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Unknown Author(s)

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

A Delightful Tkhine for a Pregnant Woman to Say (ca. early 17th c.)

Contributed on: 04 Feb 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

A prayer of a pregnant woman anticipating childbirth. . . .


על הכל יתגדל ויתקדש | An Alternative Mourner’s Ḳaddish, from a prayer offered during the removal of the Torah from the Arōn (Seder Rav Amram Gaon)

Contributed on: 28 Jun 2017 by Oren Steinitz | Unknown Author(s) |

This Kaddish was first published online at Jewish Renewal Chassidus by Gabbai Seth Fishman. Rabbi Oren Steinitz translated the kaddish on the 3rd yahrzeit after Reb Zalman’s passing. . . .


A Prayer for a Pregnant Woman to Say when She Wishes for an Easy Labor (ca. early 17th c.)

Contributed on: 04 Feb 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

A prayer for a pregnant woman anticipating her childbirth. . . .


A Prayer for a Woman before giving birth, from a Seder Tkhines (ca. 1640-1720)

Contributed on: 04 Feb 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

A prayer for a pregnant woman anticipating childbirth, from an unidentified volume of the Seder Tkhines (circa 1640-1720). . . .


A Scholar’s Prayer for Intellectual Honesty, adapted from a prayer quoted by Dr. Leslie Weatherhead (1951)

Contributed on: 23 Nov 2020 by Aharon Varady (translation/Hebrew) | Leslie Weatherhead | Unknown Author(s) |

A prayer for intellectual honesty before study. . . .


הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה | Prayer for the Royal Family of King George Ⅲ (1810)

Contributed on: 17 Feb 2016 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

The prayer, haNoten Teshu’a, as adapted for King George III in 1810. . . .


הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה | A Prayer for the Welfare of the Government of Franklin D. Roosevelt during WWII (from A Naye Shas Tkhine Rav Pninim, ca. 1942)

Contributed on: 07 Nov 2017 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

A prayer for the welfare of the government in Yiddish from A Naye Shas Tkhine Rav Pninim (after 1933). . . .


💬 מגילת ניקנור | Megillat Niqanor (II Maccabees, chapters 13-15), a Reading for the Day of the Elephantarch

Contributed on: 22 Mar 2016 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) | Jason of Cyrene |

It is challenging to think of how to mark Nicanor Day, as it remains at a disadvantage, not only on years when it conflicts with Ta’anit Esther but on all years since it has no mitzvot. This is probably the main reason that, unlike Chanukah and Purim, it was lost to Jewish practice for more than a thousand years. Nevertheless, we do have its megillah, which has been translated into Hebrew and English. Perhaps, if we start reading chapters 13-15 of 2 Maccabees, even just to ourselves, on the 13 of Adar, we can begin to resurrect a holiday that was celebrated and instituted by Judah Maccabee and his followers over two millennia ago, and which they envisioned would continue throughout Jewish History. With the return of Jews to Israel and Jewish sovereignty to Jerusalem, I believe it is about time. . . .


תְּחִינָה װען עס ברעכט אױס אַ מַגֵפָה | A Tkhine When an Epidemic Breaks Out (1916)

Contributed on: 31 Mar 2020 by Meena-Lifshe Viswanath (translation) | Zach Golden (translation) | Noam Lerman (translation) | Der Tekhines Proyekt | Unknown Author(s) |

A tkhine in the event of an epidemic. . . .


עמידה | Another version of the Weekday Amidah, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 16 Feb 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

A version of the weekday Amiday by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi emphasizing personal prayer, set side-by-side with a Sefaradi text of the Amidah. . . .


עַד אָנָה בִּכְיָּה בְצִיּוֹן | Ad Ana Bikhya b’Tsiyon (How Long Will Crying Be In Zion), a qinah for Tishah b’Av (ca. 7th c.)

Contributed on: 10 Aug 2022 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Unknown Author(s) |

‘Ad Ana Bikhya B’Tsiyon, is one of the oldest qinot of the cycle, dating to the period before rhyme schemes were the norm for Hebrew poetry. It describes the heavenly luminaries themselves as sympathizing with and lamenting for Israel. It goes through the entire zodiac, beginning with Ares and ending with Pisces. It is traditional to stand and recite the last few lines aloud before transitioning into the Ḳedusha d’Sidra. . . .


