An original announcement, or hakhraza, for days of thanksgiving (Purim and Ḥanukkah). Written in the style of other more well-known announcements, like the Sephardic announcement of fasts, or the Italian-rite announcement for Pesaḥ, and to be recited in the same location in the Torah service after the haftara.

A plea for the manifestation of righteous civic virtues on Election Day in the shadow of Hoshana Rabba.

A new and original cycle of yotsrot in the style of the weekday yotsrot of the Cairo Geniza, for the day after Yom Kippur, referred to either as Yom Simḥat Kohen or Yom Shem ha-El depending on the custom.

A yotser for Tu b’Av, the first part of an intended cycle of yotsrot. A retelling of the list of reasons for Tu b’Av given in the Talmud, with repeated refrains from Psalm 45 for the alphabetical verses and the rest of the Tanakh for the name-acrostic choruses. Written in honor of my friend Eliran’s wedding.

The genre of B’raḥ Dodi piyyutim, a variety of geulah piyyut oriented around many Shir haShirim citations, is exclusively associated with Pesaḥ in Ashkenazi practice. Maḥzorim for Pesaḥ include B’raḥ Dodi piyyutim for the first two days and Shabbat Ḥol ha-Moed of Pesaḥ and nowhere else. So to reflect the themes of Pesaḥ Sheni, a B’raḥ Dodi piyyut is a great fit!

A zulat for Pesaḥ Sheni. Each line begins with a word from Numbers 9:11 followed by a letter spelling out “Remember me for good, amen,” excepting the final five lines. The first of these concluding lines is the refrain from the ahavah for the same set, and the final four all begin with hei and transition into the berakhah. This zulat focuses largely on the Temple, where Pesaḥ Sheni offerings were held.

An ahavah for Pesaḥ Sheni. An acrostic spelling out “Yitsḥaq son of Avraham, the priest, ḥazaq,” with a refrain derived from Mishnah Pesaḥim 9:1.

An ofan for Pesaḥ Sheni in tripartite stanzas. Each stanza begins with a citation of Numbers 9:12-14, then an acrostic spelling out “the son of Avraham the priest, ḥazaq.”

A yotser for Pesaḥ Sheni. Each stanza is written with a threefold acrostic — the first two lines in atbash, the third spelling “Yitsḥaq Har’el Ḥazaq,” and the fourth a verse from Numbers 9.

This is an original Al haNissim paragraph for Yom ha-Atsma’ut, focusing on the actual reason for Zionism’s necessity — European antisemitism. As I put it when I wrote the first draft of this paragraph, “Zionism was necessary because of the Europeans. The original enemy of Israel’s independence was the European nations who wanted us assimilated or dead. Israel was not declared independent from the Arab world, it was declared independent from Britain, and I think we should remember that on Yom ha-Atsma’ut.”

This variation on the discourse of the four children in the Haggadah was (barring minor edits) first composed for my family’s experimental small-scale seder in 2019, my second time ever leading a seder. I had come to the conclusion that for a text whose entire ikkar is for the children to learn, the Four Children narrative shows some shockingly bad pedagogy. So I decided to write a subversive take on it, where I applied its framework to some of the most serious problems facing the Jewish community today, and the mainline Jewish community’s failings in dealing with them.

A satirical look at contemporary Israeli civil society in Hebrew and English, as adapted from Tom Lehrer’s sardonic “National Brotherhood Week” (1965).

This is a macaronic poem for Yom Meturgeman. Macaronic poetry is poetry in multiple languages at once. In this case, the languages reflected are Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic, Yiddish, Ladino, and English, with a repeated Hebrew refrain. Each language is meant to rhyme with the colloquial Hebrew as it would be read — i.e. though the Yiddish doesn’t rhyme with the modern Hebrew pronunciation, it rhymes with the traditional Ashkenazi one.

This is an original piyyut, inspired by the structure of the beloved Yom Kippur Ne’ilah piyyut El Nora ‘Alila. In the era of the Sanhedrin, every fast day would have a Ne’ilah service between Minḥa and the conclusion of the fast. While these are no longer in practice for any days other than Yom Kippur, the editor personally feels like it could be worth bringing them back. As part of this idea, this piyyut is meant to be sung after the end of Tishah b’Av mincha but before the fast ends, as we prepare for the weeks of comfort. It is expressly *not* a qinah.

After a brit milah meal, there are several poetic additions traditionally included in the Birkat haMazon. But for young daughters a brit milah isn’t going to happen. So this is a poetic Birkat haMazon to be recited after a Zeved haBat ceremony.

A megillah for reading on the 14th of Adar Alef (Purim Qatan) or the 15th of Adar Alef (Shushan Purim Qatan). Double the Adar, double the fun, so add to the list of Purim sheni megillot, this purely legendary tale riffing on what has become a very familiar post-Shabbes lunch/shabbes afternoon pastime among many Jews since the boardgame, “Settlers of Catan” came into being.

A ritual for a public blast of the silver trumpet on the new moon, to be inserted before the recitation of the psalm for the new month. It is the hope of the editor that the fulfillment of this joyous mitzvah will once more be practiced throughout all Israel. Or, barring that, at least a few more places.

Scene: the Technion Institute, midnight. A physics graduate student accidentally opens a portal to another timeline. The portal remains open just long enough for someone on the other side to pass a siddur through. Mostly the siddur looks very familiar, but there are a few things odd about it. The following is the first of several uploads the editor is planning that reflect this parallel universe, wherein all Judaism is conducted according to the rabbinic norms of our universe, except for two things. Firstly, the festivals of wine-offering and wood-offering as described in the Temple Scroll of Qumran were included as part of scripture. And secondly, the custom of writing the Tetragrammaton in Paleo-Hebrew is preserved. Anyway this is a count of the fifty days after the wine-offering festival, in which the new oil is gathered from the tribes of Israel to the Temple. The instructions say only half a hin of oil per tribe, which suggests that by “tribe” something more akin to “family group” is meant, since a total of six hin wouldn’t be enough for the Temple to function.

Scene: the Technion Institute, midnight. A physics graduate student accidentally opens a portal to another timeline. The portal remains open just long enough for someone on the other side to pass a siddur through. Mostly the siddur looks very familiar, but there are a few things odd about it. The following is the first of several uploads the editor is planning that reflect this parallel universe, wherein all Judaism is conducted according to the rabbinic norms of our universe, except for two things. Firstly, the festivals of wine-offering and wood-offering as described in the Temple Scroll of Qumran were included as part of scripture. And secondly, the custom of writing the Tetragrammaton in Paleo-Hebrew is preserved. Anyway, this is a count of the fifty days after Shavuot, in which the new wine is gathered from the tribes of Israel to the Temple. Apparently there were four different kinds of wine delivered, but we don’t know what they are. Let’s just say red and white, mevushal and non-mevushal.

Jews around the world fast on the day after Rosh haShanah to commemorate the murder of Gedalyahu son of Aḥiqam, the officer appointed over Judah who sought to make peace and rebuild before being murdered by a religious extremist and officially bringing an end to the first commonwealth era. The tragedy of Gedalyahu is not just that he was assassinated, but that he was assassinated by a Jew who was using religion (specifically his claim to the line of David) as an excuse. This narrative bears striking similarities to the murder of Prime Minister Yitzḥaq Rabin on 12 Marḥeshvan 5756. On account of this, some Jews have taken it upon themselves to memorialize Rabin on Tzom Gedalyahu as well. This piyyut could be added to the seliḥot for Tzom Gedalyahu, or part of a new seliḥot service for 12 Marḥeshvan.