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ברכת יוצר האדם | Mi sheberakh for the egg donor, gestational surrogate, physicians, and parents of children celebrating their Bnei Mitsvah, by Rabbi Esteban Gottfried (2022)  Contributor(s): Tags:This is a “Blessing for the human creation” composed by Rabbi Esteban Gottfried for a mi sheberakh delivered after the Torah reading of twin siblings celebrating their bar and bat mitsvah. Both children came into this world through medical intervention, egg donation, and surrogate pregnancy. “It was a really moving ceremony,” said Rabbi Gottfried, “it is very rare that the parents are in touch with the egg donor and pregnancy surrogate (from the US and Ukraine) thirteen years later, and they all celebrate together….After their ascent to the Torah, I asked the parents together with the donor and the surrogate to take the stage and greet them. I share here (with their approval) the blessing of the “Human Creation.” . . . תפילת בת המצווה | Prayer of the Bat mitsvah after she finishes reading from the Torah, by Chaim Hames-Ezra Contributor(s): Tags:A statement by the Bat Mitsvah after her first aliyah. . . . שבחי המשפחה לבת המצווה | A Prayer in Honor of a Bat mitsvah from her Family, by Dr. Chaim Hames-Ezra Contributor(s): Tags:A prayer for a ritual of blessing of a bat mitsvah by her family. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:I wrote this brachah on the occasion of my son Oryah’s bar mitsvah. The Aramaic/Hebrew and the translation are mine. My partner and I recited the blessing after my son was called up to the Torah. The brachah replaces the ברוך שפטרנו which is recited in some communities. This blessing (which is basically self-explanatory) expresses gratitude for Divine favor leading to this moment and a prayer for Heavenly guidance for my son’s continued path. Though the translation is gender neutral in relation to God, the Hebrew/Aramaic is gendered masculine. This is my practice with regards to my children. I bless my daughter with feminine God language and my son with masculine God language. The blessing can be grammatically adapted for a bat mitsvah. . . . מי שברך לתקופת יום הולדת | Mi sheBerakh on behalf of one celebrating a birthday, by Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Kaplan (1945) Contributor(s): Categories:“Prayer in behalf of one celebrating a birthday,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 494-497 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) . . . מזמור לתודה לכבוד משה איש האלהים | A Thanksgiving in Commemoration of Moses Maimonides, an octocentennial prayer by Ḥakham Shem Tov Gaguine (Bevis Marks Synagogue, 27 May 1935) Contributor(s):“A Thanksgiving in Commemoration of Moses Maimonides” with its accompanying Hashkabah is found in the Service of Praise and Thanksgiving to Commemorate the 800th Anniversary of the Birth of Moses Maimonides prepared by Bevis Marks Synagogue in London on 27 May 1935. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:The poem “Confirmation” by Miriam del Banco (1858-1931) was included in her posthumously published anthology, Poetry and Prose (1932), p. 80-81. . . . Hymn for Shaḇuoth (Father, See Thy Children) — from a Confirmation hymn by Felix Adler (1868) adapted by Angie Irma Cohon (1921) Contributor(s):“Hymn for Shaḇuoth (Father, See Thy Children)” is based on “Confirmation (Father, see thy suppliant children)” an original hymn by Felix Adler published in Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871), hymn 34, p. 68. The last four lines of the hymn have been amended and replaced with “Till our lives shall bud and blossom…” by Angie Irma Cohon, for use on Shavuot. This version was published in her תפלת ישראל (Tefilat Yisrael) A Brief Jewish Ritual (Women of Miẓpah 1921), p. 19. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:This translation of the blessing sheheḥiyanu was written by Jessie Ethel Sampter and published under the title “Blessing for Rosh-Hashanah” in her Around the Year in Rhymes for the Jewish Child (1920), p. 11. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:This “Birthday Prayer” is found in Julia M. Cohen’s The children’s Psalm-book, a selection of Psalms with explanatory comments, together with a prayer-book for home use in Jewish families (1907), pp. 304-305. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:“Prayer of Thanksgiving” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 6-7. This prayer reads to me as possibly intended to be used as a prayer of transition, before the tradition of the bat mitsvah was universally adopted, at a time when a young woman might be old enough to begin contemplating their future, their marriage prospects, and their general “usefulness” — especially in regards to their future work — the overarching theme of this collection of prayers. This affirmation in particular stands out to me as radically important for Lilian Montagu and other young suffragettes to express in 1895: “Lord, whether in the future I marry or whether I remain single, I shall be able to lead a useful, happy life” and “Lord, I thank Thee for my womanhood!” . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:“Birthday Prayer” was written by Lilian Helen Montagu and published in Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895), pp. 29-30. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:“A Child’s Prayer on its Birthday” was written by Frederick de Sola Mendes and published in the anthology, The Jewish Home Prayer-Book (1887), page 130. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:“A Child’s Prayer on its Parent’s Birthday” was written by Frederick de Sola Mendes and published in the anthology, The Jewish Home Prayer-Book (1887), pages 130-131. . . .  Contributor(s):This “Prayer for Confirmation” was offered by Rabbi Dr. Max Lilienthal on Shavuot (20 April 1881), a manuscript copy of which it found its way into the collection of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio. Many thanks to the Jewish Women’s Archive for providing a copy of the manuscript through their website. . . . Confirmation (Father, see Thy suppliant children), a hymn for a Confirmation ritual by Felix Adler (1868) Contributor(s):“Confirmation (Father, see thy suppliant children)” is a hymn written by Felix Adler and published in Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871), hymn №34, p. 68. We have tentatively dated this hymn to 1868, since another hymn by Adler (“School-hymn, no. 36”) can be found appended from another unattributed work in A Guide to Instruction in the Israelitsh Religion (Samuel Adler, trans. M. Mayer, Temple Emanu-El, 1864, 4th printing 1868). . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:“[Gebete] Am Geburtstage der Mutter” was written by Rabbi Benjamin Szold and included in his הגיון לב Israelitisches Gebetbuch für die häusliche Andacht (1867), page 252. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:“[Gebete] Am Geburtstage des Lehrers” was written by Rabbi Benjamin Szold and included in his הגיון לב Israelitisches Gebetbuch für die häusliche Andacht (1867), pp. 252-253. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:“[Gebete] Am eigenen Geburtstage” was written by Rabbi Benjamin Szold and included in his הגיון לב Israelitisches Gebetbuch für die häusliche Andacht (1867), page 253. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:“[Gebete] Am Geburtsfeste des Vaters” was written by Rabbi Benjamin Szold and included in his הגיון לב Israelitisches Gebetbuch für die häusliche Andacht (1867), page 251. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:A prayer of a “young maiden” — a girl before her bat mitsvah. . . . Prière du père et de la mère le jour de l’initiation de leur enfant | Prayer of the father and mother on the day of their child’s initiation (as a Bar/Bat Mitsvah), by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852) Contributor(s): Tags:A prayer offered by the parents of a Bar or Bat Mitsvah after they are confirmed in a public ceremony. . . . Prière des assistants a l’initiation | Prayer of the (Bar/Bat Mitsvah) tutors at the initiation, by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852) Contributor(s): Tags:A prayer offered by the tutors of a Bar or Bat Mitsvah after they are confirmed in a public ceremony. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:A prayer for a young woman on her Bat Mitsvah. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:A prayer by a daughter on behalf of her parents. . . . Bénédiction des parents sur leurs enfants — Imposition des mains | Parents’ blessing on their children. — Laying of hands (on a Bar/Bat Mitsvah), by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852) Contributor(s): Tags:A blessing given by the parents of a Bar or Bat Mitsvah after they are confirmed in a public ceremony. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:A prayer of gratitude on a regular birthday. . . . Prière après l’initiation | Prayer after initiation (of a Bar/Bat Mitsvah), by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852) Contributor(s): Tags:A prayer offered by a Bar or Bat Mitsvah after they are confirmed in a public ceremony. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:A prayer for a young woman on her Bat Mitsvah on becoming responsible for observing her mitsvot. . . . Prière avant l’initiation | Prayer before initiation (of a Bar/Bat Mitsvah), by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1852) Contributor(s): Tags:A preliminary prayer offered by a Bar or Bat Mitsvah before they are confirmed in a public ceremony. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:“Birthday Meditation” (1838) by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Sabbath Thoughts and Sacred Communings (1853), pp. 130-132. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:“[Gebet] Am Geburtstage (Prayer on a birthday)” was first published in Peter (Peretz) Beer’s Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion (1815), as teḥinah №34 on p. 115-118 where it was rendered in Judeo-German. The German rendering transcribed above follows teḥinah №34 in Henry Frank’s 1839 edition on p. 98-100. A variation can also be found in the Beer’s 1843 edition as teḥinah №34 on p. 95-97. . . . |