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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources
This project is sustained through reciprocity for those sharing prayers and crafting their own prayerbooks.
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אל מלא רחמים לזכר הנרצחים | El Malé Raḥamim Prayer for the Victims of Terrorism in the Land of Israel Contributor(s):An El Malé Raḥamim prayer for Victims of Terror in Erets Yisrael, with an English translation by Rabbi Hillel Ḥayyim Lavery-Yisraeli from Prayers for Israel, for Protection from Terror Attacks, and In Memory of the Victims (15 October 2023), page 6. . . . קְלִפּוֹת לֶפֶת | Items for the Second Seder Plate: Turnip peels, after the Holocaust remembrance of Pearl Benisch Contributor(s):Pearl Benisch… remembers Passover in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany in the spring of 1945, just days before her liberation. . . . Contributor(s):Why is this coffee different from all other coffees? Because Maxwell House coffee is a deeply spiritual representation of the Diaspora experience. . . . Contributor(s):Rabbi Yosi son of Rabbi Yehuda says: “Three good sustainers arose for Israel. These are they: Moses and Aaron and Miriam. And three good gifts were given because of them, and these are they: well, and cloud, and manna. The well was given in merit of Miriam… Miriam died and the well ceased, as it is written (Numbers 20:1-2) “And Miriam died there,” and it says right afterwards “and there was no water for the community.” . . . Contributor(s):The Mourner’s Ḳaddish, in Hebrew with English translation by Everett Fox after Franz Rosenzweig. . . . קדיש דרבנן | Ḳaddish d’Rabanan (of Our Teachers), a translation by Everett Fox after Franz Rosenzweig Contributor(s):The Ḳaddish d’Rabanan, in Hebrew with English translation by Everett Fox after Franz Rosenzweig. . . . תְּפִלָה לְאִשָׁה לְאָמְרָהּ לִפְנֵי שֶׁמְגַלַּחַת אֶת שַׁעֲרוֹת רֹאשָׁהּ | Prayer for a woman to say before her hair is shorn Contributor(s):A supplication of a woman cutting her hair as an act of tsanua, per a contemporary custom in many Ḥaredi communities. . . . הַגָּדַת “וַיְבִאֵנוּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה” | “And Hashem Brought Us to This Place,” a Magid supplement for Those Living in Erets Yisrael Contributor(s):According to Mishnah Pesaḥim 10:4, “One expounds (doresh) from ‘A wandering Aramean was my father’ (Deuteronomy 26:5) until he finishes the whole story.” This supplement to Maggid, the verse Deuteronomy 26:9 and its midrash, fulfills the obligation. The verse and its midrash fit into the Passover Haggadah after the ten plagues and the midrash on them, right before the song Dayyenu. . . . Between the Fires: A Kavvanah for Lighting Candles of Commitment, by Rabbi Arthur Waskow (the Shalom Center) Contributor(s):“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. . . . Contributor(s):A traditional tefilat haderekh supplemented by a 20th century prayer for airplane travel. . . . 💬 Haftarah Reading for Yom Kippur morning (Isaiah 57:14-58:14), a slightly midrashic translation by Arthur O. Waskow Contributor(s):As we move not just toward a new “year” (shanah) but toward a moment when repetition (sheni) becomes transformation (shinui), I hope we will remember the roots of Jewish renewal in the upheavals of the 1960s as well as the upheavals of the 1760s, the roots of Judaism in the great “political” speeches of the Prophets, and the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who said that in a great civil rights march his legs were praying, and who argued again and again that “spirituality” and “politics” cannot be severed. As Heschel also said, “Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive.” . . . Contributor(s):What the Rabbis taught about teaching and learning was that all Torah study should begin and end with blessings, just as eating does. Often, in liberal Jewish circles today, these blessings are not done. But without them, it is easier for Torah study to feel like a mere academic discussion, devoid of spirit. And where the blessings are said but only by rote, it is easier for Torah study to feel merely antiquarian and automatic. In Jewish-renewal style, how can we bring new kavvanah — spiritual meaning, intention, focus, intensity — to these blessings — and therefore to the process of Torah study itself? . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Linda Motzkin on 11 July 2000 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 11 July 2000. . . . על השואה ועל התפלתה | Prayer in the Shoah, an essay and a prayer by Rabbi Dr. David Weiss Halivni (2000) Contributor(s):A meditation on a unique prayer heard by Rabbi Dr. David Weiss Halivni at the Rosh Hashanah services at the Wolfsberg Labor Camp in 1944. . . . Contributor(s):The full text of Rabbi Irving Greenberg’s invocation offered on the third day of the Democratic National Convention, August 16th, 2000. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Toby H. Manewith on 5 March 1998 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 5 March 1998. . . . Blessings and Ethics: The Spiritual Life of Justice, a dvar tefillah on berakhot by Rabbi Dr. Joshua Gutoff (1997) Contributor(s):An article looking at the questions of why there aren’t brakhot for ethical mitsvot, in which an approach to the function brakhot as part of a spiritual and imaginative discipline is proposed. At the same time, it is argued that all ethical practices are first exercises in listening. . . . Contributor(s):A comprehensive treatment on the praxis of Jewish prayer. . . . Contributor(s):This prayer for Jewish War Veterans was offered by Rabbi Simeon Kobrinetz, Chaplain USAF (Ret.), on Veterans Day 1996 during the Veterans’ Day Memorial Service presided by President Bill Clinton at Arlington National Cemetery. . . . Contributor(s):The full text of Rabbi Moshe Faskowitz’s invocation offered at the Democratic National Convention, August 27th, 1996. . . . Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 5 April 1995. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva on 8 March 1995 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 8 March 1995. . . . Contributor(s):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. . . . Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 20 April 1994. . . . Contributor(s):Tired of people who can’t tell their ḳiddish (blessings for the Sabbath) from their ḳaddish (prayer for the dead)? Well, it sets Samuel L. Jackson off too! But he found a way of making a bracha (blessing) and mourning the dead at the same time. Now I can’t vouch for the origins of his nusaḥ (custom) but it sounds very effective! Most people haven’t noticed, the only real part from the Bible is that last section, the first part is actually his own spiel: . . . Contributor(s):The following is a color-coded analysis of the Shabbat morning liturgy of second generation Reconstructionist Judaism (as witnessed in the Siddur Kol Haneshama: Shabbat v’Ḥagim, Reconstructionist Press, 1994) as compared with the traditional Nusaḥ Ashkenaz (minhag Polin). . . . Contributor(s):A prayer for a beloved animal first compiled in English by Aharon N. Varady for Nethaniel Puzael, his family’s cat, in 1994. . . . Contributor(s):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. . . . קִדּוּשׁ שֶׁל שִׁחְרוּר עַל שַׁבָּת ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | Shabbat Ḳiddush of Liberation for Shabbat Tu biShvat, by Mark X. Jacobs (1993) Contributor(s):We call to sukkat shalom, the shelter of peace, all of our various selves To rest from the contortion of social life and the demands of others. We liberate ourselves and each other from roles and titles labels and closets positions and pretendings internalized oppressions and oppressive projections hierarchies and competition. . . . תפילה לשלום צוות אח״י אילת | Prayer for the Welfare of the Navy Personnel of the “INS Eilat,” by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau (1993) Contributor(s):A prayer for the well-being of the Navy personnel assigned to the newly built Sa’ar 5 corvette, INS Eilat, in 1993. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer on behalf of Canada: its government, its leaders, and its people. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Rachmiel Liberman on 13 May 1992 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 13 May 1992. . . . Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 2 April 1992. . . . Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 20 February 1992. . . . Contributor(s):The full text of Rabbi Jacob Goldstein’s prayer offered at the Democratic National Convention, July 14th, 1992. . . . Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 7 November 1991. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Chaplain Jonathan A. Panitz on 16 October 1991 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 16 October 1991. . . . Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 16 October 1991. . . . Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 12 June 1991. . . . Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 14 May 1991. . . . Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 8 May 1991. . . . Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 20 March 1991. . . . Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 19 March 1991. . . . 📖 סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | The Trees are Davvening, a Tu Bishvat Seder Haggadah by Barak Gale and Ami Goodman with excerpts from the P’ri Ets Hadar (1991 abridged) Contributor(s):Tu biShvat, the 15th of the month of Shevat, was designated by the Talmud as the New Year for the Trees. It was tax time for HaShem, a time of tithing for the poor. This tithing has its origin in the following Torah verse: “Every year, you shall set aside a tenth part of the yield, so that you may learn to revere your God forever.” The Kabbalists of 17th century Safed developed the model of tikkun olam that we embrace today — healing the world by gathering the scattered holy sparks. To encourage the Divine flow — shefa — and to effect Tikkun Olam, the Kabbalists of Safed (16th century) created a Tu biShvat seder loosely modeled after the Passover seder. In recent decades we have learned how the well being of trees is intimately connected to the well being of all creation. This relationship is clearly stated in the following Midrash: “If not for the trees, human life could not exist.” (Midrsh Sifre to Deut. 20:19) Today the stakes of environmental stewardship have become very high. Tu biShvat calls upon us to cry out against the enormity of destruction and degradation being inflicted upon God’s world. This degradation includes global warming, massive deforestation, the extinction of species, poisonous deposits of toxic chemicals and nuclear wastes, and exponential population growth. We are also deeply concerned that the poor suffer disproportionately from environmental degradation. Rabbi Abraham Heschel wrote: “[Human beings have] indeed become primarily tool-making animal[s], and the world is now a gigantic tool box for the satisfaction of [their] needs…” . . . 📖 סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | The Trees are Davvening: A Tu biShvat Seder Haggadah Celebrating our Kinship with the Trees and the Earth, by Barak Gale & Ami Goodman (1991, unabridged) Contributor(s):The unabridged edition of the Tu biShvat seder haggadah, The Trees are Davvening. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Jay Marcus on 13 September 1990 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 13 September 1990. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Irving Spielman on 12 September 1990 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 12 September 1990. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi David Saltzman on 6 September 1990 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 6 September 1990. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Arthur Schneier on 8 May 1990 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 8 May 1990. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Barry Tabachnikoff on 24 April 1990 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 24 April 1990. . . . |
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