A short discourse on the necessity for prayer by the Stoic philosopher, Epictetus. . . .

“I saw a palace proud and high (Proverbs chap. XIV v. 11),” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Charity” as Hymn 39 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 42-43. . . .

Titled, “I Seek,” this prayer from Rabbi Abraham Cronbach concludes his collection of prayer, Prayers of the Jewish Advance (1924), on page 128. . . .

“I wept when from my eager grasp,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Submission to the Will of God” as Hymn 35 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 38. . . .

“I will extol Thee, my King! (Psalms 145)” by Cordelia Moïse Cohen (1809-1869), first published in 1842, appears under the subject “Divine Mercy” as Hymn 12 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 17. . . .

General public forms of prayer may not always be adapted to the peculiar exigencies of every mind; the compilers of this work have therefore striven to supply in some measure this spiritual need, by meditations and prayers suited to every situation and occasion in life; and it has been the humble yet anxious endeavour of the translator to preserve the spirit of the original in its English garb. . . .

The service in 1953 by the S&P Synagogue (Bevis Marks, London) in celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth. . . .

“In God, the holy, wise, and just,” by Penina Moïse, was published in 1842, and appears under the subject of Omniscience as Hymn 6 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 11-12. . . .

“In Sickness” was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), page 147. . . .

“In Time of Trouble” was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), page 146. . . .

This tkhine offers a formula for providing relief to a very ill person, and as such, should only be used as a supplement to recommendations provided by an expert physician or nurse. The source of the tkhine is Tkhine of a Highly Respected Woman, Budapest, 1896; and transcribed from The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. . . .

“Interdependence” by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958) was originally written for the 50th Anniversary of the World’s Young Women’s Christian Association, 19 November 1944. The prayer was included by Rabbi Morrison David Bial in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 55. It’s likely that Rabbi Bial first read the prayer in an anthology of prayer by Stephen Hole Fritchman, Prayers of the Free Spirit (1945), p. 38. . . .

“Into the tomb of ages past,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “New Year (Roshe Hashannah)” as Hymn 59 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 61-62. . . .

An introduction to the Siddur, by scholar and translator Israel Wolf Slotki (1884–1973). . . .

The full text of Rabbi David Saperstein’s invocation offered on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention, August 8th, 2008. . . .

The invocation offered at the opening of the Democratic National Convention in Kansas City in 1900. . . .

The full text of Rabbi Irving Greenberg’s invocation offered on the third day of the Democratic National Convention, August 16th, 2000. . . .

The full text of Rabbi Jacob Goldstein’s prayer offered at the Democratic National Convention, July 14th, 1992. . . .

The full text of Rabbi Martin Weiner’s invocation offered on the second day of the Democratic National Convention, July 17th, 1984. . . .

The full text of Rabbi Ronne Friedman’s invocation offered on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention, July 29th, 2004. . . .

The invocation offered at the opening of the Republican National Convention in St. Louis in 1896. . . .

“Meeting Invocation” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 75, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .

“Invocation for Temple Meeting” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 69, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .

“Invocation for United Jewish Appeal” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 70, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .

“Israel! to holy numbers tune thy harp’s exalting strain,” by Columbus Moïse (1809-1871), was first delivered in 1842 as part of the consecration of the new synagogue building for Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim and published that year in the congregation’s hymnal. It appears as Hymn 3 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 8. . . .

“It is the solemn Sabbath day,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Sabbath” as Hymn 55 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 57-58. . . .

A chaplain’s eulogy over the fallen soldiers of Iwo Jima (also known under the title, “The Highest and Purest Democracy”) . . .

Rabbi Morris Lichtenstein’s explanation on the efficacious use of Prayer as appears as chapter 3 in Jewish Science and Health: Textbook of Jewish Science (1925), pp. 43-56. . . .

Variations of the original three lines culminating with “Just walk beside me” first began to appear in print in 1971. Early on misattributed to the French writer Albert Camus (1913–1960), the lines circulated by newspaper and other periodicals before migrating to yearbook quotes. In the Jewish world of the early to mid-1970s, a young Moshe Tanenbaum began transmitting the lines at Jewish summer camps. In 1979, as Uncle Moishy, Tanenbaum published a recording of the song under the title “v’Ohavta” (track A4 on The Adventures of Uncle Moishy and the Mitzvah Men, volume 2). . . .

A sourcesheet shared by Dr. Devora Steinmetz to accompany a shiur on the Winter Solstice in Jewish thought. . . .

The ritual of kaparot using a bundle of money dedicated for tsedaqah. . . .

This is a kavvanah (intention) distributed beginning in 2017 for Jewish soldiers on active service during Yom Kippur to use before eating or drinking a limited amount of nourishment in order to sustain their attention and readiness. The text of the prayer here is that which was distributed by Rabbi Captain Udi Schwartz, head of the chief rabbi for Tsahal (IDF), and published by Arutz 7. The kavvanah is derived from one published in 1983 by Rav Yitschok Zilberstein for those who, due to their state of health, must eat or drink in order to live (find Toras haYoledes (1983), chapter 52, section 10, p. 357; pp. 331-332 in the bilingual edition 1989). That kavvanah, according to Rabbi Zilberstein was, “הועתק ממחזור עתיק” (“copied from an old maḥzor”). . . .

