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Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

https://aharon.varady.net

Angels’ Heads, a poem by Rosa Emma Salaman (1853)

Contributed on: 02 Mar 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Rosa Emma Salaman |

“Angels’ Heads” by Rosa Emma Collins née Salaman was published in her bound collections of poetry, Poems (1853), p. 56-58. . . .


The Angels’ Vigil, a poem by Rosa Emma Salaman (1848)

Contributed on: 06 Aug 2017 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Rosa Emma Salaman |

The poem, “The Angels’ Vigil” by Rosa Emma Salaman, was written in April 12, 1848 and first published in the Occident and American Jewish Advocate 6:3, Sivan 5608, June 1848, p. 127-128. . . .


Apologia on the Sabbath, by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)

Contributed on: 06 Sep 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Morrison David Bial |

“Apologia on the Sabbath” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 31, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .


קמע לשמירה מפני לילית | Apotropaic ward for the protection of pregnant women and infants against Lilith & her minions (CUL MS General 194, Montgomery 1913 Amulet No. 42)

Contributed on: 16 Aug 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | James Alan Montgomery (translation) | Richard Gottheil (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

An apotropaic ward for the protection of women in their pregnancy and of infant children against an attack from Lilith and her minions, containing the story witnessing her oath to the prophet, Eliyahu along with one variation of her many names. . . .


אַקְדָמוּת מִילִין | Aḳdamut Milin, a preface to the Targum for the Shavuot Torah Reading, attributed to Meir ben Isaac Nehorai of Orléans (ca. 11th c.)

Contributed on: 27 May 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Cantor Hinda Labovitz | Meir ben Isaac Nehorai of Orléans |

An Aramaic piyyut composed as an introduction to the reading of the Targum for the Torah reading on Shavuot. . . .


Arise! Let the Souls of the Hebrews Rejoice, a hymn for Ḥanukkah by Cordelia Moïse Cohen (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1856)

Contributed on: 11 Oct 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Cordelia Moïse Cohen | Ḳahal Ḳadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, South Carolina) |

“Arise! let the souls of the Hebrews rejoice,” by Cordelia Moïse Cohen (1809-1869), appears under the subject “Feast of Dedication” as Hymn 194 in Hymns Written for the Use of Hebrew Congregations (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1856), p. 189. . . .


Armistice Day Prayer, by Rabbi Hyman Solomon (after World War Ⅰ, circa 1920s)

Contributed on: 08 Nov 2019 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Hyman Solomon |

A prayer written for Armistice Day after the first World War. . . .


Armistice Day Prayer, by Rabbi Jospeh H. Hertz (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire 1923)

Contributed on: 17 Jun 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Joseph Herman Hertz | Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth |

This “Armistice Day Prayer” was composed in 1923 by the Office of the Chief Rabbi on the Anniversary of the cessation of conflict on November 11th marking the end of the Great War (later known as World War I). . . .


אֲשֶׁר הֵנִיא | Asher Heni, a piyyut recited after the reading of Megillat Esther and its concluding blessing

Contributed on: 23 Feb 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Simeon Singer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

An alphabetical acrostic piyyut celebrating the victory of Esther and Mordekhai over the forces of Haman. . . .


אֲשֶׁר יָצַר | Asher Yatsar, interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 02 Sep 2017 by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Abayyé ben Kaylil |

This English translation of the prayer “Asher Yatsar” by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l, was first published in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). Versification by Aharon Varady according to the nusaḥ ha-ARI z”l. . . .


אֲשׁוֹרֵר שִׁירָה | Ashorer Shirah, a piyyut in honor of the Torah by Ḥakham Raphael Baruch Toledano (ca. 20th c.)

Contributed on: 29 Jan 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Honi Sanders (translation) | Raphael Barukh Toledano |

A piyyut in honor of the Torah. . . .


עִם שָׁמֶשׁ | At Sunrise, a poem by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik (1903)

Contributed on: 15 Jan 2019 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | the Ben Yehuda Project (transcription) | Leonard Victor Snowman | Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik |

The poem, “Im Shamesh” (At Sunrise) by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik in June 1903. . . .


