💬 The Rainbow Haftarah by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (1993)

In August of 1993, I was the Resident Torah Teacher at Elat Chayyim retreat center. Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was the prayer leader of every Shabbat morning service, and had asked me to read in English the Prophetic readings every week.

During the week of August 8, I was invited to speak to speak with teen-agers at a nearby Jewish summer camp about Jewish approaches to the growing ecological dangers facing our planet. I did, and then came back to Elat Chayyim, feeling I had failed. Feeling distraught that I had not connected with the teens — the next generation of the Jewish people — even though they seemed to me the most important audience for what I had to say. The next night, I slept uneasy.

When I awoke, I felt unrolling in me a scroll of passionate words that seemed to me not in any ordinary way my own. I wrote them down.

Then I went to Reb Zalman to say I felt and thought as if I had been channeled a Haftarah for the days of Consolation that follow after the grief of Tishah b’Av, mourning the destruction of the Temple. I asked whether he would permit me to deliver it as the haftarah for the coming Shabbat. He agreed, and I did so on 27 Av 5753/ August 14, 1993.

When I read it that Shabbat, I felt myself again not the “author” but a channel for the message. One of the participants in the service said he had accidentally brushed against me as I was reading, and felt a shock like static electricity.

A few weeks later, Reb Zalman translated the Haftarah into Hebrew.

Though the words came to me for one of the Shabbats of Consolation, I have often used it since as the Haftarah for Shabbat Noach, the Torah portion when we read the story of the Rainbow, symbolizing the healing of the Earth after the Flood.

