Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Unknown, Shlomo haMelekh ben David, David ben Yishai (traditional attribution)
Tefilat haShir refers to an ancient (perhaps dating back to the Temple era!) custom of reciting the fifteen psalms of ascents (Psalms 120 to 134) before Psuqei d’Zimra. First identified as a unique segment of the Eretz-Yisrael rite by Prof. Ezra Fleischer z”l, this custom was so beloved by the Jews who followed the western rite that long after the rest of its prayer traditions were abandoned it was preserved by the Western-rite Jews of Cairo (see Vered Raziel-Kretzmer, “How Late was the Palestinian Rite Practiced in Egypt?” Tarbiz 85 [2018], heb.) Tefilat haShir was preserved in variant forms in several other communities. For instance, it is found in the Maḥzor Aram Ṣoba, published in 1560 for use of the Musta’aravi Jews of Aleppo. It is also found in the Krymchak variant of the Romaniote rite, also known as Minhag Kaffa. In both cases it would be recited exclusively on sabbaths and festivals. (Note that this was not the case in the old Eretz Yisrael rite, where it was a daily practice!) The Kaffa and Aram Ṣoba forms of the Tefilat haShir cycle are very similar, with a few differences in the introduction and the ending. Their core is the fifteen songs of ascents, interlaced with linking verses from elsewhere in Tanakh featuring a Leitwort (theme-word) related to the psalm. Both are included here, with color coding for substantial differences and footnotes to mark minor distinctions. In Minhag Kaffa, as printed in 1735, the Birkat haShir cycle is inserted after the morning Torah study cycle. In the Maḥzor Aram Ṣoba, it is the beginning of the service, the first thing recited in the synagogue after monring blessings, and consequently inserted before the Torah study cycle.
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 3 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 3.
Contributed by: Yehoyesh Shloyme Blumgarten (translation), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), The Yehoyesh Project (transcription)
Source (Hebrew) Translation (Yiddish) א לָמָּה רָגְשׁוּ גוֹיִם וּלְאֻמִּים יֶהְגּוּ־רִיק׃ ב יִתְיַצְּבוּ מַלְכֵי־אֶרֶץ וְרוֹזְנִים נוֹסְדוּ־יָחַד עַל־יְהוָה וְעַל־מְשִׁיחוֹ׃ ג נְנַתְּקָה אֶת־מוֹסְרוֹתֵימוֹ וְנַשְׁלִיכָה מִמֶּנּוּ עֲבֹתֵימוֹ׃ ד יוֹשֵׁב בַּשָּׁמַיִם יִשְׂחָק אֲדֹנָי יִלְעַג־לָמוֹ׃ ה אָז יְדַבֵּר אֵלֵימוֹ בְאַפּוֹ וּבַחֲרוֹנוֹ יְבַהֲלֵמוֹ׃ ו וַאֲנִי נָסַכְתִּי מַלְכִּי עַל־צִיּוֹן הַר־קָדְשִׁי׃ ז אֲסַפְּרָה אֶל חֹק יְהוָה אָמַר אֵלַי בְּנִי אַתָּה אֲנִי הַיּוֹם יְלִדְתִּיךָ׃ ח שְׁאַל מִמֶּנִּי וְאֶתְּנָה גוֹיִם נַחֲלָתֶךָ וַאֲחֻזָּתְךָ אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ׃ ט תְּרֹעֵם […]
Contributed by: David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of Psalms 3 from תהילים או לוס סאלמוס ; טריסלאד’אד’וס דיל לשון הקדש אין לה לינגואה ספרדית (Tehillim, or the Psalms, translated from the Holy language [Hebrew] into the Sephardic language, Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit 1852/3) from a digital copy made available by the Sephardic Studies Collection at the University of Washington. Please join me in making a complete transcription of this Ladino translation of Psalms. –Aharon N. Varady
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 4 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 4.
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The 4th psalm of the book of Psalms in Masoretic Hebrew accompanied by an English translation.
Contributed by: Yehoyesh Shloyme Blumgarten (translation), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), The Yehoyesh Project (transcription)
This is a faithful transcription by the Yehoyesh Project of the Yiddish translation of Psalms 4 made by Yehoyesh Shloyme (Yehoash Solomon) Blumgarten (1870-1927) published in Torah, Neviʼim, u-Khetuvim vol. 2 (New York: Yehoʼash Farlag Gezelshaft, 1941). The complete transcription of Torah, Neviʼim, u-Khetuvim by the Yehoyesh Project in copy/pasteable and searchable plaintext may be found here.
Contributed by: David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of Psalms 4 from תהילים או לוס סאלמוס ; טריסלאד’אד’וס דיל לשון הקדש אין לה לינגואה ספרדית (Tehillim, or the Psalms, translated from the Holy language [Hebrew] into the Sephardic language, Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit 1852/3) from a digital copy made available by the Sephardic Studies Collection at the University of Washington. Please join me in making a complete transcription of this Ladino translation of Psalms. –Aharon N. Varady
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 5 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), pp. 5-6.
Contributed by: David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of Psalms 5 from תהילים או לוס סאלמוס ; טריסלאד’אד’וס דיל לשון הקדש אין לה לינגואה ספרדית (Tehillim, or the Psalms, translated from the Holy language [Hebrew] into the Sephardic language, Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit 1852/3) from a digital copy made available by the collection of Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington. Please join me in making a complete transcription of this Ladino translation of Psalms. –Aharon N. Varady
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), the Mesorah (TaNaKh)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the prayer Psalms 6 in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009).
Contributed by: David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of Psalms 6 from תהילים או לוס סאלמוס ; טריסלאד’אד’וס דיל לשון הקדש אין לה לינגואה ספרדית (Tehillim, or the Psalms, translated from the Holy language [Hebrew] into the Sephardic language, Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit 1852/3) from a digital copy made available by the collection of Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington. Please join me in making a complete transcription of this Ladino translation of Psalms. –Aharon N. Varady
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 7 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), pp. 8-9.
Contributed by: David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of Psalms 7 from תהילים או לוס סאלמוס ; טריסלאד’אד’וס דיל לשון הקדש אין לה לינגואה ספרדית (Tehillim, or the Psalms, translated from the Holy language [Hebrew] into the Sephardic language, Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit 1852/3) from a digital copy made available by the collection of Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington. Please join me in making a complete transcription of this Ladino translation of Psalms. –Aharon N. Varady
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 8 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 10.
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The 8th psalm of the book of Psalms in Masoretic Hebrew accompanied by an English translation.
Contributed by: David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of Psalms 8 from תהילים או לוס סאלמוס ; טריסלאד’אד’וס דיל לשון הקדש אין לה לינגואה ספרדית (Tehillim, or the Psalms, translated from the Holy language [Hebrew] into the Sephardic language, Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit 1852/3) from a digital copy made available by the collection of Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington. Please join me in making a complete transcription of this Ladino translation of Psalms. –Aharon N. Varady
Contributed by: David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of Psalms 9 from תהילים או לוס סאלמוס ; טריסלאד’אד’וס דיל לשון הקדש אין לה לינגואה ספרדית (Tehillim, or the Psalms, translated from the Holy language [Hebrew] into the Sephardic language, Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit 1852/3) from a digital copy made available by the collection of Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington. Please join me in making a complete transcription of this Ladino translation of Psalms. –Aharon N. Varady
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 10 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), pp. 12-13.
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 11 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 14.