Atonement Prayer, by Lilian Helen Montagu

Contributed on: 26 Aug 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Lilian Helen Montagu |

This undated “Atonement Prayer” by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), p. 352. . . .


Au Renouvellement Du Mois: Sur la Brièveté de la Vie | At the New Moon: On the Brevity of Life, by Rabbi Arnaud Aron & Jonas Ennery (1848)

Contributed on: 22 Mar 2018 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Jonas Ennery | Arnaud Aron |

To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of a teḥinah (supplicatory prayer) composed in parallel to the Prayer for the New Moon, following in the paraliturgical tradition of Yiddish tkhines, albeit written in French. . . .


אבלה נפשי | Avlah Nafshi (My soul mourns), a seliḥah for Tsom Gedalyah attributed to Rav Saadia Gaon (10th c.)

Contributed on: 21 Sep 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | David Asher (translation) | Saadiah ben Yosef Gaon |

A seliḥah for the Fast of Gedalyah, attributed to Rav Saadia Gaon. . . .


אֲבוֹתַי כִּי בָטְחוּ | Avotai ki vatkhu (“When our forefathers trusted”), a pizmon for the Fast of Tevet ascribed to Ephraim ben Avraham ben Yitsḥaq of Regensburg (12th c.)

Contributed on: 05 Jan 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Wikisource Contributors (proofreading) | David Asher (translation) | Ephraim ben Avraham ben Yitsḥaq |

A pizmon recited on the Fast of Tevet in the tradition of nusaḥ Ashkenaz. . . .


Awareness, a prayer-poem by Miriam Teichner (1921)

Contributed on: 30 Apr 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Miriam Teichner |

A prayer for sustaining empathy and awareness of others’ needs through the vicissitudes of life and labor. . . .


אַיֵּךְ | Ayekh (Where are you?), by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik (1904)

Contributed on: 28 Dec 2018 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | the Ben Yehuda Project (transcription) | Ruth Nevo (translation) | Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik |

The poem, Ayekh (Where are you?), by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik. . . .


אֵין אַדִּיר כַּיְיָ (מִפִּי אֵל)‏ | Ayn Adir kAdonai (Mipi El) :: There is none like YHVH

Contributed on: 02 Dec 2019 by Akiva Sanders (translation) | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

A popular piyyut for Simḥat Torah (4th hakkafah) originally composed as a piyyut for Shavuot and often referred to by its incipit, “Mipi El.” . . .


אָז רוֹב נִסִּים | Az Rov Nissim, a piyyut by Yanai for the first night of Pesaḥ in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)

Contributed on: 20 Mar 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Johann Stephan Rittangel (Latin translation) | Yanai haPayetan |

The piyyut, Omets G’vurotekha by Elazar ha-Qalir, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel. . . .


בַּחֹֽדֶשׁ הָֽרְבִיעִי | baḤodesh haRevi’i (In the fourth month), a ḳinah for the 17th of Tamuz attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (ca. 11th c.)

Contributed on: 27 Jun 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Isaac Leeser (translation) | Unknown Translator(s) | Shlomo ibn Gabirol |

The seliḥah with its English translation as found in Siddur Siftei Tsadiqim (The Form of Prayers) vol. 6: Seder haTefilot laTaaniyot (ed. Isaac Leeser 1838) p.107-109. . . .


Bajban | Prayer in a personal crisis, by Rabbi Arnold Kiss (1897)

Contributed on: 25 Sep 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Arnold Kiss |

This prayer by Rabbi Arnold Kiss for when one is confronted by grave difficulties, “Bajban,” was first published in his anthology of prayers for Jewish women, Mirjam (1897) on p.285-286 . . .


