Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the Psalm of the Day for Friday (Psalms 93) in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). To the best of my ability, I have set his translation side-by-side with a transcription of the vocalized text of the Psalm. . . . Talmudic and midrashic sources contain hymns of the creation usually based on homiletic expansions of metaphorical descriptions and personifications of the created world in the Bible. The explicitly homiletic background of some of the hymns in Perek Shira indicates a possible connection between the other hymns and Tannaitic and Amoraic homiletics, and suggests a hymnal index to well-known, but mostly unpreserved, homiletics. The origin of this work, the period of its composition and its significance may be deduced from literary parallels. A Tannaitic source in the tractate Hagiga of the Jerusalem (Hag. 2:1,77a—b) and Babylonian Talmud (Hag. 14b), in hymns of nature associated with apocalyptic visions and with the teaching of ma’aseh merkaba serves as a key to Perek Shira’s close spiritual relationship with this literature. Parallels to it can be found in apocalyptic literature, in mystic layers in Talmudic literature, in Jewish mystical prayers surviving in fourth-century Greek Christian composition, in Heikhalot literature, and in Merkaba mysticism. The affinity of Perek Shira with Heikhalot literature, which abounds in hymns, can be noted in the explicitly mystic introduction to the seven crowings of the cock — the only non-hymnal text in the collection — and the striking resemblance between the language of the additions and that of Shi’ur Koma and other examples of this literature. In Seder Rabba de-Bereshit, a Heikhalot tract, in conjunction with the description of ma’aseh bereshit, there is a clear parallel to Perek Shira’s praise of creation and to the structure of its hymns. The concept reflected in this source is based on a belief in the existence of angelic archetypes of created beings who mediate between God and His creation, and express their role through singing hymns. As the first interpretations of Perek Shira also bear witness to its mystic character and angelologic significance, it would appear to be a mystical chapter of Heikhalot literature, dating from late Tannaitic — early Amoraic period, or early Middle Ages. . . . Tags: 43rd century A.M., 5th century C.E., animals, birds, cosmological, creeping creatures, Early Ammoraic, Early Middle Ages, ההיכלות ויורדי המרכבה haHeikhalot v'Yordei haMerkavah, heikhalot literature, hymns of creation, Late Tannaitic, Openers The custom of reciting BaMeh Madliqin, the second chapter of Mishnah Shabbat, on Friday nights probably originated as an anti-Karaite polemic. While the Karaites were opposed to any use of fire on Shabbat, rabbinic Jews kindle lights before Shabbat, and the recitation of BaMeh Madliqin — the laws of Shabbat lights — emphasized this distinction. One of the best firsthand sources we have for this is the following introductory blessing from the Cairo Genizah (T-S NS 299.150 verso) for the recitation of BaMeh Madliqin, first published by Naftali Wieder in this article. This blessing emphasizes the continuity of the Torah both written and oral from Sinai to the sages and elders. . . . Elijah began saying: Lord of the worlds You Who are One and not just a number You are the highest of the highest most hidden of the undisclosed no thought scheme grasps You at all. . . . Tags: 15th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., devotional interpretation, interpretive translation, Opening Prayers, פתח אליהו Pataḥ Eliyahu, petiḥah, Openers, תפילות קודם התפילה Prayers before Praying, prayers of kabbalists, תפלין tefillin The Prayer for the mitsvot of preparing Ḥallah from the Teḥinah of the Three Gates by Sarah bat Tovim (18th century). . . . The Prayer for the mitsvot of kindling the lights of Shabbat from the Teḥinah of the Three Gates by Sarah bat Tovim (18th century). . . . A prayer upon preparing ḥallot for Shabbat. . . . “Wenn die Hausfrau an den Vorabenden des Sabaths und der Feiertage die Lichte anzündet” was written by Yehoshua Heshil Miro and published in his anthology of teḥinot, בית יעקב (Beit Yaaqov) Allgemeines Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauen mosaischer Religion. In the original 1829 edition, תחנות Teḥinot ein Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion, it appears as teḥinah №13, on pp. 17-18. In the 1835 and 1842 editions, it appears as teḥinah №13 on pp. 20-21. . . .
Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Anglo Jewry, British Jewry, candle lighting, Derekh Hashem, divine light, dveykut, English Romanticism, English vernacular prayer, פוקח עברים Pokeaḥ Ivrim, Prayers as poems
Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., baking ḥallah, English Jewry, English vernacular prayer, German Jewry, German vernacular prayer, חלה challah ḥallah, Jewish Women's Prayers, taking dough, תחינות teḥinot A prayer on Erev Shabbat upon lighting the Shabbes Candles, in French with English translation. . . . This is the prayer for Friday, a paraliturgical teḥinah opposite the Shir shel Yom (Psalm of the Day) for Friday, included by Fanny Schmiedl Neuda in her collection of teḥinot in vernacular German. Fanny Neuda likely either composed or translated this teḥinah into German (from Yiddish) while performing in the capacity of firzogerin (precentress) of the weibershul (women’s gallery) in her husband’s synagogue in Loštice, Bohemia. . . . Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Bohemia, Bohemian Jewry, Friday, German vernacular prayer, Paraliturgical Psalms 93, paraliturgical teḥinot, Psalm of the Day, שיר של יום Shir Shel Yom, Sixth Day of Creation, Teḥinot in German This is a faithful transcription of the תחנה פון ליכט בענטשין (“Tkhine for Lighting Candles [for Shabbes]”) as it appeared in the Vilna, 1869 edition. I have transcribed it without any changes from 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. If you can scan an image of the page from the 1869 edition this was originally copied from, please share your scan with us. . . . The poem “Friday Night” by Miriam del Banco (1858-1931) was included in The Standard Book of Jewish Verse (ed. Friedlander & Kohut 1917), p. 269. . . . This paraliturgical supplement to the blessing over kindling the Shabbat candles was written by Jessie Ethel Sampter and published in her Around the Year in Rhymes for the Jewish Child (1920), p. 80. . . . This prayer for “The Sabbath” by Rabbi Abraham Cronbach is found in his, Prayers of the Jewish Advance (1924), on pages 69-72. . . . “Sabbath Eve (In the Home)” by Rabbi Ely E. Pilchik was first published in Rabbi Morrison David Bial’s anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 28, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . . “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. . . . Shabbat Affirmations for erev shabbat in preparation of welcoming the shabbat. . . . 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 The following is a meditation I wrote (with the help of my friend Shira Gura, who teaches meditation and Yoga) to be used on Friday before Shabbat at the mikveh. It is based on midrashim related to Shabbat (for example, the notion that we receive an additional soul on Shabbat), as well as meanings behind mikveh in general (for example, the connection between the waters of Creation and the mikveh waters), and on some kavanot (sacred intentions) that came out of the Kabbalah and Ḥassidut movements. There is a strong tradition to write kavanot to use before immersing in the mikveh, since, as Maimonides writes in his Mishneh Torah 11:15, “If a person immerses but without buttressing him or herself [with sacred intention], it is as though he or she has not immersed at all.” . . . This is pre-Shabbos reflection that can be done in a shower or bath. Shabbat is a time when I am less focused on my selfish desires and instead my thoughts drift to my place in the larger community and world. I find myself doing some version of this before Shabbos most weeks and am welcome for the time to reflect on truly what it is to cease from lay work and consider the work that needs to be done to make the world a better place. . . . Two mothers, one plea: Now, more than ever, during these days of so much crying, on the day that is sacred to both our religions, Friday, Sabbath Eve Let us light a candle in every home – for peace: A candle to illuminate our future, face to face, A candle across borders, beyond fear. From our family homes and houses of worship Let us light each other up Let these candles be a lighthouse to our spirit Until we all arrive at the sanctuary of peace. . . . A prayer for focusing one’s mind and intention during the separation of dough in the preparation of halah before Shabbat. . . . This formulation of the Birkat Yeladim (Blessing of the Children) maintains a connection with tradition and serves to degender the blessing by calling upon quoted, mixed gender texts which have merit for children of any gender. . . . A prayer for peace amidst civil disagreement, difference, and strife before the lighting of Shabbat candles on Erev Shabbat. . . . A kavvanah written in preparation for an online class at the Green Sabbath Project, “Follow the Goat: using the scapegoat ritual in creating new kavvanot / sacred intentions for lighting Shabbat candles.” . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Azazel, במדבר Bamidbar, candle lighting, eco-conscious, eco-feminism, כוונות kavvanot, kindling, תחינות teḥinot, טבע Teva, where the wild things are |
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