תהלים צ״ד | Psalms 94, the psalm for Wednesday (translation by Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l)
Contributed on: 26 Jul 2017 by
❧This psalm was the Wednesday song of the Levites in the Holy Temple. . . .
תהלים ק״ד | Psalms 104, a hymn of creation translated by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)
Contributed on: 14 Jul 2018 by
❧Psalms 104, translated by Mordecai Kaplan and presented as “God as Creator and Renewer of Nature” can be found on p. 360-5 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945), the first prayer in a subsection of supplementary prayers called “GOD IN NATURE.” . . .
תהלים ק״ז | Psalms 107, arranged by Aharon Varady
Contributed on: 09 Jan 2020 by
❧Psalms 107 in Hebrew with English translation as arranged by Aharon Varady. . . .
תהלים קי״ב | Psalms 112 (Ashrei Ish)
Contributed on: 09 Jan 2020 by
❧Psalms 112 in Hebrew with English translation, arranged by Aharon Varady. . . .
תהלים קכ״ו | Psalms 126 (Shir haMaalot), a German translation by Franz Rosenzweig (1921)
Contributed on: 12 Aug 2021 by
❧Psalms 126 in Masoretic Hebrew, with a German translation by Franz Rosenzweig. . . .
תהלים קל״ט | Psalms 139, interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Contributed on: 14 Jan 2020 by
❧Psalms 139 in Hebrew with an interpretive translation in English by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l. . . .
אַשְׁרֵי | Ashrei (Psalms 145), arranged by Aharon N. Varady
Contributed on: 27 Dec 2019 by
❧Ashrei, complete with introductory verses and a lost verse to complete the acrostic from the Chronicle of Gad the Seer. . . .
תהלים ק״נ בלשון לאדינו | Psalms 150 in Ladino (Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit, ca. 1852/3)
Contributed on: 11 Feb 2019 by
❧The Masoretic text of Psalms 150 set side-by-side with a Ladino translation published ca. 1852 in Izmir, Turkey. . . .
Purim, Festival of Mirth — a prayer by Rabbi Abraham Cronbach (1924)
Contributed on: 13 Mar 2024 by
❧This prayer for “Purim, the Feast of Mirth” by Rabbi Abraham Cronbach is found in his, Prayers of the Jewish Advance (1924), on pages 43-46. . . .
קדיש שלם | Ḳaddish Shalem — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)
Contributed on: 24 Jun 2023 by
❧This Chinese translation of an Ashkenazi nusaḥ for the “Qaddish Shalem,” the full-ḳaddish is found on page 27 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). . . .
קדיש שלם | Ḳaddish Shalem, translated by Rabbi Dr. Jakob Petuchowski (1966)
Contributed on: 07 Aug 2021 by
❧The Aramaic text of the Ḳaddish Shalem, with an English translation by Dr. Jakob Petuckowski. . . .
הַל״ב מִצְוֺת הַתְלוּיוֹת בַּלֵּב | Thirty-two Mitsvot One Can Do With Consciousness Alone, by Reb Ahrele Roth (trans. Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi & Hillel Goelman)
Contributed on: 04 Aug 2018 by
❧A good preparation and a bridge for the next phase of prayer, as you enter into the world of B’riyah,[foot]i.e., the Shaḥarit service beginning with the blessings prededing the Shema[/foot] is Reb Ahrele Roth’s list of Mitsvot One Can Do With Consciousness Alone. Reb Ahrele Roth, a”h, wrote a list of 32 mitsvot whose fulfillment is completed in the brain, the heart and the mouth. (The Hebrew alphabetical equivalent of 32 is ל”ב, the letters of which spell the Hebrew word LEV for Heart.) –Reb Zalman . . .
Rebuke Me Not Nor Chasten Me (Psalms 38), a hymn on “Confidence in God” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 25 Oct 2021 by
❧“Rebuke me not, nor chasten me (Psalm XXXVIII),” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Confidence in God” as Hymn 29 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 32-33. . . .
Reconstruction of a Greek text of the Shabbat Amidah preserved in the Constitutiones Apostolorum (circa 380 CE), by Dr. David Fiensy
Contributed on: 10 Jun 2015 by
❧This is a reconstruction of a sabbath liturgy for the Tefillah of the Amidah, at least in some variant of its public recitation, in Greek and preserved in an early Christian work, the Constitutiones Apostolorum (Apostolic Constitutions), a Christian work compiled around 380 CE in Syria. Several prayers derived from Jewish sources appear in the Apostolic Constitutions and they can be found grouped together and labeled “Greek” or “Hellenistic Syanagogal Works” in collections of apocrypha and pseudepigrapha. Because explicitly Christian references appeared to be added onto a pre-existing text with familiar Jewish or “Old Testament” themes and references, scholars in the late 19th century were already suggesting that as many as 16 of the prayers in the Apostolic Constitutions books 7 and 8 were derived from Jewish prayers. A more modern appraisal was made by Dr. Fiensy and published in Prayers Alleged to Be Jewish (Scholars Press 1985). Based on a careful analysis of the prayers, he concludes that the only prayers which can be identified as Jewish with certainty are those found in sections 33-38 of book 7. . . .