בָּאנוּ חֹשֶׁךְ לְגָרֵשׁ | Banu Ḥoshekh l’Garesh (We come to chase the dark away), by Sara Levi-Tanai (1960)

Contributed on: 08 Dec 2010 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Sara Levi-Tanai |

In 1960, the Publishing House of the Composers’ League in cooperation with the Center for Culture and Education (בית הוצאה של איגוד הקומפוזיטורים בשיתוף עם המרכז לתרבות ולחינוך), published the songbook זמר־חן (Zemer Ḥén), containing the now popular Ḥanukkah song and melody “Banu Ḥoshekh l’Garesh” (p. 49), originally simply titled “Ḥanukkah” by Sara Levi-Tanaiׁ (1910-2005). . . .


בָּרוּךְ שֶׁאָמַר | Barukh She’amar, interpretive translation by Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l

Contributed on: 17 Oct 2017 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

This English translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l of “Barukh Sh’amar,” was first published in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). Linear associations of this translation according to the nusaḥ ha-ARI z”l by Aharon Varady. . . .


בַּשָּׁנָה הַבָּאָה | baShanah haBa’ah (Next Year), an elegy by Ehud Manor for his brother killed during the War of Attrition (1968)

Contributed on: 26 Jun 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Translator(s) | Ehud Manor |

“baShanah haBa’ah” (Next Year) by Ehud Manor written in 1968 in memory of his brother Yehudah. . . .


אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם | Before the Glorious Orbs of Light, a paraliturgical adaptation of Adon Olam by David Nunes Carvalho (ca. 1826)

Contributed on: 04 Oct 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Ḳahal Ḳadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, South Carolina) | Reformed Society of Israelites | David Nunes Carvalho |

A paraliturgical adaptation of the piyyut Adon Olam by an early leader of the Reform movement. . . .


Before YHVH’s Awful Throne, a hymn by David Nunes Carvalho (Reformed Society of Israelites, Charleston, South Carolina, 1826)

Contributed on: 08 Oct 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | David Nunes Carvalho | Reformed Society of Israelites |

A hymn provided for opening or concluding the morning Sabbath service of the Reformed Society of Israelites (Charleston, S.C.) ca. 1826. . . .


Bei muthmaßlicher Gefahr zur Verführung | In suspected danger of seduction, a teḥinah by Pereẓ Beer (1815)

Contributed on: 08 Feb 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Pereẓ (Peter) Beer |

“Bei muthmaßlicher Gefahr zur Verführung (In suspected danger of seduction)” was first published in Pereẓ (Peter) Beer’s Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion (1815), as teḥinah №66 on pp. 184-187 where it was rendered in Judeo-German. The German rendering transcribed above follows teḥinah №66 in Henry Frank’s 1839 edition on pp. 158-160. A variation can also be found in the Beer’s 1843 edition as teḥinah №67 on p. 157-159. . . .


Beim Einsegnen des Neumondes (ver. 1) | At the Blessing of the New Moon (ver. 1), by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829)

Contributed on: 30 Dec 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Yehoshua Heshil Miro |

“Vor dem Einsegnen des Neumondis” was written by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. In the original 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion, it appears as teḥinah №16, on pp. 20-21. In the 1835 and 1842 editions, it appears as teḥinah №16 on pp. 23-24. . . .


Beim Einsegnen des Neumondes (ver. 2) | At the Blessing of the New Moon (ver. 2), by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829)

Contributed on: 30 Dec 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Yehoshua Heshil Miro |

“Vor dem Einsegnen des Neumondis (Desselben Inhalts)” was written by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. In the 1835 and 1842 editions, it appears as teḥinah №17 on pp. 24-25. . . .


Beim Lichtzünden | When kindling the lights (for Shabbat and Yontef), by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829)

Contributed on: 30 Dec 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Yehoshua Heshil Miro |

“Wenn die Hausfrau an den Vorabenden des Sabaths und der Feiertage die Lichte anzündet” was written by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. In the original 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion, it appears as teḥinah №13, on pp. 17-18. In the 1835 and 1842 editions, it appears as teḥinah №13 on pp. 20-21. . . .


