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Mourning

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.

Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first?

Prayer for an Orphan, by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

A prayer of an orphan after the death of one or both of her parents. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., children's prayers, English vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, prayers of orphans, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Moritz Mayer and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

[Prayer] on the Anniversary of a Parent’s Death (יאָרצײַט‎), by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

A prayer of a daughter for mourning on the yortseit of one or both of her parents. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, prayers on behalf of parents, תחינות teḥinot, יאָרצײַט‎ yahrẓeit

Contributor(s):

Moritz Mayer and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer for the Departed (הזכרת נשמות), by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

A prayer for one’s parent or parents during Yizkor. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, הזכרת נשמות hazkarat neshamot, Jewish Women's Prayers, paraliturgical hazkarat neshamot, Paraliturgical yizkor, prayers of orphans, תחינות teḥinot, יזכור yizkor

Contributor(s):

Moritz Mayer and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

תשלומי קדיש יתום כשאין מניין | Replacement for the Orphans’ Ḳaddish when praying alone or when there is no minyan (1900)

“Gebet Statt Kaddisch” is a memorial prayer replacement (tashlum) for the ḳaddish yatom (orphans’ ḳaddish) when praying alone or where there is no minyan. It is found in Dr. Seligmann Baer and Rabbi Joseph Nobel’s Tozeoth Chajm: Vollständiges Gebet- und Erbauungsbuch zum Gebrauche bei Kranken, Sterbenden… (1900). . . .

Categories:

Mourning, Ḳaddish

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, תשלומים tashlumim, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Jonah Rank (translation) and Isaac Seligman Baer

Prayer in Eulogy for Vice President Henry Wilson, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (1 December 1875)

This prayer in eulogy for Vice President Henry Wilson was preserved on page 78 of the Sobato Morais Scrapbook (a/k/a, the Morais Ledger) in a clipping from the Evening Telegraph on 1 December 1875, “The Late Vice-President: A Eulogy by Rev. S. Morais, of the Seventh Street Synagogue.” . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Eulogy, Henry Wilson, Prayers for leaders

Contributor(s):

Sabato Morais and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer in Eulogy for Rabbi George Jacobs, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (18 July 1884)

This prayer in eulogy for Rabbi George Jacobs is found in conclusion to “In Memoriam. Address Delivered Last Sabbath by Rev. S. Morais” in the Jewish Record, 18 July 1884, a clipping of which was preserved on page 231 of the Sabato Morais Ledger. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer

Contributor(s):

Sabato Morais and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer after the death of President Ulysses S. Grant, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (8 August 1885)

This prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais after the death of President Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) concludes a eulogy published in the The Jewish Record on 14 August 1885, “General Grant: Substance of a Discourse Delivered Last Sabbath by the Rev. S. Morais.” A note in the preface to the article dates the eulogy to the preceding Sabbath, 8 August 1885. The article was preserved in a newspaper clipping found on page 338 of the Sabato Morais Ledger. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers for leaders, Ulysses Grant

Contributor(s):

Sabato Morais and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

The Children’s Song, a hymn by Felix Adler (1888)

“The Children’s Song” is a hymn by Felix Adler, first published in The Ethical Record vol. 1, no. 1. (April 1888), sheet music page 5. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., cemetery prayers, child mortality, children's prayers, English vernacular prayer, Ethical Humanism, גלגול נפשות gilgul nefashot, hymns, memento mori, universalist

Contributor(s):

Felix Adler and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Prayer on Losing Some One Near and Dear, by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)

“Prayer for a Dear Relation or Friend Who is Ill” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 26-27. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, תחינות teḥinot, teḥinot in English, West Central Girls' Club

Contributor(s):

Lilian Helen Montagu and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

On the Loss of a Beloved One, a prayer in the morning by Annie Josephine Levi (1900)

“On the loss of a beloved one (in the morning)” was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), pp. 148-149. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Grief, Jewish Women's Prayers, תחינות teḥinot, teḥinot in English

Contributor(s):

Annie Josephine Levi and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

On the Loss of a Beloved One, a prayer in the evening by Annie Josephine Levi (1900)

“On the loss of a beloved one (in the evening)” was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), pp. 156-157. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Grief, Jewish Women's Prayers, תחינות teḥinot, teḥinot in English

Contributor(s):

Annie Josephine Levi and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Beruria, an ode to the sage by Lise Tarlau (1907)

“Beruria” by Lisa Tarlau is an eponymous ode provided as the preface to Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), pages v-viii. . . .

