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21st century C.E. —⟶ tag: 21st century C.E. Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? In honor of the birth of their son born 23 Shvat 5772 ~ 15 February 2012, Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman and Benjamin Kamm share their Brit Shmot (Naming Covenant). The ceremony took place February 23rd, 2012 (Rosh Ḥodesh Adar ~ 30 Shvat 5772) at Congregation Kehillath Israel, Brookline, Massachusetts. . . . Categories: Brit Milah & Simḥat Bat 🗍 סדר אכילת הסמנים | Seder Akhilat haSimanim: The “Symbolic Foods of Life” Seder for Rosh Hashanah by R’ R. Karpov, Ph.D.Ḥazal, — some of our Jewish Sages, May Their Memory Be For A Blessing — suggest that ‘simanah milsah‘ — a symbol has significance. Some of the teachers of Jewish tradition encourage us on Rosh HaShanah to partake of a variety of foods suggestive of prosperity and happiness. This usage is alluded to in the directive of the prophet Nechemiah to the assembly: ‘Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet …” (Nechemiah 8:10). Our kavvanoth — sacred intentions — are that these Symbolic Foods Of Life are to help us effect a good coming year. . . . Categories: Seder Akhilat haSimanim 🗍 סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | Seder Rosh Hashanah La’Ilan: A four worlds seder for Tu Bishvat, by Rabbi R. KarpovA four worlds, neo-ḥasidic haggadah for the Seder Tu BiShvat . . . Categories: Seder Leil Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat) A prayer-poem for healing by Trisha Arlin. . . . Categories: Well-being, health, and caregiving We lift Miriam’s cup, Dancing prophet celebrating the world that is now. And we tell God we are grateful For the water from the earth that was Miriam’s gift, Welcome necessity, On God’s behalf. Miriam announces joy! And teaches us to save ourselves. Miriam, the bringer of mercy, There’s no prayer for her in the haggadah— So make one up! . . . Categories: Barekh The Tu Bishvat seder is a metaphor. But usually we use metaphor in our daily lives to accomplish, persuade, inspire or explain. There is something we’re bending metaphor to accomplish. This meditation is an exercise in free-thinking. Here, just play with metaphor for the sake of expressing and exploring your emotional state, history, anticipations and apprehensions. Each of the quotations from the Torah or rabbinical writings below represents an emotion. After we say the blessing over the olives, read the quotations, pick one (or more) that resonate, and play with the metaphor to reach a deeper understanding of yourself and others. . . . Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat) A holistic prayer for health in work. . . . Categories: Labor, Fulfillment, and Parnasah A traveler’s prayer in English, adapted from the traditional formula vt Rabbi Menachem Creditor. . . . Categories: Travel 📄 סֵדֶר בִּרְכוֹת הַשַּׁחַר | Morning blessings for waking up and starting the day, adapted by Andrew ShawIn these still, quiet moments I am not asleep, and not yet awake. In the threshold of day and night, with the mixture of darkness and light, my body is once again coming to life. I am reborn, each day, from the womb of your compassion. May all of my actions be worthy of the faith you’ve placed in me. With words of thanks I’ll greet the dawn. . . . Categories: Morning siddurim 📄 סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | On Sweet Fruit and Deep Mysteries: Kabbalistic and Midrashic Texts to Sweeten your Tu Bishvat Seder, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid·org)From [the Holy One’s] form/to’ar the constellations are shimmering, and God’s form projects the exalted ones. And Her crown blazes [with] the mighty, and His garment flows with the precious. And all the trees will rejoice in the word, and the plants will exult in His rejoicing, and His words shall drop as perfumes, flowing forth flames of fire, giving joy to those who search them, and quiet to those who fulfill them. . . . סדר אושפיזין / אושפיזתא | Seder Ushpizin and Ushpizata: Inviting the Avot and Imahot into your Sukkah by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid·org)The essential idea of the liturgy of Ushpizin is to invoke the energies of the seven lower Sefirot in the proper order, so that Shefa, blessing and sustenance, can be drawn down into the world. This is the essence of Kabbalistic liturgy, and a liturgy of the imahot would only make sense if it were to follow that pattern. That means we have the playfully serious task of finding a stable order for the imahot where no clear order exists. . . . כַּעֲבוֹר סוּפָה | After the Storm, a prayer to “choose life” in the face of climate disruption by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid·org)The prayers for hurricane victims that are circulating through the Open Siddur Project and elsewhere are poignant and heartfelt, but they don’t speak an important piece of the truth that we need to hear. What about our collective responsibility for climate disruption that undoubtedly increases the harm caused by this and every major storm? And what about the Deuteronomic promise that God brings us recompense for our actions davka through the weather? Here’s an attempt at a prayer that incorporates a deeper understanding of our responsibility. For the final version of this prayer, I started with an anonymous Hebrew translation of my original English prayer, then I tweaked it and wove in scriptural references, and retranslated it back into English. . . . Categories: Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Dangerous Storms & Floods, Drought & Wildfire, Ecotastrophes וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ | V’haya Im Shamo’a (And If You Listen): a prayer in a time of planetary danger by Rabbi Arthur WaskowA midrashic translation/ interpretation of the second paragraph of the Sh’ma. . . . Prayer for the Earth, Air, Water, Fire of our Planet — by Rabbi Arthur Waskow in memory of Barry CommonerMay the words we are with Your help sharing today, Speak deeply –- with Your help — to our nation and the world. Help us all to know that the sharing of our breath with all of life Is the very proof, the very truth, that we are One. . . . Categories: Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), 🌐 Earth Day (22 April) Please God Let me light More than flame tonight. More than wax and wick and sliver stick of wood. More than shallow stream of words recited from a pocket book. . . . Categories: Erev Shabbat, Shavuot, Erev Pesaḥ, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Sukkot, Yom Kippur, 7th Day of Pesaḥ Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Jeffrey Astrachan on 7 February 2012The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 7 February 2012, for Four Chaplains Day (February 3rd). . . . Categories: 🇺🇸 Four Chaplains Day (February 3rd), 🇺🇸 United States of America, Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies In her ordination address in May 2012, Rabbi Ellen Bernstein said, “One of the really precious things about becoming familiar with Jewish texts is that I begin to hear the echos of ancient words in daily conversation, and feel my life growing in depth and dimensionality. As I thought about what I wanted to share today, I kept hearing in my head Maimonides’ 13 Principles of Faith reverberating through the NPR series called, This I Believe. Weaving these two not so different themes together, here’s where I arrived.” . . . Categories: Addenda Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Aaron Melman on 31 May 2012The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 31 May 2012. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Joel Levenson on 10 July 2012The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 10 July 2012. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi David Algaze on 11 July 2012The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 11 July 2012. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Steven Weil on 20 September 2012The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 20 September 2012. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 29 November 2012. . . . This prayer for rain, adapted by Rabbi Emily Kapor-Mater in 2013, appears in סִדּוּר בִּרְכַּת שָׁלוֹם Siddur Birkat Shalom, an egalitarian Shabbat morning siddur (Havurat Shalom 1991/2021), in the “Holiday Prayers” section, pp. 197-202. . . . Many of our best times are spent eating. Jewish liturgy, however, is very stingy on blessings before eating (focusing much of its energy on blessings after eating). The blessings before food are generic, and except for very specific foods and drinks (such as wine, bread, and matzah), all foods lump into three or four categories (fruit, vegetables, grains, and everything else). As a foodie, I’d like to celebrate each and every distinct taste through the prism of Jewish experience, and thus have tried to compose as many short poems as possible in their honor. . . . Categories: Birkonim (בענטשערס Bentshers) I wrote this a few days after the Boston Marathon bombing. It arose out of a meditation service which I led at my synagogue. The doors to our sanctuary were open, so we had the sounds of the nearby wetland in our ears, and I invited the meditators to join me in cultivating compassion and sending it toward Boston. The line “My heart is in the east and I am in the west” is adapted from the medieval Spanish poet Judah haLevi. . . . Categories: Terror May the One who spoke the world into being, and who blessed humanity created in God’s image, and who brought about the miracle of these United States to promote freedom and peace among all people — bless, guard, and protect all the inhabitants of the Boston area, and strengthen and encourage their leaders, representatives, police officers, and detectives; bring them out from the shadow of death to light, and from danger to relief; and may the verse be fulfilled for them which says, ‘God is good to all, and shows mercy to all God’s creatures.’ And let us say: amein. . . . Categories: Terror This prayer for the peace of the Syrian people was composed in 2013 by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow and translated by Elli Sacks of Modi’in. Our Hebrew source of the text was first published in this YNet article. Our source for Elli Sacks’s translation is this post in Alan Brill’s blog. Rabbi Cherlow suggests that Psalms 37 and Psalms 120 are particularly appropriate for praying for peace in Syria. Both psalms speak of the plight of the innocent righteous when evil men plot against them. Thank you to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency for informing us of this prayer, and to YNet, and Alan Brill for providing the source text. . . . 📖 A Love Song for Shabbat, a Humanist supplement to Kabbalat Shabbat by Rabbi Dr. Tzemaḥ Yoreh (2013)I am a humanist. I am a feminist. I am an environmentalist. I am a libertarian. I am a pacifist. I believe in democracy. I am an agnostic. Traditional Jewish prayer is not any of these “ists” or “ics”; it reflects the worldview of the rabbis 1500 years ago, who may have been quite sagacious but did not share many of my values. The minor and major edits, deletions, and additions to which liberal Jews of this day and age have treated their prayers have inserted some of these sentiments, but for the most part the macro structure of prayers has been preserved, making it difficult for people to engage with the prayer in a straightforward way. The composers of liberal prayer books understand this, and thus we find the phenomenon of alternative or additional English readings and/or very creative translations that bear little relationship to the original prayer. There is another way forward, though. We can compose new prayers and poetry in the original Hebrew that reflect our values and revitalize our canon. This is the way I chose. . . . Categories: Shabbat Siddurim May it be Your will, Lord our God, God of our fathers and mothers, that I leave this house as I entered it – at peace with myself and with others. May my actions benefit all residents of the State of Israel. May I work to improve the society that sent me to this chamber and cause a just peace to dwell among us and with our neighbors. May I always remember that I am a messenger of the public and that I must take care to keep my integrity and innocence intact. May I, and we, succeed in all our endeavors. . . . Categories: Opening Prayers for Legislative Bodies A prayer for Israel which reserves the right to criticize its moral failings. . . . Categories: 🇮🇱 Medinat Yisra'el (the State of Israel) The one who prays to Hashem Yitbarakh should hold the belief that, from the start, there was a cause brought about by the everlasting One, and that S/He is the source of all completions, and S/He created all the worlds at the time when it arose in Hir will. . . . Categories: Self-Reflection “A Prayer for Central Oklahoma After the Tornado,” by Rabbi Abby Jacobson was originally published by the Rabbinical Assembly, at their website, in the aftermath of the 2013 Moore tornado. . . . Categories: Dangerous Storms & Floods A playful, expansive, embodied riff on “Hashiveinu Hashem eilecha v’nashuva, ḥadesh yameinu k’kedem.” Suitable for Tisha B’Av, Elul, the Days of Awe, and every day. . . . Categories: Tishah b'Av This piyut (liturgical poem) arose after a very meaningful performance of mine in the summer of 2000. It was such a powerful experience that I was moved to say a prayer of thanks to G-d for the opportunity to perform my songs for audiences – but found no such prayer in existence. So I wrote this one. It took about a year to complete and I’ve been saying it backstage right before my performances, and sometimes before recording sessions, since then. . . . Categories: Labor, Fulfillment, and Parnasah A “redemptive translation” of Aleinu emphasizing universalist Jewish values. . . . Categories: Aleinu A prayer of forgiveness to convey to one’s inner and vulnerable self during the period of sometimes unrelenting and harsh introspection prior to the blessing for rain. . . . A prayer-poem inspired by the ritual Havdallah, preparing a separation between Shabbat and weekday time. . . . Categories: Motsei Shabbat A prayer-poem supplication for the afternoon of Shabbat. . . . Categories: Minḥah l'Shabbat The Breath of All Life, a paraliturgical Nishmat Kol Ḥai for Shabbat morning by Rabbi Rachel BarenblatA prayer-poem inspired from the liturgical prayer, Nishmat. . . . Categories: Psuqei d'Zimrah/Zemirot l'Shabbat ul'Yom Tov An al haNissim prayer for Yom ha-Atsma’ut. . . . Categories: 🇮🇱 Yom ha-Atsma'ut (5 Iyyar) A poem with perspective by Eli Steier. . . . Categories: Repenting, Resetting, and Reconciliation I wrote this kavvanah [around 2010]. At that time I lived in Ithaca, NY. I was a substitute teacher in the Ithaca Central School District. There was a community event at Fall Creek Elementary school, and the way families, faculty, students, and people from the area came together inspired the poem. . . . Categories: Learning, Study, and School ברכת המזון לסעודת ההבראה במוצאי תשעה באב | Birkat Hamazon additions for the Break Fast Meal after Tishah b’AvSupplemental prayers for the Birkat Hamazon for the break fast meal after Tisha b’Av. . . . Supplemental prayers for the Birkat Hamazon on Tu b’Av. . . . Because we cannot live on two planes, we are granted the opportunity to disguise our external features. We develop the capacity to know each others hearts and find even greater satisfaction in the exchange. Yet, too often, we act as if someone else — who looks remarkably like oneself — is going to provide the support for nonprofit organizations we deem are necessary for a decent life. We assume / hope / pray that someone “else” is doing our part. It’s their turn to make a critical contribution, even a small one, that gives relief, replaces a worn-out part, opens the door wide enough to make a difference. . . . Categories: Roleplaying The transition ritual poems below are an effort to hear in the Torah the voices of the various parts of the trans self calling one another toward wholeness. . . . This version of the Aleinu recognizes that all nations play a role in God’s plan for humanity. . . . Categories: Aleinu תפילה ליום הודו על חנוכּה | Prayer for when Thanksgiving Day falls during Ḥanukkah, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid·org)A prayer for “Thanksgivukkah,” on the rare year that the two festivals intersect. . . . Some people think of this as a magic formula that turns ḥamets into dust. It really is a legal formula that means that you renounce ownership of any ḥamets still in your space or your domain, so that it no longer has any value to you. But is it true that dirt is valueless and ownerless? We certainly act like we own the dirt, the soil. Developers take good land, build houses on it, and truck the topsoil away to sell to other people—thereby doubling profits and doubling damage to the earth. We act like the soil can be renewed and replaced at will, poisoning its microbial communities with pesticides applied even more strongly on our GMO corn and soy, while we replace the nutrients they create with petroleum-based fertilizers. We send the soil downstream and into the ocean along with vast quantities of agricultural runoff, creating algal blooms and anoxic dead zones. In that sense we do treat the soil like it is both ownerless and valueless. But our lives are almost entirely beholden to the soil. If it is ownerless it is because it belongs to all of us, or more precisely, as the story of the rabbi deciding between claimants goes, “The land says it doesn’t belong to you or to you, but that you belong to it.” Like the dirt of the earth, the ḥamets inside your house becomes what at Burning Man we call “MOOP” (Matter Out Of Place). Finding out where it belongs means finding out that it doesn’t belong to you or to us. Returning it to the soil means tilling our stuff back into the earth, where it can become renewed, where it can become sustenance for new life. . . . Categories: Erev Pesaḥ A “mi sheberakh” prayer for U.S. war veterans on the shabbat preceding Veterans Day (November 11). . . . | ||
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