אַדִּיר בִּמְלוּכָה | Adir Bimlukhah, a Latin translation of the piyyut by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)

Contributed on: 20 Mar 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Johann Stephan Rittangel (Latin translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The text of the popular piyyut “Adir Bimlukhah” (a/k/a “Ki lo na’eh”) in Hebrew, with a Latin translation. . . .


אַדִּיר הוּא | Adir Hu, the acrostic piyyut in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)

Contributed on: 20 Mar 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Johann Stephan Rittangel (Latin translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The alphabetic acrostic piyyut, Adir Hu, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel as found in his translation of the Pesaḥ seder haggadah, Liber Rituum Paschalium (1644). . . .


אַדִירְיַרוֹן בַהִירְיַרוֹן | Adiryaron Ḅahiryaron, a litany of angelic names associated with the 42 letter name, recorded in Sefer haPeliah

Contributed on: 03 Mar 2019 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

A litany of angelic names recorded in Sefer haPeliah whose initial letters spells out the 42 letter divine name as also found (in variation) in Sefer HaQanah. . . .


אַדִירְיַרוֹן בַהִירְיַרוֹן | Adiryaron Ḅahiryaron, a litany of angelic names associated with the 42 letter name, recorded in Sefer haQanah

Contributed on: 05 Mar 2019 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

A litany of angelic names recorded in Sefer HaQanah, whose initial letters spells out the 42 letter divine name as also found in Sefer haPeliah. . . .


אֲדוֹן הַסְּלִיחוֹת | Adon haSeliḥot, a pizmon for Seliḥot and Yom Kippur with an alphabetic acrostic translation by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1937)

Contributed on: 12 Mar 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | David de Sola Pool | Unknown Author(s) |

An alphabetic acrostic pizmon for seliḥot and Yom Kippur with an alphabetic acrostic English translation. . . .


אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Adon Olam, rhyming translation by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1937)

Contributed on: 22 Nov 2019 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | David de Sola Pool | Unknown Author(s) |

A rhyming translation in English to the popular piyyut, Adon Olam. . . .


אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מזרח)‏ | Adon Olam, translation by Annie Kantar

Contributed on: 18 Jun 2021 by Annie Kantar (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The piyyut, Adon Olam, in its expanded fifteen line variation, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .


בִּרְכָּת אַהֲבַה | Ahavat Olam, for Shaḥarit, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 28 Aug 2018 by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of “Ahavat Olam” in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . .


בִּרְכָּת אַהֲבַה | Ahavat Olam, for Maariv/Arvit, translation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman & Shaul Vardi

Contributed on: 08 Feb 2020 by Shaul Vardi (translation) | Levi Weiman-Kelman (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The second evening blessing before the recitation of the Shema in Hebrew with English translation . . .


אֵשׁ תּוּקַד בְּקִרְבִּי | Aish Tuqad b’Qirbi: A Fire Shall Burn Within Me, translated by Gabriel Seed

Contributed on: 24 Jul 2015 by Gabriel Kretzmer Seed (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

Aish Tukad is a ḳinah for Tishah b’Av, usually recited towards the conclusion of the set of dirges for the morning service (in Goldshmidt’s numbering, it is number 32 of our 46 Kinot). According to Goldshmidt’s introduction, the structure of this Piyyut is based on a Midrash in Eicha Zuta 19, where Moses’ praises for God and Israel are seen as parallel to Jeremiah’s laments, thus creating the concept of a comparison between the joy of the Exodus and the pain of the Temple’s destruction. . . .


עלי לשבח | Alai l’Shabe’aḥ (It is incumbent upon me), a prayer of praise from the Ma’aseh Merkavah

Contributed on: 07 Feb 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

An earlier form of the prayer known as Aleinu, as found in the esoteric Jewish literature of the first millennium CE. . . .


עָלֵֽינוּ לְשַׁבֵּֽחַ | Aleinu, translation by Richard Collis (2019)

Contributed on: 23 Aug 2022 by Richard Collis | Unknown Author(s) |

Richard Collis’s English translation of Aleinu with Al Kein and Al Tira is provided in the liner notes for tracks 61 and 62 of his album We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service Prayers (2019). . . .


