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tag: animals Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 8 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 10. Categories: Tags: על הגתית Al HaGitit, animals, devotional interpretation, hymns of creation, interpretive translation, למנציח Lamnatse'aḥ, מזמור Mizmor, mortality Contributor(s): In the period following the second destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, rabbinic Jewish liturgy reïfied the teaching to replace sacrificial offerings with offerings of the lips (per Psalms 51:18) by directly quoting those verses from the Torah dictating those sacrifices. This formula is evident in the the blessing meqadesh hashabbat for the musaf Shabbat Amidah, in which the musaf offering is invoked directly via Numbers 28:9, while blessing Hashem, hallower of the Shabbat. For this blessing, my ḥavrutah Jonathan Schachter would remind those davvening with him musaf that they could follow the recitation of this verse with that of Hosea 14:3, our oldest scriptural witness to a counter-tradition of prayer as a surrogate for animal sacrifice. We offer this amendment to the Shabbat musaf Amidah as a corrective to the notion that the return of the Temple cult must necessarily bring a return of animal sacrifice and to bolster long extant Jewish traditions that regard with love and dignify with inclusion all those tame animals (behemot) within our shabbat boundaries as respected members of our community (find Deuteronomy 5:14). Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The critical text of Pereq Shirah prepared by Dr. Malachi Beit-Arié in 1967. Categories: Tags: 43rd century A.M., 5th century C.E., animals, birds, cosmological, creeping creatures, Early Ammoraic, Early Middle Ages, ההיכלות ויורדי המרכבה haHeikhalot v'Yordei haMerkavah, heikhalot literature, hymns of creation, Late Tannaitic, Openers Contributor(s): Talmudic and midrashic sources contain hymns of the creation usually based on homiletic expansions of metaphorical descriptions and personifications of the created world in the Bible. The explicitly homiletic background of some of the hymns in Perek Shira indicates a possible connection between the other hymns and Tannaitic and Amoraic homiletics, and suggests a hymnal index to well-known, but mostly unpreserved, homiletics. The origin of this work, the period of its composition and its significance may be deduced from literary parallels. A Tannaitic source in the tractate Hagiga of the Jerusalem (Hag. 2:1,77a—b) and Babylonian Talmud (Hag. 14b), in hymns of nature associated with apocalyptic visions and with the teaching of ma’aseh merkaba serves as a key to Perek Shira’s close spiritual relationship with this literature. Parallels to it can be found in apocalyptic literature, in mystic layers in Talmudic literature, in Jewish mystical prayers surviving in fourth-century Greek Christian composition, in Heikhalot literature, and in Merkaba mysticism. The affinity of Perek Shira with Heikhalot literature, which abounds in hymns, can be noted in the explicitly mystic introduction to the seven crowings of the cock — the only non-hymnal text in the collection — and the striking resemblance between the language of the additions and that of Shi’ur Koma and other examples of this literature. In Seder Rabba de-Bereshit, a Heikhalot tract, in conjunction with the description of ma’aseh bereshit, there is a clear parallel to Perek Shira’s praise of creation and to the structure of its hymns. The concept reflected in this source is based on a belief in the existence of angelic archetypes of created beings who mediate between God and His creation, and express their role through singing hymns. As the first interpretations of Perek Shira also bear witness to its mystic character and angelologic significance, it would appear to be a mystical chapter of Heikhalot literature, dating from late Tannaitic — early Amoraic period, or early Middle Ages. Categories: Hekhalot Writings, Erev Shabbat, Rosh Ḥodesh Readings, Morning Baqashot, Rosh haShanah la-Melakhim Readings, Rosh haShanah la-Behemah Readings, Rosh haShanah Readings, Tu biShvat Readings Tags: 43rd century A.M., 5th century C.E., animals, birds, cosmological, creeping creatures, Early Ammoraic, Early Middle Ages, ההיכלות ויורדי המרכבה haHeikhalot v'Yordei haMerkavah, heikhalot literature, hymns of creation, Late Tannaitic, Openers Contributor(s): A prayer for Sukkot linking the theme of home building and receiving Torah with a warning not to eat animals and to extend ones compassion to all creatures. Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., animal welfare, animals, anti-predatory, being human, Breslov, חסידי ברצלב Ḥasidei Bratslav (Breslov), Likutei Tefilot, menschlekite Contributor(s): “Man’s Place in Nature” is the forty-ninth prayer found in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 161-163. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., animals, ecumenical prayers, English vernacular prayer, exhortation, humility, interfaith prayer, teḥinot in English, universalist prayers Contributor(s): A Proclamation of Fundamental Animal Rights drafted by the West German Green Party in 1989 upon the 200th anniversary of the “Declaration of the Rights of Man” (1789), in German with translations in English, French, and Portuguese. The Universal Declaration of Animal Rights (UDAR) was first proclaimed in Paris on 15 October 1978 at the headquarters of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) with the ambition of it being formally adopted in the United Nations General Assembly. The French League of Animal Rights spurred the development of a revised text written during the General Assembly of the International League of Animal Rights, held June 3–4, 1989 in Luxembourg, and adopted on October 21, 1989. The declaration was submitted to the UNESCO Director General in 1990 however it has never been formally adopted. A prayer for a beloved animal first compiled in English by Aharon N. Varady for Nethaniel Puzael, his family’s cat, in 1994. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., animals, בהמות behemot, burial service, domesticated animals, Grief, interspecies relationships Contributor(s): Once upon a time when the Temple still stood, the Rosh haShanah la-Behemah celebrated one means by which we elevated and esteemed the special creatures that helped us to live and to work. Just as rabbinic Judaism found new ways to realize our Temple offerings with tefillot — prayers — so too the Rosh haShanah la-Behemah challenges us to realize the holiness of the animals in our care in a time without tithes. The Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals is a challenge to remind and rediscover what our responsibilities are to the animals who depend on us for their welfare. Are we treating them correctly and in accord with the mitsvah of tsa’ar baalei ḥayyim — sensitivity to the suffering of living creatures? Have we studied and understood the depth of ḥesed — lovingkindness — expressed in the breadth of our ancestors teachings concerning the welfare of animals in Torah?haShanah la-Behemah is the day to reflect on our immediate or mediated relationships with domesticated animals, recognize our personal responsibilities to them, individually and as part of a distinct and holy people, and repair our relationships to the best of our ability. Categories: Tags: animal welfare, animals, behemah, בהמות behemot, Compassion, eco-conscious, ḥeshbon nefesh, shofar blowing, צער באלי חיים tsa'ar baalei ḥayyim Contributor(s): Trisha Arlin first published this prayer for a communal confession on Rosh Hashanah LaBehemot on her liturgy site, here. Elements of this vidui (confession) are derived from the Kavvanah before Blowing the Shofar on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul for Rosh Hashanah LaBehemot (New Year’s Day for Domesticated Animals). Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., animals, בהמות behemot, חשבון הנפש Ḥeshbon HaNefesh, predatory nature, וידוי vidui Contributor(s): A reading for the New Year’s Day for Animals — Rosh haShanah laBehemot — on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., animal protection, animal welfare, animals, בלק Balaq, domesticated animals, giving voice to the voiceless, צער באלי חיים tsa'ar baalei ḥayyim Contributor(s): An amulet to protect against dog allergies. Made for a relative with a bad dog allergy who was forced, for work reasons, to host an event featuring many dogs. Print on both sides and keep it in your pocket. Best if used with Zyrtec. An ofan — a liturgical prayer to be inserted into the Shaḥarit qedusha d-yotzer — for the first of Elul, the new year for animals. Not as of yet part of a cycle but who knows, maybe a few other parts will be written in days to come! I composed this short blessing when passing by a dead coyote once. Crows and Magpies were congregating around the corpse and I felt this was a moment to notice, sanctify and bless. It was my way of connecting with all of them, dead and alive. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., animals, ברכות brakhot, corpses, death, עולם הזה Olam ha-Zeh, surprise encounter Contributor(s): This blessing for the consumption of meat (or poultry, or fish) is based on a verse from Vayikra / Leviticus, ch. 17: כִּי נֶפֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר בַּדָּם הִוא וַאֲנִי נְתַתִּיו לָכֶם עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ לְכַפֵּר עַל־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם כִּי־הַדָּם הוּא בַּנֶּפֶשׁ יְכַפֵּר׃ (“For the life of the flesh is in the blood. And as for me, I have given it to you on the alter to ransom your lives, for it is the blood that ransoms in exchange for life.”) This verse helps us remember (and how can we ever forget?!) that any bloodshed, is a loss of life – human or animal. And, it helps us understand that even when we kill for our own sustanance (or even in a ritual offering), we cause a loss of life. The burden is on us. We are commanded to release the blood-life so we can use the meat. (I wrote more in detail about this blessing here.) Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., animals, ברכות brakhot, eating animals, עולם הזה Olam ha-Zeh, predation, predatory nature Contributor(s): A meditation prior to laying tefillin that takes into regard the creature whose skin was repurposed for this sacred ritual activity. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): | ||
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