שִׁיר הַגְאוּלָה (החיינו אל) | Shir ha-Ge’ulah (Song of Redemption), by an anonymous author (1940)
Contributed on: 15 Feb 2023 by
❧This is a vocalized transcription and translation of the World War Ⅱ era song, “Shir haGe’ulah (Song of Redemption)” from the source images shared in A Tribute to Rabbi Mordechai Meir Hakohen Bryski v”g Bryski (Rabbi Mordechai A. Katz, 2017), pp. 19-20. The song is also known by its incipit, “Heḥayyeinu El.” . . .
A Prayer for Protection from Oppression and Persecution (CCAR 1924)
Contributed on: 27 Apr 2022 by
❧This is an untitled prayer offered in the Evening Service for the Sabbath from the Union Prayer Book Newly Revised (CCAR 1924), pp. 68-69, as a reading between the Shema and the Amidah. As a prayer for protection it fits as a paraliturgical haskivenu, and in New York City, it makes sense in the context of the terrifying news of mass-murder, rape, and genocide being reported from Ukraine at the time. (Find Nokhem Shtif’s “פּאָגראָמען אין אוקראַיִנע : די צײַט פֿון דער פֿרײַװיליקער אַרמײ (The Pogroms in Ukraine: the Period of the Volunteer Army)” (1923) offered in Yiddish and in English translation at In Geveb.) The Ukrainian context of this prayer is further underscored in that the prayer is not found in the 1918 revised Union Prayer Book, but in the later 1924 edition. It may have been unique to Congregation Emanu-El in New York City, who compiled this version of the Union Prayer Book for radio listeners joining their service. . . .
אֵשֶׁת חַיִל | Eshet Ḥayil (Proverbs 31:10-31), German translation by Franz Rosenzweig (1921)
Contributed on: 06 Aug 2021 by
❧The Masoretic Hebrew text of Proverbs 30:10-31, the alphabetic acrostic “Eshet Ḥayil,” with a German translation by Franz Rosenzweig. . . .
שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם | Shalom Aleikhem, the piyyut for Friday evenings in German translation by Franz Rosenzweig (1921)
Contributed on: 06 Aug 2021 by
❧The popular adjuration of the angels of peace and ministering angels, Shalom Aleikhem, in Hebrew with a German translation by Franz Rosenzweig. . . .
תחנה פון ליכט בענטשין | Tkhine for Lighting Candles [for Shabbes]
Contributed on: 23 Jul 2016 by
❧This is a faithful transcription of the תחנה פון ליכט בענטשין (“Tkhine for Lighting Candles [for Shabbes]”) as it appeared in the Vilna, 1869 edition. I have transcribed it without any changes from The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni. If you can scan an image of the page from the 1869 edition this was originally copied from, please share your scan with us. . . .
Kuando el rey Nimrod (When Nimrod was King), a song relating the story of Avraham & the Furnace (ca. 1890)
Contributed on: 28 Jan 2020 by
❧The sephardic folk-song “Kuando el rey Nimrod” in Ladino with English translation. . . .
גאָט פון אַבְרָהָם | Tkhine before Havdalah and Bakashe for the End of Shabbat (Got fin Avrum)
Contributed on: 07 Jul 2016 by
❧Master of all realms! You hear from all worlds. You look with love and grace upon all of your creations for whose sake you created Your world. Seize and fulfill the pure request from Your servant who comes before You after a full week, having shown her heart is full and her mood somber. The beloved Shabbes koidesh is already going away, and with our Shabbes, our rest has also disappeared. A new week comes up to meet us, against us, Master of the universe. We are people who know, just like You know, the heavy and difficult life of Your people Yisruel: their bitter mood, how difficulty and bitterly each Jew acquires his meager piece of bread through worry and heartache, the fear and hardship with which each Jew scrapes together his seemingly hopeless living. . . .
אֵין אַדִּיר כַּיְיָ (מִפִּי אֵל) | Ayn Adir kAdonai (Mipi El) :: There is none like YHVH
Contributed on: 02 Dec 2019 by
❧A popular piyyut for Simḥat Torah (4th hakkafah) originally composed as a piyyut for Shavuot and often referred to by its incipit, “Mipi El.” . . .
פָּתַח אֵלִיָּֽהוּ | Pataḥ Eliyahu (Tiqqunei Zohar 17a), translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Contributed on: 01 Nov 2014 by
❧Elijah began saying: Lord of the worlds You Who are One and not just a number You are the highest of the highest most hidden of the undisclosed no thought scheme grasps You at all. . . .
