Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“[Prayer for a] Birthday Celebration” is found in the “Family Worship” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), page 31.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“A Prayer of Re-dedication” (also simply called “Rededication”) is the thirty-fifth prayer in the “Meditations” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 199. It is one of only three new prayers found in this section (the others having been reprinted from CCAR’s 1923 collection of teḥinot). A close read of the prayer suggests to me that this prayer was written in the shadow of World War Ⅱ and the Holocaust, giving voice to concerns over Jewish continuity in the midst of post–World War II economic expansion and largess in the United States.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“Lead Us, Lord” (also called, “God’s Guidance”) is the thirty-seventh prayer in the “Meditations” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 201. It is one of only three new prayers found in this section (the others having been reprinted from CCAR’s 1923 collection of teḥinot).
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“Repentance” is the thirty-sixth prayer in the “Meditations” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 200. It is one of only three new prayers found in this section (the others having been reprinted from CCAR’s 1923 collection of teḥinot).
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“Prayer After Passing Through Danger” is the second prayer in the “Personal Prayers for Special Occasions” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 42.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“[Prayer for] Thanksgiving Day” is found in the “Family Worship” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), pp. 29-30.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“On Taking a Journey” is the first prayer in the “Personal Prayers for Special Occasions” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 41.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“Beginning a New Enterprise” is the third prayer in the “Personal Prayers for Special Occassions” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), pp. 43-44.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“Family Ceremony for the Consecration of a New Home” is the first ritual ceremony found in the “Family Worship” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), pp. 7-11.
Contributed by: Unknown (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
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.
Contributed by: Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
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.”
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
This “Opening Prayer at a Service for Observance of a Congregational Anniversary” is included in CCAR’s Rabbi’s Manual (1928), pp. 130-132.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
This “Prayer at [the] Dedication of a Community Center” is included in CCAR’s Rabbi’s Manual (1928), p. 117.
Contributed by: Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR], Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
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.
Contributed by: Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR], Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
This prayer by an unknown author is first found in Evening Service for the Sabbath from the Union Prayer Book (Newly Revised) (1924), p. 45. (It also appears on the same page of the 1940 edition of the “newly revised” UPB.) The prayer is included as a third variation of a Reform synagogue’s Shabbat evening service, in the Amidah before the silent meditation. Rabbi Michael Satz of Temple B’nai Or (Morristown, New Jersey) affectionately refers to it as the “Coal Miner’s Prayer.”
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“The Sabbath” is the fifth prayer found in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 22-25. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution to any of the prayers in this volume. The author was likely one of the members of the Committee on Book of Meditations and Prayers: Solomon B. Freehof, Israel Bettan, Abraham Cronbach, Morris S. Lazaron, and Abram Simon.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“Daily Revelation is found early on in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 19-21. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution to any of the prayers in this volume. The author was likely one of the members of the Committee on Book of Meditations and Prayers: Solomon B. Freehof, Israel Bettan, Abraham Cronbach, Morris S. Lazaron, and Abram Simon.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
“Starting Anew” is found early on in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 15-18. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution to any of the prayers in this volume. The author was likely one of the members of the Committee on Book of Meditations and Prayers: Solomon B. Freehof, Israel Bettan, Abraham Cronbach, Morris S. Lazaron, and Abram Simon.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown, Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]
This “Morning Prayer” is found in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 12-14. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution to any of the prayers in this volume. The author was likely one of the members of the Committee on Book of Meditations and Prayers: Solomon B. Freehof, Israel Bettan, Abraham Cronbach, Morris S. Lazaron, and Abram Simon.
Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown
This “Meditation” is the opening prayer of ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 9-11. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution to any of the prayers in this volume. The author was likely one of the members of the Committee on Book of Meditations and Prayers: Solomon B. Freehof, Israel Bettan, Abraham Cronbach, Morris S. Lazaron, and Abram Simon.