אָמַר אוֹיֵב | Amar Oyev (The Enemy Said) — a piyyut for the Seder Meturgeman of the 7th Day of Pesaḥ

Contributed on: 10 Apr 2023 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Unknown Author(s) |

This piyyut, Amar Oyev (The Enemy Said), the sixth in a series of Aramaic piyyutim from the seventh day of Pesaḥ, is meant to be recited as an introduction to the targum of Exodus 15, verse 9. . . .


תפלה לכל תענית צבור ועל כל צרה (שלא תבא על הציבור!) | Amidah for Any Communal Fast and On Account of Troubles (Nusaḥ Italki)

Contributed on: 15 Sep 2022 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The Italian rite, unique among Jewish rites, has preserved up until very recently the custom recorded in the Talmud, Masekhet Tagnanith, for communally declared fast days. In this rite, sometimes referred to as the Twenty-Four Blessings, six more blessings are added to the liturgy — the Zikhronot and Shofrot portions more commonly recited on Rosh haShanah, and four different psalms, all interspaced with a poetic litany on behalf of the ancestors’ merit and shofar blasts. It’s a fascinatng service! . . .


אָנָּא בְּכֹחַ | Ana b’Khoaḥ, a 42 letter name piyyut with a singing translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 15 Oct 2017 by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

The most well-known 42 letter divine name acrostic piyyut. . . .


קמע לשמירה מפני לילית | Apotropaic ward for the protection of pregnant women and infants against Lilith & her minions (CUL MS General 194, Montgomery 1913 Amulet No. 42)

Contributed on: 16 Aug 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | James Alan Montgomery (translation) | Richard Gottheil (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

An apotropaic ward for the protection of women in their pregnancy and of infant children against an attack from Lilith and her minions, containing the story witnessing her oath to the prophet, Eliyahu along with one variation of her many names. . . .


אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא יֵין עָסִיס | Asher Bara Yayin ‘Asis — a Poetic Extension of the Blessing over Wine for the Passover Seder (ca. 9th c.)

Contributed on: 22 Mar 2023 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The following piyyut seems to have been customarily used in some Babylonian communities as an extensive replacement for the “creator of the vine-fruit” opening of the kiddush. Rav Saadia Gaon forbade it for being an alteration of the talmudic formula, but his successor Rav Hai Gaon permitted it for its cherished status. No communities today have preserved a custom of reciting it, but in 1947 Naphtali Wieder (zçl) published a text he found in the Cairo Geniza, which is replicated and translated below. Daniel Goldschmidt (zçl) suggests that it may be in it of itself a compilation of two different rites. The conjunction point is marked below with a black line. . . .


אֲשֶׁר הֵנִיא | Asher Heni, a piyyut recited after the reading of Megillat Esther and its concluding blessing

Contributed on: 23 Feb 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Simeon Singer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

An alphabetical acrostic piyyut celebrating the victory of Esther and Mordekhai over the forces of Haman. . . .


אַתָּה־הוּא וְאָז יָשִׁיר (מקוצר)‏ | Atah Hu and a condensed Az Yashir, adapted and translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 04 Aug 2018 by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of נחמיה ט׃ו-י (Neḥemyah 9:6-10) in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . .


אָב הָרַחֲמִים שׁוֹכֵן מְרוֹמִים | Av haRaḥamim Shokhein Meromim, a prayer for the martyred during the First Crusade & Rhineland massacres

Contributed on: 27 May 2020 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

A prayer for those martyred in the First Crusade and Rhineland Massacres, and by extension, all subsequent pogroms up until and including the Holocaust. . . .


אָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם | Avinu Shebashamayim, an acrostic supplication recited during Seliḥot

Contributed on: 05 Sep 2021 by Ḥayyim Obadyah | Unknown Author(s) |

This prayer appears on page 11-12 of Hayyim Obadya’s Seder Akhilat haSimanim for 5781. It is a variant of the prayer, “Eloheinu Shebashamayim,” a supplication read in the sephardic tradition during seliḥot. This version contains twenty-five lines as found in Sefer Selihot haShalem, Hazon Ovadia, p.48-51/. Other variations have fifty or more lines. . . .


אדיר הוא | Awesome One: an Alphabetical English Interpretation of the piyyut Adir Hu, by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributed on: 19 Apr 2019 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

Adir Hu, a classic Pesaḥ song if ever there was one, is a part of Seder tables all over the planet. Its alphabetical list of God’s attributes, combined with its repeated pleas for a return to Jerusalem, make it a classic, to the point where the traditional German farewell greeting for Passover was not “chag sameach” or “gut yontef” but “bau gut” – build well. This interpretation, while not a direct translation by any means, has the same rhythmic pattern and alphabetical structure, giving a sense of the greatness of God. . . .


