This is a prayer of lament and warning for the sake of the lives of all the peoples of the land, and for the sake of the heart of the Jewish and Israeli people, to help us all resist the cruelty that beckons. Dedicated to Awdah al-Hathaleen, whose spirit and kindness and courage remain with us.

Rabbi David Seidenberg writes, “This piyyut is a response to what I think of as the second war with Gaza since October 7, the one started on March 18, 2025, when Israel broke the ceasefire. At that point it became clear that war was being driven not by the hostages or even by eliminating Hamas, but rather by Netanyahu’s coalition and its fascist members and elements eager to colonize Gaza. I am also responding to examples of the glee to destroy that accompanied some soldiers’ desire to punish all of Gaza, expressed in song, tik tok, etc., and the repeated declaration made by various Hardal rabbis that all of Gaza is Amalek, and the apparent careless way of that life gets taken by sniper and drone. I have put those feelings in the first person, in the spirit of all of us taking responsibility for any of our sins, as a community. What is real above all is the sin enumerated in the Syrian Vidui Hagadol: ‘Lo Bacharta Bachayyim, We did not choose Life.'”

This mi sheberakh by Rabbi David Seidenberg, for the safety and safe return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia detained by the United States government and deported “in error” to captivity under dangerous and vulnerable conditions in El Salvador, was first shared on his Facebook page on 10 April 2025.

Eight qualities are mentioned in the prayer: Peace, Blessing, Hope, Return, Promise, Strength, Life, Courage. You can pick one to focus on each night. (You can do them in the order they appear in if you like.) Where do you find that quality in you? Where do you find it in the world? What will a life, or a world, transformed by that quality look like? Feel like?

This prayer by Rabbi Seidenberg was shared via his English newsletter and social media in the days preceding Sukkot 2024.

Additions to the Amidah for the sake of democracy and justice for offering now through US election day 2024.

On Passover we end the prayers for rain that began on October 7, and begin the prayers for dew. The prayers end, but the war that began with the October 7 attack does not. Here is a reflection on that.

Four things to pray and learn for the last night and day of Ḥanukkah.

A prayer for democracy everywhere, with Ukraine foremost in mind.

The words of Avinu Malkeinu are a little different from the standard translation. It doesn’t say in Hebrew, “we have no good deeds” (ein lanu ma’asim tovim), but rather, “there are no deeds in us” (ein banu ma’asim). The p’shat (literal meaning) implies that whatever we have done in the past does not have to live inside of us — we can release our deeds and be released from them, fully, to start over, like a newborn, to become whoever we need to become.

A prayer for the government of the United States of America on the day of the 59th Presidential Inauguration.

If you are doing a Rosh Hashanah seder of simanim (signs, augurs, portents) using food puns, here are some topical additions including for beginning the Shmitah year.

This short piyut touches on these four themes related to Shmitah: release of debts, the rights of the land, the rights of wild animals (who share our food during Shmitah), and the freeing of slaves. The piyut would fit as part of Seliḥot before Rosh haShanah and during Yom Kippur.

Two kavvanot, one for before and one for after casting away in a Tashlikh ritual.

A ḳinnah for humanity’s willful, negligent, and callous destruction of habitat and species known and unknown.

This prayer is broadly speaking a prayer that we learn to work together to create a better future, and it incorporates a pledge to do one thing for healing the world, for tikkun olam, that will make this future a reality. It’s not a prayer about winning or getting other people to see things our way, like some of the others I’ve seen. Whomever we support, we need to pray for strength for the next president, and for the whole country, to face what will be challenging times.

Two suggestions for ḥazanim (cantors) and shliḥei tzibur on the High Holidays.

Many people eat special foods as part of a mini-seder at the beginning of the Rosh Hashanah meal and invoke blessings for the year as they eat them. This year, you can add figs to your Rosh Hashanah seder (apples and honey, or apples, dates, beets, etc.) and recite with this kavvanah (intention).

A litany of hoshanot for use in a ritual prayer circle march on the festival of Sukkot.

A litany of hoshanot for use in a ritual prayer circle march on the festival of Sukkot.