the Open Siddur Project ✍︎ פְּרוֹיֶקְט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ
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🖖︎ Prayers & Praxes // 🌔︎ Prayers for the Moon, Month, and Festival Calendar // Days of Judgement & New Year Days //  כַּוָּנָה לִפְנֵי וִדּוּי | A meditation prior to the confessional, by Reena Kling (Havurat Shalom 2014/2022) Contributor(s):This kavvanah preceding the great vidui, appears in מַחְזוֹר בִּרְכַּת שָׁלוֹם Maḥzor Birkat Shalom, an egalitarian Rosh haShanah & Yom Kippur maḥzor (Havurat Shalom 2014/2022). The kavvanah was composed by Reena Kling ז״ל, and translated into Hebrew by Emily Aviva Kapor, with editing by Aliza Arzt. . . . Contributor(s):An alternate Vidui for Yom Kipur, including an alphabetical list of the things we’ve done wrong in the past year, and also an alphabetical list of the things we can do right in the new year. Includes the words to “Ani v’Ata”, the song of optimism and commitment to improve the world. . . . Contributor(s):An Intention for Eating on Yom Kippur was written by Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez and appears in הַרְחֶב פִּֽיךָ וַאֲמַלְאֵֽהוּ Open Your Mouth Wide, and I (God) Will Fill It: Prayers and Rituals for those who need to eat on Yom Kippur (2022), p. 4. . . . Contributor(s):“A Prayer for Eating on Yom Kippur” was written by A Mitzvah to Eat (Sarah Osborne) and appears in הַרְחֶב פִּֽיךָ וַאֲמַלְאֵֽהוּ Open Your Mouth Wide, and I (God) Will Fill It: Prayers and Rituals for those who need to eat on Yom Kippur (2022). . . . Contributor(s):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. . . . כַּפָּרוֹת | Kaparōt (using money dedicated for charity), the ritual for the expiation of offenses before Yom Kippur Contributor(s):The ritual of kaparot using a bundle of money dedicated for tsedaqah. . . . אדמה ושמים | Adamah v’Shamayim (Earth & Heaven), a prayer-poem by Rabbi Louis Polisson after the song by Shimon Lev-Tahor (Suissa) Contributor(s):This poem was composed at the end of August 2020 / Elul 5780 as part of Rabbi Katy Allen’s Earth Etudes for Elul 5780. . . . Contributor(s):This prayer is not a comprehensive list of every single sin we sinned, every error we erred, every mark we missed. The original Al Ḥeyt is intended to show us the roots of all failures, to dig beneath how we harm, to see where that hurt came from. We follow these trails together, not absolved from our own repairs, but never alone in struggles to uproot, to propagate new ways of being ourselves, new ways of being ourselves, of being together. . . . ברכת המזון לסעודה מפסקת לפני יום הכפורים | Birkat haMazon for the Pre-Fast Meal for Yom Kippur, by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer Contributor(s):This acrostic poetic form of Birkat haMazon was written for the se’udah mafseqet (pre-fast meal) before Yom Kippur, in the manner of the poetic Birkat haMazon variants recorded in the Cairo Geniza. . . . תפלה לשליח ציבור | Hineni: The Prayer of the Shaliaḥ Tsibur, interpretive translation by Rabbi Oren Steinitz Contributor(s):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 . . . קדוש לסעודה מפסקת לפני יום הכפורים | Ḳiddush for the Seudah Mafseket before Yom Kippur, by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer Contributor(s):A kiddush for the se’udah (feast) preceding Yom Kippur and its fast. . . . Additions to Piyyutim on the High Holidays for the Shemitah Year, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org) Contributor(s):Two suggestions for ḥazanim (cantors) and shliḥei tzibur on the High Holidays. . . . Contributor(s):The Yom Kippur vidui — confession — translated by Naomi Socher-Lerner. . . . Contributor(s):One small request to accompany the seliḥot service. . . . Between the Fires: A Kavvanah for Lighting Candles of Commitment, by Rabbi Arthur Waskow (the Shalom Center) Contributor(s):“Between the Fires: A Prayer for lighting Candles of Commitment” was composed by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, drawing on traditional midrash about the danger of a Flood of Fire, and the passage from Malachi. . . . On the Reconciliation of Yitsḥaq: a meditation on the Offering of the Two Goats on Yom Kippur, by Rabbi Arthur Waskow (the Shalom Center) Contributor(s):Especially for those of us who use the Torah passages on the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael and the Binding of Isaac for Rosh Hashanah, together with Rabbi Phyllis