אֵין אַדִּיר כַּיְיָ (מִפִּי אֵל)‏ | Ayn Adir kAdonai (Mipi El) :: There is none like YHVH

Contributed on: 02 Dec 2019 by Akiva Sanders (translation) | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

A popular piyyut for Simḥat Torah (4th hakkafah) originally composed as a piyyut for Shavuot and often referred to by its incipit, “Mipi El.” . . .


בָּרְכוּ | Barkhu, translation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman & Shaul Vardi

Contributed on: 08 Feb 2020 by Shaul Vardi (translation) | Levi Weiman-Kelman (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

Barkhu, the call to prayer, in Hebrew and English. . . .


בָּרוּךְ שֶׁאָמַר | Barukh She’amar, interpretive translation by Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l

Contributed on: 17 Oct 2017 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

This English translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l of “Barukh Sh’amar,” was first published in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). Linear associations of this translation according to the nusaḥ ha-ARI z”l by Aharon Varady. . . .


ברוך ה׳ לעולם | Barukh Hashem l’Olam :: Bless Yah Always, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 03 Aug 2018 by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) | the Masoretic Text |

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). . . .


בּױגעזאנג | Baugesang (Building Song): an alphabetical Yiddish adaptation of the piyyut Adir Hu (1769)

Contributed on: 17 Mar 2021 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

This Western Yiddish alphabetical adaptation of Adir Hu is first found in the 1769 Selig Haggadah, under the name of “Baugesang” (meaning Building Song). It grew to be a beloved part of the Western Ashkenazi rite, to the point where the traditional German Jewish greeting after the Seder was “Bau gut,” or “build well!” . . .


💬 Βηλ Και Δρακων | בֵּל וְהַתַּנִּין | Bel & the Dragon, according to Theodotion translated and cantillated in Masoretic Hebrew by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributed on: 16 Jan 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Theodotion (translation/Greek) | Unknown Author(s) |

The story of Bel and the Dragon according to the text of Theodotion, translated into biblical Hebrew. . . .


Bénissons, a French table song for the Birkat haMazon (ca. 18th c.)

Contributed on: 04 Jun 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Joshua de Sola Mendes (transcription) | David Lévi Alvarès | Unknown Author(s) |

Bénissons is the French version of the well-known Bendigamos, a prayer and melody of the Spanish & Portuguese Jewish communities, most probably originating in Bordeaux, France. . . .


בִּיר אוּלָק | חַד גַּדְיָא | Бир Улакъ | Bir Ulaq :: a Qrımçah tılyı (Krymchak) translation of Ḥad Gadya by Rabbi Nisim haLevy Tsahtsir (1904)

Contributed on: 17 Mar 2021 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Nisim haLevy Tsahtsir | Unknown Author(s) |

A Judeo-Tajik translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . .


בִּרְכָּת הָבָּיִת | Birkat haBayit (Blessing for the Home)

Contributed on: 18 Nov 2015 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

The Birkat Habayit is perhaps the most popular blessing in the Jewish world, appearing as a hanging amulet inside the entrance of many houses of Jews of all streams. I have added niqud to the blessing and I am very grateful to Gabriel Wasserman for his corrections to my vocalization. . . .


בִּרְכַּת הַמָּזוֹן בִּקְצָרָה | Birkat HaMazon Biqtsarah :: Abbreviated Blessing after the Meal

Contributed on: 24 Feb 2019 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The formula for the abbreviated Birkat Hamazon, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .


ברכת המזון לחנוכה | Poetic Birkat haMazon for Ḥanukkah, reconstructed from multiple Cairo Geniza manuscripts by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributed on: 21 Dec 2021 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

This is a reconstruction of a liturgy for a Birkat haMazon for Ḥanukkah witnessed in multiple Cairo Geniza manuscripts, including Cambridge, CUL: T-S H4.13; T-S H6.37; T-S 8H10.14; T-S NS 328.56; T-S NS 328.61; T-S AS 101.293; New York, JTS: ENA 2885.7; Oxford: MS heb. e.71/27 – MS heb. e.71/32; St. Peterburg: Yevr. III B 135. . . .


