tagged: blessings following the shema • the Open Siddur Project ✍ פְּרוֺיֶקְט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ

אֱמֶת וְיַצִּיב | 真实且确定 | Emet v’Yatsiv (Zhēnshí qiě quèdìng) and Al haRishonim (Duìyú dì yī gè) — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Richard Collis (translation) and Unknown Author(s)

This Chinese translation of the prayers “Emet v’Yatsiv” and “Al haRishonim” commencing the Geulah blessing immediately following the Shema in Shaḥarit is found on pages 16-17 of the liner notes for the Chinese edition of Richard Collis’s album We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service Prayers (Wǒmen gēchàng, wǒmen xiāngjù — Ānxírì chén dǎo qídǎo). . . .

עֶזְרַת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ | 我们祖先的助手 | Ezrat Avoteinu (Wǒmen zǔxiān de zhùshǒu) — Chinese translation by Richard Collis (2022)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Richard Collis (translation) and Unknown Author(s)

This Chinese translation of the prayer “Ezrat Avotenu,” completing the Geulah blessing following the Shema, is found on pages 18-19 of the liner notes for the Chinese edition of Richard Collis’s album We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service Prayers (Wǒmen gēchàng, wǒmen xiāngjù — Ānxírì chén dǎo qídǎo). . . .

בִּרְכָּת גָּאַל יִשְׂרָאֵל | Emet v’Yatsiv, a paraliturgical reflection by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Contributor(s):

Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

A paraliturgical reflection of the blessing following the Shema, the Birkat Ga’al Yisrael, for a shame resilience practice. . . .

הַשְׁכִּיבֵנוּ | Hashkivenu, interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

The Hashkivenu prayer of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. . . .

בִּרְכָּת גָּאַל יִשְׂרָאֵל | Emet v’Emunah, interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

The first of two blessings following the shema in the evening, rendered by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in his English “praying translation.” . . .

Haschkiwenu, a paraliturgical adaptation of Hashkivenu by Lise Tarlau (1907)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation) and Lise Tarlau

This paraliturgical translation of “Haschkiwenu” by Lise Tarlau can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1907), page 78. . . .

שַׁבָּת וַחֲנֻכָּה נִגְּשׁוּ וַיְרִיבוּן (מִי כָמוֹךָ)‏ | Shabbat and Ḥanukkah Met and Fought, a piyyut by Shlomoh ben Eliyahu Sharvit HaZahav (ca. 15th c.)

Contributor(s):

Jonah Rank and Shlomoh ben Eliyahu Sharvit haZahav

A 15th century Ḥanukkah vs. Shabbat rap battle. Technically it’s not a rap battle–just a piyyut introducing “Mi Khamokha” in the blessing after the Shema on the Shabbat morning of Ḥanukkah . . . .

מִי כָמֽוֹךָ וְאֵין כָּמֽוֹךָ | Mi Khamokha v’Ein Kamokha, a retelling of Megillat Esther in a piyyut for Shabbat Zakhor by Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi (ca. 11th c.)

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Yehudah ben Shmuel haLevi

The poem Mi Khamokha v-Ein Khamokha, an epic retelling of the book of Esther in verse, was written for Shabbat Zakhor, the Shabbat before Purim, by the great paytan Yehuda ben Shmuel haLevi. It was originally written as a “geulah,” meant to be inserted into the prayer after the Shema in place of the verse beginning with “A new song…” But later Sephardic poskim ruled that it was forbidden to insert piyyutim into the Shema blessings, so in the communities that recite it today it is generally either read after the Full Kaddish as an introduction to the Torah service, or (for instance, in most Spanish and Portuguese communities) within the verse “Kol atzmotai tomarna” in the Nishmat prayer. Wherever you include it in your service, it’s a beautiful and intricately rhymed piyyut, and surprisingly easy to understand at that. It is presented here in a gender-neutral translation with all the Biblical verses cited, alongside a new translation that preserves the fourfold acrostic, two alphabetical and two authorial. –Isaac Gantwerk Mayer . . .