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21st century C.E. —⟶ tag: 21st century C.E. Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? At B’nai Havurah, the Denver Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation, located in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, we consider this psalm a local favorite. Psalm 121, described as a Song for the Ascents, traditionally looks to the heights, where godly powers were believed to reside, such as Mt. Sinai, or the Acropolis, to find divine help, in the person of God or The Unseen One. My proposal is a variation that adjusts our focus to this world, away from the supernatural, to acknowledge our responsibility for the well-being of ourselves and the environment. Whatever deeds and actions that may need to be taken for repair and preservation of our world, we are responsible for. To look for others to do the work for us, or to postpone acting until divine help comes, may turn out to be the height of recklessness for our own, as well as our children’s future. First we acknowledge what is here and real, then we commit to do what we can to solve problems and make things better. This variation is designed to allow it to be sung, with some adjustments, in community with others who are singing the traditional version in Hebrew and English. . . . Categories: Tehilim Book 5 (Psalms 107–150) Schedule for the Reading of Psalms corresponding to Festivals and Commemorative Days, by Isaac Gantwerk MayerThis system attempts to remedy that, selecting psalms that reflects the meaning of the holiday in some way. It includes every single commonly celebrated holiday, including sub-ethnic celebrations like Mimouna or Sigd as well as more recent national holidays like Yom haAtzmaut. It also includes a system for dividing Psalm 119, a massive 176-verse acrostic hymn to Torah, throughout the weeks of the Omer season as a preparation for Sinai. . . . Schedule for the Reading of Psalms corresponding to the Weekly Torah Portion, by Isaac Gantwerk MayerThis is a system that seeks to create a Haftarah-like system for the reading of Psalms, linking their meaning to the meaning of the reading or the Shabbat of that day. Like the Haftarah system, there are special psalms for the Shabbatot leading up to and following the Ninth of Av, as well as specific psalms for Rosh Chodesh and the special Shabbatot. Unlike the Haftarah system, if two portions are read together or a special Shabbat occurs on a day when another reading is done, both psalms are read (since psalms are generally shorter and easier to read than prophetic texts.) . . . This is a petition for the worker in the style of “Av Haraḥamim” and similar texts, using Biblical and Mishnaic language and co-opting it into a new meaning. It could be read after the Torah service (like many other petitionary texts) or focused on in private. The Biblical relationship between God, humanity, and labor is fascinating. Often it is treated as a curse placed upon us, and just as often as the purpose of humanity. In Genesis 3:19 it is the curse placed upon a disobedient First Adam, but less than a chapter earlier in Genesis 2:15 it is the reason for First Adam’s creation in the first place! In the past century or so, traditional Judaism has somewhat tilted away from the ideas of worker’s rights so clearly stated in the Tanakh and in rabbinic texts. Partially this was to disassociate from the Bundists, partially out of fear of “looking too Communist” in a xenophobic American society, and partially because the Jewish working class is nowhere near as substantial a part of the community as it once was. If this text is meant to do anything, it’s to show that love of God and love of the worker aren’t opposed to each other – in fact, they go hand in hand! . . . The most traumatic event in recent Jewish history is the Holocaust. At this time, the survivors of the camps are aging, and in the lifespan of people alive today it is likely that the last survivor will die. We say we must never forget what happened during the Holocaust, but if we think of it as a tragedy that happened to our ancestors we will forget. But it has been 3000 years since the Exodus from Egypt, and the Haggadah keeps its history vivid and alive. We are taught that in each and every generation we are to think of ourselves as having been slaves in Egypt. May it be that just as we never forgot the wonders