ברכת המזון לפורים | Poetic Birkat haMazon for Purim, according to the Cairo Geniza fragment T-S H6.37 vocalized and translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributed on: 21 Dec 2021 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

This is a reconstruction of a liturgy for a Birkat haMazon for Purim witnessed in the Cairo Geniza fragment T-S H6.37 (page 1, recto and verso)‬. . . .


ברכת המזון ליום הכפורים | Poetic Birkat haMazon for the break-fast meal after Yom Kippur, as found in British Library MS Or. 9772 D

Contributed on: 22 Dec 2021 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Avi Shmidman | Unknown Author(s) |

A poetic Birkat haMazon text for the breakfast after Yom Kippur found in British Library MS Or. 9772 D. All the opening words of the alphabetical acrostic are from Psalms 111. . . .


ברכת המזון לחול ולשבת | Birkat haMazon for Weekdays and on Shabbat from the Cairo Genizah fragment Or.1080 15.4

Contributed on: 01 Feb 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Shoshana Michael Zucker (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

A birkat haMazon found in the collection of Cairo Geniza fragments at the University of Cambridge library. . . .


ברכת המזון | Thanks for the Food, an interpretive translation of the Birkat Hamazon by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 16 Nov 2014 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

The style by which Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l translated Jewish liturgy in English was neither literal nor idiomatic, but highly interpretive and interspersed with his own ḥiddushim (innovations). Showing Reb Zalman’s translation side-by-side with the Jewish liturgy helps to illuminate his understanding of the liturgy — it’s deeper meaning as well as how it might be communicated to a contemporary audience. In the version I have prepared below, I have set the interpretive translation of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l side-by-side with the liturgical Hebrew that may have inspired it. In several places, Reb Zalman’s formulation departs from the traditional Ashkenazi nusaḥ. Where there is no Hebrew, we can more easily observe where Reb Zalman has expanded upon the blessing. Still, my work was not exhaustive and I appreciate any corrections to the nusaḥ (liturgical custom) of the Hebrew that may have inspired Reb Zalman’s interpretation in English. . . .


ברכת המזון השלם עם טעמי מקרא | Full Birkat haMazon with Ta’amei haMiqra (cantillation), by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (Nusaḥ Ashkenaz)

Contributed on: 28 Jun 2018 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Unknown Author(s) |

The full Birkat haMazon (or Grace after Meals) according to Nusach Ashkenaz with optional additions for egalitarian rites, 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 includes the full tradition for Birkat haMazon, including texts for weekdays, Shabbatot, and festivals, as well as additions for a wedding meal, a circumcision meal, and a meal in a mourner’s house. . . .


מַעֲרִיב עֲרָבִים | Ma’ariv Aravim, translation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman & Shaul Vardi

Contributed on: 08 Feb 2020 by Shaul Vardi (translation) | Levi Weiman-Kelman (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The first evening blessing before the recitation of the Shema in Hebrew with English translation . . .


בְּנדּיגֿ טוּ שַנט…קִי פִֿיש מִי פְינַה | Blessed are you…who made me a woman, a variation of the morning blessing for Jewish women in Judeo-Provençal (ca. 14-15th c.)

Contributed on: 06 Oct 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

From the Morning Blessings (Birkhot ha-Shaḥar) of the Seder tefilot be-targum le-Shuʾadit [סדר תפילות בתרגום לשואדית], a translation of the Siddur into Judaeo-Provençal dating from the 14th-15th century providing the following blessing for women. . . .


ברכות התורה | Blessing for Torah Study, interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 10 Sep 2017 by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

This English translation of the blessing for Torah study by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l, was first published in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). Versification according to the Nusaḥ ha-ARI z”l by Aharon Varady. . . .


בִּרְכַּת הָאִילָנוֹת | The Blessing of Flowering Fruit Trees in the Spring Season in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

Contributed on: 05 Apr 2011 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Jacob Chatinover (translation) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | David Seidenberg | Unknown Author(s) |

When the spring (Aviv) season arrives, a blessing is traditionally said when one is in view of at least two flowering fruit trees. In the northern hemisphere, it can be said anytime through the end of the month of Nissan (though it can still be said in Iyar). For those who live in the southern hemisphere, the blessing can be said during the month of Tishrei. . . .


