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Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady and Lieba B. Ruth
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Categories: |
Sefirat ha'Omer, Nirtsah
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Tags: |
trepidation, growth, ecoḥasid, eco-conscious, neo-lurianic, barley, ספירת העומר sefirat haomer, wheat, ספירות sephirot, counting, growing, apprehension, watchfulness
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Each day between the beginning of Passover and Shavuot gets counted, 49 days in all, 7 weeks of seven days. That makes the omer period a miniature version of the Shmitah and Yovel (Jubilee) cycle of 7 cycles of seven years. Just as that cycle is one of resetting society’s clock to align ourselves with freedom and with the needs of the land, this cycle too is a chance to align ourselves with the rhythms of spring and the spiritual freedom represented by the Torah. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Ḥanukkah, Rosh Ḥodesh Tevet (טֵבֵת)
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Tags: |
eco-conscious, North America, solstice, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., ecoḥasid, Northampton
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Here’s a first draft of a brief liturgy for last night, for solstice plus Ḥanukkah. Note that this is a kind of eco-liturgy, but it also stands on its own without imposing an ecological overlay. Since it’s still solstice all day, you may want to use this prayer now, or at dusk tonight. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Blessings After Eating, Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, The Shmitah Year (Earth's Shabbat)
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Tags: |
HaRaḥaman, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., ecoḥasid, eco-conscious
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This Haraḥaman (prayer to the merciful or compassionate One) for the Shmitah or sabbatical year can be added to Birkat Hamazon (blessing after meals) during the whole Shmitah year, in order to remember and open our hearts to the sanctity of the land. Say it right before the Haraḥaman for Shabbat, since Shmitah is the grand shabbat, and right after the paragraph beginning with Bamarom (a/k/a, Mimarom). . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (translation), Jacob Chatinover (translation), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), David Seidenberg and Unknown Author(s)
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Categories: |
Pesaḥ, the Dry Season (Spring & Summer), Rosh Ḥodesh Nisan (נִיסָן), Rosh Ḥodesh Iyyar (אִיָיר), Rosh Ḥodesh Tishrei (תִּשְׁרֵי), Rosh Ḥodesh Marḥeshvan (מַרְחֶשְׁוָן)
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Tags: |
school of the ARI z"l, eco-conscious, ecoḥasid, Nusaḥ Ha-Ari z"l, Trees, four worlds, Needing Source Images
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When the spring (Aviv) season arrives, a blessing is traditionally said when one is in view of at least two flowering fruit trees. In the northern hemisphere, it can be said anytime through the end of the month of Nissan (though it can still be said in Iyar). For those who live in the southern hemisphere, the blessing can be said during the month of Tishrei. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Arthur Waskow and the Shalom Center
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Categories: |
Erev Pesaḥ, Erev Shabbat, Shavuot, Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Sukkot, Yom Kippur, Ecotastrophes
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North America, candle lighting, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., eco-conscious, כוונות kavvanot, kindling, English vernacular prayer, ecoḥasid
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“Between the Fires: A Prayer for lighting Candles of Commitment” was composed by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, drawing on traditional midrash about the danger of a Flood of Fire, and the passage from Malachi. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Unknown Author(s)
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Categories: |
Blessings After Eating
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Tags: |
ברכת המזון birkat hamazon, interpretive translation, Jewish Renewal, ecoḥasid
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The style by which Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l translated Jewish liturgy in English was neither literal nor idiomatic, but highly interpretive and interspersed with his own ḥiddushim (innovations). Showing Reb Zalman’s translation side-by-side with the Jewish liturgy helps to illuminate his understanding of the liturgy — it’s deeper meaning as well as how it might be communicated to a contemporary audience. In the version I have prepared below, I have set the interpretive translation of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l side-by-side with the liturgical Hebrew that may have inspired it. In several places, Reb Zalman’s formulation departs from the traditional Ashkenazi nusaḥ. Where there is no Hebrew, we can more easily observe where Reb Zalman has expanded upon the blessing. Still, my work was not exhaustive and I appreciate any corrections to the nusaḥ (liturgical custom) of the Hebrew that may have inspired Reb Zalman’s interpretation in English. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat)
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Tags: |