Refreshed By Sleep, That Sovereign Balm – a hymn on “Morning” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 29 Oct 2021 by
❧“Refresh’d by sleep, that sov’reign balm” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Morning” as Hymn 48 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 51-52. . . .
Reggeli ima | Gebet am Morgen | Morning Prayer, a paraliturgical Elohai Neshamah by Rabbi Arnold Kiss (1897)
Contributed on: 26 Aug 2021 by
❧This prayer by Rabbi Arnold Kiss for the well-being of a husband by their wife, “A nő imája férjéért,” was first published in his anthology of prayers for Jewish women, Mirjam (1897) on p.246-248. It doesn’t appear to me to have been translated in the subsequent German edition (1907). I’ve set my English translation side-by-side with the Magyar. –Aharon Varady . . .
Rejoice in God, Our Mighty Rock – a hymn for Shavuot by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1856)
Contributed on: 08 Nov 2021 by
❧“Rejoice in God, our mighty Rock,” by Rabbi Moritz Mayer, published in 1856, appears under the subject “Pentecost” as Hymn 203 in Hymns Written for the Use of Hebrew Congregations (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1856), pp. 200-201. . . .
Remarks on Yom Kippur, an essay by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (August 1965)
Contributed on: 24 Sep 2023 by
❧Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel from “Yom Kippur” [“Remarks on Yom Kippur”] Mas’at Rav (A Professional Supplement to Conservative Judaism), August 1965, pp. 13–14 — as found in Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity (ed. Dr. Susannah Heschel, 1997), pp. 146-147. . . .
Remember Man While Thou Art Young, a hymn on “Religion in Early Life” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 22 Oct 2021 by
❧“Remember man while thou art young,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Religion in Early Life” as Hymn 18 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 22. . . .
💬 זָכוֹר אֶת־יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ | Remember the Shabbat day to keep it holy, a reading for the first se’udah of Shabbat from the Zohar (parashat Yitro)
Contributed on: 02 Jun 2019 by
❧A reading from the Zohar providing context for the first meal of Shabbat on Friday evening. . . .
💬 זָכוֹר אֶת־יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ | Remember the Shabbat day to keep it holy, a reading for the second se’udah of Shabbat from the Zohar (parashat Yitro)
Contributed on: 03 Jun 2019 by
❧A reading from the Zohar providing context for the second meal of Shabbat (the Saturday lunch meal). . . .
💬 זָכוֹר אֶת־יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ | Remember the Shabbat day to keep it holy, a reading for the third se’udah of Shabbat from the Zohar (parashat Yitro)
Contributed on: 03 Jun 2019 by
❧A reading from the Zohar providing context for the third meal of Shabbat (the Saturday afternoon meal, se’udah shlishit/shaleshudes). . . .
Return, Oh Lord! and Let Me Be (Job 29), a hymn on “Charity” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 26 Oct 2021 by
❧“Return, oh Lord! and let me be (Job chap. XXIX),” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Charity” as Hymn 38 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 41-42. . . .
חרוז על שחוק האישקקי | Rhymed Poem on Chess (short), by Avraham ibn Ezra (HS. Vatican 171 f.2, oben S. 180)
Contributed on: 26 Dec 2020 by
❧A medieval Jewish poem on the game of Chess by Avraham ibn Ezra.. . . .
רִבּוֹן כׇּל הָעוֹלָמִים | Ribon kol ha-Olamim, a prayer for the government of the United States of America by Rabbi Max Lilienthal (1846)
Contributed on: 23 Apr 2022 by
❧“Ribon kol ha-Olamim” was almost certainly written by Rabbi Max Lilienthal in 1846 soon after he arrived in New York City where he was elected chief rabbi of New York’s “united German-Jewish community.” It was first published in L. Henry Frank’s prayerbook, Tefilot Yisrael: Prayers of Israel with an English translation (1848) without attribution. In 1998, Dr. Jonathan Sarna elucidated its authorship in an article, “A Forgotten 19th Century Prayer for the U.S. Government: Its Meaning, Significance and Surprising Author.” In Hesed Ve-Emet: Studies in Honor of Ernest S. Frerichs, eds. J. Magness and S. Gitin, 431-440. Athens, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1998. . . .
Ritual for Judging Bad Dreams for Good
Contributed on: 11 May 2013 by
❧If one has had a terribly disturbing and potentially auspicious dream, this ritual recorded in the Talmud Bavli (Berakhot 55b) provides a remedy in the form of a means by which the dream itself is judged positively by a small court of one’s peers. . . .