בֵּית יַעֲקֹב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion, an anthology of teḥinot in German by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829/1833, 1835/1842)

Contributed on: 11 Dec 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Yehoshua Heshil Miro |

These are Yehoshua Heshil Miro’s anthologies of teḥinot, beginning with תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion (1829), one of the earliest anthologies of teḥinot published in German rather than Yiddish. A slightly revised edition with six pieces added and three removed followed in 1833. That work served as the basis for a much larger compilation, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion (1835), which, for the first time, printed the tehinot in German in a Latin (rather than Hebrew) script using the then common Fraktur typeface. A slightly enlarged expanded edition of Beit Yaaqov published in 1842 contains an additional teḥinah (as well as approbations by Rabbi Abraham Geiger and Rabbi Solomon Tiktin). . . .


Βηλ Και Δρακων | בֵּל וְהַתַּנִּין | Bel & the Dragon, according to Theodotion translated into Biblical Hebrew by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributed on: 16 Jan 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Theodotion (translation/Greek) | Unknown Author(s) |

The story of Bel and the Dragon according to the text of Theodotion, translated into biblical Hebrew. . . .


בן סירא מב:כא-מג:לא | ben Sira 42:21-43:31, a hymn of creation translated by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan

Contributed on: 21 Jul 2018 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Mordecai Kaplan | Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira |

Ecclesiasticus (ben Sira) 42:21-43:31 is presented as “God the Lord of Nature” in The Sabbath Prayer Book of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (The Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p. 376-372 in the Supplements subsection, “God in Nature.” The text of Ben Sira used here differs in places found in other manuscripts. . . .


Bendigamos al Altísimo, a Spanish song for the Birkat haMazon

Contributed on: 08 Sep 2015 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Joshua Polak |

Bendigamos is a hymn sung after meals according to the custom of Spanish and Portuguese Jews. It has also been traditionally sung by the Jews of Turkish descent. It is similar in meaning to the Birkat Hamazon that is said by all Jews. Bendigamos is said in addition to Birkat Hamazon, either immediately before or immediately after it. The text is in modern Spanish, not Ladino. The prayer was translated by David de Sola Pool. Below is the actual text as well as the translation by de Sola Pool. The melody is one of the best known and loved Spanish and Portuguese melodies, used also for the Song of the Sea (in the Shabbat morning service) and sometimes in “Hallel” (on the first day of the Hebrew month and on festivals). . . .


Benediction by Rabbi David Wolpe at the Democratic National Convention (2012)

Contributed on: 03 Jan 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | David J. Wolpe |

The full text of Rabbi David Wolpe’s benediction offered at the end of the second day of the Democratic National Convention, September 6th, 2012. . . .


Benediction by Rabbi Morris Shmidman at the Democratic National Convention (1988)

Contributed on: 03 Jan 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Morris Shmidman |

The full text of Rabbi Morris Shmidman’s benediction offered at the Democratic National Convention, July 20th, 1988. . . .


Benediction by Rabbi Moshe Faskowitz at the Democratic National Convention (1996)

Contributed on: 03 Jan 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Moshe Faskowitz |

The full text of Rabbi Moshe Faskowitz’s invocation offered at the Democratic National Convention, August 27th, 1996. . . .


Benediction for Charity Meeting, by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)

Contributed on: 08 Sep 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Morrison David Bial |

“Benediction for Charity Meeting” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 74, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .


Bénédiction pour Napoléon | Blessing on the Festival of Napoleon Ⅰ, by Rabbi David Sinẓheim (15 August 1806)

Contributed on: 28 Mar 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Joseph David Sinẓheim | Assembly of Jewish Notables |

A prayer by Rabbi David Sinzheim given during the Festival of Napoleon the Great on 15 August 1806, as recorded in Collection des Actes de l’Assemblée des Israélites de France et du Royaume d’Italie, pp. 218-219, and Raccolta degli atti dell’assemblea degli Israeliti di Francia e del regno d’Italia, p. 221. . . .


Beruria, an ode to the sage by Lise Tarlau (1907)

Contributed on: 25 Dec 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Lise Tarlau |

“Beruria” by Lisa Tarlau is an eponymous ode provided as the preface to Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), pages v-viii. . . .