שיר הכבוד (אַנְעִים זְמִירוֹת) | Shir haKavod (An’im Zemirot), part eight of the Shir haYiḥud (interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)
Contributed on: 19 Jan 2020 by
❧A “praying translation” of the piyyut, Anim Zemirot. . . .
אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים במזרח) | Adōn Olam, translation by Annie Kantar
Contributed on: 18 Jun 2021 by
❧The piyyut, Adon Olam, in its expanded fifteen line variation, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים) | Adōn Olam, rhyming translation by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1937)
Contributed on: 22 Nov 2019 by
❧A rhyming translation in English to the popular piyyut, Adon Olam. . . .
Blessing for the Reading of BaMeh Madliqin on Erev Shabbat (Cairo Geniza)
Contributed on: 12 Aug 2024 by
❧The custom of reciting BaMeh Madliqin, the second chapter of Mishnah Shabbat, on Friday nights probably originated as an anti-Karaite polemic. While the Karaites were opposed to any use of fire on Shabbat, rabbinic Jews kindle lights before Shabbat, and the recitation of BaMeh Madliqin — the laws of Shabbat lights — emphasized this distinction. One of the best firsthand sources we have for this is the following introductory blessing from the Cairo Genizah (T-S NS 299.150 verso) for the recitation of BaMeh Madliqin, first published by Naftali Wieder in this article. This blessing emphasizes the continuity of the Torah both written and oral from Sinai to the sages and elders. . . .
קרובות למוסף שבת שקלים | Ḳerovot for Musaf Shabbat Sheqalim
Contributed on: 23 Mar 2022 by
❧The traditional Ashkenazi qerovot added to the Musaf repetition for Shabbat Sheqalim, alongside a new gender-neutral translation . . .
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
❧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
❧The piyyut, El Adon, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .
💬 פֶּרֶק שִׁירָה | Pereq Shirah, a litany of verses spoken by the creatures & works of Creation (after the arrangement of Natan Slifkin)
Contributed on: 22 Mar 2015 by
❧Talmudic and midrashic sources contain hymns of the creation usually based on homiletic expansions of metaphorical descriptions and personifications of the created world in the Bible. The explicitly homiletic background of some of the hymns in Perek Shira indicates a possible connection between the other hymns and Tannaitic and Amoraic homiletics, and suggests a hymnal index to well-known, but mostly unpreserved, homiletics. The origin of this work, the period of its composition and its significance may be deduced from literary parallels. A Tannaitic source in the tractate Hagiga of the Jerusalem (Hag. 2:1,77a—b) and Babylonian Talmud (Hag. 14b), in hymns of nature associated with apocalyptic visions and with the teaching of ma’aseh merkaba serves as a key to Perek Shira’s close spiritual relationship with this literature. Parallels to it can be found in apocalyptic literature, in mystic layers in Talmudic literature, in Jewish mystical prayers surviving in fourth-century Greek Christian composition, in Heikhalot literature, and in Merkaba mysticism. The affinity of Perek Shira with Heikhalot literature, which abounds in hymns, can be noted in the explicitly mystic introduction to the seven crowings of the cock — the only non-hymnal text in the collection — and the striking resemblance between the language of the additions and that of Shi’ur Koma and other examples of this literature. In Seder Rabba de-Bereshit, a Heikhalot tract, in conjunction with the description of ma’aseh bereshit, there is a clear parallel to Perek Shira’s praise of creation and to the structure of its hymns. The concept reflected in this source is based on a belief in the existence of angelic archetypes of created beings who mediate between God and His creation, and express their role through singing hymns. As the first interpretations of Perek Shira also bear witness to its mystic character and angelologic significance, it would appear to be a mystical chapter of Heikhalot literature, dating from late Tannaitic — early Amoraic period, or early Middle Ages. . . .
אֵין כֵּאלֹהֵֽינוּ | Neniu Estas (נעניו עסטאַס) — an Esperanto translation of “Ein k’Eloheinu” by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed on: 28 Nov 2024 by
❧This is an original Esperanto translation of Ein K’Eloheinu, with a transcription using my own original Hebraization schema. . . .
💬 פרקי אבות פרק א׳ | Pirqei Avot: Chapter One, cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed on: 03 Feb 2019 by
❧Chapter 1 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation. . . .
💬 פרקי אבות פרק ב׳ | Pirqei Avot: Chapter Two, cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed on: 23 Jun 2020 by
❧Chapter 2 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation. . . .