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Translation (Hebrew)	Source (English)
ה֣וֹי עַמִּ֔י כֹּוֵ֖י אֵ֑שׁ מַבִּיטִ֧ים בְּלִ֣י לִרְא֗וֹת מֻכֵּ֨י סַּנְוֵרִ֜ים בְּיָרְיֵי֙ עָשָׁ֣ן וַעֲרָפֶ֔ל עָבִ֧ים הַעוֹלִ֛ים מֵאַ֖וּשְׁוִיץ וּמֵ֥הִירֽוֹשִׁימָה׃ [ס]	You, My people, burnt in fire, still staring blinded by the flame and smoke that rose from Auschwitz and from Hiroshima;
ה֖וֹי עַמִּ֑י רְצוּצַ֤י רַעַם֙ שֶׁ֣ל עוֹלָ֔ם בְּחַבְלֵ֖י יִסּוּרָֽיו׃ [ס]	You, My people, Battered by the earthquakes of a planet in convulsion;
הוֹ֥י עַמִּ֛י טוֹבְעִ֥ים בִּמְצוּל֖וֹת מִלִּ֣ים וּתְמוּנ֑וֹת הַתּוֹבְעִ֨ים מִכֶּ֜ם לִזְל֣וֹל וְלִסְבּוֹא֗ לְמַלּא֤וֹת כֶּ֨רֶס֙ וּלְפַטֵּ֣ם בָ֔טֶן מֵשּׁ֣וּלְחָנ֔וֹת אֱלִילֵ֥י ע֖וֹשֶׁר וְחָמָֽס׃ [ס]	You, My people, Drowning in the flood of words and images That beckon you to eat and eat, to drink and drink, to fill and overfill your bellies at the tables of the gods of wealth and power;
הוֹ֥י עַמִּ֛י טוֹבְעִ֥ים בִּמְצוּל֖וֹת מִלִּ֣ים וּתְמוּנ֑וֹת הַשּׁוֹטְפִ֤ים בְּלִי־הֶ֨רֶף֙ עֲלֵי־עַ֣יִן וְאֹ֔זֶן וּמַעֲלִימִ֣ים ׀ עַל־דִבְרֵ֣י תוֹרָתִ֗י עַ֕ל חֶזְיוֹנ֥וֹת הַתֵּבֵ֖ל הִבְרִֽיא׃ [פ]	You, My people, Drowning in the flood of words and images That—poured unceasing on your eyes and ears— drown out My words of Torah, My visions of the earth made whole;
הִתְנַחֲמ֞וּ כִּ֤י אֶֽקְרָאֳכֶם֙ לִ֣שְׁלִיח֔וּת מָלֵּ֖א שִׂמְחָ֑ה לִקְרַ֥את עֲבוֹדָ֖ה חֲגִיגִֽית׃	Be comforted: I have for you a mission full of joy. I call you to a task of celebration.
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א‏ בַּ֨ל תִּבְעֲר֤וּ אֵשׁ֙ לִשְׂרֵפַ֣ת כִלְי֔וֹן רַ֣ק ׀ לְא֣וֹר מֵאִֽיר־ב֗וֹ יְמַ֤הֲרוּ֙ לְרַאֲוַ֣ת חֵ֔ן אֶחָ֖ד אֶת־הַשֵּׁנִ֑ית כׇּל־אֶחָ֤ד לְמִינוֹ֙ כׇּל־אֶחָ֔ד בַּ֖עַל נִיצ֥וּץ הָאַחְדּֽוּת׃ [ס]	I call you to make from fire not an all-consuming blaze But the light in which all beings see each other fully. All different, All bearing One Spark.
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א לְהַצִּ֣ית ׀ שַׁלְהֲב֣וֹת מַבְהִירָ֗ה אֲשֶׁר֙ הָאָ֣רֶץ וּמְלוֹאָ֔הּ לֹ֥א נִתָּנִ֖ים לִשְׂרֵפָ֑ה אֶ֕לָּא לַהַ֤ב אוֹר֙ שֶׁיּוֹפִ֣יעַ כַּקָּ֔שֶׁת מִלְאַ֧ת הַגְּוָנִ֛ים שֶׁ֥ל הָחַ֖יִּים כֻּלָּֽהּ׃ [ס]	I call you to light a flame to see more clearly That the earth and all who live as part of it Are not for burning: A flame to see The rainbow in the many-colored faces of all life.
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א אֲנִ֥י־יהו֣ה ׀ ר֣וּחַ הַחַיִּ֗ים הַשּׁוֹכֵ֤ן בָּכֶם֙ וּמִכֶּ֣ם הָ֔לְאָה הַשּׁוֹכֵ֥ן בֵּינֵיכֶ֖ם וָהָ֑לְאָה הַנּוֹשֵׁ֨ם בְּאֶ֜רֶז וּבְד֣וֹב הַבֵּ֗ר הַנּוֹפֵ֤שׁ מֵאָדָם֙ וּבַאֲגַ֔ם הַנּוֹשֵׁ֧ם בִּדְפִיק֛וּת וְהַקָּפ֥וֹת מַעֲרֶ֖כֶת שָׁמָֽיִם׃ עִ֚ם כׇּל־נְשִׁימָ֔ה אֹתִ֖י אָתֶּ֣ם נוֹשִׁ֑ים עִ֚ם כׇּל־נְשִׁימָ֔ה אֲנִ֥י נוֹפֵ֖חַ אֶתְכֶֽם׃ [ס]	I call you: I, the Breath of Life, Within you and beyond, Among you and beyond, [That One Who dwells between you and me] That One Who breathes from redwood into grizzly, That One Who breathes from human into swampgrass, That One Who breathes the great pulsations of the galaxies. In every breath you breathe Me, In every breath I breathe you.