Betrachtung, wenn der Neumond eingesegnet wird | Prayer on the Sabbath Prior to the New Moon, by Fanny Schmiedl-Neuda (1855)

Contributed on: 18 Mar 2018 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Fanny Schmiedl-Neuda | Wikisource Contributors (proofreading) | Julia Watts Belser (translation) |

This is Prayer for the Shabbat preceding the New Moon (Shabbat Mevorkhim) included by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda in her collection of teḥinot in vernacular German, Stunden der Andacht (1855). Fanny Neuda likely either composed or translated this teḥinah into German (from Yiddish) while performing in the capacity of firzogerin (precentress) of the weibershul (women’s gallery) in her husband’s synagogue in Loštice, Bohemia. . . .


פסוקים לשנת תשע”ט | Biblical Phrases for 5779, by Daniel Matt

Contributed on: 09 Sep 2018 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) |

As many of you know, there is a custom to indicate the Hebrew year with a verse (or part of a verse) that is equal to that year in gematria. Such words or phrases are called chronograms. The practice of indicating the year by a biblical phrase was often followed in traditional sefarim, on tombstones, and more recently has appeared in written correspondence and email. It’s a nice way to give added meaning to the current year. Here are some biblical phrases that equal תשע”ט 779. . . .


Sandalphon, a poem concerning the angel by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1858)

Contributed on: 05 Jun 2013 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow |

The poem, “Sandalphon,” as composed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882) and completed January 18, 1858, first published in Birds of Passage (1858), section “Flight the First,” page 62. . . .


בִּרְכָּת הָבָּיִת | Birkat haBayit (Blessing for the Home)

Contributed on: 18 Nov 2015 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

The Birkat Habayit is perhaps the most popular blessing in the Jewish world, appearing as a hanging amulet inside the entrance of many houses of Jews of all streams. I have added niqud to the blessing and I am very grateful to Gabriel Wasserman for his corrections to my vocalization. . . .


בִּרְכָּת הַמַּפִּיל | Birkat haMapil, rhymed translation by Alice Lucas (1898)

Contributed on: 13 Mar 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Alice Lucas (translation) |

A rhymed paraliturgical translation of the prayer over sleeping. . . .


ברכת המזון לשבת א׳ דנחמתא (נחמו)‏ | Birkat Hamazon additions for Shabbat Naḥamu, by Gabriel Wasserman

Contributed on: 08 Jul 2013 by Gabriel Wasserman | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) |

Supplemental prayers for the Birkat Hamazon on Tisha b’Av, Tu b’Av, and Shabbat Naḥamu by Gabriel Wasserman . . .


ברכת המזון | Thanks for the Food, an interpretive translation of the Birkat Hamazon by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 16 Nov 2014 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

The style by which Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l translated Jewish liturgy in English was neither literal nor idiomatic, but highly interpretive and interspersed with his own ḥiddushim (innovations). Showing Reb Zalman’s translation side-by-side with the Jewish liturgy helps to illuminate his understanding of the liturgy — it’s deeper meaning as well as how it might be communicated to a contemporary audience. In the version I have prepared below, I have set the interpretive translation of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l side-by-side with the liturgical Hebrew that may have inspired it. In several places, Reb Zalman’s formulation departs from the traditional Ashkenazi nusaḥ. Where there is no Hebrew, we can more easily observe where Reb Zalman has expanded upon the blessing. Still, my work was not exhaustive and I appreciate any corrections to the nusaḥ (liturgical custom) of the Hebrew that may have inspired Reb Zalman’s interpretation in English. . . .


בְּנדּיגֿ טוּ שַנט…קִי פִֿיש מִי פְינַה | Blessed are you…who made me a woman, a variation of the morning blessing for Jewish women in Judeo-Provençal (ca. 14-15th c.)

Contributed on: 06 Oct 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

From the Morning Blessings (Birkhot ha-Shaḥar) of the Seder tefilot be-targum le-Shuʾadit [סדר תפילות בתרגום לשואדית], a translation of the Siddur into Judaeo-Provençal dating from the 14th-15th century providing the following blessing for women. . . .


