The Birkat Habayit is perhaps the most popular blessing in the Jewish world, appearing as a hanging amulet inside the entrance of many houses of Jews of all streams. I have added niqud to the blessing and I am very grateful to Gabriel Wasserman for his corrections to my vocalization. . . .
The sixth volume in a set of prayerbooks compiled for Spanish & Portuguese Jews in the United States, edited by Isaac Leeser, in 1838. . . .
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. . . .
Kabbalistic kavvanot and blessing formulations for the eight nights of Ḥanukkah. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Berl Lapin (translation) and Francis Scott Key
Shared on ד׳ בניסן ה׳תש״פ (2020-03-28) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication
Categories: Flag Day (June 14)
Tags: 19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., Yiddish translation, United States of America, Patriotic prayers, flags banners and escutcheons, vexillology, War of 1812, Battle of Baltimore, national anthems
The National Anthem of the United States of America with a Yiddish translation by Berl Lapin. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Chana Deutsch (Magyar translation), Harry Friedenwald (English translation), Isaac Abraham Eüchel (Hebrew translation) and Markus Herz
Shared on י״ח באדר ה׳תש״פ (2020-03-14) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication
Categories: Well-being, health, and caregiving
Tags: 56th century A.M., 18th Century C.E., Hebrew translation, German vernacular prayer, German Jewry, Enlightenment, professional intention, prayers of healers
A prayer of a physician from Markus Herz in German with its Hebrew and English translations. . . .

Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Shared on ג׳ בכסלו ה׳תשע״ט (2018-11-11) — under the following terms:
Categories: Readings for George Washington's Birthday, 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). . . .
For the purpose of the unification of the Holy One and His divine (feminine) Presence, with trepidation and love and love and trepidation, to unify the name Yud-Kay with Vav-Kay (the four letters of the Tetragrammaton) with a complete unity in the name of all Israel, behold I intend in the lighting of the Hanukkah candle to fulfill the command of my Creator as our wise men of blessed memory have commanded us to repair her root in a supernal abode. . . .
This is a largely uncorrected transcription of Rabbi Isaac Magriso’s telling of Megillat Antiokhus in Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) from the Me’am Loez: Bamidbar Parshat BeHe’alotekha (Constantinople, 1764). The paragraph breaks are a rough estimation based on my comparison with the English translation of Dr. Tzvi Faier (1934-2009) appearing in The Torah Anthology: Me’am Loez, Book Thirteen – In the Desert (Moznaim 1982). I welcome all Ladino speakers and readers to help correct this transcription and to provide a complete English translation for non-Ladino readers. . . .
A prayer upon preparing ḥallot for Shabbat. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Tracy Guren Klirs (translation) and Seril Rappaport
Shared on א׳ בתמוז ה׳תשע״ו (2016-07-06) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat Mevorkhim, Rosh haShanah l'Maaseh Bereshit, Rosh Ḥodesh Tishrei
Tags: תחינות tkhines, repentance, yamim noraim, days of awe, תחינות teḥinot, 56th century A.M., Jewish Women's Prayers, 18th Century C.E., Yiddish vernacular prayer
“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Tishrei [Rosh Hashanah]” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. . . .
The Prayer for the mitsvot of kindling the lights of Shabbat from the Teḥinah of the Three Gates by Sarah bat Tovim (18th century). . . .
The Prayer for the mitsvot of preparing Ḥallah from the Teḥinah of the Three Gates by Sarah bat Tovim (18th century). . . .
The Prayer for Rosh Ḥodesh from the Teḥinah of the Three Gates by Sarah bat Tovim (18th century). . . .
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of “Rabbi Elimelekh of Lizhensk’s prayer to be able to pray” in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). To the best of my ability, I have set his translation side-by-side with a transcription of the vocalized text of the prayer. Reb Zalman may have made his translation to a slightly different edition of this prayer as indicated in several places. If you can determine which edition of Rabbi Elimelekh’s prayer was translated by Reb Zalman, please contact us or share your knowledge in the comments. . . .
“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the Torah Reading on Rosh Hashanah” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni. . . .
