This is an archive of prayers composed for or relevant to the immediate congregation and its wider community. Click here to contribute a prayer you have written, translated, or transcribed for this portion of the Torah Reading Service. Filter resources by Collaborator Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category Filter resources by Language Filter resources by Date Range
This prayer for communal prayer first appears in A Selection of Prayers, Psalms, and Other Scriptural Passages, and Hymns for Use at the Services of the Jewish Religious Union (1902), where it is №5 on page 6. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
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The well known philosopher Bertrand Russell had little use for organized religion and in general was quite skeptical in his religious beliefs. I am not a regular reader of Russell but apparently Mordecai Kaplan read him from time to time. In the early 1940s he came across a short essay which Russell wrote many years before entitled “A Free Man’s Religious Worship” (1910). Kaplan mentions the essay a number of times in the diary and I am struck by the fact that Kaplan quotes and focuses on what he considers to be some positive statements in this essay. As a consequence I have been reading Russell and here offer some inspiring statements from this essay. I have taken the liberty of selecting my own statements from this essay. Russell is referring here to all our fellow human beings and our obligations to all others. It is obvious that in true reconstructionist fashion we could use these statements as a prayer. To pray from Russell would be an inspiration from Kaplan. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
Titled, “The Decline of Religious Observance,” this prayer from Rabbi Abraham Cronbach open’s his collection of prayer, Prayers of the Jewish Advance (1924), on pages 2 through 5. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
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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. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
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A prayer on behalf of one’s congregation and the worldwide community of Israelites. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
This untitled prayer written by Isaac Bashevis Singer on the back of a receipt (dated 1 March 1952) was discovered by David Stromberg in 2014 in the archives at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, and published online by Tablet (1, 2) with permission of the Susan Schulman Literary Agency. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
This “Brighton 21st Anniversary” prayer (27 May 1956) by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), pp. 353-354. Brighton & Hove Liberal (now, Progressive) Synagogue, also known as Adat Shalom Verei’ut (Congregation of Peace and Friendship), is a Liberal synagogue in Hove, Sussex, England. It was established in 1935. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
“Temple Anniversary Prayer” by Rabbi Roland Gittelsohn was written sometime between 1953 and 1962, likely for Temple Israel (Boston, Massachusetts), where he served from 1953 until 1977. Unfortunately, no more information was provided by Rabbi David Bial in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 52, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
“Installation Prayer” by Rabbi Wolf Gunther Plaut was first published in Rabbi Morrison David Bial’s anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 51, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
“Invocation for United Jewish Appeal” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 70, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
“Invocation for Temple Meeting” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 69, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
“Meeting Invocation” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 75, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
“Benediction for Charity Meeting” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 74, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
This undated prayer offered at one of the World Union of Progressive Judaism Conferences by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), p. 355. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
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