A Blessing over Water for Peace, Health, Joy, Prosperity, and Kindness — by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (ca. 2004)

Contributed on: 23 Nov 2016 by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Netanel Miles-Yépez | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) |

A blessing by Reb Zalman for Peace, Health, Joy, Prosperity, and Kindness which he wrote in spray paint on a municipal water tank behind his house in Colorado. . . .


ברכות השחר | Blessings at your Dawn of Wakefulness, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 30 Jul 2018 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the Birkhot haShaḥar in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . .


Blest is the Bond of Wedded Love, a hymn on “Matrimonial Love” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)

Contributed on: 28 Oct 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Ḳahal Ḳadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, South Carolina) | Penina Moïse |

“Blest is the bond of wedded love,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Matrimonial Love” as Hymn 42 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 45-46. . . .


The Body Speaking to the Soul Which Just Left It, a poem by Rosa Emma Salaman (1842)

Contributed on: 06 Aug 2017 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Rosa Emma Salaman |

The poem, “The Body Speaking to the Soul Which Just Left It.” by Rosa Emma Salaman, was written in March 1842 and first published in the Occident and American Jewish Advocate 2:4, Tamuz 5604, July 1844, p. 200-202. . . .


Brich aus in lauten Klagen | Break out in loud lamenting, a qinah by Heinrich Heine (1824)

Contributed on: 18 Jul 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Nina Davis Salaman (translation) | Heinrich Heine |

“Brich aus in lauten Klagen” by Heinrich Heine was preserved in a letter he wrote to his friend Moses Moser dated 25 October 1824. The poem is included in Heinrich Heine’s Letters on The Rabbi of Bacharach, the manuscript of which only survived in a fragment, the rest having been lost, according to Heine, in a fire. The English translation here by Nina Salaman was transcribed from her anthology, Apples & Honey (1921) where it appears under the title of “Martyr-Song,” published at an earlier date in The Jewish Chronicle. . . .


Brotherly Love, an adaptation of Psalms 133 by David Nunes Carvalho (Reformed Society of Israelites, Charleston, South Carolina, 1826)

Contributed on: 08 Oct 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | David Nunes Carvalho | Reformed Society of Israelites |

A hymn provided for opening or concluding the morning Sabbath service of the Reformed Society of Israelites (Charleston, S.C.) ca. 1830. . . .


בּרידער | “Brothers” – Y.L. Peretz’s Sardonic Rejoinder to Friedrich Schiller’s Paean to Universal Enlightenment, An die Freude (Ode to Joy)

Contributed on: 22 Feb 2016 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Refoyl Finkl (translation) | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Yitsḥok Leybush Peretz |

Y.L. Peretz rejected cultural universalism, seeing the world as composed of different nations, each with its own character. Liptzin comments that “Every people is seen by him as a chosen people…”; he saw his role as a Jewish writer to express “Jewish ideals…grounded in Jewish tradition and Jewish history.” This is Peretz’s lampoon of the popularity of Friedrich Schiller’s idealistic paean made famous as the lyrics to the climax of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. . . .


טעמי המקרא | Cantillation Tables for Torah Readings

Contributed on: 28 Aug 2013 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) |

We are sharing these tables for Taamei haMikra (cantillation for Torah reading) because we weren’t able to find these available in Unicode Hebrew text anywhere else on the Internet. We would very much like to also share the traditional tables of Taamei haMikra for the Nusaḥ Roma (Italy), Nusaḥ Teman (Yemen), and others along with excellent free-culture licensed recordings of these tables being chanted. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of free-culture licensed audio and video of the taamei hamikra being chanted. Please help us by sharing your audio or video with a Creative Commons Attribution license. . . .


Charity, a hymn by Felix Adler (1888)

Contributed on: 28 Jul 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Felix Adler |

“Charity” is a hymn by Felix Adler, first published in The Ethical Record vol. 1, no. 1. (April 1888), sheet music page 4. For an account of this hymn being sung, find The Journal of Industrial Education, “Autumn Festival of the Workingman’s School. Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1889.” vol. 4, no. 9 (May 1890). . . .


