💬 קְרִיאוֹת לִימֵי ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | Torah and Haftarah Readings for the New Year’s Day for Trees, selected by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Yeḥezqel ben Būzi haKohen, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
Torah and Haftarah readings for Tu biShvat selected by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . .
💬 קריאות לראש השנה לבהמה | Torah and Haftarah Readings for Rosh haShanah la-Behemot on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A reading for the New Year’s Day for Animals — Rosh haShanah laBehemot — on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul. . . .
💬 קריאות לימי זכרון השואה ורצח עם | Torah and Haftarah Readings for Holocaust & Genocide Memorial Days
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
A Torah reading (divided into three aliyot) and a Haftarah reading to be recited for days commemorating genocides such as (but not limited to) the Holocaust. . . .
📜 תוספות לקריאות התורה לשבת כלה (אחרי החתונה) | Additions to the Torah Reading for Shabbat Kallah (after the wedding)
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
There are all sorts of customs associated with weddings in Judaism. But one custom that has been practiced for a long time and deserves a comeback is the additions to the Torah reading for Shabbat Kallah. Shabbat Kallah, the Shabbat in the “Sheva Berakhot” week after the wedding, is in many Sephardic communities preferred over Shabbat Ḥatan, the aufruf Shabbat before the wedding. And in all sorts of communities across the Jewish world, there have been customs for specific readings for Shabbat Kallah, treating it as a Special Sabbath in its own right. Traditionally this special maftir and haftarah would recited by the groom (along with an Aramaic translator interpolating for the maftir). The maftir is from the story of Abraham’s servant tasked with finding a wife for Isaac, and the haftarah is from the book of Isaiah and compares a groom and bride to the relationship between God and Israel. . . .
💬 קְרִיאוֹת לִימֵי הַוָּתִיקִים (לאומי או בינלאומי) | Torah and Haftarah Readings for Days Recognizing Military Veterans, compiled by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
This is a Torah reading (divided into three aliyot) and a Haftarah reading to be recited for such holidays. The aliyot are from Shoftim, describing the rules for just warfare and treatment of those in need. . . .
💬 קריאות ליום הזכרון | Torah and Haftarah Readings for Days Memorializing Fallen Military Personnel, compiled by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
This is a Torah reading (divided into three aliyot) and a Haftarah reading to be recited on Memorial Day or any local equivalent day to honor those who died for their nation. . . .
אֵשֶׁת חַיִל | Eshet Ḥayil, amended by Alex and Peri Sinclair
Contributed by: Peri Sinclair, Alex Sinclair (emendation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh)
Peri and Alex Sinclair’s adaptation of the traditional Eishet Ḥayil, replacing a number of verses with ones selected from Shir haShirim (the Song of Songs/Canticles), Genesis, and elsewhere in Mishlei (Proverbs). . . .
💬 שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים | Shir haShirim (The Song of Songs), English translation by Paltiel Birnbaum (1949)
Contributed by: Paltiel Birnbaum (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh)
Paltiel (Philip) Birnbaum’s translation of The Song of Songs (Shir haShirim) in Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem (The [Complete] Daily Prayer Book), Hebrew Publishing Company, 1949. . . .
Bible Thoughts for Every and Any Day, by Rabbi Clifton Harby Levy (1927)
Contributed by: Clifton Harby Levy, the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
“Bible Thoughts for every and any day” by Rabbi Clifton Harby Levy are a selection of biblical verses he added to The Helpful Manual (Centre of Jewish Science, 1927), pp. 28-31, ostensibly for use in healthful spiritual contemplation. . . .
הפטרה לחג השבועות ביום השני | Haftarah reading for the Second Day of Shavuot (Ḥabaquq 2:20-3:19) with its Targum and the piyyut Yetsiv Pitgam by Rabbeinu Tam (ca. 12th c.)
Contributed by: Yaaqov ben Meir, Yonatan ben Uziel, the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Ḥabaquq haNavi, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The haftarah for the second day of Shavuot, Ḥabakkuk 2:20-3:19, interspersed with a cantillated text of the Targum Yonatan ben Uzziel. Since Targum Yonatan is a bit more drash-heavy than Targum Onkelos, it is translated separately as well. The haftarah reading includes the piyyut Yetsiv Pitgam, with an acrostic rhyming translation of the poem, with the second-to-last verse restored to its rightful place, as well as a concluding paragraph for the meturgeman to recite, as found in the Maḥzor Vitry. . . .
עֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק (מנהג הספרדים) | The invocation of Aqédat Yitsḥaq (the Binding of Isaac, Genesis 22:1-19) in the morning (minhag haSefaradim)
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation), Unknown, the Mesorah (TaNaKh), the Mesorah (Masoretic layer 'J'), the Mesorah (Masoretic kernel 'E')
The prayers invoking the memory of the Aqeidat Yitsḥaq (Genesis 22:1-19) in the morning preparatory prayers in the liturgical custom of the Sefaradim. . . .
עֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק (אשכנז) | The invocation of Aqédat Yitsḥaq (the Binding of Isaac, Genesis 22:1-19) in the morning (nusaḥ Ashkenaz)
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation), Unknown, the Mesorah (TaNaKh), the Mesorah (Masoretic layer 'J'), the Mesorah (Masoretic kernel 'E')
The prayers invoking the memory of the Aqeidat Yitsḥaq (Genesis 22:1-19) in the morning preparatory prayers in the liturgical custom of Ashkenaz. . . .
יהי כבוד | Yehi Kh’vod, interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), Unknown, the Mesorah (TaNaKh)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of “Yehi Kh’vod” in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). To the best of my ability, I have set his translation side-by-side with the verses comprising the piyyut. . . .
ברוך ה׳ לעולם | Barukh Hashem l’Olam :: Bless Yah Always, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), Unknown, the Mesorah (TaNaKh)
In the daily Shaḥarit (morning) psukei dzemirah service, this centos completes the reading of Psalms 145-150 and precedes the reading of Vayivarekh David” (1 Chronicles 29:10-13). Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the linked verse piyyut, “Barukh YHVH (Hashem) L’Olam” in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . .
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-14) in Ladino translation from the Constantinople Codex (1547)
Contributed by: Shmueli Gonzales (transcription), the Mesorah (TaNaKh)
There are various traditions as to the numbering of the commandments, as well as the enumeration of verses of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandment. In this transcription of the Ladino text we are following the numeration of verses according to the Constantinople Codex of 1547 C.E., as edited by the great scholar Professor Moshe Lazar (z”l) of the University of Southern California in 1988. This newly typeset text is an original transcription by Reb Shmuel Gonzales, of the Boyle Heights Chavurah – of the grassroots Jewish community of East Los Angeles, California; transcriber and editor of Sephardic texts for the Open Siddur Project; in celebration of Shavuot of 5783, and published in May of 2023. . . .
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל | 以色列啊,请听 | Shema Yisrael (Yǐsèliè a, qǐng tīng) — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)
Contributed by: Richard Collis (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh), Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
This Chinese translation of the liturgical reading of the Shema is found on pages 13-15 of the liner notes for the Chinese edition of Richard Collis’s album We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service Prayers (Wǒmen gēchàng, wǒmen xiāngjù — Ānxírì chén dǎo qídǎo). . . .
שְׁמַע | The Shema, interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the Shema in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . .
💬 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. . . .
תהלים א׳ | Psalms 1, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 1 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 1. . . .
תהלים ב׳ | Psalms 2, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi
Contributed by: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), the Mesorah (TaNaKh)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 2 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 2. . . .