תשלום לחצי קדיש לפני ברכו ליחיד (סדר רב עמרם) | Replacement for the Ḥatsi Qaddish before Barkhu for an individual praying alone or without a minyan, from Seder Rav ȝAmram
Contributed by: Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Amram ben Rav Sheshna
In Jewish liturgy, some passages are dəvarim she-bi-qdushah, passages that require public communal prayer. Most famous among these are the Qaddish, Barkhu, and Qədushah. But people are not always able to pray in a community! In liturgical history both ancient and modern many different tashlumim (replacements) for these texts when praying individually have been suggested. The following is the Half Qaddish before Barkhu for an individual from Seder Rav ȝAmram, the oldest known full siddur. Much of the content is from the hekhalot literature or the Gemara, often demonstrating girsaot not otherwise known. . . .
💬 מגילת אנטיוכס עם טעמי מקרא | Megillat Antiokhus, with a novel cantillation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation by Tsvi Filipowski, 1851)
Contributed by: Tsvi Hirsch Filipowski (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Perhaps Megillat Antiokhus could be read a la Esther on Purim (the holiday with the most similarities), going to Eicha trope in the upsetting parts. A few notes: on the final mention of Bagris the Wicked I included a karnei-farah in the manner of the karnei-farah in Esther. I also included a merkha kefulah in the concluding section, which (according to David Weisberg’s “The Rare Accents of the Twenty-Eight Books”) represents aggadic midrash material. It also serves as a connection to the Chanukah haftarah, which is famously the only one that has a merkha kefulah. –Isaac Mayer . . .
סֵפֶר פְּטִירָת מֹשֶׁה | ሞተ ፡ ሙሴ | Motä Musē (the Book of the Passing of Mosheh), in Ge’ez with Hebrew and English translation
Contributed by: Jacques Faïtlovitch (translation), Unknown, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The text of the Betä ʾƎsəraʾel legend of the death of Moses, translated to Hebrew by Jacques Faïtlovitch, and vocalized, cantillated, and translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . .
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 פ״ה | Psalms 85 for Yom Simḥat Kohen — with translations into Marathi, Arabic, and English
Contributed by: Joseph Ezekiel Rajpurkar (translation), Saadiah ben Yosef Gaon, the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Bnei Qoraḥ, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
In the communities of Morocco and Mumbai, the day after Yom Kippur was a holiday for priests known as Yom Simḥat Kohen. The origins of this practice can be found in Mishnah Yoma 7:4, where the high priest makes a festival for his loved ones after successfully completing the Yom Kippur rituals. In Mumbai, the practice (as recorded in Joseph Ezekiel Rajpurkar’s bilingual Hebrew/Marathi siddur) was to recite Psalms 85 on Yom Simḥat Kohen. The editor has included the text of Psalms 85, Rajpurkar’s Marathi translation, a new English translation, and a vocalized version of the Arabic tafsir of Rav Saadiah Gaon. . . .
💬 מגילת רות | Megillat Rut (translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer, 2024)
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
A new original translation of the Book of Ruth, using gender-neutral terminology for God and with relevant names calqued in footnotes. . . .
💬 מְגִלַּת אֵיכָה | Megillat Eikhah (Lamentations) in acrostic English translation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: Yirmiyah ben Ḥilkiyah haKohen, Barukh ben Neriyah, the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
An original gender-neutral translation of the book of Lamentations, preserving the alphabetical acrostic through closest parallels to the Hebrew letter. . . .