This is an archive of prayers composed in response to, or in anxious anticipation of, war. Click here to contribute a prayer you have written, or a transcription and translation of a historical prayer. Filter resources by Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category
This prayer for peace for the citizens of Syria and residents of Aleppo was first published by the Masorti Movement in Israel, via their web page here. The prayer was transcribed to Unicode Hebrew by Aharon Varady. Translation adapted by Aharon from one provided by Rivka Kellner in a Facebook comment. . . . A prayer delivered by Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff at the commemoration for the 34th anniversary of the 1982 Beirut Barracks Bombing. . . . This is an undated prayer written attributed to Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (1937-2020) and shared via the Facebook page of Merkaz Steinsaltz (the Steinsaltz Center). The English translation (possibly also made by Rabbi Steinsaltz) was shared by the Center in a separate document. . . . A prayer for Ukraine by Miriam Klimova in Hebrew and Ukrainian first shared via her Facebook page on 24 February 2022. . . . “Prayer for the People of Ukraine” was written by the chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, Ephraim Mirvis, and shared via the Twitter account of the Office of the Chief Rabbi. . . . “A Prayer for Peace in the Ukraine” was first shared by Rabbi Sabath Beit-Halachmi, Ph.D. via her Facebook page, motsei Shabbat on 27 February 2022. To support the Jewish community in the Ukraine, go to the World Union of Progressive Judaism. . . . A prayer for a Yizkor service on Yom Kippur during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. . . . Miriam Klimova’s prayer “Молитва про захист наших сердець від ненависті” תפילה לשמירה על ליבנו משנאה (בזמן המלחמה) (Prayer to Protect Our Hearts from Hatred in Wartime), in the context of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, was first shared in Hebrew and Ukrainian via her Facebook page. . . . “Prayer for Ukraine” by Rabbi Dr. Reuven Kimelman was first published by Brandeis University on their website. . . . “A Prayer for Ukraine” was first published by Chaya Kaplan Lester on her Facebook page. . . . This prayer for peace in Ukraine was co-written by the Masorti Movement in Israel and the Rabbinic Assembly in Israel, and read by Rabbi Ori Friedland (Hebrew) and Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg (English) in an international prayer service organized by Masorti Olami in solidarity with Ukraine and the Jewish communities therein. . . . This prayer for Ukraine was shared on 24 February 2022 by the clergy of Sinai Temple, Los Angeles (Rabbi Davvid Wolpe, Rabbi Erez Sherman, Rabbi Nicole Guzik, Cantor Marcus Feldman) via the temple’s Facebook page. . . . “תפילה נוכח הרעה מדרום | Prayer in the face of the Missiles Falling On Israel” was shared by the Masorti Movement in Israel via their social media account on Twitter on 12 May 2023. . . . A prayer offered by Rabbi Gil Nativ for the Masorti Movement in Israel and the Knesset haRabanim b’Yisrael in response to the invasion from Gaza on Shemini Atseret 5784 (2023), and disseminated via their Facebook page. . . . This prayer for the welfare of the State of Israel, by Rabbi Mira Regev, was disseminated by HaTenuah HaReformit (The Israel Movement for Reform and progressive Judaism). English translation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman and Rabbi Efrat Rotem. . . . This prayer by Rabbi David Wolpe was first shared via his Facebook page in the aftermath of the war begun by Hamas on Shemini Atseret 5784. . . . This litany of Hoshana’ot was written by Rabbi Annie Lewis. Hebrew translation by Shoshana Michael Zucker. . . . This prayer by Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff was offered at the Temple Micah, Lunch and Learn, on 11 Oct 2023. . . . As I was in NYC, I first heard the news of the pogrom with which Hamas opened the war between Hallel and the Torah reading on Shemini Atseret. The beginnings of what is now the final stanza of this… I am unsure whether to refer to it as a qinah or a piyut first stirred in my soul during Tefillat Geshem, and the refrain of that stanza during Hakafot that evening. Prayer and song, no matter how joyous, has taken on a somber, cutting, desperate edge for me in this new world where the safety I had once taken for granted was revealed to be an illusion, which is reflected in taking from the phrases taken from the liturgy of the Yomim Nora’im. . . . This prayer was offered by Dr. Melila Hellner-Eshed in the days following the attacks of Ḥamas and its allies from Gaza on southern Israel beginning