North America, Lurianic Kabbalah, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., school of the ARI z"l, ecoḥasid, eco-conscious, four worlds
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This prayer for Tu biShvat, derived from the prayer included with the seder for Tu biShvat, the Pri Ets Hadar, are based on the Ḳabbalah of the four worlds and the ancient idea that everything physical is an image of the spiritual. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Gabbai Seth Fishman (translation) and Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
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Categories: |
Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Sukkot, Hoshana Rabbah, Ecotastrophes
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Tags: |
Hoshana Rabbah, הושענות hoshanot, 58th century A.M., hakafot, 20th century C.E., ecoḥasid, eco-conscious, North America
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A supplemental Hoshanot liturgy for Sukkot confessing a selection of humanity’s crimes against creation. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Erev Pesaḥ
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Tags: |
21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., ecoḥasid, eco-conscious, חמץ ḥametz
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May it be Your will Hashem that we remember that just as we do not own this ḥametz, we do not own this earth. May we once again recall that Adam, the human, is made of afar, soil, dirt, and that God’s promise Abraham that his progeny will become “like the dirt of the earth,” in Aramaic, afra d’ar’a, means that we must live to nourish all Life. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Elections & Voting, Election Day (1st Tuesday after November 1st)
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Tags: |
democratic process, תחינות teḥinot, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., global warming, global climate change, ecoḥasid, eco-conscious, United States
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This prayer is broadly speaking a prayer that we learn to work together to create a better future, and it incorporates a pledge to do one thing for healing the world, for tikkun olam, that will make this future a reality. It’s not a prayer about winning or getting other people to see things our way, like some of the others I’ve seen. Whomever we support, we need to pray for strength for the next president, and for the whole country, to face what will be challenging times. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Unknown Author(s)
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Categories: |
Birkhot haTorah, Torah Study
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Tags: |
Prayers before Torah Study, Tannaitic prayers, Antiquity, talmud torah, ecoḥasid, interpretive translation, devotional interpretation, English Translation, North America, Late Antiquity, Jewish Renewal, Amoraic prayers
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This English translation of the blessing for Torah study by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l, was first published in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). Versification according to the Nusaḥ ha-ARI z”l by Aharon Varady. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg, neohasid.org and Noam Sienna
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Categories: |
Sukkot, Art & Craft
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Tags: |
58th century A.M., ecoḥasid, Ancestors, Avot and Imahot, in the merit of our ancestors, archetypes, אושפיזתא Ushpizata, sefirot, Prayers inside sukkot, קבלה kabbalah, spirits, North America, אושפיזין ushpizin, 21st century C.E.
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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. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Ḳiddush Levanah
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Tags: |
Renewal, eco-conscious, night, new moon, the moon, ecoḥasid, dancing
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In Kabbalistic tradition, the new moon is sanctified seven days after its appearance, under a clear sky, standing facing east. It may be said as early as three days after the new moon, and as late as a day before the full moon (the moon should still be visibly waxing). It is the custom in the month of Av to wait to sanctify the moon until after Tisha b’Av, and in Tishrei to wait until after Yom Kippur. In a minyan, the Aleinu prayer and kaddish are traditionally added at the end. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Rosh haShanah la-Melakhim, Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat)
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Tags: |
North America, earth, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., ecoḥasid, eco-conscious
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God of all spirit, all directions, all winds You have placed in our hands power unlike any since the world began to overturn the orders of creation. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (transcription), David Seidenberg, neohasid.org and Jorge Mario Bergoglio
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Categories: |
Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System
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Tags: |
Hebrew translation, ecoḥasid, Northampton, Catholic and Apostolic Church, Vatican City, eco-conscious, ecumenical prayers, North America, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M.