[Children’s] Prayer for a Youth Service during World War Ⅱ, by Lilian Helen Montagu (11 April 1942)

Contributed on: 26 Aug 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Lilian Helen Montagu |

This “Special Prayer” for a Youth Service (11 April 1942) by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), p. 351. April 11th that year would have corresponded to the 24th of Nissan, i.e., a day following Passover 5702. . . .


[Children’s] Prayer for Ḥanukkah, by Lilian Helen Montagu (5 December 1942)

Contributed on: 26 Aug 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Lilian Helen Montagu |

This “Prayer for Chanukah” (5 December 1942) by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), p. 352-353. . . .


[Children’s] Prayer for Shabbat Teshuvah, by Lilian Helen Montagu (27 September 1941)

Contributed on: 26 Aug 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Lilian Helen Montagu |

This “Prayer for Service” on Shabbat Teshuvah (27 September 1941) by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), pp. 350-351. . . .


Children’s Prayer for the Recovery of our President [Dwight D. Eisenhower], by Rabbi Avraham Samuel Soltes (1955)

Contributed on: 26 Sep 2019 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Avraham Samuel Soltes |

A prayer for the recovery of President Dwight D. Eisenhower following a severe heart attack in late September 1955. . . .


The Children’s Song, a hymn by Felix Adler (1888)

Contributed on: 28 Jul 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Felix Adler |

“The Children’s Song” is a hymn by Felix Adler, first published in The Ethical Record vol. 1, no. 1. (April 1888), sheet music page 5. . . .


The City of Light, a poem by Felix Adler (1882)

Contributed on: 26 Jun 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Felix Adler |

“The City of Light” is a poem written by Felix Adler. The earliest publication I could find for it dates to 1882, in Unity: Freedom, Fellowship and Character in Religion vol. 8, no. 12 (16 Feb. 1882), p. 477. . . .


Closing Prayer for Arbor Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 11 Jan 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | John Paul Williams | Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan |

This closing 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. 86. . . .


Closing Prayer for Labor Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 11 Apr 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Mordecai Kaplan |

“Closing Prayer [for 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. . . .


Closing Prayer for New Year’s Day, adapted by Mordecai Kaplan & Eugene Kohn from a prayer by Members of the Faculty of the Colgate Divinity School (1947)

Contributed on: 22 Dec 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Mordecai Kaplan | Members of the Faculty of Colgate-Rochester Divinity School |

This “Closing Prayer” for New Year’s Day was adapted by Mordecai Kaplan and Eugene Kohn from a prayer first published by unnamed “Members of the Faculty” of the Colgate-Rochester Divinity School (The Colgate-Rochester Divinity School Bulletin, “Prayers for the New Year,” vol. 19 no. 2 (1947), pp. 65-71). Kaplan & Kohn’s adapted prayer essentially contains excerpts from the prayer of the Faculty (excluding any with explicit Christian content). The adapted prayer was published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 25-26. –Aharon Varady . . .


Closing Prayer for Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 22 Dec 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Mordecai Kaplan |

This closing prayer for Thanksgiving Day was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 327-328 — following at the end of a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. . . .


Closing Prayer for United Nations Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 16 Oct 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | John Paul Williams | Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan |

This closing prayer for United Nations Day was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 272-273. . . .


Closing Prayer for Washington’s Birthday, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 20 Feb 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | John Paul Williams | Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan |

This closing prayer for Washington’s Birthday as first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951). . . .


Confirmation, a poem by Miriam del Banco (1932)

Contributed on: 02 Jun 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Miriam del Banco |

The poem “Confirmation” by Miriam del Banco (1858-1931) was included in her posthumously published anthology, Poetry and Prose (1932), p. 80-81. . . .


Confirmation (Father, see Thy suppliant children), a hymn for a Confirmation ritual by Felix Adler (1868)

Contributed on: 24 Jun 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Felix Adler |

“Confirmation (Father, see thy suppliant children)” is a hymn written by Felix Adler and published in Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871), hymn №34, p. 68. We have tentatively dated this hymn to 1868, since another hymn by Adler (“School-hymn, no. 36”) can be found appended from another unattributed work in A Guide to Instruction in the Israelitsh Religion (Samuel Adler, trans. M. Mayer, Temple Emanu-El, 1864, 4th printing 1868). . . .


