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Motsaei Shabbat

This is an archive of prayers, songs, and havdalot recited at the conclusion of Shabbat.

Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first?

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:

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)

Havdalah: Three Meditations on Holy Separations, by Trisha Arlin

Three short havdallah meditations that culminate in a havdallah prayer/blessing.

Categories:

Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, first person, הבדלות havdalot, Kolot Chayeinu, paraliturgical havdalah

Contributor(s):

Trisha Arlin

Distinctions (Havdalah) for the end of Shabbat, by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

A prayer-poem inspired by the ritual Havdallah, preparing a separation between Shabbat and weekday time.

Categories:

Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English poetry, English vernacular prayer, הבדלות havdalot, paraliturgical havdalah, paraliturgical teḥinot, Prayers as poems, תחינות teḥinot

Contributor(s):

Rachel Barenblat

Blessing over Separation, by Shelby Handler

The Blessing over Separations was first read by Shelby Handler on Rosh Ḥodesh Kislev at the 2017 ADVA Reunion, a reunion of the community of Adamah Farm fellows and Teva Learning Center educators at Isabella Freedman Retreat Center.

Categories:

Separation, Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Adamah Farm, blessings, ברכות brakhot, English vernacular prayer, הבדלות havdalot, North America, Prayers as poems

Contributor(s):

Shelby Handler

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

Havdallah: Thinking of those suffering from long-COVID, by Gabriel Kanter-Webber (2021)

Liturgy for a motsei shabbat havdallah ritual centering the experience of those with long-COVID.

Categories:

Epidemics & Pandemics, Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

2020 coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., COVID-19 coronavirus, הבדלות havdalot

Contributor(s):

Gabriel Kanter-Webber

תפילה לפני הבדלה לחרבות ברזל | Prayer before Havdalah for the War of Iron Swords, by Dr. Yael Levine

A prayer by Dr. Yael Levine for salvation, comfort, and healing during the Ḥarvot Barzel War, first published in Olam Katan, issue 973 (21 November 2024, parashat Ḥayyei Sarah).

Categories:

Motsaei Shabbat, War

Tags:

2023-2025 Israel–Hamas war, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Three-phase Israel–Hamas war ceasefire agreement

Contributor(s):

Yael Levine

שֶֽׂרַח בַּת־אָשֵׁר | Seraḥ bat Asher — a havdalah piyyuṭ by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

In the style of the full Eliyahu haNavi piyyuṭ recited by some communities every Havdalah, a piyyuṭ in honor of Seraḥ bat Asher, retelling the events of her life according to the midrashim. This is not the first time I’ve written a Havdalah piece on Seraḥ, the distaff counterpart to Elijah in the midrash. She also inspired this shorter song. Like the full Eliyahu haNavi piyyuṭ, this is in three-line rhyming stanzas with a repeated refrain. Unlike it, it is in a tashraq reverse alphabetical acrostic, followed by an authorial tag — this time using a matronymic.

Categories:

Motsaei Shabbat

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Acrostic signature, הבדלות havdalot, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Psychopomp, reverse acrostic, 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

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "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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