הָאֵל בְּתַעֲצֻמוֹת עֻזֶּךָ | ha-El b’Taatsumōt Uzekha, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
Contributed by: Johann Stephan Rittangel (Latin translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The text of the short prayer ha-El b’Taatsumōt Uzekha in Hebrew with a Latin translation. . . .
וּבְמַקְהֲלוֹת | uvMaqhalōt, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
Contributed by: Johann Stephan Rittangel (Latin translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The text of the short prayer uv’Maqhalōt in Hebrew with a Latin translation. . . .
שׁוֹכֵן עַד | Shokhen Âd, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
Contributed by: Johann Stephan Rittangel (Latin translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The text of the short prayer Shokhen Ad in Hebrew with a Latin translation. . . .
יִשְׁתַּבַּח שִׁמְךָ | Yishtabaḥ Shimkha, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
Contributed by: Johann Stephan Rittangel (Latin translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The text of the prayer Yishtabaḥ Shimkha, in Hebrew with a Latin translation . . .
העמידה לימות החל עם טעמי המקרא | Weekday Amidah and Ḳaddish with Ta’amei haMiqra (cantillation), by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (Nusaḥ Ashkenaz)
Contributed by: Paltiel Birnbaum (translation), Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The full Weekday Amidah (or Eighteen Blessings), according to Nusach Ashkenaz with optional additions for egalitarian rites or for within Israel, fully marked with ta’amei miqra (also known as cantillation marks or trope). Ta’amei miqra originally marked grammar and divisions in any Hebrew sentences, and older Hebrew manuscripts such as those from the Cairo Geniza often show ta’amei miqra on all sorts of texts, not just the Biblical texts we associate them with today. This text has the Eighteen Blessings (which number nineteen) of the weekday Amidah, and is suitable to use as a text for any standard weekday service. Note: this does not include any of the pre- or post-Amidah texts, such as Ashrei, Kriyat Shema, Tachanun, or Aleinu. It also doesn’t include additions for festivals, fast days, or the Days of Repentance. Those may be coming in the future, though! . . .
💬 בן סירא מב:כא-מג:לא | ben Sira 42:21-43:31, a hymn of creation translated by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan
Contributed by: Mordecai Kaplan, Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
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. . . .
Mäṣḥäf Ḳədus 6:15-22 | ספר היובלים ו:טו-כב (Sefer haYovelim 6:15-22) — A Reading from Jubilees for Shavuot
Contributed by: Unknown, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
A reading from Jubilees (Sefer haYovelim) 6:15-22, including the text of the Mäṣḥäf Ḳədus (the Ge’ez translation of Jubilees) and original cantillated Hebrew and gender-neutral English translations, for Shavuot. Jubilees is considered to be the earliest source connecting Shavuot with the Sinaitic covenant, and emphasizes the latter as a fulfillment of the Noaḥide covenant (in the narrative of Noaḥ) that had only been maintained through the lineage of Abraham. . . .
💬 ילקוט מזמורים לבן סירא פרק נ״א | An Appendix of Psalms of Ben Sira chapter 51, vocalized, cantillated, and translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The end of the scroll of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) reconstructed from Cairo Geniza fragments not contained within the Septuagint. . . .
סֵפֶר חֲנוֹךְ | The Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 83-90), with Aramaic Fragments and translations in Ge’ez and English
Contributed by: Robert Henry Charles (translation), Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
A mytho-historical chronicle of the story of humanity and Israel up until the Maccabean revolt depicted as a fable through a dream vision of Ḥanokh. . . .
💬 מזמור לבן סירא על זכות אבותינו (פרקים מד-נ) | Paean of Ben Sira on the Merit of the Ancestors (ch. 44-50), vocalized and cantillated with the Poetic Masoretic System by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The poem lauding the ancestors from Chapters 44 to 50 of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) is considered by many scholars to be the original influence for the Yom Kippur Avodah service, and the paean to Shimon the Righteous bears a striking similarity to the beloved piyyut “Mar’eh Khohen.” This passage from Ben Sira, the great paean on the merit of the ancestors, takes the Hebrew text of one of the Cairo Geniza manuscripts — Bodleian MS Heb e62 — and versifies it according to the standard Septuagintal text, along with vocalization and cantillation per the standard Masoretic EMe”T system for poetic books. It could be read on Yom Kippur for the avodah service, or just studied as a fascinating piece of Jewish history. . . .
💬 מעשה טוביה ליום שני של שבועות | The Story of Toḇiyah for the second day of Shavuot
Contributed by: Moses Gaster, Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The story of Toviah (Tobit) in Hebrew translation, in an abridged version arranged for public reading on the second day of Shavuot. . . .
💬 הפטרה חלופית לשבת שחל ביום לפני חנוכה או ביום הראשון של חנוכה (ביום כד׳ וכה׳ לכסלו) | Alternative Haftarah for when Shabbat falls either on the day before Ḥanukkah or the first day of Ḥanukkah
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Ḥaggai haNavi, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
When the first day of Ḥanukkah is a Shabbat, the last day of Ḥanukkah is also Shabbat. In most customs this is addressed by using the standard Shabbat Ḥanukkah haftarah from Zechariah on the first day and I Kings 7:40–50 on the last day. But this never sat well with me, since I Kings 7:40–50 (also the haftara for Vayakhel) is a very technical reading, and the last day of Ḥanukkah is more of a culmination. Conveniently, another minor prophet contemporary of Zechariah, Ḥaggai, discusses the reconstruction of the House as a process of national revitalization, *and* claims that the foundation of the temple was rebuilt on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month — i.e. the day before Ḥanukkah! This is historically fascinating since it suggests that Ḥanukkah as a rededication festival might predate the Maccabean Revolt entirely, but more importantly here, it makes it a very appropriate reading for the day before or the first day of Ḥanukkah. This is an alternative haftarah from the book of Ḥaggai , chapter 2 verses 2—23, that could be used as a replacement for the standard haftarah when Shabbat falls on the day before Ḥanukkah or on the first day of Ḥanukkah. When read on the first day of Ḥanukkah, the traditional Ḥanukkah haftarah reading of Zechariah 2:14–4:7 would be postponed to the eighth day in its place. . . .
שירת הים | Shirat haYam, recitation for a day with a circumcision according to Seder Avodat Yisrael (1868)
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Unknown
According to Isaac Seligman Baer’s famed Seder Avodat Yisrael, one of the first scholarly siddurim critical editions ever published, there was a custom that on the day of a circumcision, the P’sukei d-Zimra reading of Shirat haYam along with a portion of its introduction would be recited aloud as a call and response by the mohel (circumcizer) and sandaḳ (godfather). Baer’s division of the verses (from Seder Avodat Yisrael, pp. 72-74) is included here, along with a new translation. . . .
תהלים ד׳ | Psalms 4, a mizmor of David (translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer)
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. . . .
תהלים ח׳ | Psalms 8, a mizmor of David (translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer)
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. . . .
תהלים כ׳ | Psalms 20 by David, translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Psalms 20 by David in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
תהלים כ״ז | Psalms 27, translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
A translation of Psalms 27 for the season of repentance, by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . .
תהלים ס׳ | Psalms 60 for the Fast of the Tenth of Tevet, translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Psalms 60 in Hebrew with English translation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer, presented for the fast of the Tenth of Tevet. . . .
תהלים ע״ט | Psalms 79, translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Asaph ben Berechiah, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
A translation of Psalms 79 in response to the hostage taking at Beth Elohim in Colleyville, Texas. . . .
תהלים ע״ט | Psalms 79, a new translation for 17 Tamuz by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Asaph ben Berechiah, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
A new translation of Psalms 79 for the 17th of Tamuz fast day of mourning. . . .