of the Exodus, so too we never forget the horrors of the Holocaust, and continue to strive that such horrors may never happen again until all live in freedom and peace. . . . Categories: 🌐 Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27th), Kristallnacht (9-10 November, 16 Marḥeshvan), 🇮🇱 Yom haShoah (27 Nisan) These are piyyutim written in a traditional style, meant to introduce the opening of each book in the Torah. These piyyutim can be used at any time the opening line of the reading is said – on the Shabbat Minḥa/Monday/Thursday prior to the reading OR on the Shabbat morning of the reading proper. Because of this, the sheets arranged including the readings use two sizes – a larger size for the shorter first reading for weekdays, and a smaller size for the full first reading on Shabbatot. They can only be read when the first verse of the book is read. . . . Categories: During the Aliyot An Ashkenazi-style Cantillation System For Ezra/Neḥemiah, Chronicles, and Daniel, by Isaac Gantwerk MayerThere are 24 books in the Tanakh. Of these, 21 (all but Psalms, Proverbs, and Job) share a grammatical system of cantillation marks, or te’amim. Of these 21, Ashkenazim have melodic traditions for reading eighteen of them. The Torah has its system, the prophets have the Haftarah system, the three festival scrolls have their shared system, and Esther and Lamentations have their own unique systems. But what of the three remaining books? . . . An Ashkenazi-style cantillation system for the Book of Job. . . . An Ashkenazi-style cantillation system for the Book of Proverbs. . . . As many of you know, there is a custom to indicate the Hebrew year with a verse (or part of a verse) that is equal to that year in gematria. Such words or phrases are called chronograms. The practice of indicating the year by a biblical phrase was often followed in traditional sefarim, on tombstones, and more recently has appeared in written correspondence and email. It’s a nice way to give added meaning to the current year. Here are some biblical phrases that equal תשע”ט 779. . . . Categories: Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit) “Between the Fires” by Rabbi David Seidenberg, originally published at neohasid.org, is derived from the prayer of Rabbi Arthur Waskow (the Shalom Center), “Between the Fires: A Prayer for lighting Candles of Commitment” which draws on traditional midrash about the danger of a Flood of Fire, and the passage from Malachi. Another version of this prayer by Rabbi David Seidenberg, “A Prayer between the Fires (between the 32nd and 42nd days of the Omer)” is available, here. . . . Kavvanah between Lag ba-Omer and Yom haQeshet (27 Iyyar, the 42nd day of the Omer), by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid·org)This is a prayer to be read between the 18th and the 27th of Iyyar (בין י״ח ו-כ״ז באייר), between the 33rd (ל״ג) and 42nd (מ״ב) days of the Omer. . . . Categories: Yom haQeshet (Day of the Rainbow, 27 Iyyar) קדיש יתום | Mourner’s Ḳaddish for a Minyan of Ten People (including Jews and non-Jews), by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid·org)A “secular” kaddish after my mother died so that I could say kaddish under circumstances where I could gather ten people but not ten Jews. . . . תפילה בין השריפות | Prayer between the Fires (between the 32nd and 42nd days of the Omer, neohasid·org)This is a prayer to be read between the 17th and the 27th of Iyyar (בין י״ז ו-כ״ז באייר), between the 32nd (ל״ב) and 42nd (מ״ב) days of the Omer. . . . Categories: Yom haMabul (Day of the Flood, 17 Iyyar, Lev ba-Omer), Yom haQeshet (Day of the Rainbow, 27 Iyyar) 📄 סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | Pray as if the Earth Matters: A Tu BiShvat Seder, by Sarah Barasch-Hagans, et al (The Shalom Center)Created by students of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Written by Sarah Barasch-Hagans, Sarah Brammer-Shlay, Miriam Geronimus, Lonnie Kleinman, Chayva Lerman, Michael Perice, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, May Ye. Formatted and Edited by Sarah Barasch-Hagans. . . . Categories: Seder Leil Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat) בָּאנוּ חׇשֵׁךְ לְקַדֵּשׁ | Banu Ḥoshekh l’Ḳadesh (We come to sanctify the dark), by rabbis David Seidenberg and Jill HammerThis is a new version of the popular Ḥanukkah song, Banu Ḥoshekh. (The original by Sara Levi-Tanai can be found here.) Our new version does two things: 1) it avoids the association of darkness and blackness (shḥor) with evil and harm, which in our society gets tangled up with white supremacy, and 2) honors the darkness as something precious that we need, especially in our time of light pollution when so much of the time, so many people can’t even see the stars. . . . This is an undated prayer written attributed to Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (1937-2020) and shared via the Facebook page of Merkaz Steinsaltz (the Steinsaltz Center). The English translation (possibly also made by Rabbi Steinsaltz) was shared by the Center in a separate document. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Mara Nathan on 19 January 2018The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 19 January 2018. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 27 February 2018. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Shlomo Segal on 25 April 2018The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 25 April 2018. . . . A prayer offered by Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff at the Vietnam War Memorial on Memorial Day May 28th 2018. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Hannah Spiro on 29 May 2018The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 29 May 2018. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Aaron Krupnick on 6 June 2018The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 6 June 2018. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Steven I. Rein on 12 June 2018The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 12 June 2018. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Mark Schiftan on 20 June 2018The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 20 June 2018. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Hannah Spiro on 24 September 2018The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 24 September 2018. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff on 20 November 2018The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 20 November 2018. . . . A bilingual Hebrew-English egalitarian and Sefaradi weekday siddur. . . . Categories: Weekday siddurim 📖 סִימָן לְבָנִים | Siman l’Vanim: a birkon celebrating the wedding of Honi Sanders and Simona Dalin (2019)The birkon/bentsher (blessing-book) prepared for the wedding of Honi Sanders and Simona Dalin on July 7th, 2019. . . . Categories: Birkonim (בענטשערס Bentshers) Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., בענטשן bentshn, Needing Decompilation, wedding bentshers, wedding blessings, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): Akiva Sanders (translation), Honi Sanders (translation) and Aharon N. Varady (translation) 📄 סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט לִקּוּיֵי הַיָּרֵחַ | A Tu BiShvat Seder Haggadah for the Total Lunar Eclipse, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid·org, 5779/2019)A Tu Bishvat Seder Haggadah prepared for a time when the Jewish New Year’s Day festival for trees coincides with a total lunar eclipse, as occurred in Tevet 5779 (January 2019). . . . Categories: Seder Leil Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat) A bilingual Hebrew and English High Holiday (Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur) maḥzor prepared for the Hill Havurah congregation in Washington, D.C. . . . An article in the Yiddish Daily Forverts (Forward) on the activities of the Open Siddur Project and its founder, Aharon Varady. . . . Categories: Press & Research Articles תפילה לשלום העם הכורדי | Prayer for the Welfare of the Kurdish People (Masorti Movement in Israel, 2019)A prayer for the welfare of the Kurdish People in Northern Syria (Rojava) following their betrayal by Donald Trump acting as commander-in-chief of the United States armed forces and their oppression by the Republic of Turkey. . . . A prayer written in response to the massacre of Muslim worshipers during Friday prayers in Christchurch, New Zealand. . . . A prayer for universal peace offered by Hillel Yisraeli-Lavery as an opening prayer to a talk given in Hamilton, Canada by 2011 Nobel Prize winner Leymah Gbowee. . . . Categories: Social Justice, Peace, and Liberty, 🇺🇸 Brotherhood Week, 🌐 United Nations Day (October 24th) תפילה נוכח הרעה מדרום | Prayer in the face of the worsening situation in southern Israel (Masorti Movement in Israel 2019)A prayer for the safety of all the inhabitants of the Land of Israel offered during the November 12th, 2019 Tel Aviv rocket strike. . . . Categories: Conflicts over Sovereignty and Dispossession Tags: 2019 Tel Aviv rocket strike, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Israeli–Palestinian conflict, מי שברך mi sheberakh Contributor(s): the Masorti Movement in Israel, Knesset haRabanim b'Yisrael and Aharon N. Varady (translation) אוֹי לַלֵב שֶׁאֵינָה שְׁבוּרָה | Woe to the Heart that is not Broken, a ḳinah by Rabbi Dr. Aryeh Cohen (2019)A ḳinnah composed in response to the agonizing and cruel United States immigration policy implemented under the presidency of Donald Trump. . . . תְּפִלָּה בְּעַד מֶמְשֶׁלֶת שָׁלוֹם | Prayer for a Government of Peace, by Zackary Sholem Berger (2019)A prayer for a government when that government is causing pain through malicious policies. . . . Psalms 140 decries the injustice tolerated, supported, and rallied around within the community of Israel. This contemporary adaptation does the same. . . . Categories: Social Justice, Peace, and Liberty אֵלֶּה אֶזְכְּרָה, נוּסַח פִּיטְסְבּוּרְג | Eileh Ezkarah for Pittsburgh, by Rabbi Jonathan Perlman with Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum & Rabbi Martin Cohen (2019)A ḳinah for the martyrs of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Boston in 2018. . . . Gratitude Prayer, by Rabbi Menachem Creditor on the first anniversary of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life massacre (2019)A prayer on the first anniversary of the Tree of Life massacre in Pittsburgh. . . . A prayer in English to end gun violence before Rosh haShanah, . . . Categories: Mass Shootings & Gun Violence תְּפִלָּה לְמַעַן אַרְצוֹת הַבְּרִית בְּעֵת נִסָּיוֹן | A Prayer for the United States at a Time of Trial, by Rabbi Joe Schwartz (2019)“A Prayer for the Spiritual Welfare of the United States at a Time of Trial,” by Rabbi Joe Schwartz was first published at The Forward on 28 June 2019. . . . Categories: 🇺🇸 United States of America How Desolate Lie Our Borders, a prayer adaptated from Eikhah for a Tishah b’Av vigil at an immigrant detention center by Rabbi Brant Rosen (2019)A prayer for the correction of the United States immigration policy in support of immigrants and open borders. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff on 6 February 2019The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 6 February 2019. . . . מי שברך לילדים והוריהם בשלהי שנה ובפתיחה | Mi sheBeraj para los niños y sus padres en el inicio de un nuevo año escolar | Mi sheBerakh for Children and their Parents at the Commencement of the School Year, by Rabbi Hagit Sabag Yisrael (Masorti Movement in Israel)A “mi sheberakh” blessing for children and the parents of children returning to school at the beginning of the new school year. . . . Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., מי שברך mi sheberakh, Parents blessing children, Prayers of Primary Caregivers Contributor(s): Hagit Sabag Yisrael, Sandra Kochmann (translation) and the Masorti Movement in Israel תפילת המורה לפני פתיחת שנת הלימודים | Oración de los maestros antes del inicio del año escolar | Prayer of the teacher before commencement of the school year (Masorti Movement in Israel)A prayer for a teacher to say or adapt as needed at the beginning of their school year. . . . Categories: Learning, Study, and School תְּפִלָּה לְמַעַן תֵּבֵל וּמְלוֹאָהּ | Prayer for the Preservation of the Environment, by Richard Shavei-TzionRichard Shavei-Tzion writes, “At this time when mankind is wreaking havoc on our Eco-System, we pray to God to preserve the treasure that is the earth and to grant us the wisdom to make pro-active efforts to protect it for the sake of our future generations and all which dwell upon it.” . . . Hoshanot Liturgy for the Climate Crisis, adapted by R’ Ezra Weinberg from the words of Greta ThunbergThe words of Greta Thunberg adapted for a prayer for intervention in the anthropogenic climate crisis, for a Honshana ritual for Sukkot. . . . הַשְׁכִּיבֵנוּ | Shield the Children: A Prayer for Refugees, a paraliturgical translation of Hashkivenu by Rabba Kaya Stern-KaufmanThis prayer is a line by line interpretative translation of a traditional Ashkenazi variation of the Hashkiveinu prayer recited for Ma’ariv Leil Shabbat. . . . | ||
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