📄 הגדה לסדר פסח | The Ritual of the Seder and the Agada of the English Jews Before the Expulsion (1287)
Contributed on: 01 Apr 2012 by
❧Jacob b. Jehuda of London, the author of that valuable contribution to the literary side of Anglo-Jewish history, the Talmudical compendium Etz Chaim, so providentially rescued and preserved for us, never dreamt, when he noted down, in the year 1287, the Ritual and Agada of the Seder Nights according to English usage, that he was fixing a permanent picture of what was doomed to destruction, and was recording not a mere portion of the liturgy, but a page of Jewish history. Faithfully copying his great prototype, Maimonides, the English Chazan also embodied in his work the texts of the Recitations on the Seder Nights in the form customary among his countrymen, and appended the correlated rites according to Minhag England. . . .
רָנּוּ שָׁמַֽיִם | Ronnu shamayim, a piyyut celebrating the Decalogue by Elyaqim
Contributed on: 03 Jun 2022 by
❧This piyyut is signed “Elyaqim Ḥazaq.” Alas, we do not know who this Elyaqim was or even whether he was a rabbinic or Karaite Jew. The piyyut has been preserved for us in the Karaite cycle (Vilna printing press, 1852, Vol. IV, p. 135.) and there are several other piyyutim signed with his name. . . .
Rude are the Tabernacles Now, a hymn for Hoshana Rabbah by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)
Contributed on: 03 Nov 2021 by
❧“Rude are the Tabernacles now,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Tabernacles (Sucote)” as Hymn 65 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 67-68. . . .
Rugăcĭune Pentru Regele | Prayer for the King [Carol Ⅰ, of Romania], by Rabbi Dr. Moses Gaster (1883)
Contributed on: 26 Aug 2021 by
❧A variation of the prayer Hanoten Teshua by Rabbi Dr. Moses Gaster, from his סדור תפלת ישראל: Carte de rugăciuni pentru Israeliţi (Bucureşti, Editor L. Steinberg Stampfel, Eder & Comp. Pressburg 1883), p.192. . . .
📖 רֻחָמָה | Ruḥamah: Devotional Exercises for the Use of the Daughters of Israel, by Rabbi Morris Jacob Raphall (1852)
Contributed on: 03 May 2022 by
❧A collection of teḥinot translated, adapted, and republished in English. This is one of the first collections of teḥinot published for an English speaking audience and the first prayerbook in English for use by Jewish women published in the United States. . . .
Sabbath Blessing, a prayer by Caroline de Litchfield Harby (Reformed Society of Israel ca. 1826)
Contributed on: 15 Oct 2021 by
❧“Sabbath Blessing” by Caroline de Litchfield Harby (ca.1800-1876), is included in the so-called Isaac Harby Prayerbook (1974) also known as the Cohn Lithograph, a handwritten prayerbook attesting to the prayers of the Reformed Society of Israel. . . .
ברכת הבנים | Sabbath Blessing, a prayer-poem for children before their parent’s blessing by Jessie Ethel Sampter (1919)
Contributed on: 14 Jun 2023 by
❧This prayer-poem on receiving a parent’s Sabbath Blessing was written by Jessie Ethel Sampter and published in her Around the Year in Rhymes for the Jewish Child (1920), p. 25. . . .
Sabbath Eve (In the Home), a prayer welcoming the Shabbat Queen by Rabbi Ely E. Pilchik (1962)
Contributed on: 04 Sep 2022 by
❧“Sabbath Eve (In the Home)” by Rabbi Ely E. Pilchik was first published in Rabbi Morrison David Bial’s anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 28, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .
Sabbath prayer, by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)
Contributed on: 08 May 2023 by
❧“Sabbath Prayer” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 19-20. . . .
Salvation through Labor, a prayer for the Sabbath before Labor Day, adapted from the writings of A.D. Gordon by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)
Contributed on: 19 Aug 2018 by
❧“Salvation through Labor,” adapted by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan from the writings of Aaron David Gordon, can be found on p. 548-551 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). The translation was attributed in the Sabbath Prayer Book to its editors (Mordecai Kaplan & Eugene Kohn, assisted by Ira Eisenstein and Milton Steinberg). . . .
📖 The Samaritan Liturgy in two volumes (transcribed by A.E. Cowley 1909)
Contributed on: 18 Jan 2017 by
❧Arthur Earnest Cowley’s transcription of a 13th or 14th century manuscript of an Israelite-Samaritan defter held in the Vatican library (V 3. Ff. 193, vellum, sm. 4to.). Besides prayers, the second volume also contains an introduction, list of manuscripts used, and a glossary of terms in Samaritan Aramaic, among other materials. . . .
Sambatyon, a poem for Shabbat by Rabbi Alter Abelson (1931)
Contributed on: 17 Jan 2019 by
❧The poem “Sambatyon” (1931) by Rabbi Alter Abelson. . . .