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א בְּכׇל־ק֞וֹל צְרִיחַ֣ת צְפַרְדֵּ֗עַ בְּכׇל־קוֹל֙ עָלֶ֣ה נִדָּ֔ף בְּק֥וֹל חַ֖י בָּחַיִּ֑ים אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א בַּכֹּ֛ל מִתָּ֥חָת הָאֲדָמָ֖ה הַפְּצוּעָֽה׃ [פ]	I call you— In every croak of every frog I call you, In every rustle of each leaf, each life, I call you, In the wailings of the wounded earth I call you.
אֲנִ֤י קוֹרֵאֱכֶם֙ לְהִ֣קָּהֵ֔ל כָּאֻמָּ֣ה מִתְחַדֶּ֔שֶׁת לֶאֱר֣וֹג ׀ אֶת־טַלִּיתָ֣הּ שֶׁל־הָעָ֗ם וּבְזֹאת֙ אֲגֻדַּ֣ת הָהַחְלָמָ֔ה לֶאֱר֥וֹג מֵחָדָ֖שׁ אֵת־חַיֵּ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ אֲנִ֣י קוֹרֵאֱכֶ֔ם לַהֲגִירַ֖ת שֶׁ֥בַע דוֹרֽוֹת׃‏	I call you to a peoplehood renewed: I call you to reweave the fabric of your folk and so to join in healing the weave of life upon your planet. I call you to a journey of seven generations.
שֶׁ֤בַע דוֹרוֹת֙ עָבְר֣וּ לָהֶ֔ם וְהָאָ֛רֶץ לֹא־הִרְצָ֖ה אֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתֶ֑יהָ לָכֶ֗ן חֲרֵדִ֤ים אַתֶּם֙ בְּד֣וֹרְכֶ֔ם לְאֻמַּ֥ת הַמַּבּ֖וּל הַבָּֽא׃ אֲוִירְכֶם֙ מִלְאַ֣ת רַ֔עַל מְטַרְכֶ֥ם וְיַמְּכֶ֖ם בֹּ֣שֶׂם הַמָּ֑וֶת בְּאַ֨דְמַתְכֶ֜ם יַסְתִּ֗ירוּ נִשְׁקֵי֙ אֵ֣שׁ מוּרְעָ֔ל זֵרְעוֹנֵ֣י בָרָ֔ק עֲמוּסֵ֖י עַרְפִלֵּ֥י מָֽוֶת׃ הָרֵ֥י קֶ֨רַח֙ נָמַ֣סּוּ כַּדּוֹנֵ֔ג הַיַּמִּ֖ים גּוֹעֲשִׁ֑ים וַאֲוִירְכֶם֙ חֲשׂוּכֵ֣י קִיט֔וֹר וְחֹ֖ם הַמַּגְבִֽיר׃ [פ]	For seven generations past, the earth has not been able to make Shabbos. And so in your own generation You tremble on the verge of Flood. Your air is filled with poison. The rain, the seas, with poison. The earth hides arsenals of poisonous fire, Seeds of light surcharged with fatal darkness. The ice is melting, The seas are rising, The air is dark with smoke and rising heat.
לָכֵ֗ן אֶקְרָאֳכֶ֤ם לָשֵׂאת֙ אֶ֣ל־כׇּל־הָעַמִּ֔ים אֵ֖ת מַשְׂאֵ֣ת הַתּוֹרָ֑ה לְשֶׁ֨בָע דוֹר֜וֹת הַבָּאִ֗ים שֶׁ֤יִּלְמְדוּ֙ לִשְׁבּ֔וֹת הַתֵּבֵ֖ל וְהַיּוֹשְׁבִ֥ים בֽוֹ׃ [ס]	And so—I call you to carry to all peoples the teaching that for seven generations the earth and all her earthlings learn to rest.
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א שׁ֣וּב וָשׁ֗וּב לנבאות [לְהִינָּבֵ֤א] בִּשְׁמִי֙ לְדַבֵּ֣ר בִּשְׁמִ֔י כִּ֥י אֵ֖ין לִ֣י ק֑וֹל‏ לִהְיוֹ֣ת בִּשְׁמ֡וֹ שֶׁל־הָאֵ֣ין ׀ שֶׁ֣ם לוֹ֩ לִהְי֨וֹת מְלִיצִ֜ים לִשְׁאֵ֣ין ׀ לָהֶ֣ם ק֗וֹל לִהְי֕וֹת לְפֶ֖ה אִלְּמֵ֥י הַתֵּבֵֽל׃	I call you once again To speak for Me, To speak for Me because I have no voice, To speak the Name of the One who has no Name, [To speak on behalf of those without a voice of their own] To speak for all the Voiceless of the planet.