This is a kavvanah (intention) for anyone in a desperate circumstance of needing to eat or drink for their mortal health, to do so with the full confidence that they are fulfilling a mitsvah required for them in the Torah, to preserve their life. The kavvanah was related by Rav Yitschok Zilberstein in his Toras haYoledes (1983), chapter 52, section 10, p. 357 (pp. 331-332 in the bilingual edition 1989), “הועתק ממחזור עתיק” (as “copied from an old maḥzor”). Unfortunately, we can’t provide a more direct reference to this maḥzor. If you know, please leave a comment or contact us. . . .

These are a series of kavvanot prepared by Rabbi Emanuel S. Goldsmith (1935-2024), z”l, for a Shaḥarit service containing the call to prayer (Barkhu), the blessings preceding the Shema, tthe conclusion of the Amidah, before and after the Torah reading service, and Aleinu. Rabbi Ben Newman, who shared these kavvanot in eulogy for Rabbi Goldsmith in a Facebook post, writes, “My dear teacher, friend, and mentor Rabbi Dr. Emanuel Goldsmith died on Friday. He was an amazing man who taught me a lot about how to be a rabbi, a Reconstructionist, a liturgist, philosopher of religion, and Yiddishist. He also was the “head rabbi” who officiated at my wedding to Rabbi Shoshana Leis….I had him write out for me [these kavvanot] when I substituted for him leading at Congregation Mvakshe Derekh in Scarsdale, NY, 20 years ago as a student rabbi.” . . .

A penitential piyyut for the fast of the 17th of Tammuz. . . .

The piyyut and popular shabbat table song, Ki Eshmera Shabbat, in Hebrew with a rhyming translation. . . .

This translation of “Ki Eshmera Shabbat” by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola of a piyyut by Avraham ibn Ezra was first published in his Ancient Melodies of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (1857). . . .

A rhyming translation of the pizmon for maariv on Yom Kippur. . . .

This is the poem “קידוש לבנה” by Morris Rosenfeld (1862-1923) written sometime before 1898. We have transcribed the poem as it was published in Rosenfeld’s collection of poems Gezamelṭe lieder (1906) pp. 141-143. The poem was romanized and translated into English by Leo Wiener and published under the title, “Kidesch⸗Lewone (The Moon-Prayer)” in Songs from the Ghetto (1898), pp. 48-53. . . .

A kinah/elegy for those massacred in the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648–1649 composed by a possible eyewitness to the tragedy. . . .

“On the Following Inscription Fronting the New Synagogue: ‘Know Before Whom Thou Standest'” was published in Secular and Religious Works of Penina Moïse, With Brief Sketch of Her Life (Council of Jewish Women, Charleston Section, 1911), pp. 275-276. . . .

A piyyut by Shlomo ibn Gabirol included in the arrangement of Baqashot before the morning service in the liturgical custom of Sefaradim translated by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola. . . .

The sephardic folk-song “Kuando el rey Nimrod” in Ladino with English translation. . . .

“La Marseillaise” is the national anthem of France. This Hebrew translation was made by Efrayim Dror for the Free French Army (Forces Françaises Libres) and its many Jewish volunteers during the early years of World War II. The translation was published in 1951. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled “Chant de guerre pour l’Armée du Rhin” (“War Song for the Army of the Rhine”). The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic’s anthem in 1795. The song acquired its nickname after being sung in Paris by volunteers from Marseille marching to the capital. After the fall of Napoleon in 1815 “La Marseilles” was banned and it became the anthem of the French left. The Government brought back the iconic anthem in an attempt to motivate the French people during the Franco-Prussian War. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, “La Marseillaise” was recognized as the anthem of the international revolutionary movement; as such, it was adopted by the Paris Commune in 1871, albeit with new lyrics under the title “La marseillaise de la Commune.” Eight years later, in 1879, it was restored as France’s national anthem. On Simḥat Torah (18–19 October) 1973, the Lubavitcher Rebbe adapted the melody to the Jewish prayer “Ha’aderet v’ha’emuna”. In ḤaBaD, the melody is believed to convey the idea of a “spiritual French revolution” – in that Torah should be spread around the world as an advent to the messianic era. . . .

A ḳinnah composed by a concentration camp survivor. . . .

“Lamnatseaḥ Shir” composed by Moses Ensheim, and its accompanying paraliturgical French translation by Isaïah Berr Bing, was first published in 1792 when it was sung in the synagogue of the Jewish community of Metz in celebration of the victory of the French Revolution and their emancipation as full citizens of France in 1791. . . .

“Land of Hope and Promise” was published in Gates of Prayer: The New Union Prayerbook (CCAR 1975), pp. 240-241. In 1984, it was proved as the “Prayer for Israel” in the Prayerbook for Jewish Personnel in the Armed Forces of the United States (Jewish Welfare Board 1984), p. 436. The work appears to have been adapted from a much earlier paraliturgical hashkivenu prayer offered in the Evening Service for the Sabbath from the Union Prayer Book Newly Revised (CCAR 1924) to be said by the Reader between the Shema and the Amidah in a version (№5) of the Friday night service, pp. 68-69. . . .

This is an adaptation of the “Last Rites of Bokonon” from the 99th chapter of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle (1963) translated by Amatsyah Porat for the 1978 Hebrew language edition of the novel. . . .

“Learning” by Rabbi Ely E. Pilchik was first published in Rabbi Morrison David Bial’s anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 63, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .

This paraliturgical reflection of the piyyut “Lekha Dodi” by Lise Tarlau (“Lecho daudi”) 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 74-76. . . .