This translation by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola of “Elohim Yisadenu” by a paytan named Avraham (possibly Avraham ibn Ezra) was first published in his Ancient Melodies of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (1857). . . .

Categories:

Se'udah haShlishit, Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

12th century C.E., 50th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, פיוטים piyyuṭim, זמירות zemirot

Contributor(s):

David de Aaron de Sola (translation), Avraham ibn Ezra and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

🆕 איל דייו אלטו | El Dio Alto — a Ladino pizmon for Havdalah, Motsei Shabbat (transcribed and translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer)

There are many different versions of this beloved Ladino pizmon for Havdalah. This one is found in Tefilat Imanuel, published in Vienna in 1924. . . .

Categories:

Labor, Fulfillment, and Parnasah, Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

Angelic Protection, הבדלות havdalot, Ladino vernacular prayer, paraliturgical havdalah, פזמונים pizmonim, זמירות zemirot

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Unknown

א דוּדעלע (אַיֵּה אֶמְצָאֶךָּ)‏ | A Dudele (Where shall I seek you?), by Rabbi Levi Yitsḥaq of Berditchev (ca. 18th c.)

A profound song invoking divine presence. . . .

Categories:

Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Yom Kippur, Purim Qatan, 🤦︎ Taḥanun (Nefilat Apayim), Motsaei Shabbat

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

Contributor(s):

Levi Yitsḥaq Derbarmdiger Rosakov of Berditchev and Aharon N. Varady (translation)

Hashem is Everywhere! — a song by Rabbi Yosef Goldstein (1972)

The pedagogical song “Hashem is Everywhere!” by Rabbi Yosef Goldstein (1928-2013) can be found in the context of his story, “Where is Hashem?,” the second track on his album מדות טובות Jewish Ethics Through Story and Song (Menorah Records 1972). In the instructions to reciting the lyrics, the singer points first to the six cardinal directions and lastly, by pointing inward towards one’s self. In so doing, one explicitly affirms the idea of the divine within ourselves and implicitly, in each other. . . .

Categories:

🇺🇸 National Brotherhood Week, Purim Qatan, 🤦︎ Taḥanun (Nefilat Apayim), Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., affirmations, אנה אמצאך ana emtsaeka, children's education, circle drawing, English vernacular prayer, חבּ״ד ḤaBaD Lubavitch, panentheism, Pedagogical songs, Yiddish translation, זמירות zemirot

Contributor(s):

Yosef Goldstein and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

מִרְיָם הַנְּבִיאָה | Miryam haNevi’ah, by rabbis Leila Gal Berner & Arthur Waskow (ca. 1994)

These are the lyrics of the song, Miryam haNevi’ah, written by rabbis Leila Gal Berner and Arthur Waskow (with Hebrew by Leila Gal Berner) as found published in My People’s Prayer Book, vol. 7: Shabbat at Home, (ed. L. Hoffman, 1997), section 3, p. 189. The English lyrics are from an article published several years earlier — “Memories of a Jewish Lesbian Evening” by Roger McDougle appearing in Bridges (vol. 4:1, Winter/Spring 1994), on the top of page 58. No specific date is given for the havdalah program described in the article, alas. If you know the earliest reference for the publication or use of Miryam haNevi’ah, please contact us. . . .

Categories:

Parashat b'Shalaḥ, 7th Day of Pesaḥ, Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., הבדלות havdalot, Miriam, שירת הים Shirat haYam, זמירות zemirot

Contributor(s):

Leila Gal Berner, Arthur Waskow and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

סֶֽרַח בַּת־אָשֵׁר | Seraḥ bat Asher, a Havdalah Song by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Some communities have a practice of singing a song about Miriam alongside the well-known Havdalah song about Elijah the Prophet. But Miriam isn’t really a parallel to Elijah — she’s a parallel to Moshe and Aaron. When we’re talking about distaff counterparts to Elijah the clearest example is Seraḥ bat Asher. Seraḥ, the daughter of Asher, is mentioned only a handful of times in the Tanakh, but is given great significance in the midrash. Like Elijah, she is said to have never died but entered Paradise alive, and comes around to the rabbis to give advice or teachings. This song, which includes several references to midrashim about Seraḥ, is meant to be sung to any traditional tune of “Eliyahu haNavi.” It is dedicated to Ḥazzan Joanna Selznick Dulkin (shlit”a), who introduced me to the legends of Seraḥ bat Asher. . . .

Categories:

Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., הבדלות havdalot, Psychopomp, Seraḥ bat Asher, זמירות zemirot

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/index.php?cat=1506

Associated Image:

An illustration of Seraḥ later titled (on postcards) "Shirat bat Tsiyon," originally published at the beginning of the chapter "Lieder des Lebens" (Songs of Life) in Lieder des Ghetto (1902) by Ephraim Moses Lilien

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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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