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An ecumenical prayer by Pope Francis from his encyclical, Laudato Si (praise be to you) from May 24th, 2015. Here’s my draft of a Hebrew translation of Pope Francis’ prayer for our earth. It turns out no one had translated it yet. The translation includes sparks from the High Holiday liturgy. I thought we should have it available for Rosh Hashanah, even though I’m sure the translation could use more work and more feedback. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Aharon N. Varady (transcription), David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Blessings Before Eating, Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Rosh haShanah la-Behemah
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Tags: |
ecoḥasid, blessings, eco-conscious, ברכות brakhot
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The Talmud (Brakhot 35a-b) teaches that eating food without saying a brakhah (a blessing) beforehand is like stealing. A lot of people know that teaching, and it’s pretty deep. But here’s an even deeper part: the Talmud doesn’t call it “stealing”, but מעילה ׁ(“me’ilah“), which means taking from sacred property that belongs to the Temple. So that means that everything in the world is sacred and this Creation is like a HOLY TEMPLE. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat), Seder l'Rosh Hashanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat)
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Tags: |
21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., ecoḥasid, neo-lurianic, eco-conscious, sourcesheet, four worlds, North America
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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. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Sukkot, Hoshana Rabbah
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Tags: |
הושענות hoshanot, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, ecoḥasid, Northampton, mesostic, eco-conscious, alphabetic mesostic, United States
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A litany of hoshanot for use in a ritual prayer circle march on the festival of Sukkot. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg, Arthur Waskow, neohasid.org and the Shalom Center
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Categories: |
Yom haMabul (Day of the Flood, 17 Iyyar, Lev ba-Omer), Yom haQeshet (Day of the Rainbow, 27 Iyyar)
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Tags: |
58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, ecoḥasid, Northampton, Rainbow Day, eco-conscious, ל״ג בעומר lag baomer, North America, תחינות teḥinot, 21st century C.E.
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This is a prayer to be read between the 17th and the 27th of Iyyar (בין י״ז ו-כ״ז באייר), between the 32nd (ל״ב) and 42nd (מ״ב) days of the Omer. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg, neohasid.org, the Masoretic Text, Barukh ben Neriyah and Yirmiyah ben Ḥilkiyah haKohen
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Categories: |
Eikhah (Lamentations), Tishah b'Av Readings
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Tags: |
ecoḥasid, alienation, English Translation, Mourning this Broken World, anti-predatory, 21st century C.E., Five Megillot, Exilic Period, Concordant translation
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This translation of Laments, the book of mourning poems read on Tishah b’Av, uses principles of the Buber-Rosenzweig Bible. It strives to be “concordant”, translating related Hebrew words with related English words and following the order and syntax of the Hebrew where possible. It also focuses on the more physical, earthy meaning of words, in order to draw the reader from modern towards more ancient ways of seeing and feeling. Sometimes alternate translations are given, indicated by a slash. (When reading aloud, simply pick one of the translations. For YHVH, you can read Adonai or Hashem or “the Eternal”.) James Moffat’s 1922 translation was consulted. As a somewhat literal translation, Laments uses “He” and “His” as pronouns for God, even though Torah and common sense command us not to make an exclusively male or female image of God. If you are using Laments liturgically, please feel encouraged to change the pronouns. For brief essays on the theology of Eikhah and more, see the bottom of this page. This work is dedicated to all refugees fleeing war and upheaval, and to our remembering their needs. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Cacophany, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit)
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Tags: |
Musaf Rosh Hashanah, Atah Qadosh (Third Blessing of the Amidah), קדושה Qedushah, Breslov, חסידי ברצלב Ḥasidei Bratslav (Breslov), clapping, Coronation, ecoḥasid, Ḥasidic, Public Amidah
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In Uman, Ukraine (and in [the Breslov [community] in general) during the repetition of Rosh Hashanah Musaf, when when the ḥazan gets to the special brokha in the Amidah for Yamim Nora’im [the Days of Awe]: . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Dangerous Storms & Floods, Ecotastrophes
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Tags: |
Hurricane Florence, תחינות teḥinot, 21st century C.E., בקשות Baqashot, 58th century A.M., Hebrew translation, eco-conscious, Hurricane Sandy, weather, taking responsibility, emergency, Hurricane Harvey, danger, ecoḥasid
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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. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Solar Eclipse
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Tags: |
the moon, eco-conscious, ecoḥasid, North America, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Coronation, the sun, Crowning, Eclipse, total solar eclipse, solar eclipse
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Blessings and prayers for the eclipse, at: neohasid.org/eclipse including texts and links to other Internet resources. May we all find blessing in the wonder. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Yitsḥak Luria
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Categories: |
Bedtime Shema
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Tags: |
interpretive translation, 16th century C.E., 54th century A.M., Concluding Prayers, Before Sleep, Forgiveness, Equanimity, school of the ARI z"l, ecoḥasid, devotional interpretation
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Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of Rabbi Yitsḥak Luria’s prayer “Hareni Moḥel” (I hereby forgive) 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. The prayer by the ARI z”l was first published in Ḥayim Vital’s Pri Ets Ḥayyim, Shaar Kriyat Shema al Hamitah, Pereq 2 (פרי עץ חיים, שער קריאת שמע שעל המיטה, פרק ב), and based on the statement of Reish Lakish in the Bavli Pesachim 66b and the practice of Mar Zutra attested in the Bavli Megillah 28a . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Arik Ascherman
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Categories: |
Conflicts over Sovereignty and Dispossession, Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat)
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Tags: |
58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, ecoḥasid, olive trees, Israeli-Jewish settler violence, Needing Translation (into Hebrew), מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, land theft, فلسطين Filasṭīn Palestine, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, 21st century C.E.
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A Tu biShvat seder supplement recognizing the Israeli-Jewish settler violence and land theft under the State of Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
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Categories: |
Learning, Study, and School, Torah Study
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Tags: |
Jewish Renewal, 58th century A.M., Elat Chayyim, Prayers before Torah Study, ecoḥasid, 20th century C.E., talmud torah
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A prayer before commencing the study of Torah in groups, in ḥavrutah study, or alone. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
Yom haQeshet (Day of the Rainbow, 27 Iyyar)
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Tags: |
תחינות teḥinot, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., ecoḥasid, Northampton, Rainbow Day, eco-conscious, ל״ג בעומר lag baomer, North America
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This is a prayer to be read between the 18th and the 27th of Iyyar (בין י״ח ו-כ״ז באייר), between the 33rd (ל״ג) and 42nd (מ״ב) days of the Omer. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
David Seidenberg and neohasid.org
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Categories: |
the New Sun
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life, solar, sol, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., the sun, ecoḥasid, eco-conscious, photosynthesis
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We come here ready to fulfill the Creator’s commandment to give blessing for the Sun’s creation and in this year we recognize that the abundance of blessing which Earth receives from the Sun depends on the health of the Skies, which is in human hands for the first time in any generation in all the years of blessing the Sun, from the beginning of the world. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Rabbi R. Karpov, Ph.D.
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Categories: |
Seder Akhilat haSimanim
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Tags: |
סימנים simanim, neo-lurianic, four worlds, seudot, festive meals, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., סגולות segulot, ecoḥasid
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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. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
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Categories: |
Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Repenting, Resetting, and Forgiveness
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Tags: |
Renewal, beit din, friends, judgement, vows, ecoḥasid
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Almost everyone who is Jewish knows that Kol Nidre is about releasing vows and has participated in the ceremony. Few know the parallel ritual done in small groups before Rosh Hashanah. Traditionally, right before Rosh Hashanah one performs this simple ritual with three friends, each in turn becoming the petitioner, while the other three act as the beit din, the judges in a court. The ritual is a wonderful way to enter the holidays as well as to prepare oneself for what will happen on Yom Kippur. . . . |
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Contributor(s): |
Oren Steinitz and Unknown Author(s)
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Categories: |
Before the Aliyot, Mourning, Ḳaddish
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Tags: |
Nusaḥ Ha-Ari z"l, English Translation, Jewish Renewal, Without a Minyan, 58th century A.M., ecoḥasid, הוצאת ספר תורה Removal of the Torah from the Ark, קדיש יתום Mourner's Ḳaddish, 20th century C.E.
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This Kaddish was first published online at Jewish Renewal Chassidus by Gabbai Seth Fishman. Rabbi Oren Steinitz translated the kaddish on the 3rd yahrzeit after Reb Zalman’s passing. . . . |
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