This is an archive of prayers and songs written for, or relevant to, the New Year’s Day for All of Creation — marking the beginning of the seventh month and its ensemble of festival days leading towards the commencement of the rainy season in the Northern Hemisphere. (Rosh haShanah l’Maaseh Bereshit coincides with Rosh Ḥodesh Tishrei.) Click here to contribute a prayer you have written or selected for Rosh haShanah l’Maaseh Bereshit. Filter resources by Collaborator Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category Filter resources by Language Filter resources by Date Range
The prayer, Aleinu, as read by Sepharadim, with an English translation by Rabbi David de Sola Pool. . . . Tags: 3rd century C.E., 40th century A.M., על כן נקוה al ken n'qaveh, עלינו Aleinu, censored prayers under Christendom, חתימות ḥatimot (concluding prayers), Jewish identity, מלכויות malkhuyot, standing posture, testament to divine reality, עדות witnessing A quadrilingual text of U-N’taneh Tokef — Yiddish, Ladino, English, and Hebrew. . . . The full text of the alphabetic mesostic piyyut, Hayom, according to the Italian nusaḥ. . . . A rahit (a chain piyyut before the silluq) for the second day of Rosh haShanah, by R’ Shimon bar Isaac “the Great” of Mainz. Here translated preserving the acrostic, slightly edited from its form as part of a day 2 service maḥzor designed by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . A magen piyyut (recited as part of the first blessing of Shaḥarit) for the second day of Rosh haShanah by Rabbi Shimon bar Isaac “the Great” of Mainz. Here translated preserving the acrostic, slightly edited from its form as part of a day 2 service maḥzor designed by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. . . . This is the piyyut, עֵת שַׁעֲרֵי רָצוֹן (Eit Shaarei Ratson) by Rabbi Yehuda ben Shmuel ibn Abbas (12th century Aleppo, Syria (born in Fez, Morocco)). The English translation presented here is by Rabbi Stephen Belsky. . . . The Italian Jewish community is one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities on the planet, dating back to the Roman empire at the latest.The Italian Jewish nusaḥ preserves several archaic practices that Ashkenazi and Sephardi rites no longer follow, many of which were found in gaonic siddurim and preserved only among the Italians. One fascinating custom of the Italian Jews is the recitation of what Ashkenazim and Sephardim call “Kol Nidrei” not in Aramaic, but in Hebrew, under the name “Kol N’darim.” This custom, also found among the Romaniotes of Greece, is elsewhere only found in the siddur of Rav Amram Gaon. The text included here is transcribed, niqqud and all, directly from a 1469 Italian-rite siddur found in the British Library. The scribe uses several non-standard vocalizations, which have been marked in editors’ notes. . . . An early 17th century song for Yom T’ruah (Rosh haShanah) by Karaite Ḥakham, Zeraḥ ben Nathan of Troki. . . . An early 17th century song for Yom T’ruah (Rosh haShanah) by Karaite Ḥakham, Zeraḥ ben Nathan of Troki. . . . A profound song invoking divine presence. . . . Tags: 18th century C.E., 56th century A.M., אנה אמצאך ana emtsaeka, creator within creation, חסידות Ḥasidut, הבדלות havdalot, Hebrew translation, non-dual theology, panentheism, תשובה teshuvah, Yiddish songs, זמירות zemirot “Dieser Psalm wird siebenmal vor dem Schofer blasen wiederholt (Psalm 47)” 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 №35 on p. 44. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №31 on pp. 47-48. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №33 on pp. 50-51. . . . Tags: 19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., German Jewry, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, למנציח Lamnatse'aḥ, מזמור Mizmor, Psalms 47, שופר shofar, shofar blowing, תשרי זמן Tishrei Zman 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. . . . “baShanah haBa’ah” (Next Year) by Ehud Manor written in 1968 in memory of his brother Yehudah. . . . This egalitarian adaptation of the Me she’Ana seliḥah for the season of Teshuvah was made by Julia Andelman and Lisa Exler in September 2004. . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., עננו anenu, Avot and Imahot, egalitarian, in the merit of our ancestors, מי שענה Mi She’anah, North America, סליחות səliḥot, traditional egalitarian, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah God of all spirit, all directions, all winds You have placed in our hands power unlike any since the world began to overturn the orders of creation. . . . Please God Let me light More than flame tonight. More than wax and wick and sliver stick of wood. More than shallow stream of words recited from a pocket book. . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., candle lighting, English poetry, English vernacular prayer, entering, fire, כוונות kavvanot, kindling, Light, potential, Prayers as poems, welcoming Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez writes, “Rav Avi spoke to us a few times as he was working through [composing] this [vidui] and I am truly moved by it. Let us not only remember and confess our wrong doings, but also what we did right this year.” . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, complementary vidui, confession, New York, North America, Open Orthodoxy, positive self-recognition, supplemental vidui, וידוי vidui, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah Vidui means acknowledgment. It is not about self-flagellation or blame, but about honesty, coming into contact with our lives, our patterns and experiences, and ultimately about teshuva and learning. In contacting the pain and suffering which our modes of being have given rise to, our regret can help us to willfully divest ourselves of them and awaken the yearning for those modes of being which are life-affirming, supportive of wholeness, connection, integrity, and flourishing. With each one we tap on our heart, touching the pain and closed-heartedness we have caused, and simultaneously knocking on the door that it may open again. . . . The Hebrew for “מִי שֶׁעָנָה לָאִמָּהוֹת” by Yael Levine was first published, with an introduction and a commentary, in September 2017, at kipa.co.il. The English translation for “Mi She-Anna La-Imahot,” by Yael Levine was made in 2018. . . . “The personal prayer of this shaliaḥ tsibbur” with a translation of the piyyut “Oḥilah la’El” was first published on Facebook by Yosef Goldman and shared through the Open Siddur Project via its Facebook discussion group. . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, חזנות ḥazzanut, כוונות kavvanot, Oḥilah la'El, Openers, Philadelphia, prayers of the shaliaḥ tsibbur, preparation, רשות reshut, סליחות səliḥot, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah A derivation of the popular piyyut for the Yamim Noraim, “Mi She’anu” which references the archetypal characters of the Star Trek paracosm. . . . Tags: 24th century C.E., 62nd century A.M., עננו anenu, Avot and Imahot, crossovers, deuterocanonical works, egalitarian, Jews of Star Trek, liturgy of the wandering stars, מי שענה Mi She’anah, סליחות səliḥot, Star Trek, Starfleet, תשובה teshuvah, United Federation of Planets As many of you know, there is a custom to indicate the Hebrew year with a verse (or part of a verse) that is equal to that year in gematria. Such words or phrases are called chronograms. The practice of indicating the year by a biblical phrase was often followed in traditional sefarim, on tombstones, and more recently has appeared in written correspondence and email. It’s a nice way to give added meaning to the current year. Here are some biblical phrases that equal תשע”ט 779. . . . One small request to accompany the seliḥot service. . . . A 21st century recasting of the iconic 13th century Spanish mystical Rosh haShanah piyyut. . . . Today I turned my heart toward the new year and wrote a prayer-poem for Tashlikh, the Rosh haShanah ritual of casting bread or stones into the water to cast off one’s past wrongdoings. . . . A prayer-poem by Rabbi Menachem Creditor reflecting on the challenges of the year 2020 up till Rosh haShanah. . . . “A Prayer for the New Year (5781)” was first published by Rabbi Menachem Creditor online at his Facebook Page and shared with the Open Siddur Project through our Facebook discussion group. . . . Hineni – the leader’s prayer that opens the High Holy Days Mussaf has always been a challenge for me. While a dramatic moment in the service, it always seemed a little *too* grand to represent a prayer of humility. This is a version of it I wrote in an attempt to make myself more comfortable at that moment. –Rabbi Oren Steinitz . . . The Raḥamana piyyut is a litany beloved in Sephardic and Mizraḥi communities, a standard part of their Seliḥoth services throughout the month of Elul and the days of repentance. Traditionally it cites a list of Biblical men (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Pinhas, David, and Solomon) and asks to be remembered for their merit and their covenants, for the sake of “Va-yaŋabor” — the first word of Exodus 34:6, the introduction to the verses of the Thirteen Attributes recited in Seliḥoth services. This text instead uses Biblical women (Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel, Serach, Miriam, Deborah, Ruth, Hannah, and Esther). . . . This is an egalitarian version of the Aneinu litany recited at the end of Seliḥot services, featuring equal representation for the women of the Tanakh and Talmud. . . . This prayer by Devorah Brous (fromsoil2soul), “A blessing for the bees (5785),” was first shared by the author on Shoreshshuk. The version here reflects some reordering of lines and other edits made by the author, shared also on Canvas. . . . |
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