Courage to Withstand the Ridicule of the Worldly, a prayer by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

Contributed on: 15 Jul 2018 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Mordecai Kaplan |

“Courage to Withstand the Ridicule of the Worldly,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 433-4 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). . . .


Daily Prayer Against Temptation, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)

Contributed on: 21 Nov 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Marcus Heinrich Bresslau |

“Daily Prayer Against Temptation” by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau was first published in his תחנות בנות ישראל Devotions for the Daughters of Israel (1852), p. 12-13. . . .


דַּיֵּנוּ | Daiyenu, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)

Contributed on: 21 Mar 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Johann Stephan Rittangel (Latin translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The piyyut, Dayenu, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel. . . .


דָּנִיֵּאל וְהַתַּנִּין | Daniel vs. the Dragon, according to the Aramaic text of Divrei Yeraḥmiel (ca. 12th c.)

Contributed on: 31 Jan 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Moses Gaster (translation) | Yeraḥmiel ben Shlomo | Unknown Author(s) |

The story of Daniel and the dragon held captive by the neo-Babylonians found in Aramaic in the Divrei Yeraḥmiel (the Chronicles of Jeraḥmeel, Oxford Bodleian Heb d.11). . . .


Das Gebet Als Äußerung Und Einfühlung | Prayer as Expression and Empathy, by Abraham Joshua Heschel (1939)

Contributed on: 27 Aug 2018 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Abraham Joshua Heschel |

Abraham Joshua Heschel’s essay “Das Gebet Als Äußerung Und Einfühlung” published in Monatsschrift Für Geschichte Und Wissenschaft Des Judenthums, vol. 83 (1939). . . .


קדיש דרבנן | Das Lernkaddisch, a translation of the Ḳaddish d’Rabanan in German by Franz Rosenzweig (1921)

Contributed on: 04 Aug 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Franz Rosenzweig (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The Ḳaddish d’Rabbanan in Aramaic with its German translation by Franz Rosenzweig. . . .


Day of God, Leopold Stein’s “O Tag des Herrn!” (1840) adapted from Frederick Lucian Hosmer’s translation (1904) as a hymn for Yom Kippur by Angie Irma Cohon (1921)

Contributed on: 24 Jun 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Angie Irma Cohon | Frederick Lucian Hosmer | Leopold Stein |

Angie Irma Cohon’s “Day of God” is a hymn for Yom Kippur, an abbreviated adaptation of “O Tag des Herrn!,” a paraliturgical Kol Nidrei by Leopold Stein, translated from German to English by Frederick Lucian Hosmer. Cohon’s abridged rendering is published in תפלת ישראל (Tefilat Yisrael) A Brief Jewish Ritual (Women of Miẓpah 1921), p. 20. . . .


De Rechten van den Menschen van den Burger | דברי הברית החקים והמשפטים אשר בין אדם לאדם | The Rights of Man and of the Citizen, after the Declaration of the Batavian Republic and the Emancipation of Dutch Jewry (1795/1798)

Contributed on: 15 Nov 2022 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Translator(s) | Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles |

This is De Rechten van den Menschen van den Burger (“The Rights of Man and of the Citizen” 1795) and its Hebrew translation, דברי הברית החקים והמשפטים אשר בין אדם לאדם (1798), upon the establishment of the Batavian Republic and the ensuing emancipation of Dutch Jewry in the Netherlands. The text of the Declaration, with nineteen articles, follows after the French Republic’s much expanded Déclaration des droits de l’Homme et du citoyen de 1793 written by Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles. (The French Declaration, ratified by popular vote in July 1793, was a revision of the initial Declaration from 1789 written by the commission that included Hérault de Séchelles and Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just during the period of the French Revolution.) Declarations such as these enshrined the liberal values of the Enlightenment which changed the situation and status of Jews under their aegis. Ultimately, these values were largely enshrined under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by member states of the nascent United Nations in 1945. . . .



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