מִ֥י יְדַבֵּ֖ר לָ֑נוּ בָּעַ֨ד אַרְזֵ֤י אֲדֻמִּים֙ וְצוּרִ֔ים בַּעֲדֵ֥י אַרְיֵ֖ה וְצִרְעָֽה׃	Who speaks for the redwood and the rock, the lion and the beetle?
אֶת־רוּחִ֧י אֲנִ֛י נוֹפֵ֥חַ בָּכֶ֖ם לְהַשְׁמִ֣יעַ ק֑וֹל דַּבְּר֨וּ לָ֜נוּ בָּעַ֨ד אַרְזֵ֤י אֲדֻמִּים֙ וְצוּרִ֔ים אֲרָי֖וֹת וְצִרְעֽוֹת׃ [פ]	My Breath I blow through you into a voicing: Speak for the redwood and the rock, the lion and the beetle.
אֶקְרָאֳכֶם֙ לִפְקֻדַּ֣ת שִׂמְחָ֔ה לְשֶׁ֖בָע דוֹר֑וֹת זֹא֕ת עֲשׂ֖וּ וַחֲיֽוּ׃	I call you to a task of joy: For seven generations, this is what I call for you to do:
ע֣וֹד תָּחֹ֩גּוּ֩ מוֹעֲדֵ֨י שִׂמְחַתְכֶ֜ם לַחֲגִיגַ֣ת ׀ עוֹנ֣וֹת הָאֲדָמָ֗ה לְקַבֵּ֤ל פְּנֵי֙ אוֹפְלֵי֙ הַסַּ֣הַר וְהַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ בַּאֲבוּק֖וֹת נֵ֑ר לְבָ֧רֵךְ אֶת־פְּרִי־הָעֵ֛ץ בִּלְעִיס֖וֹת לעטות [אִטִּיּֽוֹת]׃ כִּי־תְּקַבְּל֞וּ פְנֵי־עֲסִיס֙ הָעוֹלֶ֔ה בְּכׇל־גוּפ֖וֹת הָעֵצִ֑ים דְּעוּ־נָ֕א כִּ֥י אָנֹכִ֖י עֵ֥ץ הַחַיִּֽים׃	To make once more the seasons of your joy into celebrations of the seasons of the earth; To welcome with your candles the dark of moon and sun, To bless with careful chewing the fruits of every tree For when you meet to bless the rising juice of life in every tree trunk— I am the Tree of Life.
לִחְי֨וֹת לְשָׁב֜וּעַ בְּסֻכּ֣וֹת ׀ מְשִׁ֣יבֵי ר֗וּחַ לְהַצְהִ֤יר אֱמֶת֙ לְכׇל־הַשְּׁכֵנִ֔ים הַשּׁוֹכְנִ֖ים בְּצִדְּכֶ֑ם כִּ֣י אַ֠תֶּ֠ם חוּטִ֨ים מִצְּר֤וֹר הָחַיִּים֙ וְרוּח֔וֹ אֵ֚יךְ תַּגְבִּ֣יהוּ חוֹמ֔וֹת לְהַסְגִּ֖יר אֶת־הָרֽוּח׃	To live seven days in the open, windy huts, And call out truth to all who live beside you— You are part of the weave and breath of life, You cannot make walls to wall it out.
אֶקְרָאֳכֶם֙ לִבְרִ֣ית בֵּין־הַדּוֹר֔וֹת אִ֣ם תִּקָּהֲל֣וּ לְבָ֘רֵךְ֮ אֶת־יוֹצְאֵ֣י חֲלָצֵיכֶם֒ כְּשֶׁ֤תְּקַבְּלוּ֙ עֲלֵיכֶ֔ם עֹ֥ל חֲדָשִׁ֖ים לִבְקָרִ֑ים אַתֶּ֨ם תַּגִּ֤ידוּ לָהֶם֙ וְהֶ֣ם לָכֶ֔ם כֻּלְּכֶ֥ם נְבִיאַ֖י אָֽתֶּם׃ לְהָשִׁ֤יב לֵב־אָבוֹת֙ אל [עַל]־בָּנִ֔ים וְלֵ֥ב בָּנִ֖ים אל [עַל]־אֲבוֹתָ֑ם פֶּן־תֶּחֱרַ֥ב אַדְמָתִ֖י לְדִרְא֥וֹן עוֹלָֽם׃ [ס]	I call you to a covenant between the generations: That when you gather for a blessing of your children as they take on the tasks of new tomorrows, You say to them, they say to you, That you are all My prophet Come to turn the hearts of parents and of children toward each other, Lest my earth be smashed in utter desolation.
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א לֶאֱכ֧וֹל אַ֛ךְ מָ֥ה־שֶׁאֲנִ֖י מַכְשִֽׁיר׃ אֹ֤כֶל הַצּוֹמֵ֨חַ֙ מֵאֲדָמָה֙ לֹ֣א רְעוּלָ֔ה שֶׁ֧מֶן הַצָּ֛ף מִן־אֶ֥רֶץ שֶׁאֵינְכֶ֖ם מְרִיקִ֑ים נְיָ֨ר הַבָּ֜א מֵאֲדָמָ֗ה שֶׁאֵינְכֶ֤ם מַעֲלִים֙ גַּרְזֶ֣ן עָלֶ֔יהָ אֲוִ֧יר שֶׁעוֹלֶ֛ה מִתְּה֥וֹם שֶׁאֵינְכֶ֖ם מַחְנִקִֽים׃ [ס]	I call you To eat what I call kosher: Food that springs from an earth you do not poison, Oil that flows from an earth you do not drain, Paper that comes from an earth you do not slash, Air that comes from an earth you do not choke.
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א לְהִתְיַצֵּ֕ב לִפְנֵ֥י עַמִּ֖ים וְרוֹזְנִֽים׃	I call you to speak to all the peoples, all the rulers.
לְהַדְרִ֨יךְ לְאֻמִּ֤ים לִרְווֹת֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה בְמַ֥יִם זַכִּ֖ים מֵרַ֑עַל לְהַ֣אֲמִירָ֔ם לְנַקּ֥וֹת וְלִזְכּ֖וֹת גִּשְׁמֵ֥י חֽוֹרֶף׃ [ס]	I call you to walk forth before all nations, to pour out water that is free of poison and call them all to clean and clarify the rains of winter.
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א לַחְבּ֛וֹט עֲרָב֖וֹת עֲלֵי־אֲדָמ֑וֹת וּבְק֤וֹל מְבַשֵּׂר֙ וְאוֹמֵ֔ר לְהַשְׁמִ֥יעַ אֲרוּכָ֖ה לְכׇל־הָעַמִּֽים׃ [ס]	I call you to beat your willows on the earth and shout its healing to all peoples.
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א לְהַזְהִ֣יר ׀ אֵ֣ת כׇּל־הָעֵד֗וֹת לְטַהֵר֙ אֶת־אֲוִ֔יר שֶׁה֥וּא רוּחִ֖י וְנִשְׁמָתִ֑י לְטַהֲר֗וֹ מִכׇּל־מִינֵי֙ קִיט֣וֹרֵי מָ֔וֶת הַמַּהְפָּכִ֥ים אֶת־אָרְצִ֖י לְכ֥וּר וְכִבְשָֽׁן׃ [ס]	I call on you to call on all the peoples to cleanse My Breath, My air, from all the gases that turn My earth into a furnace.
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א לְהָאִ֛יר אֶת־כׇּל־צַבָּעֵ֖י הַקָּ֑שֶׁת לְהָרִ֣ים נֵס֩ נִרְאֶ֨ה לְכׇל־רוֹאֶ֜ה דֶּ֣גֶל הַבְּרִ֗ית בֵּינִ֨י וּבֵ֤ין בְּנֵי֙ נֹ֣חַ וְנַעֲמָ֔ה וּלְכׇל־נְשָׁמָ֥ה הָחַיָּ֖ה עֲלֵי־אֲדָמֽוֹת׃ כְּדֵ֕י שֶׁלֹּ֥א יִשְׁבֹּ֖ת לְע֣וֹלְמֵי־עַ֑ד זריעה [זֶ֡רַע] וְ֠קָצִ֠יר וְקֹ֨ר וָחֹ֜ם וְקַ֧יִץ וָחֹ֛רֶף וְי֥וֹם וָלַ֖יְלָה לֹ֥א יִשְׁבֹּֽתוּ׃ [ס]	I call you to light the colors of the Rainbow, To raise once more before all eyes That banner of the covenant between Me, and all the children of Noah and Naamah, and all that lives and breathes upon the Earth— So that never again, all the days of the earth, shall sowing and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night ever cease!
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א וַאֲהַבְתֶּ֛ם אֶת־נִשְׁמַ֖ת הָחַיִּ֑ים כִּ֧י הָאַהֲבָ֛ה הִ֥יא הַלַּהַ֖ב בְּת֣וֹךְ הַקָּֽשֶׁת׃ [ס]	I call you to love the Breath of Life— For love is the fire That blazes in the Rainbow.
אֲלֵיכֶ֨ם אֶקְרָ֜א לִחְי֗וֹת לְשֶׁ֧בַע דוֹר֛וֹת כִּימֵ֥י צֵאתְכֶ֖ם מִן־הַשִּׁיעְבּ֑וּד וְהָאָ֨רֶץ תּוֹצִ֤יא אֶת־הַמָּן֙ לְשֶׁ֣בַע דוֹר֔וֹת לֶ֖חֶם חֶדְוָ֥ה וְחֵרֽוּת׃ וְאָז֙ תָּשִׁ֣יר הָאָ֔רֶץ כֻּלָּ֥הּ‎ כְּאֶחָ֖ד אֶת־הַשִּׁ֣יר הֶחָדָ֑שׁ מִזְמ֕וֹר שִׁ֖יר לְי֥וֹם הַשַּׁבָּֽת׃ [ש]	I call you so to live for seven generations As in the days when you went forth from slavery; So in these seven generations The earth will bring forth manna, The bread of joy and freedom— and all earth can sing together Songs of Shabbos.

