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תפילת גשם כולל אמהות | Tefillat Geshem including the matriarchs with stanzas in a backwards acrostic, an adaptation by Eliran Sobel  Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:On Shemini Atseret, one is supposed to begin mentioning rain in the second blessing of their Amidah prayers (Ta’anit 2a). In many communities, this is liturgically marked by a poetic introduction in the repetition of the Amidah, called Geshem, specifically with the piyyut “Zekhor Av” written by Rabbi Eleezer BeRabbi Kalir, which alludes to the references of our forefathers’ relations to water. One feature of this poem is that it utilizes an alef-bet-ical acrostic, and while there are various modern adaptations that include biblical women, those break the acrostic. This is my attempt to compose a version including stanzas for our foremothers, while maintaining the acrostic by writing the women’s stanzas as a backwards acrostic (i.e. starting from tav and going to alef). This backwards acrostic containing the foremothers is then interspersed with Kalir’s original. . . . תפילות לשמיני עצרת שנת תשפ״א, בזמן מגפת הקורונה | Prayers for Shemini Atseret 5781 during the Coronavirus Pandemic, by Amit Gvaryahu & Yedidah Koren Contributor(s): Tags:Yizkor and other prayers for Shemini Atsertet during the coronavirus pandemic in 5781 (2020). . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:A paraliturgical prayer for rain on Shemini Atseret. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:The time of Sukkot is a time of fullness and generosity, but also a time to pray for the coming season. Shemini Atzeret, the festival when we pray for rain, is an expression of our need for water, which in the Jewish tradition symbolizes life, renewal, and deliverance. Tefillat Geshem, a graceful fixture of the Ashkenazic liturgy, invokes the patriarchs as exemplars of holiness and model recipients of God’s love. This prayer uses water as a metaphor for devotion and faith, asking that God grant us life-sustaining rain. While its authorship is unknown, it is sometimes attributed to Elazar Kallir, the great liturgist who lived sometime during the first millenium. Each year, we are reminded of our people’s connection to the patriarchs and to the rhythms of water, spiritual and physical sources of life, through this medieval piyyut. While we know that rain is a natural process, formal thanksgiving for water as a source of life, energy, and beauty reminds us that our Creator is the source of our physical world and its many wonders. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:This prayer for rain, adapted by Rabbi Emily Kapor-Mater in 2013, appears in סִדּוּר בִּרְכַּת שָׁלוֹם Siddur Birkat Shalom, an egalitarian Shabbat morning siddur (Havurat Shalom 1991/2021), in the “Holiday Prayers” section, pp. 197-202. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:A prayer for lifegiving sustenance. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:“Geschem” by Lise Tarlau 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 363-365. . . . אֲשׁוֹרֵר שִׁירָה | Ashorer Shirah, a piyyut in honor of the Torah by Ḥakham Raphael Baruch Toledano (ca. 20th c.) Contributor(s): Categories:A piyyut in honor of the Torah. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:“Thanksgiving” is a hymn written by Felix Adler and published in Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871), hymn №35, p. 69. We have tentatively dated this hymn to 1868, since another hymn by Adler (“School-hymn, no. 36”) can be found appended from another unattributed work in A Guide to Instruction in the Israelitsh Religion (Samuel Adler, trans. M. Mayer, Temple Emanu-El, 1864, 4th printing 1868). . . .  Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:A prayer for a woman celebrating Shmini Atseret. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:This is Fanny Neuda’s prayer “on Simḥat Torah,” faithfully transcribed and proofread with the help of German Wikisource contributors from Fanny Neuda’s Stunden Der Andacht (1855), p. 66-67. We are happy to share your translation of Neuda’s tkhines in any language. The translation provided here was made by Julia Watts Belser for Hours of Devotion: Fanny Neuda’s Book of Prayers for Jewish Women (ed. Dinah Berland, Schocken 2007), and set here for the first time side-by-side with Neuda’s original German. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:“Prayer for the Eighth Day of Tabernacles, the Day of Solemn Assembly שמיני עצרת (8th Day of Tabernacles)” by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau was first published in his תחנות בנות ישראל Devotions for the Daughters of Israel (1852), p. 39. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:“Prayer for the Festival of Rejoicing in the Law שמחת תורה (9th Day of Tabernacles)” by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau was first published in his תחנות בנות ישראל Devotions for the Daughters of Israel (1852), p. 83. . . . Actions de graces pour la récolte et Prière pour demander un bon hiver | Thanksgiving for the Harvest and a Prayer for a Favorable Winter, a paraliturgical prayer for rain by Jonas Ennery & Rabbi Arnaud Aron (1848) Contributor(s): Tags:This is a paraliturgical prayer for rain during the wet season, read during the festival of Sukkot, following in the tradition of Yiddish tkhines, albeit written in French. The prayer was included by Rabbi Arnaud Aron and Jonas Ennery in their opus, אמרי לב Prières d’un Coeur Israelite (first edition) published in 1848 by the Société Consistoriale de Bons Livres. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:“Let choral songs of gladness flow,” by Penina Moïse, was published in 1842, and appears under the subject “Revelation” as Hymn 16 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 20-21. . . . Gebet um einen guten Nahrungsstand | Prayer for an ample supply of food, a teḥinah by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1835) Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:“Gebet um einen guten Nahrungstand” 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 1835 edition as teḥinah №116 on pp. 223-224. . . . Am Schlußfeste (Schemini aẓeress) | At the final festival (Shemini Atseret), a teḥinah by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829) Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:“Am Schlußfeste (Schemini aẓeress)” 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 №52 on pp. 74-75. In the 1835 edition, it appears (misnumbered) as teḥinah №53 pp. 92-94. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №56 on pp. 97-99. . . . An den Hauptfesten, wenn man Behufs der üblichen Vorlesungen die Gesetzrolle aus der heiligen Lade nimmt | On the Shalosh Regalim when one removes the Torah from the holy Ark, a teḥinah by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829) Contributor(s): Tags:“An den Hauptfesten, wenn man Behufs der üblichen Vorlesungen die Gesetzrolle aus der heiligen Lade nimmt” 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 №18 on pp. 22-23. In the 1835 edition, it appears as teḥinah №18 on pp. 26-27. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №20 on pp. 29-31. . . . Andachtsübung über das Verhältniß der Kinder zu ihren Eltern | Devotional exercise on the relationship of children to their parents, a teḥinah for those with living parents during the Yizkor service by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829) Contributor(s): Tags:“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. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:“Für Gesetzes-Freude” 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 №53 on pp. 76-79. In the 1835 edition, it appears (misnumbered) as teḥinah №54 pp. 95-98. In the 1842 edition, it appears as teḥinah №57 on pp. 100-103. . . . תחנה אמהות | Prayer for Yizkor, from the Tkhine of the Matriarchs by Seril Rappaport (ca. 18th century) Contributor(s): Tags:“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. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:The Geshem prayer for Shmini Atzeret in the Maḥzor Aram Ṣoba has some things in common with other Geshem texts, but its most unique facets are twofold. First and most obviously, the extensive catena of verses from Torah, Neviim and Ketuvim that falls between the introductory announcement and the piyyutim themselves. And second, several Aramaic passages relatively rare in other texts, which seem to reflect an archaic form predating the adoption of Arabic as the spoken language of the Aleppo Jews. (These Aramaic passages are marked in green in the transcription.) As standard in Eastern practice, especially in the Maḥzor Aram Ṣoba (which shows a surprisingly modern reticence to interrupt the ‘amidah), this prayer is placed after the Torah service and before musaf begins. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:A popular piyyut for Simḥat Torah (4th hakkafah) originally composed as a piyyut for Shavuot and often referred to by its incipit, “Mipi El.” . . . יְדִידִי שִׂים סְבָרָא | Yedidi Sim Severa, performed in honor of the Ḥatan Bereshit before the reading of Bereshit Bara (the first aliya) Contributor(s): Tags:This song is performed in honor of the Ḥatan Bereshit – the person who reads the first aliya of the torah, which begins Bereshit Bara. These words – Bereshit Bara – are repeated throughout the poem. The poem is similar in structure and meter to Kelil Yofi, which is performed in honor of the Hatan Torah, the person who reads the last aliya of the Torah, which begins Vaya’al Moshe. . . . Prayer for Dwelling in the Sukkah of the Leviyatan, as taught in the name of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (ca. 13th c.) Contributor(s): Tags:This formula for recitation in the Sukkah at the conclusion of Sukkot (on the night of Shemini Atseret) is given in the name of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (1215-1293) and found in two sources: Siman 148 of the Teshuvot of Shimshon bar Tsadoq (a/k/a the Tashbets), and Siman 71.50 of the Sefer Kol Bo. . . . עַל־מֹשֶׁה אֶרְגָּז וְאָהִים | Al Mosheh Ergaz v-Ahim — a pizmon on Mosheh’s death for Simḥat Torah, by R. Shmuel ha-Dayan of Aram Ṣoba (ca. 12th c.) Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:This pizmon was written by R. Shmuel ben Moshe Ha-Dayan of Aram Ṣoba (ca. 1150-1200) an Aleppine payṭan whose works were almost completely lost before being rediscovered in the Maḥzor Aram Ṣoba. It emphasizes the uneasy juxtaposition of the joy of Simḥat Torah with the tragedy of Moshe’s death. Originally it was probably recited before musaf, but perhaps for those who follow Ashkenazi customs a more appropriate location would be as an introduction to the Yizkor service on Shemini ‘Atseret — which for those who don’t keep second-day yontef is the same day. . . . לְשׁוֹנִי כּוֹנַנְתָּ | Leshoni Konanta (My tongue you have fashioned), a reshut attributed to Shlomo ibn Gabirol (ca. 11th c.) translated by Sara Lapidot Contributor(s): Tags:The reshut for the prayer for rain and dew on Shemini Atseret and Pesaḥ, in Hebrew with English translation. . . . אֲשֶׁר בִּגְלַל אָבוֹת בָּנִים גִּדֵּל | Asher Biglal Avot Banim Gidel — an archaic piyyut on Mosheh’s Death for Simḥat Torah Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:This piyyut of unknown authorship is certainly ancient, showing the lack of a rhyme scheme characteristic of the REALLY old piyyutim (see also Aleinu or El Adon). It is still found in some Ashkenazi and Teman maḥzorim, with many different mostly minor variants (which have been combined together somewhat eclectically into one text here). It is presented here along with an English translation attempting to preserve the Hebrew acrostic. Originally it was recited before the Ashrei leading into musaf, but perhaps for those who follow Ashkenazi customs a more appropriate location would be as an introduction to the Yizkor service on Shmini ‘Atzeret — which for those who don’t keep second-day yontef is the same day. It could also be adapted as part of the liturgy for the seventh of Adar, although the final verse (the old Western rite berakha for finishing a full Torah cycle) would have to be elided. . . .  Contributor(s): Tags:To the best of my ability, this is a faithful transcription of Psalms 8 from תהילים או לוס סאלמוס ; טריסלאד’אד’וס דיל לשון הקדש אין לה לינגואה ספרדית (Tehillim, or the Psalms, translated from the Holy language [Hebrew] into the Sephardic language, Estampado por Ǧ. Griffit 1852/3) from a digital copy made available by the collection of Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington. Please join me in making a complete transcription of this Ladino translation of Psalms. –Aharon N. Varady . . . |