— for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice
Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? A Ladino translation of Psalms 22 first published in mid-19th century Izmir. . . . אֲשֶׁר הֵנִיא | Asher Heni, a piyyut recited after the reading of Megillat Esther and its concluding blessingAn alphabetical acrostic piyyut celebrating the victory of Esther and Mordekhai over the forces of Haman. . . . Categories: Purim Contributor(s): Simeon Singer (translation), Unknown Author(s) and Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) אַצִיתוּ לִי אִילָנַיָּא | Atsitu Li Ilinaya | The Argument of the Trees — a debate-poem for Purim in Aramaic from the Targum SheniThis Aramaic poem, written in the early Byzantine era by an unknown author, can be found in its entirety within the Targum Sheni for Esther 7:9. It features an argument between an assortment of trees over which one is required to bear the great dishonor of having to be the one to hold Haman. It’s also chock-full of anti-Christian polemic and references to Toledot Yeshu. . . . Categories: Purim ברכת המזון לפורים | Poetic Birkat haMazon for Purim, according to the Cairo Geniza fragment T-S H6.37 vocalized and translated by Isaac Gantwerk MayerThis is a reconstruction of a liturgy for a Birkat haMazon for Purim witnessed in the Cairo Geniza fragment T-S H6.37 (page 1, recto and verso). . . . Categories: Blessings After Eating, Purim קִילוּס לְפּוּרִים לִלְמְגִלָּה | Qillus l’Purim lil’Megillah — an enconium for Purim, for Megillat EstherA Byzantine-era Aramaic piyyut for Purim, perhaps written as an introduction to the Megillah reading. It tells the narrative of the Jewish people from Abraham to the final redemption, focusing on the foes who sought to destroy us and their inevitable failure to do so. Uniquely among early-medieval poems, this one actively mentions the Romans (read: Christians) and Saracens (read: Muslims) and prays for their downfall in non-coded language. This translation loosely preserves the couplet rhyme scheme, as well as the alphabetical acrostic — perhaps with a phonetic punning reference to the name “Shlomo” at the end. . . . Categories: Purim מִי כָמֽוֹךָ וְאֵין כָּמֽוֹךָ | Mi Khamokha v’Ein Kamokha, a retelling of Megillat Esther in a piyyut for Shabbat Zakhor by Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi (ca. 11th c.)The poem Mi Khamokha v-Ein Khamokha, an epic retelling of the book of Esther in verse, was written for Shabbat Zakhor, the Shabbat before Purim, by the great paytan Yehuda ben Shmuel haLevi. It was originally written as a “geulah,” meant to be inserted into the prayer after the Shema in place of the verse beginning with “A new song…” But later Sephardic poskim ruled that it was forbidden to insert piyyutim into the Shema blessings, so in the communities that recite it today it is generally either read after the Full Kaddish as an introduction to the Torah service, or (for instance, in most Spanish and Portuguese communities) within the verse “Kol atzmotai tomarna” in the Nishmat prayer. Wherever you include it in your service, it’s a beautiful and intricately rhymed piyyut, and surprisingly easy to understand at that. It is presented here in a gender-neutral translation with all the Biblical verses cited, alongside a new translation that preserves the fourfold acrostic, two alphabetical and two authorial. –Isaac Gantwerk Mayer . . . Categories: Purim לֵיל שִׁיכּוֹרִים | Leil Shikkorim, a maarava from the Aravit for Erev Purim, as found in Maḥzor VitryThis piyyut, attributed to Menaḥem ben Aharon, is found in the Maḥzor Vitry, siman 465. It is a note-for-note structural parody of a beloved Pesaḥ maarava poem, Leil Shimurim. Israel Davidson, in his 1907 work “Parody in Jewish Literature,” writes, “The parodist apparently has no other aim than to dress a wine-song in the garb of a religious hymn. The burden of the song is that on Purim one must throw of all care and anxiety… But in order to make our happiness complete, we must remember the needy, and share our luxuries with those that are in want of them.” . . . Categories: Purim 💬 התפילות של מרדכי ואסתר | the Prayers of Mordekhai and Esther, from Divrei haYamim l’Yeraḥmiel (ca. 11-12th c.)The dream and prayer of Mordecai, and the prayer of Esther, as copied in the medieval pseudo-historical Chronicle of Yeraḥmiel. . . . אֵל שְׁמֹר הַמַּלְכָּה | God Save the Queen, an adaptation of Hyman Hurwitz’s Hebrew translation of “God Save the King” for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Celebration (1887)“God Save the Queen” is an adaptation of “God Save the King,” a work by an unknown author, first circulated in three stanzas during the reign of Britain’s King George Ⅱ, circa 1745. This Hebrew translation was published in a pamphlet circulated by New Road (Whitechapel) Synagogue in 1892 “on the 73rd Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Victoria,” an event attended by then chief rabbi of the British Empire, Rabbi Dr. Hermann Adler. . . . “Almighty God! Thy special grace,” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Feast of Esther (Pureem)” as Hymn 67 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 70-71. . . . Categories: Purim “Prayer for the Feast of Purim (פורים)” by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau was first published in his תחנות בנות ישראל Devotions for the Daughters of Israel (1852), p. 46-48. . . . Categories: Purim This is a parody riffing on the piyyut Kol Meqadesh Shevi’i for Purim by Avraham Menaḥem Mendel Mohr from his Kol Bo l’Purim (1855) transcribed and translated from Hebrew into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Categories: Purim This is a parody riffing on the piyyut Yetsiv Pitgam for Purim by Avraham Menaḥem Mendel Mohr from his Kol Bo l’Purim (1855) transcribed and translated from Hebrew into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Categories: Purim “Yom Purim” is a parody riffing on the piyyut Yom Shabbaton for Purim by Avraham Menaḥem Mendel Mohr from his Kol Bo l’Purim (1855) transcribed and translated from Hebrew into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Categories: Purim This is the Haqafot for Purim by Avraham Menaḥem Mendel Mohr from his Kol Bo l’Purim (1855) transcribed and translated from Hebrew into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Categories: Purim This is the Hosha’not for Purim by Avraham Menaḥem Mendel Mohr from his Kol Bo l’Purim (1855) transcribed and translated from Aramaic into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Categories: Purim This is the Ne’ilah for Purim (a parody of the last two paragraphs of the Ne’ilah confession) by Avraham Menaḥem Mendel Mohr from his Kol Bo l’Purim (1855) transcribed and translated from Aramaic into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Categories: Purim This is the Aqdamut for Purim by Avraham Menaḥem Mendel Mohr from his Kol Bo l’Purim (1855) transcribed and translated from Aramaic into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Categories: Purim שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת לַיּוֹלֶדֶת בַּפּוּרִים | Shir ha-Maˤalot for a Woman Giving Birth on Purim, by Avraham Menaḥem Mendel Mohr (1855)This is the Shir haMa’alot for a Woman Giving Birth on Purim (a parody of a birth amulet) by Avraham Menaḥem Mendel Mohr from his Kol Bo l’Purim (1855) transcribed and translated from Aramaic into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Categories: Purim כִּי בוֹ יִשְׁתֶּה צַדִּיק תָּמִים | Ki Vo Yishteh Tsaddiq Tamim, a parody of Yom Zeh Mekhubad by Avraham Menaḥem Mendel Mohr (1855)This is a parody riffing on the piyyut Yom Zeh Mekhubad for Purim by Avraham Menaḥem Mendel Mohr from his Kol Bo l’Purim (1855) transcribed and translated from Hebrew into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . Categories: Purim O God! Today Our Joyful Song of Praise – a hymn for Purim by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1856)“O God! To-day our joyful song of praise,” by Rabbi Moritz Mayer, published in 1856, appears under the subject “Feast of Esther” as Hymn 196 in Hymns Written for the Use of Hebrew Congregations (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1856), pp. 191-192. . . . Categories: Purim A prayer for a woman celebrating Purim. . . . Categories: Purim שיר מזמור לפורים | Shir Mizmor l’Purim, an anti-Prohibition drinking song for Purim by Rabbi Sabato Morais (1889)This “Shir Mizmor l’Purim” by Rabbi Sabato Morais (we think) was first published in The Jewish Exponent on 15 March 1889. It was preserved by Rabbi Sabato Morais in his ledger, an archive of newsclippings recording material he contributed to the press, among other announcements. . . . Categories: Purim Tags: American Jewry of the United States, Prohibition in the United States, 19th century C.E., זמירות zemirot, 57th century A.M., Philadelphia Contributor(s): Sabato Morais, Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) עַל מִקְרָא מְגִלָּה | Blessing before Megillat Esther on Purim, a rhyming translation by Jessie Ethel Sampter (1919)This translation and supplement for the blessing before listening to Megilat Esther on Purim was made by Jessie Ethel Sampter and published in her Around the Year in Rhymes for the Jewish Child (1920), p. 48. . . . Categories: Purim This prayer for “Purim, the Feast of Mirth” by Rabbi Abraham Cronbach is found in his, Prayers of the Jewish Advance (1924), on pages 43-46. . . . Categories: Purim Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the Massachusetts State Senate: Rabbi Joseph Rudavsky on 24 March 1959The opening prayer of the Massachusetts State Senate on 24 March 1959, added to the record of the U.S. House of Representatives. . . . Categories: Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies, Purim The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 27 February 2018. . . . עד דלא ידע | Sources and Meditation Instructions for Not-knowing on Purim, by Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein (Applied Jewish Spirituality 2021)Sources and meditation instructions excerpted from a larger source sheet on Not-knowing, Joy and Purim, from the Applied Jewish Spirituality “Kabbalah Through the Calendar” course. . . . Categories: Contemplation, Purim “Purim Kirtan” is a traditional Purim song of the Bene Israel community of Mumbai, India. Many thanks to our friends at the Jewish Language Project and to their team member Jacob Kohn for recording, transcribing, and translating the song as sung by Rivkah Moshe. . . . Categories: Purim המן ממזר איל מאלו | Haman Mamzer el Malo (Haman the Evil Bastard) — a Haketía (Western Judeo-Spanish) song for PurimThis somewhat crude Purim song is sung in many variants in the Moroccan and Gibraltar Sephardic communities, often to the tune of the popular Purim hymn “Akh Ze Hayom Kiviti.” . . . Categories: Purim This Purim song, popular among the Sephardic and Italki communities of Livorno, can be sung to the melody of “Akh, Zeh Hayom Kiviti.” Like a lot of Italian Purim content, a large portion of it is listing different desserts. . . . Categories: Purim
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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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