Shemini Atseret 5784 (7 October 2023). The English translation was made Rabbi Zac Kamenetz and Rabbi Marc Margolius. . . . “Prayer at a time of war (Marḥeshvan 5784)” was offered by The Masorti Movement In Israel-התנועה המסורתית בישראל and the כנסת הרבנים בישראל for use by congregations worldwide. Originally written by Rabbi Simcha Roth ז״ל, it was adapted by Ze’ev Kainan to suit the current horrors committed by Hamas. . . . An addendum to “Avinu Malkeinu”, which is intended for recitation following the traditional version, which is said in many synagogues now during the Ḥarvot Barzel war (“War of Iron Swords,” i.e., the 2023 Israel–Hamas war). . . . The Masorti Movement in Israel, in cooperation with the Israeli Institute on Cognitive Accessibility and Ami: The Association for People with Cognitive Developmental Challenges, produced this “accessible” Prayer in Times of War in simplified Hebrew with communications symbols. The prayer was offered in the spirit of the Masorti Movement’s Siddur b’khol Darkhekha (2018), designed primarily for special needs Bar/Bat Mitzvah programs. . . . Rabbi Dr. Reuven Kimelman notes his prayer for Israel in wartime is “refashioned from material online, especially that of Rabbi Ahud Sela.” The English version previously appeared in the article “For this unprecedented time of war and grief, new prayers for those held captive by Hamas” by Aviya Kushner (The Forward, 3 November 2023). The article notes the prayer “[acknowledges] that men, women and children are all among the abducted” and that it “expressly asks [God to] ‘comfort the families of all those murdered.'” . . . This prayer for the welfare of IDF soldiers and the captives of HAMA”S in Gaza was written by Ze’ev Kainan on 16 October 2023 in the days following the terrible events of 7 October 2023. . . . This prayer was offered by Rabbi Andy Vogel and Rabbi Seth Goldstein and published at each of their websites on 3 April 2024. On Rabbi Vogel’s site, the prayer included the statement, “We encourage you to use the words of this prayer as you see fit; no attribution is needed.” . . . On Passover we end the prayers for rain that began on October 7, and begin the prayers for dew. The prayers end, but the war that began with the October 7 attack does not. Here is a reflection on that. . . . This prayer for peace was written on 29 April 2024, at the end of Passover, by Rabbi Shira Levine as part of an ecumenical assembly, the “Spirit of Galilee.” The Arabic translation was made by Malek Hujerat. . . . This prayer for the peace of the nation, first published in the siddur VeAni Tefillati (second edition, page 133), was circulated by the Masorti Movement in Israel on social media on 1 August 2024, amidst increased anxieties over impending retaliatory strikes by Iran and its proxy armies in Lebanon and elsewhere. . . . Tags: 2023-2024 Israel–Hamas war, 2024 Iran–Israel conflict, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Assassination of Fuad Shukr, Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Assassination of Mohammed Deif, Assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, Iranian support for Hamas, מי שברך mi sheberakh, religious Zionist prayers This seliḥah was written for Seliḥot in Los Angeles, Elul, 5784, 2024, in the light of the horrific killing that the IDF has perpetrated in Gaza since October 8 (after the Hamas massacre of October 7), 2023. The opening frame is from the Tokheḥah and the closing line from Eikhah. The only hope is that we do teshuvah and stop the war and the violence now. The language is an adaptation of Hebrew of piyyutim and seliḥot. –Aryeh Cohen . . . A plea for retributive justice at the end of aseh l’maan shemekha (“Act for the Sake of Your Name”) in the Seliḥot of Elul and the Days of Awe, in response to the suffering endured on and after 7 October 2023. . . . “For the Children in Gaza” by Avital Raff, was first published in בצרור החיים: A Yizkor Supplement for Palestinian Life (Halachic Left 2024). . . . This El malé prayer, “For activists, journalists, and doctors in Palestine” by Avi Garelick, was first published in בצרור החיים: A Yizkor Supplement for Palestinian Life (Halachic Left 2024), p. 11. . . . This prayer, “Memorial Prayer for Sacred Life Lost” by Netanel Zellis-Paley, was first published in בצרור החיים: A Yizkor Supplement for Palestinian Life (Halachic Left 2024), pages 12-13. . . . This “Prayer for an end to injustice on Earth” by an anonymous author, was first published in בצרור החיים: A Yizkor Supplement for Palestinian Life (Halachic Left 2024), pages 34-35. . . . This prayer for Ukraine was first offered by Rabbi Lior Bar-Ami sometime before May 2024. . . . |
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