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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice
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58th century A.M. —⟶ tag: 58th century A.M. Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? “The wicked child asks: What does this work mean to you? Mah ha’avodah ha’zot lachem” (Exodus 12:26). I think about this question a great deal as a rabbi whose core work involves fighting modern-day slavery. I think about it when I talk to my children about what I do every day, when I call anti-trafficking activists and say, “What can rabbis do to support you?” or when I stand before Jewish audiences and urge them to put their energy behind this critical human rights issue. The answer must go deeper than simply saying, “We were slaves in Egypt once upon a time.” The memory of bitterness does not necessarily inspire action. What inspires me is not slavery but redemption. God could part the Sea of Reeds, but the Israelites could not truly be free until they had liberated themselves, after 40 years in the desert, from slavery. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., activism, community organizing, human trafficking, slavery, social justice Contributor(s): In the weeks leading up to the birth of our first child in 1997, my partner and I spent a lot of time thinking about the brit. Whether it was a boy or a girl we knew that we would have a celebration. If it was a boy we would have a brit, yet we were not happy with the ceremony as it stood. If it was a girl we needed a ceremony which was equally powerful and yet didn’t draw blood. In response to these two concerns I wrote a liturgy for what I called a chag hachnassah labrit/celebration of entering the covenant which could be easily adapted to boys and girls, and I wrote a piyyut (a liturgical poem) for a milah/a circumcision. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 9 June 2015. Categories: Tags: 114th Congress, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, food insecurity, hunger, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, U.S. Senate, תחינות teḥinot Contributor(s): The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 10 June 2015. Categories: Tags: 114th Congress, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, U.S. House of Representatives, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, תחינות teḥinot Contributor(s): A tefilat haderekh for those traveling via bicycle. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., bicycles, bicyclists, bikes, Cincinnati, prayers for the road, תפילת הדרך tefilat haderekh, transit, velocipede Contributor(s): David Wolkin writes, “I’ve been pushing this writing exercise for a while now, but I taught a class with it in my home on Sunday and it proved to be powerful and connecting for all of us in the room. If you’re reflecting/repenting this season, you might benefit from this.” Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., חשבון הנפש Ḥeshbon HaNefesh, journaling, Needing Translation (into Hebrew), North America, self-reflection, תשובה teshuvah, writing Contributor(s): This prayer was originally published April 13th, 2013 on Dafna Meir’s blog, Derekh Nashim (Women’s Ways), here, writing “את התפילה זכיתי לחבר תוך כדי למידה למבחן תרופות במחלקה הנוירוכירורגית בסורוקה, בה אני עובדת.” (The prayer I composed for a friend while studying for a test at the Neurosurgery department at Soroka Hospital, which I work.) English translation by Moshe F. via Israellycool. More about Dafna Meir, here and here. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Care, Medicine, Needing Vocalization, Nursing, prayers of health care workers, ישראל Yisrael Contributor(s): Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez writes, “Rav Avi spoke to us a few times as he was working through [composing] this [vidui] and I am truly moved by it. Let us not only remember and confess our wrong doings, but also what we did right this year.” Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, complementary vidui, confession, New York, North America, Open Orthodoxy, positive self-recognition, supplemental vidui, וידוי vidui, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah Contributor(s): A worker’s prayer by Rabbi Stephen Belsky, dedicated to Noam Ezra ben haRav Moshe z”l. A prayer for the victims of the Holocaust in Hebrew with English, Romanian, and Ukrainian translations. Categories: Kristallnacht (9-10 November, 16 Marḥeshvan), 🇮🇱 Yom haShoah (27 Nisan), 🌐 Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27th), 🇺🇸 Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (28-29 April) Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., אל מלא רחמים El Malé Raḥamim, mourning, Romanian translation, the Holocaust, השואה the Shoah, Ukrainian translation Contributor(s): This eulogy by Andrew Meit was read at Temple Beit Ami in Rockville, Maryland at the funeral of Benjamin Meit. Andrew writes, “Ben would have turned 19 next week. He died from complications from depression and mental illness.” Donations in Ben’s memory may be made here. If you or anyone you know is in need of help, please call 911, or 1-800 273 8255, the national suicide prevention hotline. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., death of a child, English vernacular prayer, Eulogy, North America, Prayers as poems, suicide, suicide awareness, suicide prevention Contributor(s): The text of this ritual shofar blowing for Rosh Ḥodesh Elul on Rosh haShanah La-Behemah developed as part of the annual ceremony taking place at the dairy barn on the campus of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center beginning in 2009 under the auspices of Elat Chayyim Center for Jewish Spirituality and the Adamah Farm & Fellowship. The first Rosh haShanah ritual ceremony was co-developed by Rabbi Jill Hammer and Kohenet Sarah Chandler. My contribution of the kavvanah came a year later in 2010. The text presented here was built upon that ceremony and was presented first at the Hazon Detroit Jewish Food Festival in 2016. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., animal protection, animal welfare, בהמות behemot, אלול elul, חשבון הנפש Ḥeshbon HaNefesh, שופר shofar, shofar blowing, the sixth month, צער באלי חיים tsa'ar baalei ḥayyim, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah Contributor(s): Vidui means acknowledgment. It is not about self-flagellation or blame, but about honesty, coming into contact with our lives, our patterns and experiences, and ultimately about teshuva and learning. In contacting the pain and suffering which our modes of being have given rise to, our regret can help us to willfully divest ourselves of them and awaken the yearning for those modes of being which are life-affirming, supportive of wholeness, connection, integrity, and flourishing. With each one we tap on our heart, touching the pain and closed-heartedness we have caused, and simultaneously knocking on the door that it may open again. Categories: Days of Judgement & New Year Days, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Yom Kippur, Repenting, Resetting, and Reconciliation, Self-Reflection Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., acknowledgment, acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, אשמנו Ashamnu, integrity, paraliturgical vidui, repentance, וידוי vidui Contributor(s): The time of Sukkot is a time of fullness and generosity, but also a time to pray for the coming season. Shemini Atzeret, the festival when we pray for rain, is an expression of our need for water, which in the Jewish tradition symbolizes life, renewal, and deliverance. Tefillat Geshem, a graceful fixture of the Ashkenazic liturgy, invokes the patriarchs as exemplars of holiness and model recipients of God’s love. This prayer uses water as a metaphor for devotion and faith, asking that God grant us life-sustaining rain. While its authorship is unknown, it is sometimes attributed to Elazar Kallir, the great liturgist who lived sometime during the first millenium. Each year, we are reminded of our people’s connection to the patriarchs and to the rhythms of water, spiritual and physical sources of life, through this medieval piyyut. While we know that rain is a natural process, formal thanksgiving for water as a source of life, energy, and beauty reminds us that our Creator is the source of our physical world and its many wonders. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., גשם geshem, אמהות Imahot, Matriarchs, North America, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Prayers for Precipitation, Rain Contributor(s): A paraliturgical reflection of the prayer Aleinu for a shame resilience practice A paraliturgical reflection of the prayer Ribon haOlamim for a shame resilience practice. A paraliturgical reflection of the prayer for entering sacred communal spaces, Mah Tovu, for a shame resilience practice. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, מה טבו mah tovu, paraliturgical mah tovu, shame resilience Contributor(s): A paraliturgical reflection on the blessings over learning Torah, the Birkhot haTorah, for a shame resilience practice. Paraliturgical reflections of the morning blessings for a shame resilience practice. Categories: Tags: 1st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, paraliturgical birkhot hashaḥar, shame resilience Contributor(s): A paraliturgical reflection on the prayer following urination and defecation, Asher Yatsar, for a shame resilience practice. | ||
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