This haftarah was transcribed by Aharon Varady from a PDF first published at The Shalom Center. The transcription was incomplete in places. Reb Zalman added a couple lines of his own in his Hebrew translation, and where that occurs I’ve added translations of them in brackets. In December 2018/5779, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer added vocalization and cantillation for Reb Zalman’s Hebrew translation. (Thank you!) –Aharon Varady

Recordings

the Rainbow Haftarah Chanted by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

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“💬 The Rainbow Haftarah by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (1993)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also translates and authors his own original works.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Jack Kessler (trōpification)

Ḥazzan Jack Kessler is the dean of the Cantorial department of the professional training program of Aleph: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, and teaches a number of cantorial students. His current performance projects are directing, composing for, and being the vocal lead of the two touring ensembles Atzilut, a duet format of Arab and Jewish musicians performing together, and Klingon Klezmer, which does ‘Jewish music from other planets.Ḥazzan Kessler was ordained as a Cantor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and went on to have a twenty-year career serving Conservative congregations. During that time he received a Master’s degree in voice from Boston Conservatory and pursued studies in composition in the graduate department of Brandeis University, where he worked with Arthur Berger and Harold Shapero, and Bethany Beardslee at Harvard. A lyric baritone, he has performed opera, oratorio, and premiered new works, in addition to his ongoing career as a singer of Ḥazzanut, the sacred cantorial art. Originally trained as an Ashkenazi Ḥazzan, his performance style and original compositions also embrace Sephardi and Mizrachi styles. Ḥazzan Kessler has lectured and taught master classes in Jewish music at New England Conservatory in Boston, the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York, and presented many concerts in an educational format.

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Rabbi Dr. Zalman Meshullam Schachter-Shalomi, affectionately known as "Reb Zalman" (28 August 1924 – 3 July 2014) was one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement. Born in Żółkiew, Poland (now Ukraine) and raised in Vienna, he was interned in detention camps under the Vichy Regime but managed to flee the Nazi advance, emigrating to the United States in 1941. He was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi in 1947 within the ḤaBaD Hasidic movement while under the leadership of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, and served ḤaBaD communities in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He subsequently earned an M.A. in psychology of religion at Boston University, and a doctorate from the Hebrew Union College. He was initially sent out to speak on college campuses by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but in the early 1960s, after experimenting with "the sacramental value of lysergic acid", the main ingredient in LSD, leadership within ḤaBaD circles cut ties with him. He continued teaching the Torah of Ḥassidut until the end of his life to creative, free and open-minded Jewish thinkers with humility and kindness and established warm ecumenical ties as well. In September 2009, he became the first contributor of a siddur to the Open Siddur Project database of Jewish liturgy and related work. Reb Zalman supported the Open Siddur Project telling its founder, "this is what I've been looking forward to!" and sharing among many additional works of liturgy, an interview he had with Havurah magazine in the early to mid-1980s detailing his vision of "Database Davenen." The Open Siddur Project is proud to be realizing one of Reb Zalman's long held dreams.

Arthur Waskow

Rabbi Arthur Waskow is the director of The Shalom Center. In 2013, Rabbi Waskow received T’ruah’s first Lifetime Achievement Award as a “Human Rights Hero.” His chapter, “Jewish Environmental Ethics: Adam and Adamah,” appears in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality (Dorff & Crane, eds.; Oxford Univ. Press, 2013). Rabbi Waskow is the author of 22 books including Godwrestling, Seasons of Our Joy (JPS, 2012), and Down-to-Earth Judaism: Food, Money, Sex, and the Rest of Life. With Sister Joan Chittister and Murshid Saadi Shakur Chisht he co-authored The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and with with Rabbi Phyllis Berman wrote Freedom Journeys: Exodus & Wilderness Across Millennia (Jewish Lts, 2011). He edited Torah of the Earth (two volumes, eco-Jewish thought from earliest Torah to our own generation). These pioneering books on eco-Judaism are available at discount from “Shouk Shalom,” The Shalom center's online bookstore.

