This is an archive of prayers composed for mourning. Some are for personal or private use. Others are for public, communal, and ceremonial functions. Some follow the formula of a Mourner’s Ḳaddish (Qaddish Yatom), others that of El Malé Raḥamim, and still others are adaptations or free-form with or without Hebrew, reflecting upon grief and interconnection and composed in a vernacular tongue. Click here to contribute your own prayers of mourning. Filter resources by Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category
An interpretive translation of the Mourner’s Kaddish, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l. . . . This Kaddish was first published online at Jewish Renewal Chassidus by Gabbai Seth Fishman. Rabbi Oren Steinitz translated the kaddish on the 3rd yahrzeit after Reb Zalman’s passing. . . . This an an untitled piyyut by Eleazer of Worms, eulogizing his beloved wife Dulcea (Heb: דולצא, also, Dulcia and Dolce). The Hebrew text is derived from the transcription offered by Israel Kamelhar inRabbenu Eleazar mi-Germaiza, ha-Roqeah (Rzeazow, 1930), pp. 17-19. The translation and annotation come from Dr. Ivan G. Marcus from his article, “Mothers, Martyrs, and Moneymakers: Some Jewish Women in Medieval Europe” in Conservative Judaism, vol. 38(3), Spring 1986. . . . A mourner’s ḳaddish in the event there is no quorum. . . . A prayer for unveiling a tombstone, according to the custom of the Jews of Pressburg. . . . “Tkhine of the Matriarchs for Yizkor on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Yamim Tovim” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni. . . . “[Fürbitte für die Verstorbenen] (Unsterblichkeit)” was translated/adapted by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaicher Religion. It first appears in the 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaicher Religion as teḥinah №39 on pp. 50-51. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №38 on pp. 60-62. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №40 on pp. 63-65. . . . “Fürbitte für die Verstorbenen [no.2]” was included by Yehoshua Heshil Miro in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaicher Religion. It first appears in the 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaicher Religion as teḥinah №38 on pp. 47-49. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №36 on pp. 56-58. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №38 on pp. 59-61. In a note to “Gebet am Tage der Gedächtnißfeier verstorbener Eltern, an deren Grabe zu sprechen” published in the 1835 edition, Miro records that Isaak Plessner sent this prayer to him, and from this we infer that its authorship may also be attributed to him. . . . “[Fürbitte für die Verstorbenen (no.3)]” was translated/adapted by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaicher Religion. It first appears in the 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaicher Religion as teḥinah №38 on pp. 47-49. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №37 on pp. 58-60. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №39 on pp. 61-63. . . . “Gebet einer Wittwe” was translated/adapted by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. It first appears in the 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion as teḥinah №83 on pp. 131-133. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №83 on pp. 154-157. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №86 on pp. 159-162. . . . “Fürbitte für die Verstorbenen [no.1]” was translated/adapted by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaicher Religion. It first appears in the 1833 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaicher Religion on pp. 48-51. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №35 on pp. 53-56. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №37 on pp. 56-59. . . . “Gebet am Tage der Gedächtnißfeier verstorbener Eltern, an deren Grabe zu sprechen” was included by Yehoshua Heshil Miro in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. It first appears in the 1835 edition as teḥinah №111 on pp. 214-216. In a note to this prayer, Miro records that Rabbi Salmon Plessner sent this prayer to him, and from this we infer that its authorship may also be attributed to him. . . . “Meditation on Death” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in the UK edition of Sacred Communings, pp. 82-87. It is not found in the US edition. A note on the title indicates clarifies that Grace wrote this in June 1835. Another note in the text (from Sarah) shares that Grace’s posture towards death in this prayer also appeared to describe her experience of passing twelve years later in 1847. . . . “God of my fathers! merciful and just,” by Caroline de Litchfield Harby (ca.1800-1876), first published in 1842, appears under the subject “Immortality of the Soul” as Hymn 53 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 55. That page is missing in the one copy of the first edition we know to exist. Thankfully, the hymn appears under the same subject as Hymn 39 in Hymns Written for the Use of Hebrew Congregations (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1856), p. 43. . . . This is a prayer for those fallen in the battle of Kápolna, a decisive battle during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, written by István Roboz (1826-1916). Translated into numerous languages, the prayer was widely misattributed to enlightened president of Hungary, Lajos Kossuth. Circulated in translation and attributed to Kossuth, the prayer helped to cement his popularity among Jews worldwide praying for liberty from despotic regimes inclined for various reasons towards Jew hatred. . . . A prayer of a daughter on the yahrzeit of her mother or father. . . . A prayer of a person who has lost their parent or parents. . . . A prayer of a wife grieving over the death of her husband. . . . A prayer of a sister mourning at the grave of her sister. . . . A prayer of a mother grieving over the death of her child. . . . Please Lord, Sovereign of Compassion, God, Arbiter of the spirits of all flesh, Parent of Orphans and Judge of widows: God, from the source of Your holiness! May my prayer and the Torah of life that I have learned come before you on account of the soul . . . Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English Translation, קדיש יתום Mourner's Ḳaddish, Memorial prayers, Needing Attribution, Needing Source Images, Paraliturgical Mourner's Kaddish, personal, prayers of orphans, Without a Minyan, תחינות teḥinot |
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