
אוֹרָה הִיא | Orah Hee (She is light), a piyyut by Rabbi Jill Hammer (2008)
Contributed on: 12 Apr 2022 by
❧“Orah hee” was composed by Rabbi Jill Hammer in 2008 and first published at Tel Shemesh in romanized Hebrew and English translation. . . .
Országos bánat, közös baj idején | Prayer in a time of national crisis, by Rabbi Arnold Kiss (1897)
Contributed on: 22 Sep 2021 by
❧This prayer by Rabbi Arnold Kiss for the kingdom of Hungary in a time of national crisis, “Országos bánat, közös baj idején,” was first published in his anthology of prayers for Jewish women, Mirjam (1897) on p.289-291. . . .
Our Affirmation — a litany of affirmative statements for adherents of the Centre of Jewish Science by Rabbi Clifton Harby Levy (1927)
Contributed on: 19 Apr 2023 by
❧“Our Affirmation” by Rabbi Clifton Harby Levy was published in conclusion to his brochure, The Helpful Manual (Centre of Jewish Science, 1927), p. 32. . . .
📜 פָּרָשַׁת אַחֲרֵי מוֹת | Parashat Aḥarei Mōt (Leviticus 16:1-18:30), color-coded according to its narrative layers
Contributed on: 12 Apr 2019 by
❧The text of parashat Aḥarei Mōt, distinguished according to the stratigraphic layers of its composition according to the Supplementary Hypothesis. . . .