Terror • the Open Siddur Project ✍ פְּרוֺיֶּקט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ

This is an archive of prayers composed in response to or in anxious anticipation of an attack intended to invoke communal terror and distress.
Click here to contribute a prayer you have written, or a transcription and translation of a historical prayer.
Looking for something else?
For prayers offered in the event of imminent communal danger and distress, go here.
For prayers offered in the event of hateful intolerance, prejudice, and bigotry, go here.
For prayers offered in the event of pogroms and genocide, go here.
For prayers offered in response to conflicts over sovereignty and dispossession, go here.
For prayers composed for social justice, peace, and liberty, go here.

תפילת השעה | Prayer of the Moment [after the Neve Yaakov synagogue shooting], by Rabbi Avi Novis-Deutsch (Knesset haRabanim l’Yisrael 2023)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), the Rabbinical Assembly of America, Knesset haRabanim b'Yisrael and Avi Novis-Deutsch

Categories:

Mass Shootings & Gun Violence, Terror

Tags:

2023 East Jerusalem synagogue shooting, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Israeli–Palestinian conflict

“Tefilah haSha’ah” (Prayer of the Moment) was offered by Rav Avi Novis-Deutsch and shared by the Knesset haRabbanim l’Yisrael via their Facebook page on 29 January 2023. The English translation was shared by the Rabbinical Assembly via their Facebook page a few hours later. We have transcribed the prayer from the source image and set the Hebrew side-by-side with its translation in English. . . .

Gratitude Prayer, by Rabbi Menachem Creditor on the first anniversary of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life massacre (2019)

Contributor(s):

Menachem Creditor

Categories:

Hateful Intolerance, Prejudice, and Bigotry, Mass Shootings & Gun Violence, Terror

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Gratitude, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

A prayer on the first anniversary of the Tree of Life massacre in Pittsburgh. . . .

אֵלֶּה אֶזְכְּרָה, נוּסַח פִּיטְסְבּוּרְג | Eileh Ezkarah for Pittsburgh, by Rabbi Jonathan Perlman with Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum & Rabbi Martin Cohen (2019)

Contributor(s):

Jonathan Perlman, Tamar Elad-Appelbaum and Martin Samuel Cohen

Categories:

Hateful Intolerance, Prejudice, and Bigotry, Mass Shootings & Gun Violence, Terror

Tags:

קינות Ḳinnot, martyrdom, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Prayers after acts of terrible violence, mass murder inside a synagogue, 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

A ḳinah for the martyrs of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Boston in 2018. . . .

תפילה לארצות הברית לאחר הטבח בפּיטסבּורג | Prayer for the United States after the Pittsburgh Massacre, by Rabbi Stephen Belsky (2018)

Contributor(s):

Stephen Belsky

Categories:

Hateful Intolerance, Prejudice, and Bigotry, Mass Shootings & Gun Violence, Terror, United States of America

Tags:

United States, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Prayers after acts of terrible violence, prayers for municipalities, mass murder inside a synagogue, 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

A prayer composed in the aftermath of the mass murder of the Dor Ḥadash community at the Ets Ḥayyim (Tree of Life) Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh on Shabbat morning 27 October 2018. . . .

A Prayer for Pittsburgh [after the Tree of Life synagogue massacre], by Rabbi Menachem Creditor (2018)

Contributor(s):

Menachem Creditor

Categories:

Mass Shootings & Gun Violence, Terror

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, prayers for municipalities, mass murder inside a synagogue, 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

“A Prayer for Pittsburgh” was first published by Rabbi Menachem Creditor at his website, and shared with the Open Siddur Project via our Facebook discussion group. . . .

מי שברך למיני פשעי שנאה | Mi sheBerakh for Hate Crimes and Bigotry, by Isaac Gantwerk-Mayer (2017)

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Categories:

After the Aliyot, Terror

Tags:

58th century A.M., Hate Crimes, North America, מי שברך mi sheberakh, 21st century C.E.

From resurgent neo-fascist movements to religious extremist attacks, hate crimes are on the rise all over the world right now. At times like this many people live in fear – fear of being attacked or maligned, physical, mental or emotional. Hatred is not new to the Jewish people, but traditionally it was considered “just the way it is.” As Americans, we should believe better. The midrash (Devarim Rabbah 5:10) says that hateful speech kills three – the speaker, the listener, and the subject. This Mi Sheberakh was written as a prayer for all those of every people and nation that are affected by hatred and bigotry. . . .

תְּפִלָּה לְהַצָּלָה מִפִּגּוּעֵי טֶרוֹר | Prayer for Rescue from Terror Attacks | Bön om skydd från terrorhot, by R’ Hillel Ḥayyim Lavery-Yisraëli (2014)

Contributor(s):

R' Hillel Ḥayyim Lavery-Yisraëli

Categories:

Terror

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תחינות teḥinot, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Sweden, Gothenburg, European Jewry, protection, security, threat

Let us not fear or be afraid, for you are our protector. “…Jacob shall return and live in peace and security; no one will terrify him again.” Guard our going out and our coming in, from now until eternity, and let us say, Amen. . . .

תפילה לבאסטאן | Prayer for Boston after the bombing, by Rabbi Stephen Belsky (2013)

Contributor(s):

Stephen Belsky

Categories:

Terror

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Massachusetts, 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, American Jewry of the United States, prayers for municipalities, Boston, bombing

May the One who spoke the world into being, and who blessed humanity created in God’s image, and who brought about the miracle of these United States to promote freedom and peace among all people — bless, guard, and protect all the inhabitants of the Boston area, and strengthen and encourage their leaders, representatives, police officers, and detectives; bring them out from the shadow of death to light, and from danger to relief; and may the verse be fulfilled for them which says, ‘God is good to all, and shows mercy to all God’s creatures.’ And let us say: amein. . . .

Prayer After the Bombing in Boston, by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat (2013)

Contributor(s):

Rachel Barenblat

Categories:

Terror

Tags:

קינות Ḳinnot, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Massachusetts, Prayers as poems, English vernacular prayer, 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, elegy, United States, Boston

I wrote this a few days after the Boston Marathon bombing. It arose out of a meditation service which I led at my synagogue. The doors to our sanctuary were open, so we had the sounds of the nearby wetland in our ears, and I invited the meditators to join me in cultivating compassion and sending it toward Boston. The line “My heart is in the east and I am in the west” is adapted from the medieval Spanish poet Judah haLevi. . . .

פתח לנו שער בעת נעילת שער | Open for us a gate at the closing of a gate, by Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx (2005)

Contributor(s):

David Nelson (translation), Moshe Silberschein (translation) and Dalia Marx

Categories:

Conflicts over Sovereignty and Dispossession, Medinat Yisra'el (the State of Israel), Terror

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., the Occupation, Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, נעילה‎ neilah, מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Israeli disengagement from Gaza, Gaza, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, protection

A prayer for the State of Israel during conflicts over sovereignty and dispossession. . . .

Prayer for Peace in Israel, by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth, 2003)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Jonathan Sacks and Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth

Categories:

Conflicts over Sovereignty and Dispossession, Terror

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, ישראל Yisrael, Second Intifada, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, peace

According to the Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust (RSLT), “A Prayer for Peace in Israel” was composed by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks following terror attacks in Israel in 2003 (i.e., during the Second Intifada). The text of the prayer appearing here was shared by the RSLT via their Facebook page in the context of the 2022 Tel Aviv Shooting. . . .