💬 פרקי אבות פרק ג׳ | Pirqei Avot: Chapter Three, cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed on: 23 Jun 2020 by
❧Chapter 3 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation. . . .
💬 פרקי אבות פרק ד׳ | Pirqei Avot: Chapter Four, cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed on: 23 Jun 2020 by
❧Chapter 4 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation. . . .
💬 פרקי אבות פרק ה׳ | Pirqei Avot: Chapter Five, cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed on: 23 Jun 2020 by
❧Chapter 5 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation. . . .
💬 פרקי אבות פרק ו׳ | Pirqei Avot: Chapter Six, cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed on: 23 Jun 2020 by
❧Chapter 6 of Pirqei Avot (Fundamental Principles [of Rabbinic Judaism]) with cantillation and English translation. . . .
שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם (שְׁלָמָא אֵילוֹכוּן) | Shalom Aleikhem (Shlama Elokhun), Aramaic translation by Yaacov Maoz
Contributed on: 01 Nov 2020 by
❧The popular piyyut for welcoming the Shabbat, in Hebrew with translations in Assyrian-Aramaic and English. . . .
אֵין כֵּאלֹהֵֽינוּ | Non È Come lo Ded Nostro (נוֹן אֵי קוֹמְי לוֹדֵּיד נוֹשְׁטְרוֹ) — a Renaissance Judeo-Italian translation of Ein Keloheinu (1483)
Contributed on: 03 Apr 2024 by
❧The text of the piyyut Ein Keloheinu from a 1483 Judeo-Italian translation of the siddur (British Library Or. 2443), along with a transcription into Italian script, a normative Italian modernization, and the Hebrew and English. . . .
אֵין כֵּאלֹהֵֽינוּ | A Polyglot Version of Ein kEloheinu
Contributed on: 14 Feb 2021 by
❧The mantra-like piyyut “Ēin k-Ēlohēinu,” a praise of God’s attributes and uniqueness featuring incremental repetition, is found in siddurim as far back as the siddur of Rav Amram, and may date back to the Hekhalot literature. Many versions of it have been compiled in different languages, most famously Flory Jagoda (zç”l)’s Judezmo variant “Non como muestro Dyo.” Here the editor has compiled traditional Yiddish and Ladino translations, as well as developed new Aramaic and Arabic translations for this piyyut. The post-piyyut verses used in both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic rites have been included. . . .
נִשְׁמַת כָּל חַי | 每个生物的灵魂 | Nishmat Kol Ḥai (Měi gè shēngwù de línghún) — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)
Contributed on: 24 Jun 2023 by
❧This Chinese translation of an Ashkenazi nusaḥ for the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai is found on pages 1-2 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). . . .
נִשְׁמַת כָּל חַי | Nishmat Kol Ḥai, interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Contributed on: 19 Jan 2020 by
❧This “praying translation” of the piyyut Nishmat Kol Ḥai is included in Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s Sabbath Supplement to his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi ~ As I Can Say It (for Praying in the Vernacular) (2009). The translation includes several prayers that follow the piyyut: Ha-El B’ta’atsumot Uzekha, and Shoḥen Ad. . . .
נִשְׁמַת כָּל חַי (מנהג הספרדים) | Nishmat Kol Ḥai, arranged by Aharon Varady
Contributed on: 14 Jan 2020 by
❧The text of the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
נִשְׁמַת כָּל חַי | Nishmat Kol Ḥai, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
Contributed on: 21 Mar 2021 by
❧The text of the prayer Nishmat Kol Ḥai in Hebrew with a Latin translation . . .
הָאֵל בְּתַעֲצֻמוֹת עֻזֶּךָ | 上帝,拥有绝对的力量 | Ha-El b’taatsumot Uzekha (Shàngdì, yǒngyǒu juéduì de lìliàng) — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)
Contributed on: 24 Jun 2023 by
❧This Chinese translation of the short piyyut “Ha-El b’taatsumot” following Nishmat Kol Ḥai is found on page 2 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). . . .
הָאֵל בְּתַעֲצֻמוֹת עֻזֶּךָ | ha-El b’Taatsumōt Uzekha, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
Contributed on: 21 Mar 2021 by
❧The text of the short prayer ha-El b’Taatsumōt Uzekha in Hebrew with a Latin translation. . . .
וּבְמַקְהֲלוֹת רִבְבוֹת | 你的子民 | Uvmaqhalot Riv’vot (Nǐ de zi mín) — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)
Contributed on: 24 Jun 2023 by
❧This Chinese translation of an Ashkenazi nusaḥ for the prayer “Uvmaqhalot Riv’vot” following Nishmat Kol Ḥai is found on page 3 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). . . .
