📄 Scaling the Walls of the Labyrinth: Psalms 67 and Ana b’Khoaḥ

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. . . .

Tags: 42 letter divine name, a red ribbon, acrostic, אנא בכח Ana b'Khoaḥ, anxiety, barley, captives, cyclical, Divine name acrostic, first fruits, labyrinth, Psalms 67, Raḥav, shalmah, walled cities, wheat

Contributor(s): Unknown Author(s) and Aharon N. Varady

אַחֵֽינוּ | Aḥeinu (Our siblings)

“Aḥeinu” is the final prayer in a set of supplications recited on Mondays and Thursdays as the Torah scroll is being prepared to be returned to the Aron. The prayer is first found with variations in wording in the surviving manuscripts of the Seder Rav Amram Gaon (ca. 9th c.). . . .

Categories: Congregation & Community, After the Aliyot, Slavery & Captivity

Tags: 2023-2024 Israel–Hamas war, captives, Distress, Geonic prayers

Contributor(s): Anonymous (translation), Unknown Author(s) and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

אָנָּא בְּכֹחַ | Ana b’Khoaḥ, a 42 letter name piyyut with a singing translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

The most well-known 42 letter divine name acrostic piyyut. . . .

Categories: Dying, Slavery & Captivity

Tags: 42 letter divine name, acrostic, אנא בכח Ana b'Khoaḥ, devotional interpretation, Divine name acrostic, interpretive translation, Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia, פיוטים piyyuṭim, singing translation

Contributor(s): Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation) and Unknown Author(s)

The path of the righteous man (הַדֶרֶךְ שֶׁל הַצָדִיק Ha-derekh shel ha-tsadiq) — from the film The Bodyguard (1976), adapted by Jules Winnfield in the film Pulp Fiction (1994)

Tired of people who can’t tell their ḳiddish (blessings for the Sabbath) from their ḳaddish (prayer for the dead)? Well, it sets Samuel L. Jackson off too! But he found a way of making a bracha (blessing) and mourning the dead at the same time. Now I can’t vouch for the origins of his nusaḥ (custom) but it sounds very effective! Most people haven’t noticed, the only real part from the Bible is that last section, the first part is actually his own spiel: . . .

Categories: Taking a life, Slavery & Captivity

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., abduction, Hebrew translation, lonely man of faith, Prayers in Film, Psalmsploitation, vengeance

Contributor(s): Shmueli Gonzales (transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation) and Unknown Author(s)

מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ לְפִדְיוֹן שְׁבוּיִם | Mi sheBerakh for the redemption of those in captivity (or whose whereabouts are unknown)

This mi sheberakh was published by the Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain and the Commonwealth in June 2014, as “Prayer Issued for Missing Israeli Teenagers,” writing: “The prayer…currently being recited across Israel for missing teenagers Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, was issued today to Rabbanim of the United Hebrew Congregations by Chief Rabbi Mirvis.” Recitation of this psalm and mi sheberakh seem appropriate to me in the case of unconscionable, immoral, and unjust state policies that separate children from their caregivers. To help fulfill the mitsvah of ransoming captives, please contribute to funds paying out bail bonds and demonstrate your opposition to these policies. . . .

Categories: After the Aliyot, Slavery & Captivity

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., abduction, Arabic translation, מי שברך mi sheberakh, Needing Translation (into Arabic), געולה ge'ulah (redemption)

Contributor(s): Ephraim Mirvis, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UHC of the UK & the Commonwealth and Unknown Author(s)