ברכות השחר | Blessings at your Dawn of Wakefulness, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 30 Jul 2018 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the Birkhot haShaḥar in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . .


ברכות לנרות חנוכה | the Blessings over Kindling the Light of Ḥanukkah

Contributed on: 28 Nov 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The blessings for kindling the Ḥanukkah lights in Hebrew with English translation. . . .


בּוֹרֵא עַד אָנָּה | Borei Ad Anah (“Creator! How long”), a ḳinah after the Spanish Expulsion (ca. 16th c.)

Contributed on: 07 Aug 2016 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Gabriel Kretzmer Seed (translation) | Isaac Leeser (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

Bore ‘Ad Anah” is a ḳinah recited in a number of Sephardic communities on Tishah b’Av (or in some cases on Shabbat Hazon, the Shabbat preceding Tishah b’Av), particularly in the Spanish-Portuguese and North African traditions. The author is unknown, but his name is likely Binyamin based on the acrostic made up of the first letters of the verses. In the kinah, the Children of Israel are compared to a wandering dove caught in a trap by predators, crying out its father, God. The ḳinah was likely written as a poignant response to the Spanish Inquisition, appropriate to Tishah b’Av since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain occurred on the 9th of Av in the year 1492. The version presented here was likely censored, as many manuscripts have the fifth verse presented in the following manner directly calling out their Catholic oppressors,” יועצים עליה עצות היא אנושה זרים העובדים אלילים שלושה אם ובן ורוח כי אין להם בושה גדול ממכאובי.” “They counsel against her and she languishes, the strangers who worship three idols, father, son and spirit, for they have no shame and great is my suffering.” . . .


בְּרִיךְ שְׁמֵהּ דְּמָרֵא עָלְמָא | B’rikh Shmeih d’Marei Alma (Bendito sea Tu nombre, Senyor del Mundo), Ladino translation from the siddur El Nuevo Avodat haShanah (1904)

Contributed on: 11 Mar 2021 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Yaaqov Mosheh Ḥai Altarats (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

A Ladino translation of Brikh Shmei d’Marei Alma. . . .


קְי ווֹלְירַה קְי אְינטְינדְירַה | אֶחָד מִי יוֹדֵעַ | Che volera, che entendera — a Judeo-Sienese translation of Eḥad Mi Yodea

Contributed on: 13 Apr 2022 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Unknown Translator(s) | Unknown Author(s) |

Eḥad Mi Yodéa is a counting-song that is a beloved part of Seders the world over. Counting up to 13, it is mostly written in Hebrew, but there are versions that can be found in many different languages. This translation is in the Judeo-Italian dialect of Siena, based on Geremia Mario Castelnuovo’s 1956 recording from Leo Levi’s collection of Judeo-Italian ethnomusicological recordings. A link to the original recording can be found here. . . .


דַּיֵּנוּ | Daiyenu, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)

Contributed on: 21 Mar 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Johann Stephan Rittangel (Latin translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The piyyut, Dayenu, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel. . . .


דָּנִיֵּאל וְהַתַּנִּין | Daniel vs. the Dragon, according to the Aramaic text of Divrei Yeraḥmiel (ca. 12th c.)

Contributed on: 31 Jan 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Moses Gaster (translation) | Yeraḥmiel ben Shlomo | Unknown Author(s) |

The story of Daniel and the dragon held captive by the neo-Babylonians found in Aramaic in the Divrei Yeraḥmiel (the Chronicles of Jeraḥmeel, Oxford Bodleian Heb d.11). . . .


קדיש דרבנן | Das Lernkaddisch, a translation of the Ḳaddish d’Rabanan in German by Franz Rosenzweig (1921)

Contributed on: 04 Aug 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Franz Rosenzweig (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The Ḳaddish d’Rabbanan in Aramaic with its German translation by Franz Rosenzweig. . . .


📖 ברכת המזון (אשכנז) | Der Tischdank, a translation of the Birkat haMazon in German by Franz Rosenzweig (1920)

Contributed on: 05 Aug 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Franz Rosenzweig (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

A German translation of the Birkat haMazon prepared by Franz Rosenzweig. . . .


אֶחָד מִי יוֹדֵעַ | Unum (est &) quis scit? | Eḥad Mi Yode’a, a Latin translation of the counting song by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)

Contributed on: 20 Mar 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Johann Stephan Rittangel (Latin translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The text of the popular counting song “Who Knows One?” in its original Hebrew, with a translation in Latin. . . .


