This is an archive of exclusively modern resources preprared for use as special readings or recitations in commemoration of days in the Jewish calendar, as well as on civic days on civil calendars. Filter resources by Collaborator Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category Filter resources by Language Filter resources by Date Range
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. . . . A megillah for a Purim Sheni commemorating a day of salvation the Jewry of the United States during the Civil War. . . . Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Abraham Lincoln, Slaveholders' Rebellion (1861-1865), American Jewry of the United States, Cesar Kaskel, Emancipation, General Order No. 11, י׳ג טבת Tevet 13, Ulysses Grant, United States The second inaugural address of President Abraham Lincoln in English with a cantillized Hebrew translation suitable for chanting. . . . A Declaration of Interdependence co-authored during WW II as part of an interfaith Jewish-Christian response to fascism and “to mitigate racial and religious animosity in America.” . . . Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, anti-authoritarian, anti-fascist, anti-racist, civil declarations and charters, human solidarity, interdependence, interfaith tolerance, pluralism, United States A chaplain’s eulogy over the fallen soldiers of Iwo Jima (also known under the title, “The Highest and Purest Democracy”) . . . 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. . . . 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.'” . . . This is a haftarah comprised of excerpts from a “letter from a Birmingham jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. (16 April 1963). The haftarah was cantillated by Rabbi David Evan Markus for a public reading on MLK Shabbat (the sabbath preceding MLK Day). . . . 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.” . . . Tropified texts for Purim 2021 juxtaposing the text of Queen Esther with the words of Vice President Kamalla Harris and poet laureate Amanda Gorman. . . . |
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