Elat Chayyim Center for Jewish Spirituality

The Elat Chayyim Center for Jewish Spirituality (now a program of Hazon at the Isabella Freedman Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT) began as the Elat Chayyim Jewish Retreat Center, a project from the board of ALEPH (Alliance for Jewish Renewal), the central organization in Jewish renewal. Founded in the early 1990s by by Rabbi Jeff Roth and Joanna Katz, Elat Chayyim offered weekly spiritual retreats year round in the Catskill mountains of New York. Retreats included classes with top faculty, vegetarian food, spiritual community, yoga and meditation offerings, and a unique prayer experience. In 2006, Elat Chayyim relocated to the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. In 2014, both Isabella Freedman and Elat Chayyim (as well as the Teva Learning Center and the Adamah Farm Fellowship) merged with Hazon.

the Shalom Center

Founded by Arthur Waskow, the Shalom Center equips activists and spiritual leaders with awareness and skills needed to lead in shaping a transformed and transformative Judaism that can help create a world of peace, justice, healing for the earth, and respect for the interconnectedness of all life.

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“Rainbow God’s Earth Covenant” (Virginia, credit: ForestWander, license: CC BY-SA)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17

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Works of related interest:

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem. Cross section. (Georg Dehio/Gustav von Bezold, 1887–1901) This image is taken from Georg Dehio/Gustav von Bezold: Kirchliche Baukunst des Abendlandes. Stuttgart: Verlag der Cotta'schen Buchhandlung 1887-1901, Plate No. 10. Due to its age, it is to be used with care. It may not reflect the latest knowledge or the current state of the depicted structure.

💬 The Last Tishah b’Av: A Tale of New Temples, by Rabbi Arthur Ocean Waskow & Rabbi Phyllis Ocean Berman (2006)

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📖 סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | A Tu BiShvat Seder to Heal the Wounded Earth, by Rabbi Arthur Waskow (The Shalom Center)

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1 comment to 💬 The Rainbow Haftarah by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (1993)

Tikkun Olam: Rainbow Covenant | Wellsprings of Wisdom
2020-10-12 at 9:05 am · Reply.
The Rainbow Covenant & the Planet
Although we often first learn the story of Noah as children, as if it is just a colorful tale of a floating zoo, it is actually a terrifying story of destruction, chaos, and survival. After Noah, his family, and the animals survive the Great Flood, God chooses the rainbow, an existing natural phenomena, as the sign of a covenant of forbearance not just with one person or even a nation, but with the entire planet.
In our own days, with thousands of species endangered and being destroyed, with global climate change threatening the future of human civilization, the importance of a covenant with the whole planet–humans, animals, and plants–has new meaning. Now it is we human beings who must urgently make a covenant with all living things, not to destroy them from our greed and exploitation. Rabbi Arthur Waskow of The Shalom Center has made the Rainbow Covenant a central message of his teachings about imperative of to act for the future of the planet. Each of us must do our own part, not just in individual action but in urgent collective action, to protect the delicate ark of our planet floating in the vast sea of space.
Rabbi Waskow has conveyed a modern-day Haftarah like a modern prophetic message about the meaning of the Rainbow. Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi translated this powerful message into Hebrew.
אליכם אקרא להאיר את כל צבעי הקשת
להרים נס נראה לכל רואה
דגל הברית ביני ובין בני נח ונעמה
ולכל נשמה החיה עלי אדמות
כדי שלא ישבות לעולמי עד
זריעה וקציר קור וחום:
קיץ וחורף לילה ויום לא ישבותו:‏
I call you to light the colors of the Rainbow,
To raise once more before all eyes
That banner of the covenant between Me,
and all the children of Noah and Naamah,
and all that lives and breathes upon the Earth—
So that
never again,
all the days of the earth, shall
sowing and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
ever cease!
–from the Rainbow Haftarah, by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Hebrew by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Rainbow Day
Another recognition of the Rainbow Covenant is the observance of Rainbow Day, the day Jewish tradition has it that Noah and his family left the Ark. Look on a Jewish calendar for Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) and Rainbow Day will be the day before. Here are some resources for Rainbow Day from Rabbi David Seidenberg, which can also be used when reading the Torah portion of Noah’s Ark or whenever you want to explore the themes of the Rainbow and world ecology.
Photo at left by Adam Segulah Sher.
Enjoy a moment of pure Rainbow Magic, or return to the Gateway of Rainbows.