This is an archive of prayers, prayer-poems, and songs for Yom haKippurim (the Day of Expiation), the second of the three Yamim Nora’im (Days of Awe). Click here to contribute a prayer you have written, or a transcription or translation of a historical work by someone else. Filter resources by Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category
The poem lauding the ancestors from Chapters 44 to 50 of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) is considered by many scholars to be the original influence for the Yom Kippur Avodah service, and the paean to Shimon the Righteous bears a striking similarity to the beloved piyyut “Mar’eh Khohen.” This passage from Ben Sira, the great paean on the merit of the ancestors, takes the Hebrew text of one of the Cairo Geniza manuscripts — Bodleian MS Heb e62 — and versifies it according to the standard Septuagintal text, along with vocalization and cantillation per the standard Masoretic EMe”T system for poetic books. It could be read on Yom Kippur for the avodah service, or just studied as a fascinating piece of Jewish history. . . . A quadrilingual text of U-N’taneh Tokef — Yiddish, Ladino, English, and Hebrew. . . . A poetic Birkat haMazon text for the breakfast after Yom Kippur found in British Library MS Or. 9772 D. All the opening words of the alphabetical acrostic are from Psalms 111. . . . The full text of the alphabetic mesostic piyyut, Hayom, according to the Italian nusaḥ. . . . A rhymed translation of the piyyut sung following the Havdallah ritual. . . . The text of the piyyut, “HaMavdil,” with a German translation by Franz Rosenzweig. . . . The following love poem is one of the Selihot recited between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Ibn Gayat (1038 – 1089) was not timid about using the most intimate symbols in asking God to become reconciled with us. . . . Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., devotional interpretation, eros, Granadan Jewry, interpretive translation, Kingdom of Granada, פיוטים piyyutim, סליחות səliḥot, Song of Songs, The Lovers A rhyming English translation of the piyyut Adonai Negdekha kol Ta’avati. . . . A pizmon in the nusaḥ hasepharadim recited at Seliḥot during the monh of Elul and Yom Kippur. . . . This prayer by Glikl bat Yehudah Leib was made from the text transcribed and published in Chava Turniansky’s critical edition, Glikl: Memoirs (1691-1719) (Shazar 2006), pp. 242-244, and Sara Friedman’s English translation of that edition, edited by Turniansky (Brandeis University Press 2019), p. 144. . . . This is the tkhine for candlemaking on erev Yom Kippur as found in Sarah bat Tovim’s Tkhine of Three Gates, likely written by her sometime in the early 18th century. . . . Tags: 18th century C.E., 55th century A.M., candles, erev yom kippur, פעלד־מעסטען feldmesten, Jewish Women's Prayers, memento mori, ḳever mesten, תחינות teḥinot, תחינות tkhines, ימים נוראים yamim noraim, Yiddish vernacular prayer An exhortation given by Ḥakham Ishak Nieto published before his translation of the Sliḥot, in Spanish with English translation by Isaac Pinto (1766). . . . “Tkhine of the Matriarchs for Yizkor on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Yamim Tovim” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni. . . . 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 “Vor Neïla (Schlußgebet)” 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 №46 on pp. 64-67. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №47 pp. 79-82. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №49 on pp. 82-85. . . . “Am Versöhnungstag zu מנחה (über die Geschichte von Jona)” 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 №45 on pp. 61-64. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №46 pp. 76-78. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №48 on pp. 79-81. . . . “Am Versöhnungstage, wenn aus der heiligen Schrift vorgelesen wird” 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 №44 on pp. 59-61. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №43 pp. 72-74. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №45 on pp. 75-77. . . . “Am Vorabend des Versöhnungstages (כל נדרי)” 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 №43 on pp. 56-59. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №42 pp. 68-71. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №44 on pp. 71-74. . . . “Andachtsübung über das Verhältniß der Kinder zu ihren Eltern,” a paraliturigcal Yizkor prayer for those with living parents, was translated/adapted by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. It first appears in the 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion as teḥinah №74 on pp. 110-112. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №75 on pp. 134-136. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №78 on pp. 139-141. . . . “Betrachtungen für die zehn Bußtage” 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 №42 on pp. 53-56. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №41 pp. 64-68. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №43 on pp. 67-71. . . . “Am Neujahrstag und Versöhnungstag wenn der Vorbether Alenu sagt” 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 №40 on pp. 51-52. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №39 pp. 62-63. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №41 on pp. 65-66. . . . “Bei eben dieser Gelegenheit am Neujahrs⸗, am Versöhnungstage und am siebenten Tage des Laubhüttenfestes” was translated/adapted by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. It first appears in the 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion as teḥinah №19 on pp. 23-24. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №19 on pp. 27-28. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №21 on pp. 30-31. . . . “Zweites Gebet vor Neïla” is an abridged, adapted translation by Yehoshua Heshil Miro of the piyyut by Yehudah haLevi “Barkhi Nafshi et Adonai.” There are seven stanzas missing near the end including the final stanza and a portion of the penultimate stanza. The translation was published in Miro’s anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaicher Religion. It first appears in the 1835 edition, as teḥinah №48 pp. 83-85. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №50 on pp. 86-90. . . . Tags: 12th century C.E., 19th century C.E., 49th century A.M., 56th century A.M., Acrostic signature, Alphabetic Acrostic, German Jewry, German vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, paraliturgical neïlah, תחינות teḥinot A Karaite song for the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). . . . “Am Neujahrstag, ראשׁ השׁנה und am Versöhnungstag, יוֹם כִּיפּוּר wenn der Vorbeter knieend spricht: וַאַנַחֲנוּ כּוֺרְעִים” 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 1835 edition, as teḥinah №44 pp. 74-75. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №46 on pp. 77-78. . . . “Prayer for the Penitential Days” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in the UK edition of Sacred Communings, pp. 90-91. It is not found in the US edition. . . . “Meditation for the Penitential Days” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in the UK edition of Sacred Communings, pp. 88-90. It is not found in the US edition. . . . “O Tag des Herrn!” is a paraliturgical Kol Nidrei by Leopold Stein. All the translations I’ve found from the 19th or early 20th century were produced for use in choirs and try to emulate the rhymed structure in the Stein’s German. So here is a straight translation I’ve made of the stanzas that avoids that pretense. –Aharon Varady . . . A prayer offered on erev Rosh haShanah or Yom Kippur to visit the local Jewish cemetery. . . . Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Bohemian Jewry, cemetery prayers, erev yom kippur, German vernacular prayer, memento mori, סעודה המפסקת seudah hamafseket, תחינות teḥinot, Teḥinot in German, ימים נוראים yamim noraim A meditation on Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippurim. . . . One of the most revolutionary alterations made by the early Reform movement in Germany was their replacement of Kol Nidre with a German hymn, sung to the same melody: O Tag des Herrn. But when the early Reformers came to the United States, they adopted a new language, English. In 1866, the American Reform Jewish community was largely bilingual in German and English, and Isaac Mayer (No Relation) Wise’s 1866 service for the Day of Atonement took account for that, including a singable English translation of the singable German replacement for Kol Nidre. I have also included a musical score which uses I. M. Wise’s English text in Louis Lewandowsky’s original setting of O Tag des Herrn. . . . A prayer for a woman pleading for atonement in the final service of Yom Kippur at sunset. . . . A prayer for a woman pleading for atonement on Yom Kippurim. . . . This penitential prayer dated “Tishri 5628 [October 1867]” was offered in conclusion to “A Penitential Sermon” reprinted in The Jewish Messenger on 25 November 1867. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 34, clipping 041), an archive of newsclippings recording material he contributed to the press, among other announcements. (Many thanks to the Library of the University of Pennsylvania for helping to make this resource accessible.) . . . This is the poem “פעלד־מעסטען” by Morris Rosenfeld (1862-1923) written before 1898. We have transcribed the poem as it was published in Rosenfeld’s collection of poems Gezamelṭe lieder (1906) pp. 135-136. The poem was romanized and translated into English by Leo Wiener and published under the title, “The Measuring of the Graves” in Songs from the Ghetto (1898), pp. 46-49. A rhyming translation by Rose Pastor Stokes & Helena Frank under the title, “Measuring of the Graves” was published in Songs of Labor and Other Poems (1914), pp. 70-71. If you know the date of the earliest publication of this prayer, please leave a comment or contact us. . . . A rhyming translation of the pizmon for maariv on Yom Kippur. . . . “O Tag des Herrn!” is a paraliturgical Kol Nidrei by Leopold Stein. Here it is translated from German to English by the Unitarian minister Frederick Lucian Hosmer on behalf of the Reform rabbi Isaac S. Moses. Hosmer’s translation appears in Hymns and Anthems for Jewish Worship (ed. Isaac S. Moses, 1904), hymn №107 pp. 69-71. . . . “Feldmesten or Measuring the Graves” by Alter Abelson, appears in the section “The Modern Period” in The Standard Book of Jewish Verse (Joseph Friedlander and George Alexander Kohut, 1917), pp. 698-699. The poem may have first been published in the 26 September 1913 edition of the Hebrew Standard, p.10. . . . Angie Irma Cohon’s “Day of God” is a hymn for Yom Kippur, an abbreviated adaptation of “O Tag des Herrn!,” a paraliturgical Kol Nidrei by Leopold Stein, translated from German to English by Frederick Lucian Hosmer. Cohon’s abridged rendering is published in תפלת ישראל (Tefilat Yisrael) A Brief Jewish Ritual (Women of Miẓpah 1921), p. 20. . . . This prayer for “The Child’s Al Chet” by Rabbi Abraham Cronbach is found in his, Prayers of the Jewish Advance (1924), on pages 124-126. . . . The prayer-poem ““Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin”” by Miriam del Banco (1858-1931) was included in her posthumously published anthology, Poetry and Prose (1932), p. 94-95. . . . This is the prayer which Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck had disseminated to Jewish communities throughout Germany to recite on Yom Kippur, 10 October 1935. The German text here is as found in the archival notes of Helmut Grünewald, Ein Judenjunge durfte kein Deutscher sein (Bristol, 1998), pp. 20-21 in the collection of the Leo Baeck Institute. The English translation is as published by Dr. Michael Meyer in Rabbi Leo Baeck: Living a Religious Imperative in Troubled Times (2020), pp. 106-107. . . . An alphabetic acrostic pizmon for seliḥot and Yom Kippur with an alphabetic acrostic English translation. . . . This is the Kol Nidrei as offered by the Hannover Synagogue on Yom Kippur in 1937 according to the text provided in a poster, “Agende für Kol-nidre und Seelenfeier in der Synaogen-Gemeinde Hannover” (10 September 1937). Thank you to David Selis for providing digital images of the poster. . . . This “Prayer for Service” on Shabbat Teshuvah (27 September 1941) by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), pp. 350-351. . . . |
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