Self-Reflection • the Open Siddur Project ✍ פְּרוֺיֶּקט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ

While Man Explores With Curious Eye, a hymn on “Self-Knowledge” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)

Contributor(s):	Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Ḳahal Ḳadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, South Carolina) and Penina Moïse
Categories:	Self-Reflection
Tags:	English vernacular prayer, South Carolina, hymns, ABAB rhyming scheme, exhortation, הסתכלות פנימית histaklut pnimit, 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M.
	“While man explores, with curious eye, ” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Self-Knowledge” as Hymn 23 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 27. . . .

Descend Into Thyself, My Soul! – a hymn on “Self-Examination” by Penina Moïse (Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim 1842)

Contributor(s):	Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Ḳahal Ḳadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, South Carolina) and Penina Moïse
Categories:	Self-Reflection
Tags:	19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, South Carolina, hymns, ABAB rhyming scheme, הסתכלות פנימית histaklut pnimit
	“Descend into thyself, my soul!” by Penina Moïse, published in 1842, appears under the subject “Self-Examination” as Hymn 22 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), pp. 26-27. . . .

ודוי | Vidui meditation, by Danny Cohen

Contributor(s):	Daniel Yoel Cohen
Categories:	Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Days of Judgement & New Year Days, Yom Kippur, Self-Reflection, Repenting, Resetting, and Forgiveness
Tags:	integrity, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., acknowledgment, paraliturgical vidui, וידוי vidui, repentance
	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. . . .

מתי לא לבקש סליחה | When not to seek forgiveness, by Josh Rosenberg

Contributor(s):	Josh Rosenberg
Categories:	Days of Judgement & New Year Days, Self-Reflection, Repenting, Resetting, and Forgiveness, Separation
Tags:	זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., self-forgiveness, Due deferrence, Between people, beyn adam l'adam, סליחות seliḥot, Aseret Yemei Tshuvah, תוכחות tokheḥot
	A thought about the need to seek forgiveness from those you’ve wronged during this week before Yom Kippur: . . .

עשרת ימי תשובה | My Ten Days of Repentance Writing Exercise, by David Wolkin

Contributor(s):	David Wolkin
Categories:	Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Yom Kippur, Days of Judgement & New Year Days, Self-Reflection
Tags:	חשבון הנפש Ḥeshbon HaNefesh, self-reflection, תשובה teshuvah, Needing Translation (into Hebrew), North America, journaling, writing, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M.
	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.” . . .

עמידה | An Amidah for associating blessings with memory by Rabbi Dr. Oren Steinitz

Contributor(s):	Oren Steinitz
Categories:	Weekday Amidah, Self-Reflection
Tags:	standing meditation
	As powerful a practice as a standing meditation may be, reciting the familiar words of the Amidah with intention can prove to be a major challenge. The words may become rote, and the davvener may wonder if the ancient formulas are even meaningful to them. In this adaptation of the Amidah, Oren Steinitz treats each B’rakhah as a prompt to remind ourselves what we are praying for and shares his own thoughts as an example. Rabbi Steinitz originally wrote the “Memory Amidah” in 2013, during the Davennen Leadership Training Institute cohort 7, and revised it for sharing here through the Open Siddur Project in 2016. . . .

On Belief Held in the Act of Prayer by Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman

Contributor(s):	Gabbai Seth Fishman (translation) and Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Categories:	Self-Reflection
Tags:	58th century A.M., 20th century C.E., free will, bitul neshama, reception, consolation
	The one who prays to Hashem Yitbarakh should hold the belief that, from the start, there was a cause brought about by the everlasting One, and that S/He is the source of all completions, and S/He created all the worlds at the time when it arose in Hir will. . . .

Life Sentence by Eprhyme

Contributor(s):	Eden Pearlstein
Categories:	Self-Reflection
Tags:	21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Jewish animism, hip hop, שדים sheydim
	‘Life Sentence’ is a poetic exploration of solitary authorship — interpreting the old-world literary tradition and archetypes for the ‘ADD’ generation. This is a boundary and genre-crossing work that exists at the intersection of Radical Jewish, Indy and Hip-Hop culture. . . .

תחינה לתחילת יומן חדש | Prayer on Beginning a New Journal, by Aharon N. Varady

Contributor(s):	Aharon N. Varady
Categories:	Self-Reflection
Tags:	Openers, 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, North America, teḥinot in English, reflective practice, journaling, writing, petiḥah, תחינות teḥinot, 21st century C.E.
	May my thoughts seek truth and integrity, the humility that is commensurate with my ignorance, the compassion that arises from the depths of awareness, as depths speak to depths… . . .

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