Ocean Berman, I want to recommend that you read from the Sefer Torah the passage in Genesis 25:7-11 on the reconciliation of the two brothers as they come together to bury their dangerous father Avraham/Ibrahim/Abraham. . . . מִי שֶׁעָנָה…הוּא יַעֲנֵנוּ | Mi she’Anah…Hu Ya’anenu :: A Star Trek Seliḥah, by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer Contributor(s):A derivation of the popular piyyut for the Yamim Noraim, “Mi She’anu” which references the archetypal characters of the Star Trek paracosm. . . . Contributor(s):This vidui (confession), based on the traditional pattern of Yom Kipur confession, was written around 2011by Michal Talya and is used by several liberal communities in Israel. . . . Contributor(s):The Al Cheyt (literally meaning “For the sin…”) is a confessional litany recited on Yom Kippur. It is an alphabetical acrostic; each one of its verses starting with a successive letter of the aleph-beit, to represent not only the moral failings that are specifically enumerated there, but the fullness of every way in which we missed the mark in the previous year. . . . Contributor(s):This Yom Kipur, our congregation (Beth Jacob Synagogue in Hamilton) requested a reworking of the piyyut, “Amits Koaḥ” (text, audio) since the language is very tough and resists plain translation into English. I was also commissioned to write a poem describing the history of the world from a Jewish perspective, from scratch and in English, for use at the beginning of the Avodah service. It turned out to be just as obscure as the original so I put in a little column to the right with a little reference what I was talking about. . . . Kavvanah before eating or drinking on Yom Kippur for military personnel on active service (IDF 2017) Contributor(s):This is a kavvanah (intention) distributed beginning in 2017 for Jewish soldiers on active service during Yom Kippur to use before eating or drinking a limited amount of nourishment in order to sustain their attention and readiness. The text of the prayer here is that which was distributed by Rabbi Captain Udi Schwartz, head of the chief rabbi for Tsahal (IDF), and published by Arutz 7. The kavvanah is derived from one published in 1983 by Rav Yitschok Zilberstein for those who, due to their state of health, must eat or drink in order to live (find Toras haYoledes (1983), chapter 52, section 10, p. 357; pp. 331-332 in the bilingual edition 1989). That kavvanah, according to Rabbi Zilberstein was, “הועתק ממחזור עתיק” (“copied from an old maḥzor”). . . . מִי שֶׁעָנָה לָאִמָּהוֹת | Mi she-Anah la-Imahot (He who answered the foremothers), by Dr. Yael Levine (2017) Contributor(s):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. . . . Contributor(s):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. . . . Contributor(s):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.” . . . Contributor(s):David Wolkin writes, “I’ve been pushing this writing exercise for a while now, but I taught a class with it in my home on Sunday and it proved to be powerful and connecting for all of us in the room. If you’re reflecting/repenting this season, you might benefit from this.” . . . Contributor(s):A complementary (positive vidui) to supplement the harsh communal and personal vidu’im (confessions) being offered during the Zman Teshuvah. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer of forgiveness to convey to one’s inner and vulnerable self during the period of sometimes unrelenting and harsh introspection prior to the blessing for rain. . . . Contributor(s):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. . . . Contributor(s):A supplement to the Al Ḥet of the Yom Kippur vidui. . . . Contributor(s):A personal declaration to become a shomer/et shalom on Yom Kippur. . . . על חטא | For the Sin of Destroying God’s Creation by Rabbi Danny Nevins, adapted by Rabbi David Seidenberg (2007) Contributor(s):Eternal God, You created earth and heavens with mercy, and blew the breath of life into animals and human beings. We were created amidst a world of wholeness, a world called “very good,” pure and beautiful, but now your many works are being erased by us from the book of life. . . . Contributor(s):Judy Gumbo co-authored this Al Ḥeit with her partner Stew Albert, ז״ל, before his passing in 2006. This Al Ḥeit was most recently used as part of Yom Kippur Kol Nidre services across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street 5772. . . . Contributor(s):This “Meditation before Yom Kippur for One who Cannot Fast” (2005) was written by Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, LCSW, Rabbinic Director, National Center for Jewish Healing. It appears in הַרְחֶב פִּֽיךָ וַאֲמַלְאֵֽהוּ Open Your Mouth Wide, and I (God) Will Fill It: Prayers and Rituals for those who need to eat on Yom Kippur (2022), p. 11. . . . מִי שֶׁעָנָה…הוּא יַעֲנֵֽנוּ | Mi She’anah… Hu Ya’anenu — A Seliḥah for Yom Kippur (egal adaptation by Lisa Exler and Rabbi Julia Andelman, 2004) Contributor(s):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. . . . Kavvanah before eating or drinking on Yom Kippur for those who must eat for the safety of their life, as found in Torat ha-Yoledet (Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein 1983) Contributor(s):This is a kavvanah (intention) for anyone in a desperate circumstance of needing to eat or drink for their mortal health, to do so with the full confidence that they are fulfilling a mitsvah required for them in the Torah, to preserve their life. The kavvanah was related by Rav Yitschok Zilberstein in his Toras haYoledes (1983), chapter 52, section 10, p. 357 (pp. 331-332 in the bilingual edition 1989), “הועתק ממחזור עתיק” (as “copied from an old maḥzor”). Unfortunately, we can’t provide a more direct reference to this maḥzor. If you know, please leave a comment or contact us. . . . Contributor(s):“The Open Door of the Heart” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), pp. 43-44, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . . Contributor(s):This undated “Atonement Prayer” 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), p. 352. . . . Contributor(s):Loading . . . Contributor(s):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. . . . Contributor(s):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. . . . אֲדוֹן הַסְּלִיחוֹת | Adon haSeliḥot, a pizmon for Seliḥot and Yom Kippur with an alphabetic acrostic translation by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1937) Contributor(s):An alphabetic acrostic pizmon for seliḥot and Yom Kippur with an alphabetic acrostic English translation. . . . Prayer for all Jewish Communities in Germany for the Eve of the Day of Atonement, by Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck (10 October 1935) Contributor(s):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. . . . Contributor(s):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. . . . Contributor(s):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. . . . הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל | Hamavdil Ben Ḳodesh l’Ḥol, a piyyut attributed to Yitsḥaq ben Yehudah ibn Ghayyat (German translation by Franz Rosenzweig 1921) Contributor(s):The text of the piyyut, “HaMavdil,” with a German translation by Franz Rosenzweig. . . . Day of God, Leopold Stein’s “O Tag des Herrn!” (1840) adapted from Frederick Lucian Hosmer’s translation (1904) as a hymn for Yom Kippur by Angie Irma Cohon (1921) Contributor(s):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. . . . Contributor(s):“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. . . . Contributor(s):This untitled prayer by Lise Tarlau for concluding the vidui prayers on Yom Kippur (“Sündenbekenntnis. (Widduj.)”) can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), pages 217-218. . . .
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Eli Wallach, z"l, in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - cemetery scene (dir. Sergio Leone 1966)(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in category pages and in shared links on social media.)
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The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, 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.
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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“Avinu Malkeinu,” dvar tefillah by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)
The words of Avinu Malkeinu are a little different from the standard translation. It doesn’t say in Hebrew, “we have no good deeds” (ein lanu ma’asim tovim), but rather, “there are no deeds in us” (ein banu ma’asim). The p’shat (literal meaning) implies that whatever we have done in the past does not have to live inside of us — we can release our deeds and be released from them, fully, to start over, like a newborn, to become whoever we need to become. . . .