Schema Jisrael | Shema Yisrael, a hymn by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1867)
Contributed on: 26 May 2023 by
❧“Schema Jisrael (Shema Yisrael)” is a hymn written by Moritz Mayer (1821-1867) and posthumously published in Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871), hymn №33, pp. 66-67. It may have been published earlier in the author’s lifetime. If you know of an earlier source for this hymn, please leave a comment or contact us. . . .
Schlußgebet | Final prayer [before bedtime], by Lise Tarlau (1907)
Contributed on: 25 Dec 2022 by
❧“Schlußgebet” 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), page 23. . . .
School-hymn, by Felix Adler (1868)
Contributed on: 24 Jun 2022 by
❧“School-hymn” is a hymn written by Felix Adler and published in Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871), hymn №36, p. 70. We have found this hymn published in A Guide to Instruction in the Israelitsh Religion (Samuel Adler, trans. M. Mayer, Temple Emanu-El, 1864, 4th printing 1868). The hymn, numbered “36” is appended from another unattributed work as it appears in the 1871 Temple Emanu-El hymnal. So, tentatively, we may date this hymn to 1868, although it may likely have been authored earlier, along with the other hymns later attributed in 1871 by Rabbi James K. Gutheim to Felix Adler. . . .
💬 כְּגַוְנָא | K’gavna, on the Secret of Oneness and the Mystery of Shabbat, a reading from the Zohar (parashat Terumah §163-166 & §169-170)
Contributed on: 14 Jul 2016 by
❧In siddurim following the nusaḥ ha-ARI z”l, the Barekhu call to prayer is immediately preceded by a passage from the Zohar, Parshat Terumah, explaining the profound significance of the Maariv service. . . .
📖 סדר אל־תוחיד | Seder al-Tawḥid for Rosh Ḥodesh Nissan
Contributed on: 03 Apr 2019 by
❧The project page for the transcription and translation of the Seder al-Tawḥid for Rosh Ḥodesh Nissan. . . .
📄 סדר עבודת הלב שחרית | Seder Avodat Lev Shaḥarit: Service of the Heart, by the farmers of the Adamah Fellowship
Contributed on: 14 Jun 2011 by
❧The prayer/songsheet used for the Avodat Lev dawn prayer service of the farmers in the Adamah Fellowship on the campus of the Isabella Freedman Retreat Center in Falls Village, Connecticut. . . .
📖 סדר הגדה של פסח עברי-כּורדי | Seder Haggadah shel Pesaḥ (Ivri-Kurdi), a Passover seder haggadah for Kurdish Jews in Hebrew and Aramaic (1959)
Contributed on: 30 Jul 2019 by
❧A Passover Seder Haggadah in Hebrew and Aramaic (or Kurdish, as stated on the title page) published in Israel for the wave of Kurdish-Jewish immigrants from Iraq and other eastern countries. . . .
📖 סדר התפלות לראש השנה (מנהג הספרדים) | Seder haTefilot l’Rosh haShanah, edited and revised by Moses Gaster (1903)
Contributed on: 29 Jan 2020 by
❧A bilingual Hebrew-English maḥzor for Rosh haShanah, nusaḥ sefarad, with a translation for Rabbi David de Aaron de Sola, revised and edited by Moses Gaster. . . .
📖 סדר התפלות ליום כפור (מנהג הספרדים) | Seder haTefilot l’Yom Kippur, edited and revised by Moses Gaster (1904, amended 1934)
Contributed on: 29 Jan 2020 by
❧A bilingual Hebrew-English maḥzor for Yom Kippur, nusaḥ sefarad, with a translation for Rabbi David de Aaron de Sola, revised and edited by Moses Gaster, amended by Rabbi David Bueno de Mesquita. . . .
💬 סדר מגילת אסתר עם פסוקים שנאמרו על אסתר ומרדכי | Seder Megillat Esther (with verses to be said for Esther and Mordekhai)
Contributed on: 10 Mar 2011 by
❧Megillat Esther in Masoretic Hebrew with an English translation, including verses for public recitation highlighted to spotlight the heroic acts of Esther and Mordekhai. . . .
📖 סדר סליחות מכל השנה | Seder Seliḥot mikol ha-Shanah :: The Order of Seliḥot for the entire year, translated by David Asher, Ph.D. (1866)
Contributed on: 07 Aug 2019 by
❧A comprehensive arrangement of seliḥot (סליחות, penitential prayers) for the entire year, translated into English by the great scholar David Asher. . . .
Βαροὺχ | Sefer Barukh (3:9-5:8), a poem of wisdom in exile and its ultimate liberation
Contributed on: 26 Jun 2021 by
❧The poetic portion of the deuterocanonical work, Barukh, in Greek with English translation. . . .