Fred MacDowell: “Then, as now, war was looked upon by many as a great evil, especially between brothers, and many American Colonists only wanted the oppressive measures of King George III to be lifted, bloodshed ended, and peace restored. The nascent American Congress called for a day of “Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer” along these lines for May 17, 1776. It was for this occasion that this prayer was recited in Congregation Shearith Israel in New York. As you can see, a complete service was arranged for this occasion, meant to invoke the solemnity and seriousness of the occasion; after morning prayer, Taḥanun was to be sung to the tune of a Yom Kippur pizmon; a dozen Psalms recited, and then the Ḥazan would recite this prayer written for the occasion, and of course all were to be fasting. The prayer hopes for a change of heart for King George III and his advisors, that they would rescind their wrath and harsh decrees against “North America,” that the bloodshed should end, and peace and reconciliation should obtain between the Americans and Great Britain once more, in fulfillment of the Messianic verse that Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Of course this was not meant to be, and six weeks later the American Congress declared independence from Great Britain, and there was no walking back from the hostilities which had already occurred.” . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Friedrich Schiller
Shared on ט״ו באדר א׳ ה׳תשע״ו (2016-02-23) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Purim, Rosh Ḥodesh Adar (Alef & Bet)
Tags: romanticism, liberation, 56th century A.M., 18th Century C.E., Hebrew translation, Ḥasidic, Ode to Joy, Enlightenment, joy, Needing Proofreading
In 1785 Friedrich Schiller wrote his ‘An die Freude an ode ‘To Joy’, describing his ideal of an equal society united in joy and friendship. Numerous copies and adaptations attest to its popularity at the time. The slightly altered 1803 edition was set to music not only by Ludwig van Beethoven in his Ninth Symphony but also by other composers such as Franz Schubert and Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Hs. Ros. PL B-57 contains a Hebrew translation of the first edition of the ode (apparently rendered before the 1803 alteration), revealing that the spirit of the age even managed to reach the Jewish community in the Netherlands. Whereas the imagery of Schiller’s original is drawn from Greek mythology, the author of the שִׁיר לְשִׂמְחָה relies on the Bible as a source. In fact, he not only utilises Biblical imagery, but successfully avoids any allusion to Hellenistic ideas whatsoever. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Sarah Rivkah Raḥel Leah Horowitz
Shared on י״ח בסיון ה׳תשע״ז (2017-06-12) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Prayers During Public Readings of the Tanakh, Shabbat Mevorkhim
Tags: תחינות tkhines, שבת מבורכים shabbat mevorkhim, תחינות teḥinot, Ashkenaz, 56th century A.M., paraliturgical teḥinot, Jewish Women's Prayers, 18th Century C.E., Yiddish vernacular prayer, paraliturgical birkat haḥodesh, Paraliturgical Prayer for the New Month, Needing Proofreading, Needing Attribution
The teḥinah for the blessing of the new moon is said each Shabbat Mevorkhim, addition to the specific teḥinah for that month. The prayer is recited when the Aron HaKodesh is opened, signifying the opening of the Heavenly gates of mercy (an especially propitious time to pray for health, livelihood, and all good). . . .
A teḥinah written in Judeo-German for the Fast of Gedalyah on the day after Rosh Hashanah. . . .
“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni. . . .

Contributor(s): Nosson Sternhartz of Nemirov
Shared on כ״ז באייר ה׳תשע״ח (2018-05-12) — under the following terms: Fair Use Right (17 U.S. Code §107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use)
Categories: Kosher Slaughter, Taking a life
Tags: 19th century C.E., Breslov, fasting, תחינות teḥinot, 56th century A.M., Problematic prayers, sheḥitah, transmigration of souls, gilgul hanefesh, Prayers adapted from teachings, kosher slaughter, memory, shoḥtim, pedagogy, children's education, Likutei Tefilot, Ḥasidei Bratslav, gilgul neshamah, dveykut, anti-Enlightenment, curses, spiritual hunger and thirst, צדקה tsedaqah, Needing Proofreading
Reb Nosson’s Likutei Tefillot I:37 contains teḥinot derived from Rebbe Naḥman’s Likutei Moharan I:§37. . . .