וּבְמַקְהֲלוֹת | uvMaqhalōt, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
Contributed on: 21 Mar 2021 by
❧The text of the short prayer uv’Maqhalōt in Hebrew with a Latin translation. . . .
שׁוֹכֵן עַד | 祂永存 | Shokhen Ad (Tā yǒngcún) — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)
Contributed on: 24 Jun 2023 by
❧This Chinese translation of an Ashkenazi nusaḥ for the piyyut “Shokhen Ad” following Nishmat Kol Ḥai is found on page 3 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). . . .
שׁוֹכֵן עַד | Shokhen Âd, in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)
Contributed on: 21 Mar 2021 by
❧The text of the short prayer Shokhen Ad in Hebrew with a Latin translation. . . .
הַכֹּל יוֹדוּךָ | 众人感谢 | Ha-Kol Yodukha (Zhòngrén gǎnxiè) — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)
Contributed on: 25 Jun 2023 by
❧This Chinese translation of an Ashkenazi nusaḥ of the prayer “ha-Kol Yodukha,” is found on pages 7-11 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). . . .
אֵל אָדוֹן | 上帝,主 | El Adon (Shàngdì, zhǔ) — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)
Contributed on: 25 Jun 2023 by
❧This Chinese translation of an Ashkenazi nusaḥ for the alphabetic acrostic piyyut “El Adon,” is found on page 8 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). . . .
עמידה לשחרית שבת (אשכנז) | Amidah for Shabbat Morning — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)
Contributed on: 28 Jun 2023 by
❧This Chinese translation of the Shaḥarit Amidah for Shabbat is found on pages 20-27 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). . . .
תהלים כ״ט | Psalms 29, translation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman and Efrat Rotem
Contributed on: 06 Feb 2020 by
❧Psalms 29, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
📄 Scaling the Walls of the Labyrinth: Psalms 67 and Ana b’Khoaḥ
Contributed on: 14 May 2012 by
❧Psalms 67 is a priestly blessing for all the peoples of the earth to be sustained by the earth’s harvest (yevulah), and it is a petition that all humanity recognize the divine nature (Elohim) illuminating the world. Composed of seven verses, the psalm is often visually depicted as a seven branched menorah. There are 49 words in the entire psalm, and in the Nusaḥ ha-ARI z”l there is one word for each day of the Sefirat haOmer. Similarly, the fifth verse has 49 letters and each letter can be used as a focal point for meditating on the meaning of the day in its week in the journey to Shavuot, the festival of weeks (the culmination of the barley harvest), and the festival of oaths (shevuot) in celebration of receiving the Torah. Many of the themes of Psalms 67 are repeated in the prayer Ana b’Koaḥ, which also has 49 words, and which are also used to focus on the meaning of each day on the cyclical and labyrinthine journey towards Shavuot. . . .
תהלים צ״ב | Psalms 92, translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed on: 27 Mar 2019 by
❧An English translation of Psalms 92 set side-by-side with the Masoretic text. . . .
תהלים צ״ג | Psalms 93, the psalm for Friday (translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)
Contributed on: 28 Jul 2017 by
❧Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the Psalm of the Day for Friday (Psalms 93) in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). To the best of my ability, I have set his translation side-by-side with a transcription of the vocalized text of the Psalm. . . .
תהלים צ״ג | Psalms 93, abridged translation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman and Efrat Rotem
Contributed on: 06 Feb 2020 by
❧Psalms 93, in Hebrew with an abridged translation. . . .
תהלים צ״ה | Psalms 95, translated by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman and Efrat Rotem
Contributed on: 06 Feb 2020 by
❧Psalms 95, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .
תהלים צ״ו | Psalms 96, translated by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman and Efrat Rotem
Contributed on: 06 Feb 2020 by
❧Psalms 96 in Hebrew, with an English translation. . . .
תהלים צ״ז | Psalms 97, abridged translation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman and Efrat Rotem
Contributed on: 06 Feb 2020 by
❧Psalms 97, in Hebrew with an abridged translation. . . .
תהלים צ״ח | Psalms 98, abridged translation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman and Efrat Rotem
Contributed on: 06 Feb 2020 by
❧Psalms 98, in Hebrew with an abridged translation. . . .
תהלים צ״ט | Psalms 99, translation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman and Efrat Rotem
Contributed on: 06 Feb 2020 by
❧Psalms 99, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .