![the Open Siddur Project [logo]](https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Open-Siddur-Project-Logo-2016.svg){kind=logo} the Open Siddur Project ✍︎ פְּרוֹיֶקְט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ
a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources
This project is sustained through reciprocity for those sharing prayers and crafting their own prayerbooks.
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 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 11 January 2022. . . . Contributor(s):“A Prayer for Ukraine” was first published by Chaya Kaplan Lester on her Facebook page. . . . Contributor(s):“Kaddish De’Rabbanan – A Prayer for Teachers and Students” was first published by Rabbi Brant Rosen via his poetry and liturgy blog, Yedid Nefesh (2 March 2022). . . . Contributor(s): Contributor(s):“Prayer for Ukraine” by Rabbi Dr. Reuven Kimelman was first published by Brandeis University on their website. . . . Contributor(s):An alternate Vidui for Yom Kipur, including an alphabetical list of the things we’ve done wrong in the past year, and also an alphabetical list of the things we can do right in the new year. Includes the words to “Ani v’Ata”, the song of optimism and commitment to improve the world. . . . Contributor(s):An Intention for Eating on Yom Kippur was written by Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez and appears in הַרְחֶב פִּֽיךָ וַאֲמַלְאֵֽהוּ Open Your Mouth Wide, and I (God) Will Fill It: Prayers and Rituals for those who need to eat on Yom Kippur (2022), p. 4. . . . Contributor(s):“A Prayer for Eating on Yom Kippur” was written by A Mitzvah to Eat (Sarah Osborne) and appears in הַרְחֶב פִּֽיךָ וַאֲמַלְאֵֽהוּ Open Your Mouth Wide, and I (God) Will Fill It: Prayers and Rituals for those who need to eat on Yom Kippur (2022). . . . Contributor(s):“A Prayer for Peace in the Ukraine” was first shared by Rabbi Sabath Beit-Halachmi, Ph.D. via her Facebook page, motsei Shabbat on 27 February 2022. To support the Jewish community in the Ukraine, go to the World Union of Progressive Judaism. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer for the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), written in response to their laudable decision to halt the deportation of asylum seekers from Britain to Rwanda. . . . Prayer for the People of Ukraine, by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth, 2022) Contributor(s):“Prayer for the People of Ukraine” was written by the chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, Ephraim Mirvis, and shared via the Twitter account of the Office of the Chief Rabbi. . . . A Prayer upon the Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ, by Rabbi Alexandra Wright (Liberal Jewish Synagogue, 2022) Contributor(s):“A Prayer upon the Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second” was written by Rabbi Alexandra Wright, Senior Rabbi of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue (St John’s Wood), and President of Liberal Judaism in the UK. The prayer was shared through the Open Siddur Project via our Facebook discussion group on 8 September 2022, by Rabbi Lea Mühlstein, Senior Rabbi of the Ark Synagogue (NPLS). . . . תפילה למי שצריך לאכול בימי צום | Prayer for those who need to eat on fast days (A Mitzvah to Eat, 2022) Contributor(s):This prayer for those who must eat on Jewish fast days, was shared by Sarah Osborne for A Mitzvah to Eat on Facebook. The Hebrew translation of the prayer was offered by Rabba Dr. Anat Sharbat. . . . Contributor(s):“A Prayer for the Flood Stricken” was offered by Rabbi David Dine Wirtschafter and shared via his Facebook page on 28 July 2022. He adds, “Please contribute to the Team Eastern Kentucky Relief Fund.” . . . Contributor(s):This is a brief prayer for America’s veterans and service members on Veterans Day . . . Song After the Revolution, an adaptation of Psalms 92 for Friday Evening by Rabbi Brant Rosen (Tzedek Chicago) Contributor(s):A paraliturgical adaptation of Psalms 92. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff on 10 September 2021 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 10 September 2021. . . . Contributor(s):Invocation for a Memorial Day ceremony at the Washington DC Vietnam War Veterans Memorial. . . . A Prayer for Those Denied Abortion Care, by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (National Council of Jewish Women 2021) Contributor(s):“A Prayer for Those Denied Abortion Care” was composed collectively by the staff of the National Council of Jewish Women and disseminated on Facebook in response to the regressive health care policies of the State of Texas in the United States in 2021. . . . תְּפִלָּה לְשׂוֹרְדֵי הַשּׁוֹאָה | Mi sheBerakh for Survivors of the Holocaust, by Rabbi Avi Baumol (2021) Contributor(s):“Holocaust Survivor Prayer” was written in English by Rabbi Avi Baumol in 2021 upon the establishment of Holocaust Survivor Day by the JCC of Krakow, Poland. The prayer was first published at the website of Holocaust Survivor Day. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer for America on the day upon which right-wing militias carried out an insurrection upon the representative democratic institution of the United States. . . . Contributor(s):This prayer for a parent (or primary caregiver) on the vaccination of their children by Cantor Hinda Labovitz was first shared via their Facebook page on 5 November 2021, . . . Contributor(s):A prayer upon receiving a vaccination for COVID. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer on being present in the moment of the inauguration of the 59th president of the United States. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer for the government on a day of violent insurrection in the heart of American democracy. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer of gratitude upon receiving a COVID vaccination. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer-poem by Rabbi Arthur Waskow in 2021 reflecting on our difficulty breathing, as a society, as humanity, and as a interconnected, interbreathing biosphere. . . . Contributor(s):“A New Birkat haMazon/Blessing After the Meal” was first published by Rabbi Brant Rosen via his liturgy blog, Yedid Nefesh (8 March 2021). He writes, “In composing this new Birkat Hamazon/Blessing After the Meal, I maintained the essential structure of the traditional prayer, which consists of four basic spiritual themes or categories. As with the other new liturgies that I’ve written, I seek here to compose Jewish prayers that express a Diasporist ethic; that is to say, liturgy that views the entire world as our “homeland” and resists the influence of modern political Zionism, which has become so thoroughly enmeshed in contemporary Jewish liturgy.” . . . Contributor(s):A pre-Shavuot prayer in the shadow of the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. . . . Contributor(s):This version of Eyshet Ḥayil replaces valor with value, and while it speaks of man in terms of family, community, and the natural world, it is not heteronormative. . . . Contributor(s):A kavvanah for clarifying and elevating the activity of tax preparation. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer for the observance of Memorial Day in the United States. . . . Contributor(s):A blessing for us and the year ahead from the last month of the Jewish calendar year. . . . Veterans Day Prayer at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, by Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff, Chaplain, USN (Ret.) Contributor(s):This Veterans Day Prayer was first published by Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff, Chaplain, USN (Retired), on his twitter page. He writes, “Because of COVID this is the first Veterans Day in a long time I am not part of a ceremony — and I know that’s the situation for many fellow vets. So I wrote it yesterday to share today as a virtual prayer for Veterans Day 2020.” On 11 November 2022, Rabbi Resnicoff offered the expanded revision of this prayer as offered above at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff on 23 October 2020 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 23 October 2020. . . . Contributor(s):Invocation for a virtual Memorial Day ceremony at the Washington DC Vietnam War Veterans Memorial. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Seth Frisch on 5 February 2020 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 5 February 2020. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Romi Cohn on 29 January 2020 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 29 January 2020. . . . Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rabbi Barry Block on 10 January 2020 Contributor(s):The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. House of Representatives on 10 January 2020. . . . Contributor(s):A blessing for announcing the new moon of Nisan, for Rosh Ḥodesh Nisan, and for the whole month. . . . Contributor(s):A blessing for announcing the new moon of Av, for Rosh Ḥodesh Av, and for the whole month. A poem of grieving and gentleness as part of collective liberation. . . . Contributor(s):A blessing for announcing the new moon of Elul, for Rosh Ḥodesh Elul, and for the whole month. A poem of kindness, rootedness and transformation as we enter into a time of turning and returning. . . . Contributor(s):A soulful, playful, embodied, grounded poem for announcing the new moon of Tishrei, for Rosh Ḥodesh Tishrei (otherwise known as Rosh HaShanah) and for the whole month. . . . Contributor(s):A blessing for announcing the new moon of Shevat, for Rosh Ḥodesh Shevat, and for the whole month. . . . Contributor(s):A blessing for announcing the new moon of Adar, for Rosh Ḥodesh Adar, and for the whole month. . . . Contributor(s):A poem-blessing for trailblazers of many kinds, to honor everyday courage and to inspire trust and self-compassion. . . . Mah Nishtanah: what needs to change, a seder supplement to the Four Questions by Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit Contributor(s):A playful, powerful, passionate reading for Passover seder or any time. Can be chanted to the traditional Ashkenazi lilt for the Four Questions. . . . Contributor(s):Two kavvanot, one for before and one for after casting away in a Tashlikh ritual. . . . על אלה אנו בוכים | Al eleh anu bokhim (For these we weep), a lamentation for humanity’s destruction of habitat and species, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org) Contributor(s):A ḳinnah for humanity’s willful, negligent, and callous destruction of habitat and species known and unknown. . . . |
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“Avinu Malkeinu,” dvar tefillah by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)
The words of Avinu Malkeinu are a little different from the standard translation. It doesn’t say in Hebrew, “we have no good deeds” (ein lanu ma’asim tovim), but rather, “there are no deeds in us” (ein banu ma’asim). The p’shat (literal meaning) implies that whatever we have done in the past does not have to live inside of us — we can release our deeds and be released from them, fully, to start over, like a newborn, to become whoever we need to become. . . .