An interpretive translation of the shabbes hymn, Yah Ekhsof. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Refoyl Finkl (translation) and Unknown Author(s)
Shared on כ״ז בסיון ה׳תשע״ו (2016-07-03) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Well-being, health, and caregiving, Repenting, Resetting, and Forgiveness
Tags: 19th century C.E., תחינות tkhines, 56th century A.M., Jewish Women's Prayers, Yiddish vernacular prayer
The “Tkhine of the Gate of Tears” by an unknown author presented here derives from the Vilna, 1848 edition. I have transcribed it without any changes from The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni. If you can scan an image of the page from the edition this was copied from, please share it with us. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Seril Rappaport
Shared on א׳ בתמוז ה׳תשע״ו (2016-07-06) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Pesaḥ, Rosh Hashanah, Mourning, Shavuot, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atseret (and Simḥat Torah)
Tags: תחינות tkhines, יזכור yizkor, תחינות teḥinot, 56th century A.M., 18th Century C.E., Yiddish vernacular prayer, Paraliturgical yizkor
“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for Yizkor on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Yamim Tovim” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (translation) and Levi Yitsḥaq Derbarmdiger Rosakov of Berditchev
Shared on י׳ בסיון ה׳תש״פ (2020-06-02) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Taḥanun, Purim Qatan, Motsei Shabbat
Tags: זמירות zemirot, 56th century A.M., 18th Century C.E., Hebrew translation, Yiddish songs, ḥassidut, הבדלות havdalot, non-dual theology, תשובה teshuvah, panentheism, creator within creation, אנה אמצאך ana emtsaeka
A profound song invoking divine presence. . . .
Master of the Universe, grant me the ability to be alone; may it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees and grass — among all growing things and there may I be alone, and enter into התבודדות(hitbodedut) prayer, to talk with the One to whom I belong. . . .
May he that dispenseth salvation unto kings, and dominion unto princes; whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; who delivered his servant David from the destructive sword; who maketh a way in the sea, and a path through the mighty waters, bless, preserve, guard, and assist our most gracious sovereign Lord, King GEORGE the third, our most gracious Queen CHARLOTTE, their royal highness GEORGE Prince of Wales, the Princess DOWAGER of Wales, and all the ROYAL FAMILY; may the supreme king of kings through his infinite mercy preserve them, and grant them life and deliver them from all manner of danger; may the supreme king of kings aggrandize and highly exalt our sovereign Lord the king, and grant him long and prosperously to reign; may the supreme king of kings inspire him and his council and the state of the kingdom with benevolence towards us, and all Israel our brethren; in his days and in our days, may Jehudah be saved, and Israel dwell in safety, and may the redeemer come unto Zion, which God of his infinite mercies grant; and let us say, Amen. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Abe Katz (translation) and Ḳ.Ḳ. Beit Shalome
Shared on כ״ז בשבט ה׳תשע״ב (2012-02-19) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Government & Country, Inauguration Day (January 20th), Washington's Birthday (3rd Monday of February)
Tags: United States, acrostic, Presidents Day, 56th century A.M., 18th Century C.E., Western Sepharadim, George Washington, American Jewry of the United States, Prayers for leaders
The following prayer for the government was composed by Congregation Beth Shalome in Richmond, Virginia in 1789. Please note the acrostic portion of the prayer in which the initial letters of the succeeding lines form the name: Washington. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Lyons Collection Committee (translation) and Hendla Jochanan van Oettingen
Shared on ו׳ באדר א׳ ה׳תשע״ו (2016-02-15) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Government & Country, Washington's Birthday (3rd Monday of February)
Tags: United States, Presidents Day, Spanish-Portuguese, 56th century A.M., 18th Century C.E., K.K. Shearith Israel, Sepharadi Diaspora, American War of Independence, Western Sepharadim, American Jewry of the United States
Prayers recited on special occasions and thus not part of the fixed liturgy offered America’s foremost Jewish congregation far greater latitude for originality in prayer. At such services, particularly when the prayers were delivered in English and written with the knowledge that non-Jews would hear them, leaders of Shearith Israel often dispensed with the traditional prayer for the government and substituted revealing new compositions appropriate to the concerns of the day. A prayer composed in 1784 (in this case in Hebrew) by the otherwise unknown Rabbi (Cantor?) Hendla Jochanan van Oettingen, for example, thanked God who “in His goodness prospered our warfare.” Mentioning by name both Governor George Clinton and General George Washington, the rabbi prayed for peace and offered a restorationist Jewish twist on the popular idea of America as “redeemer nation”: “As Thou hast granted to these thirteen states of America everlasting freedom,” he declared, “so mayst Thou bring us forth once again from bondage into freedom and mayst Thou sound the great horn for our freedom.” . . .
