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Written by future founding father Benjamin Franklin in 1755, “A Parable Against Persecution,” also known as “the 51st Chapter [of Genesis],” is an example of what is often called ‘pseudo-biblicism,’ a trend from the 1740s to the mid-19th century of writing modern events in the already-archaic style of the King James Bible. More strictly, “A Parable Against Persecution” is an example of pseudepigrapha in that it is meant to be read as part of the book of Genesis, telling a story of Abraham facing a non-coreligionist, acting rashly, and learning a lesson about religious tolerance. Already in 1755 we can see Franklin’s radically liberal religious views. . . . 💬 Preamble to the United States Constitution (1787, with translations in Hebrew and Yiddish by Judah David Eisenstein 1891)The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, in English with Hebrew and Yiddish translations. . . .  Categories: Modern Miscellany, US Constitution & Citizenship Day Readings, Independence Day (July 4th)אמעריקע | America (My Country, ‘Tis of Thee), a patriotic hymn by Samuel Francis Smith (1832) with Yiddish translation by Berl Lapin (1950)The well-known patriotic hymn with a Yiddish translation. . . .  Tags: Patriotic hymns, doikayt, hereness, 19th century C.E., United States, זמירות zemirot, 57th century A.M., Yiddish translation, Yiddish songs, American Jewry of the United States Contributor(s): Berl Lapin (translation), Samuel Francis Smith and Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)Opening prayer for the Ceremonies at the Site of the Statue of Religious Liberty by the Independent Order of B’nai Brith, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (5 July 1875)This was the opening prayer offered by Rabbi Sabato Morais at the “Ceremonies at the Site of the Statue of Religious Liberty by the Independent Order of B’nai Berith” for the Celebration of the Ninety-Ninth Anniversary of American Independence in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, July 5th, 1875 and published in a booklet containing the same. The site of the ceremonies was “the Walnut Street Railway, near the Centennial grounds.” The statue, “Religious Liberty,” was commissioned by B’nai B’rith and dedicated “to the people of the United States” as an expression of support for the Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. It was created by Moses Jacob Ezekiel, a B’nai B’rith member and the first American Jewish sculptor to gain international prominence. . . . Categories: Independence Day (July 4th)דער נײער קאָלאסוס | The New Collosus, a paean to the Shekhinah/”Mother of Exiles” by Emma Lazarus (1883, Yiddish translation by Rachel Kirsch Holtman 1938)This is the sonnet, “The New Collosus” (1883) by Emma Lazarus set side-by-side with its Yiddish translation by Rachel Kirsch Holtman. Lazarus famously penned her sonnet in response to the waves of Russian-Jewish refugees seeking refuge in the Unites States of America as a result of murderous Russian pogroms following the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881. Her identification and revisioning of the Statue of Liberty as the Mother of Exiles points to the familiar Jewish identification of the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence, in its feminine aspect) with the light of the Jewish people in their Diaspora. . . . Categories: Mother's Day (2nd Sunday of May), Independence Day (July 4th), Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday of November) Contributor(s): Rachel Kirsch Holtman (translation), Emma Lazarus and Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)אַמעריקע די פּרעכטיקע | America the Beautiful, a patriotic hymn by Katharine Lee Bates (1895) with Yiddish translation by Berl Lapin (1950)“America the Beautiful,” the patriotic hymn (1911 version) by Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929) in its Yiddish translation by Berl Lapin (1889-1952). . . . Categories: Independence Day (July 4th) Tags: doikayt, hereness, 19th century C.E., United States, זמירות zemirot, 57th century A.M., Yiddish translation, Yiddish songs, American Jewry of the United States, Patriotic hymns Contributor(s): Berl Lapin (translation), Katharine Lee Bates and Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)“My America (Our New Hymn)” was written by Morris Rosenfeld and published by the Jewish Morning Journal sometime mid-April 1917. On April 2nd, the United States had entered the World War against Germany and its allies. In the xenophobic atmosphere of the United States during World War Ⅰ, Representative Isaac Siegel (1880-1947), R-NY, offered the hymn as evidence of the patriotism of America’s “foreign-born” Jewish immigrants. The poem in its English translation was added to the Congressional Record on 18 April 1917 in an extension of remarks. Xenophobia in the United States though did not ebb. Nearly a year later, on April 4, 1918, a German immigrant, Robert Prager, was lynched in Collinsville, Illinois. . . . Categories: Independence Day (July 4th), US Veterans Day (11 November), Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday of November)That America Fulfil the Promise of Its Founding, a prayer for Independence Day by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)A prayer for Independence Day in the United States by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, prefaced by an abridged reading of the Declaration of Independence. . . . Categories: Independence Day (July 4th)“Prayer for National Holiday” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 71, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . . עַל הַנִּסִּים בִּימֵי הוֹדָיָה לְאֻמִּיִּים | Al haNissim prayer on Civic Days of Patriotic Gratitude, by Aharon VaradyOpportunities to express gratitude on civic days of patriotic thanksgiving demand acknowledgement of an almost unfathomably deep history of trauma — not only the suffering and striving of my immigrant ancestors, but the sacrifice of all those who endured suffering dealt by their struggle to survive, and often failure to survive, the oppressions dealt by colonization, conquest, hegemony, natural disaster. Only the Earth (from which we, earthlings were born, Bnei Adam from Adamah) has witnessed the constancy of the violent deprivations we inflict upon each other. The privilege I’ve inherited from these sacrifices has come at a cost, and it must be honestly acknowledged, especially on civic days of thanksgiving, independence, and freedom. I insert this prayer after Al Hanissim in the Amidah and in the Birkat Hamazon on national days of independence and thanksgiving. . . . Categories: Conflicts over Sovereignty and Dispossession, Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Yom ha-Atsma'ut (5 Iyyar), US Flag Day (June 14), Independence Day (July 4th), Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday of November) Tags: 21st century C.E., immigration, 58th century A.M., sanctuary, eco-conscious, Indigenous Peoples, subjugation, Gratitude, נודה לך Nodeh L'kha, hegemony, primordial scream, על הנסים al hanissim, stewardship, shomrah ul'ovdah, Needing Translation (into Hebrew), colonization, conquest, settlement, acquisition, refugees, מודים Modim
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a still frame (01:02:54) of the everyday evening Fourth of July Parade and Picnic in Topeka Downunder from the film adaptation of Harlan Ellison's post-apocalyptic tale: A BOY AND HIS DOG (1975) (This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in category pages and in shared links on social media.)
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The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.
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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