Purim Qatan • the Open Siddur Project ✍ פְּרוֺיֶקְט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ

This is an archive of prayers and song composed for (or relevant to) Purim Qatan. As Purim Qatan only occurs during Jewish leap years, the day is hidden in a way which adds emphasis to the theme of divinity hidden within creation, in our life’s horrors and in its miracles.
During leap years in the rabbinic Jewish calendar, Purim falls on the second month of Adar (otherwise known as Adar bet). The 14th of the first month of Adar (Adar Alef) is then called Purim Qatan (“Little Purim”) and the 15th is Shushan Purim Qatan, for which there are no set observances.
A leap year in the Jewish calendar occurs seven times in the 19-year Metonic cycle, namely, in years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19 of the cycle. This means that a leap month is added every two to three years.
Click here to contribute a prayer you have written, translated, or transcribed for Purim Qatan.
Looking for something else?
For public readings selected for Purim Qatan, go here.
For public readings selected for Purim, visit here.
For prayers and songs composed for Purim Qatan, visit here.
For public readings selected for a Purim Sheni, visit here.
For prayers composed for Taanit Esther, go here.

Hashem is Everywhere! — a song by Rabbi Yosef Goldstein (1972)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation) and Yosef Goldstein

The pedagogical song “Hashem is Everywhere!” by Rabbi Yosef Goldstein (1928-2013) can be found in the context of his story, “Where is Hashem?,” the second track on his album מדות טובות Jewish Ethics Through Story and Song (Menorah Records 1972). In the instructions to reciting the lyrics, the singer points first to the six cardinal directions and lastly, by pointing inward towards one’s self. In so doing, one explicitly affirms the idea of the divine within ourselves and implicitly, in each other. . . .

Prayer — On Seeking for God, by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Morrison David Bial

“Prayer — On Seeking for God” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 22, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .

הִנֵּה שָׁם אֶמְצָאֶךָּ | Where We Can Find Yah, a prayer-poem by Eugene Kohn (1945) inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali (Song Offerings, 1912)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Eugene Kohn, David Frischmann (translation) and Rabindranath Tagore

“Where We Can Find God,” a prayer-poem inspired by passages appearing in David Frishman’s Hebrew translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali. . . .

אָכֵן ה׳ | Akhen Hashem, a baqashah of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira (ca. 1920s)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Yaakov Klein (translation) and Kalonymus Kalman Shapira

This is a prayer offered by the Piacezna Rebbe, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira (1889-1943) and likely written down sometime in the 1920s before it was printed among other letters and writings in his sefer Derekh haMelekh (1931). The prayer, vocalized from the 2011 Feldheim edition and translated into English, was circulated online via the Lost Princess Initiative of Rabbi Yaakov Klein (Eilecha) beginning 25 May 2023. . . .

אַיֵּךְ | Ayekh (Where are you?), by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik (1904)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), the Ben Yehuda Project (transcription), Ruth Nevo (translation) and Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik

The poem, Ayekh (Where are you?), by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik. . . .

א דוּדעלע (אַיֵּה אֶמְצָאֶךָּ)‏ | A Dudele (Where shall I seek you?), by Rabbi Levi Yitsḥaq of Berditchev (ca. 18th c.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (translation) and Levi Yitsḥaq Derbarmdiger Rosakov of Berditchev

A profound song invoking divine presence. . . .

יָהּ, אָנָה אֶמְצָאֶךָּ | Yah, Where shall I find you?, a piyyut by Yehudah haLevi (ca. early 12th c.)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (translation), Nina Davis Salaman (translation), the Ben Yehuda Project (transcription) and Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi

A piyyut that expresses the paradox of a divinity that is both “Beyond” and “Present.” . . .

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/index.php?cat=3414

Associated Image:

Blue and white synagogue tile decorated with Moorish arch and floral motif and inscribed with the Hebrew word אתה “atah” (you), Morocco, 18th century. This tile is most likely from one of the four imperial cities: Fez, Meknes, Marrakesh, or Rabat. Original record notes that this tile came from a Moroccan synagogue. Possibly from the formula “barukh atah bevo’echa uvarukh ata btsetekha” (ברוך אתה בבואך וברוך אתה בצאתך), Deuteronomy 28:6; cf. tiled inscriptions in Lazama synagogue, Marrakech. (From the Magnes Museum collection, Tile [77-275].)

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in category pages and in shared links on social media.)

Terms of Use: Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:

Properly attribute any information in the description of this archive page to the Open Siddur Project (<https://opensiddur.org>).
Clearly indicate the date you accessed this page and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
Provide the stable link to this archive: <https://opensiddur.org/index.php?cat=3414>.
Indicate that the original page was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this page in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the CC BY-SA license.)

Additional Notes:

The views expressed on this page and in these shared works represents the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of contributors, patrons, or institutional partners.
We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.

Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture. If you like what you've found here, please help keep our project alive and online with your financial contribution.

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