The prayer for the government presented by Gershom Seixas at K.K. Shearith Israel on Thanksgiving Day 1789. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Seril Rappaport and Tracy Guren Klirs (translation)
Shared on א׳ בתמוז ה׳תשע״ו (2016-07-06) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Rosh Hashanah, Rosh haShanah l'Maaseh Bereshit
Tags: שופר shofar, תחינות tkhines, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah, repentance, תחינות teḥinot, 56th century A.M., Jewish Women's Prayers, 18th Century C.E., Yiddish vernacular prayer, Imahot as Advocates, Angels as advocates
“Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the Blowing of the Shofar” by Rebbetsin Seril Rappaport is a faithful transcription of her tkhine included in “תחנה אמהות מן ראש חודש אלול” (Tkhine of the Matriarchs for the New Moon of Elul) published in Vilna, 1874, as re-published in The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni. . . .
A ḥatimah (closing) prayer delivered by Ḥazzan Gershom Seixas at a special Thanksgiving Day service by K.K. Shearith Israel in 1789. . . .
A popular prophylactic amulet in the event of an epidemic. . . .

Contributor(s): Abe Katz (translation)
Shared on ח׳ בתשרי ה׳תשע״ג (2012-09-24) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Labor, Fulfillment, and Parnassah, Ḥatimot
Tags: Nusaḥ Comtat Venaissin, workdays, 56th century A.M., French Jewry, 18th Century C.E., Arba Kehillot, Carpentras, Avignon, Lisle, Cavaillon, Post-prayer supplements
In Avignon, France, in 1767, Eliyahu Karmi (Elijah Crémieux) compiled a siddur preserving the nusaḥ of the Comtat Venaissin titled the סדר התמיד (Seder HaTamid). Just after the section for תפלת שחרית (the morning prayers), Karmi provides the following advice for how to organize one’s workday: . . .
Part two of Ḥakham Ishak Nieto’s two volume set of prayerbooks: Orden de las Oraciones Cotidianas Ros Hodes Hanuca y Purim (London, 1771), the basis of all subsequent S&P translations (e.g., those of Aaron and David de Sola). . . .
For Yom Kipur, the third volume in a set of prayerbooks compiled for Spanish & Portuguese Jews in the United States, edited by Isaac Leeser, in 1837. . . .
For Yom Kipur, the third volume in a set of prayerbooks compiled for Spanish & Portuguese Jews in the United States, edited by Isaac Leeser, in 1837. . . .
For Rosh haShanah, the second volume in a set of prayerbooks compiled for Spanish & Portuguese Jews in the United States, edited by Isaac Leeser, in 1837. . . .
The first translation of the siddur into English and the first siddur published in the Americas. . . .
Part one of Ḥakham Ishak Nieto’s two volume set of prayerbooks: Orden de las Oraciones de Ros Ashanah y Kipur (London, 1740), the basis of all subsequent S&P translations (e.g., those of Isaac Pinto and of Aaron and David de Sola). . . .
The first volume in a set of prayerbooks compiled for Spanish & Portuguese Jews in the United States, edited by Isaac Leeser, in 1837. . . .
When Rav Yiztḥak Luria, zt”l, also known as the Holy Ari, davvened in Eretz Yisroel he brought about a series of liturgical innovations witnessed in later siddurim. His particular nusaḥ bridged minhag Ashkenaz and minhag Sefarad (the customs of the Rheinland Jews and the customs of the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula) with the teachings of his school of Kabbalists. When two centuries later, the Ḥassidic movement blossomed in Eastern Europe, it found purchase in Lithuania among a mystical school centered around Rav Schneur Zalman of Lyady, the Alter Rebbe and founder of the ḤaBaD movement within Ḥassidism. The Alter Rebbe compiled his own siddur, the Siddur Torah Ohr, “according to the tradition of the Ari.” . . .
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