Categories:

Mourning, Marriage

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., children, elegy, German vernacular prayer, in the merit of Beruriah

Contributor(s):

Lise Tarlau and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Der Schmerz, a meditation on grief by Lise Tarlau (1907)

“Der Schmerz” by Lise Tarlau can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), pages 523-525. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., burial, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, paraliturgical reflections

Contributor(s):

Lise Tarlau and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Gebet eines Waisenkindes | Prayer of an Orphan, by Lise Tarlau (1907)

“Gebet eines Waisenkindes” by Lise Tarlau can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), page 530. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, prayers of orphans, תחינות teḥinot, Teḥinot in German

Contributor(s):

Lise Tarlau and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Am Grabe der Eltern | At the grave of one’s parents, a teḥinah by Anna Lachmann (1907)

“Am Grabe der Eltern” by Anna Lachmann can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), pages 538-540. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., cemetery prayers, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, prayers on behalf of parents, תחינות teḥinot, Teḥinot in German

Contributor(s):

Anna Lachmann and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Am Grabe der Mutter | At the grave of one’s mother, a teḥinah by Lise Tarlau (1907)

“Am Grabe der Mutter” by Lisa Tarlau can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), pages 540-541. . . .

Categories:

Mourning, 🇺🇸 Mother's Day (2nd Sunday of May)

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., cemetery prayers, chronic pain, German vernacular prayer, Grief, Jewish Women's Prayers, prayers on behalf of parents, תחינות teḥinot, Teḥinot in German

Contributor(s):

Lise Tarlau and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Am Grabe des Gatten | At the grave of one’s husband, a teḥinah by Lise Tarlau (1907)

“Am Grabe des Gatten” by Lisa Tarlau can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), pages 544-545. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., cemetery prayers, German vernacular prayer, Grief, Jewish Women's Prayers, marriage, תחינות teḥinot, Teḥinot in German

Contributor(s):

Lise Tarlau and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Am Grabe eines jungen Bruders | At the grave of one’s younger brother, a teḥinah by Lise Tarlau (1907)

“Am Grabe eines jungen Bruders” by Lisa Tarlau can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), pages 546-547. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., cemetery prayers, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, prayers for siblings, תחינות teḥinot, Teḥinot in German

Contributor(s):

Lise Tarlau and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Am Grabe einer jungen Schwester | At the grave of one’s younger sister, a teḥinah by Lise Tarlau (1907)

“Am Grabe einer jungen Schwester” by Lisa Tarlau can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), pages 547-549. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., cemetery prayers, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, prayers for siblings, תחינות teḥinot, Teḥinot in German

Contributor(s):

Lise Tarlau and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

[Prayer] for Those in Sorrow, by Basil Lucas Quixano Henriques (1916)

Basil L.Q. Henriques’s prayer “For those in sorrow” was first published in The Fratres Book of Prayer for the Oxford and St. George’s Synagogue Jewish Lads Club in 1916, and later reprinted in the Prayer Book of the St. George’s Settlement Synagogue (1929), “Special Prayers” section, page 99. . . .

Categories:

Mourning

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., British Jewry, English vernacular prayer, Liberal Movement for Progressive Judaism in Britain, teḥinot in English

Contributor(s):

Basil Lucas Quixano Henriques and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/index.php?cat=326

Associated Image:

the mourning woman (Bekah Starr Art)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17

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