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Contributor(s): Aurora Mendelsohn and Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Shared on א׳ בניסן ה׳תשע״ד (2014-04-01) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Categories:  Magid, Modern Miscellany
Tags:  20th century C.E., Freedom, North America, 58th century A.M., Wine, Four Cups, Four Freedoms, haggadah supplements 
Traditionally each cup in the Passover Seder is liked to a promise made by God in these verses, Exodus 6:6-7. The four cups can also be associated with the Four Freedoms first articulated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941, which were an inspiration for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and were explicitly incorporated into its preamble. . . . 
Contributor(s): Rachel Barenblat and David Evan Markus
Shared on י׳ באדר ה׳תשפ״א (2021-02-22) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Categories: Modern Miscellany, Purim Readings
Tags: United States, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., transtropilation, tropified texts, United States General Election 2000, 59th Presidential Inauguration 
Tropified texts for Purim 2021 juxtaposing the text of Queen Esther with the words of Vice President Kamalla Harris and poet laureate Amanda Gorman. . . . 
Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), United States Congressional Record and Roland B. Gittelsohn
Shared on י׳ באדר ה׳תשפ״א (2021-02-21) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Categories: Modern Miscellany, National Brotherhood Week, Memorial (Decoration) Day Readings
Tags: 20th century C.E., pluralism, United States, democracy, 58th century A.M., World War II, Eulogy, anti-fascist, anti-racist 
A chaplain’s eulogy over the fallen soldiers of Iwo Jima (also known under the title, “The Highest and Purest Democracy”) . . . 
Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Thomas Jefferson
Shared on ל׳ בסיון ה׳תשע״ט (2019-07-03) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Categories: Modern Miscellany, Independence Day (United States) Readings
Tags: 56th century A.M., 18th Century C.E., American War of Independence, American Jewry of the United States, Enlightenment, United States of America, Needing Attribution 
The text of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America and its signatories in English, with a Yiddish translation published in 1954. . . . 
Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Shared on ג׳ בכסלו ה׳תשע״ט (2018-11-11) — under the following terms: Categories: Modern Miscellany, Thanksgiving Day Readings, Purim Sheni Readings
Tags: Spanish-Portuguese, Revolutionary War, 56th century A.M., 18th Century C.E., Western Sepharadim, George Washington, American Jewry of the United States, Newport, State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 
In many Jewish communities around the world, there have been traditional scrolls read for “local Purims,” celebrating redemptions for a specific community. Here in America, we don’t really have an equivalent to that. But we do have Thanksgiving, a day heavily inspired by Biblical traditions of celebration, and one long associated with all that is good about America. Some Jewish communities have a tradition on Thanksgiving of reading Washington’s letter to the Jews of Newport, where he vows to support freedom of religion, famously writing that the United States “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance” – thus rephrasing words originally written in a prior letter by Moses Seixas (say-shas), the sexton of the Touro Synagogue in Newport. This text includes the original English of both Moses Seixas’ letter to Washington and Washington’s return, as well as a somewhat simplified version of the story of Washington’s visit to Newport. Inspired largely by the style of the Book of Esther, it could be read on Thanksgiving morning during the service, using Esther melodies (or going on detours as per personal choice). . . . 
Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Abraham Lincoln
Shared on כ״ח בסיון ה׳תש״פ (2020-06-19) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Categories: Modern Miscellany, Juneteenth Readings
Tags: 19th century C.E., emancipation, 57th century A.M., Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War, Black Lives Matter 
In honor of Juneteenth, the holiday of American liberation, this is a translation of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation into Biblical Hebrew. . . . 
Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Abraham Lincoln
Shared on ט״ז בשבט ה׳תש״פ (2020-02-11) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Categories: Readings for Abraham Lincoln's Birthday, Modern Miscellany
Tags: 19th century C.E., United States, 57th century A.M., Hebrew translation, Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War, 16th President of the United States 
The second inaugural address of President Abraham Lincoln in English with a cantillized Hebrew translation suitable for chanting. . . . 
Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Emma Goldman
Shared on ב׳ בתמוז ה׳תשע״ט (2019-07-04) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Categories: International Workers' Day (May 1st), Modern Miscellany, Independence Day (United States) Readings, Labor Day (1st Monday in September)
Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., political anarchism, internationalism 
A New Declaration of Independence by Emma Goldman. . . . 
Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), the Ben Yehuda Project (transcription), David Frischmann (translation) and Rabindranath Tagore
Shared on כ״ה בניסן ה׳תשע״ט (2019-04-29) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Categories: Modern Miscellany
Tags: 20th century C.E., English Translation, first person, modern hebrew poetry, 57th century A.M., Hebrew translation, Prayers as poems, English vernacular prayer, Bengal, William Rothenstein, Indian devotional poetry, Bengali vernacular prayer 
The Nobel prize winning collection of “song-offerings” or Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore, in Bengali and English, translated to Hebrew by David Frischmann. . . . 
Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Aharon Zisling, Moshe Sharett, Yehuda Leib Maimon, David ben Gurion, Pinchas Rosen, Zvi Eli Baker, Uri Yadin, Zvi Berenson and Mordechai Beham
Shared on כ״ט בניסן ה׳תשע״ז (2017-04-25) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Categories: Modern Miscellany, Yom ha-Atsma'ut Readings
Tags: 20th century C.E., מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Progressive Zionism, Religious Zionism, 58th century A.M. 
Jews have read sacred texts to commemorate miracles of redemption for a long time. Purim has Megilat Esther. Many communities read Megilat Antiochus or Megilat Yehudit for Ḥanukkah. But to many modern Jews, the most miraculous redemption in recent history was the founding of the state of Israel, as we commemorate on Yom ha-Atsma’ut. Like Purim, the story of the founding of Israel was entirely secular on a surface level, with no big showy miracles like a sea splitting or a mountain aflame. Like Ḥanukkah, a Jewish state in the Land of Israel won its independence against mighty forces allied in opposition. But we don’t have a megillah to read for Yom ha-Atsma’ut. Or do we? Just as Megillat Esther is said to be a letter written by Mordekhai to raise awareness of the events of Shushan, so too does the Israeli Scroll of Independence, Megilat ha-Atsma’ut, raise awareness of the events of the founding of the State of Israel. In this vein, I decided to create a cantillation system for Megilat ha-Atsma’ut. Ta’amei miqra were chosen attempting to follow Masoretic grammatical rules – since modern Hebrew has a different grammatical structure, the form is somewhat loose. Because of the thematic similarities to Purim, I chose Esther cantillation for the majority of the text. Just as some tragic lines in Esther are read in Eikhah cantillation, some lines regarding the Shoah or bearing grim portents for the wars to follow are to be sung in Eikhah cantillation. And the final phrases of chapters II and III are to be sung in the melody for the end of a book of the Ḥumash, or the Song of the Sea melody. They can be done in a call-and-response form, with the community reading and the reader repeating. . . . 
Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Shared on ט״ז בטבת ה׳תשע״ז (2017-01-14) — under the following terms: Fair Use Right (17 U.S. Code §107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use) Categories: Martin Luther King Jr. Day Readings, Modern Miscellany
Tags: 20th century C.E., United States, social justice, civil rights, 58th century A.M., Btselem Elohim, צדק צדק תרדוף tsedeq tsedeq tirdof 
Selections from speeches and letters by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. read in ecumenical services for Martin Luther King Day in the United States. . . . 
Contributor(s): Jack Kessler (trōpification), Marcia Prager and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Shared on כ״ח בטבת ה׳תשע״ח (2018-01-15) — under the following terms: Fair Use Right (17 U.S. Code §107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use) Categories: Martin Luther King Jr. Day Readings, Modern Miscellany
Tags: United States, social justice, civil rights, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Hafatarot, Cantillized readings in English, צדק צדק תרדוף tsedeq tsedeq tirdof 
These quotations from Dr. King’s speeches were edited by Rabbi Marcia Prager and set to Haftarah Trop by Hazzan Jack Kessler. This adaptation was first published in Kerem (Fall 2014), in Jack Kessler’s article, “English Leyning: Bringing New Meaning to the Torah Service.” . . . 
Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), David Evan Markus and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Shared on כ״ז בטבת ה׳תשע״ח (2018-01-14) — under the following terms: Fair Use Right (17 U.S. Code §107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use) Categories: Martin Luther King Jr. Day Readings, Modern Miscellany
Tags: United States, social justice, civil rights, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Hafatarot, Cantillized readings in English, צדק צדק תרדוף tsedeq tsedeq tirdof 
In 2017, Rabbi David Evan Markus prepared the end of Dr. King’s famous speech read at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (August 28, 1963) with trope (t’amim, cantillation). The following year on Facebook he shared a recording of the reading hosted on Soundcloud. Rabbi Markus writes, “This weekend at Temple Beth El of City Island, I offered the end of Dr. King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, which I set to haftarah trope because I hold Dr. King to be a prophet. When my community applauded, I offered President Obama’s response, ‘Don’t clap: vote.’ And do more than vote: organize, donate, volunteer, help, heal, advocate. Only then, in Dr. King’s words quoting Isaiah 40:5, will ‘all flesh see it together.'” . . . 
Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Jack Kessler (trōpification), Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Arthur Waskow, Elat Chayyim Center for Jewish Spirituality and the Shalom Center
Shared on כ״ח בתשרי ה׳תשע״ה (2014-10-22) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Categories: Parashat Noaḥ, Modern Miscellany, Yom Ḳeshet (42nd day of the Omer)
Tags: Renewal, 20th century C.E., eco-conscious, Parashat Noaḥ, שבת נחמו Shabbat Naḥamu, 58th century A.M., Hebrew translation, Rainbow Day, prophetic revelation, יום קשת Yom Qeshet 
A declaration in 1993 by Rabbi Arthur Waskow in response to the impending danger of global warming and other ecotastrophes brought about by the callous harm of human industry and land use decisions. Translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. . . . 