אֶחָד מִי יוֹדֵעַ | Eḥad Mi Yode’a :: Who Knows One?, a counting song in Hebrew and Yiddish (Prague Haggadah, 1526)

Contributed on: 04 May 2019 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Author(s) |

The text of the popular Passover song “Who Knows One?” in its original Hebrew and Yiddish, with a translation in English. . . .


אֵל אָדוֹן (אשכנז) | El Adōn, a piyyut attributed to the Yordei Merkavah (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)

Contributed on: 19 Jan 2020 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) |

The piyyut, El Adon, in Hebrew with an interpretive “praying translation” by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalom, z”l. . . .


אֵל אָדוֹן (מנהג הספרדים) | El Adōn, a piyyut attributed to the Yordei Merkavah (translation by Sara-Kinneret Lapidot)

Contributed on: 19 Jun 2021 by Sara Lapidot (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The piyyut, El Adon, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .


אֵל לִבִּי פְּתַח | El Libbi Păthaḥ — a Prayer of Yemenite Jewish Children Before Study, translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributed on: 24 Jan 2023 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

In Yemenite Jewish children’s schools, this prayer of unknown authorship is said before the lesson in unison. The teacher conducts and the children sing together to a melody. The prayer is printed in tajjim (Yemenite trilingual Pentateuch codices) before the book of Leviticus, traditionally the starting point for a child’s education. The first twenty-two lines of the prayer are an alphabetical acrostic wherein each line spells out the entire letter in which it starts. For instance, the first line spells out Alef, Lamed, and Pe, which spells out the full name of the letter Alef. This is followed by three Biblical verses all starting with the word “Good,” a brief poem in Hebrew, and a concluding passage largely in Judeo-Arabic. Here the editor has included the original text, along with a non-gendered English translation and a transcription of the Judeo-Arabic text into Arabic script. . . .


אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים | El Malé Raḥamim for Victims of the Shoah (the Netherlands, ca. late 1940s)

Contributed on: 31 May 2023 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Unknown Translator(s) | Unknown Author(s) |

This is an undated El Malé Raḥamim prayer for the victims of the Shoah translated into Dutch for a Yom Kippur ne’ilah service, likely sometime soon after the Holocaust had ended. To this I have added an English translation for those not fluent in Dutch or Hebrew. We are grateful to Shufra Judaica (Ellie Fisher and David Selis) for sharing a digital copy of this prayer. . . .


אֱלִי צִיּוֹן וְעָרֶיהָ | Eli Tsiyon v’Areha (Mourn Zion and her cities), a ḳinnah for Tishah b’Av

Contributed on: 26 Feb 2015 by Joel Goldstein (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

One of the most well-known of the kinot (liturgical poems for mourning), Eli Tsiyon v’Areha is an alphabetical acrostic describing the destruction of Jerusalem. It is recited towards the conclusion of ḳinot, due to the hopeful note in the comparison of Zion to a woman about to give birth, thought by many to be a messianic reference. The author of the work is unknown. . . .


אֵלִימֶֽלֶךְ גְּלָה | Elimelekh G’la — a Byzantine-Era Piyyuṭ Retelling the Book of Ruth

Contributed on: 25 May 2023 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

“Elimelekh G’la” is a Byzantine-era Western Aramaic poetic retelling of the Book of Ruth. It was probably originally used as part of the liturgy for Shavuot, perhaps as a poetic addition to the recitation of a Targumic interpretation of the Book of Ruth. (The verses from Ruth and Psalms appended to the coda of the piyyuṭ would suggest such a Sitz im Leben.) But in any case, it has a great acrostic structure and rhyme scheme, and ought to be preserved! Here is included a vocalized text, largely based on the unvocalized text compiled in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic Poetry from Late Antiquity (ed. Yahalom and Sakaloff, 1999) where it’s the tenth poem recorded. ‘ve added a rhyming poetic translation that preserves the Hebrew acrostic. Credit to Laura Suzanne Lieber’s literal translations of these poems (in Jewish Aramaic Poetry from Late Antiquity: Translations and Commentaries, 2018), which have served as a very helpful resource for the project. . . .


אֱלֹהִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל | Elohim b’Yisrael :: A piyyut containing the 42 Letter Name, recorded in Sefer haPeliah

Contributed on: 16 Dec 2018 by Aharon N. Varady (translation) | Nir Krakauer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The earliest recorded prayer or piyyut providing an acrostic for the 42 letter divine name. . . .


אֵנַה קַצִיקִי | חַד גַּדְיָא | Ένα κατσίκι | Éna katsíki :: a Yevanic translation of Ḥad Gadya by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributed on: 02 Feb 2022 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

A Yevanic (Judeo-Greek) translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . .


Erhöre, Herr, mein Wort | Accept, O Lord my word — from the Hamburg Temple Hymnal (1833)

Contributed on: 28 May 2023 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | James Koppel Gutheim | Gotthold Salomon | Immanuel Wohlwill | Maimon Fraenkel | Unknown Author(s) |

“Erhöre, Herr, mein Wort” is a hymn selected by Rabbi Gotthold Salomon, Immanuel Wohlwill, and Maimon Fraenkel for inclusion in the Hamburg Temple Hymnal (1833), hymn №300, pp. 367-368. The first three stanzas were translated by Rabbi James Koppel Gutheim and published as “Erhebung zu Gott! (Trust in God)” in his Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871) as hymn №2, pp. 4-5. . . .


ארתי תיקהני | חַד גַּדְיָא | ერთი თიკანი | Erti tiḳani :: a Čveneburuli translation of Ḥad Gadya by Tamari Lomtadze & Reuven Enoch

Contributed on: 02 Feb 2022 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) | Reuven Enoch (translation) | Tamari Lomtadze (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

A Čveneburuli (Judeo-Georgian) translation of the popular Passover song, Ḥad Gadya. . . .


אֵשֶׁת חַיִל | Eshet Ḥayil (Proverbs 31:10-31), German translation by Franz Rosenzweig (1921)

Contributed on: 06 Aug 2021 by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Franz Rosenzweig (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

The Masoretic Hebrew text of Proverbs 30:10-31, the alphabetic acrostic “Eshet Ḥayil,” with a German translation by Franz Rosenzweig. . . .


אֵשֶׁת חַיִל | Éshet Ḥayil (Proverbs 31:10-31) For an Accomplished Woman, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributed on: 06 Nov 2014 by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi | Unknown Author(s) | the Masoretic Text |

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s interpretive translation of Proverbs 31:10-31, popularly read before the first festive meal for shabbat on Friday night. . . .


קדיש שלם | Ḳaddish Shalem (extended), according to the nusaḥ of the Cochin Jews

Contributed on: 14 Feb 2020 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

A traditional Cochin Ḳaddish Shalem, based on siddurim published for the Cochin Jewish community by the Props brothers of Amsterdam. . . .


שַׁעֲרֵי אוֹרָה שַׁעֲרֵי בְּרָכָה | Gates of Light Gates of Blessing, a mesostic piyyut

Contributed on: 05 Sep 2021 by Ḥayyim Obadyah | Unknown Author(s) |

This prayer appears on page 13-16 of Hayyim Obadya’s Seder Akhilat haSimanim for 5781. It is a variation of the piyyut Tayanu v’Tayatru albeit with a different opening line. . . .


Gaudeamus Igitur | אָז עוֹדֶֽנּוּ צְעִירִים | Az Odenu Tse’irim (So, let us rejoice), a Hebrew translation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer of De Brevitate Vitæ (1287)

Contributed on: 29 May 2023 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Christopher S. Morrissey (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

An original Hebrew translation of the popular medieval commercium song and graduation anthem “De Brevitate Vitæ,” more commonly known as “Gaudeamus Igitur.” First attested in 1287, this Latin poem is irrevocably associated with college life for academics all over the world. It has been translated into many languages, and this Hebrew edition can be added to the list. . . .


Gebet für das Vaterland | A Prayer for the Fatherland (Siddur Sephat Emeth, Rödelheim, 1938)

Contributed on: 04 Aug 2020 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Unknown Author(s) |

This prayer for the country is found in the Siddur Sephat Emeth, which was published by the venerable Rödelheim publishing house in Frankfurt in 1938. This was probably the last siddur ever published in pre-Holocaust Germany. This prayer is full of pathos and yearning, and in a time of rising government-sponsored antisemitism worldwide it’s worth keeping in mind. . . .



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