Contributor(s): Arthur Waskow, Phyllis Berman and the Shalom Center
Shared on ב׳ באב ה׳תשע״ד (2014-07-28) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Categories: Modern Miscellany, Tishah b'Av Readings
Tags: משיח Moshiaḥ, מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, North America, ירושלם Jerusalem, Temple Mount, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Philadelphia, Maggidut 
Long ago there came a Ḥassid, visiting from Vitebsk to see his Rebbe. Struggling up hills, over cobblestones, through narrow alleyways, the Ḥassid came panting, shaking, to the door of a pale and quiet synagogue. So pale, so quiet was this shul that the pastel paintings on the wall and ceiling stood out as though they were in vivid primary colors. As the Ḥassid came into the shul, he saw his Rebbe high on a make-shift ladder, painting a picture on the ceiling above the bimah. . . . 
Contributor(s): Arthur Waskow and the Shalom Center
Shared on י״א בסיון ה׳תשע״ד (2014-06-08) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Categories: Modern Miscellany, Tishah b'Av Readings
Tags: eco-conscious, The Shalom Center 
Tishah b’Av, the ninth day of the month of Av, has historically been a day to mourn the Destruction of the First and Second Temples, centers of Israelite practice before the rise of Rabbinic Judaism (First Temple 975 BCE – 586 BCE; Second Temple 515 BCE – 70 CE) and the exiles that followed those destructions. Over the course of Jewish history this day of mourning and fasting has also come to commemorate many other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people throughout history. This year we are beginning a new tradition. We are suggesting that in addition to, or instead of (depending on the norms of your community and personal practice) the traditional observance of Tishah b’Av, the time has come to use this powerful day to mourn the ongoing destruction of the “temple” that is our Earth, a tragedy for all peoples, creatures and living things, but one that is not complete and thus, with sufficient will and action, is in part, reversible. . . . 
Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), David Evan Markus and Bayit: Your Jewish Home
Shared on י׳ באדר ה׳תשע״ח (2018-02-25) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Categories: Modern Miscellany, Purim Readings
Tags: United States, social justice, civil rights, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Cantillized readings in English, Women's History Month, tropified texts, צדק צדק תרדוף tsedeq tsedeq tirdof 
Purim affirms Esther’s stand against official silencing, abuse of power, misogyny and anti-Semitism. At first an outsider, Queen Esther used her insider power to reveal and thwart official hatred that threatened Jewish life and safety. We celebrate one woman’s courageous cunning to right grievous wrongs within corrupt systems. The archetype of heroic woman standing against hatred continues to call out every society still wrestling with official misogyny, power abuses and silencing. For every official silencing and every threat to equality and freedom, may we all live the lesson of Esther and all who stand in her shoes: “Nevertheless, she persisted.” . . . 
Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and April Rosenblum
Shared on כ״ח באדר ה׳תשע״ח (2018-03-15) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Categories: Modern Miscellany, Ḥanukkah Readings, Purim Readings
Tags: liberation, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., combating antisemitism, solidarity, combating anti-Jewish oppression, particularism and universalism, who we are, Jewish Radicalism, Jewish liberation, shfokh ḥamatkha 
It’s always a real struggle for the Left to successfully tackle oppression within its own ranks. But when we do it, our movements gain, every time, from the deeper understandings that emerge. To start the process this time, we need some basic information about what anti-Jewish oppression is and how to counter it. But it has to come from a perspective of justice for all people, not from opportunistic attempts to slander or censor social justice efforts that are gaining strength. . . . 
Contributor(s): Rachel Grant Meyer, Marisa Elana James and HIAS
Shared on א׳ באב ה׳תשע״ח (2018-07-13) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Categories: Modern Miscellany, Tishah b'Av Readings
Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Alphabetic Acrostic, Cantillized readings in English, Immigration policy of Donald Trump, Trump administration family separation policy 
As we prepare to observe Tishah b’Av and commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem that led to the exile of the Jewish people for centuries to come, we are acutely aware that we find ourselves in the midst of the worst refugee crisis in recorded history, with more than 68 million people displaced worldwide. Given these extraordinary numbers, the continued attacks on asylum and the refugee resettlement program in the United States over the last eighteen months are even more inhumane. Of course, we know that the proverbial 10th of Av will come, and we will rise up from our mourning with renewed resolve to support refugees and asylum seekers. First, though, we take time to dwell fully in the mourning demanded by the 9th of Av. We fervently lament the many cruel actions this administration has taken to limit the ability of refugees and asylum seekers to seek safety in our country, and we mourn for lives destroyed and lives lost. . . . |
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