
Contributor(s): Shmuly Yanklowitz
Shared on כ׳ בטבת ה׳תשע״ז (2017-01-17) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Government & Country, Coronations & Inaugurations
Tags: United States, resistance, Donald Trump, dissent, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, 45th President of the United States, Resist, United States General Election 2016, Needing Translation (into Hebrew)
Because of my commitment to the integrity of prayer, starting this week, I can no longer recite or say amen to the Shabbat prayer for the success of the U.S. President. So I have drafted a new prayer that I will plan to recite each Shabbat morning. If you also feel it’s important to pray for the U.S. government but also feel you cannot pray for the success of this President, feel free to use this or adapt it as you please. I felt that it was not enough to simply avoid the U.S. President in the prayer for the government but to remind myself of the billions of vulnerable people who are at risk under his rule, and challenge myself each Shabbat to build up the strength for another week of spiritual resistance. . . .

Contributor(s): David Wolkin
Shared on כ״ב באלול ה׳תשע״ו (2016-09-25) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Days of Judgement, Self-Reflection
Tags: North America, journaling, writing, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., חשבון הנפש Ḥeshbon HaNefesh, self-reflection, תשובה teshuvah, Needing Translation (into Hebrew)
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.” . . .

Contributor(s): Andrew Shaw
Shared on י״ח בכסלו ה׳תשע״ב (2011-12-14) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Birkhot haShaḥar
Tags: Sunrise, Wakefulness, Gratitude, Hypnogogic State, Dawn, Light, Darkness, Threshold, Compassion, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Needing Translation (into Hebrew)
An original liturgical poem inspired by the Modah|Modeh Ani prayer. . . .
This prayer for Israel was written by Rabbi Naḥum Waldman (1931-2004) for T’ruah: the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. T’ruah works to ensure that Israel remains a safe and secure home for Jews and a place that lives up to the ideal stated in the State of Israel’s 1948 Declaration of Independence that Israel “will foster the development of the country for all of its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice, and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.” . . .
Hashem, as I open my Siddur, let me pray with proper kavanah. Let me pray with sincerity, paying careful attention to every word I utter. Hashem, let me concentrate with my whole being on the meaning of each and every word, sentence and prayer. Keep my mind from wandering to other subjects, and keep me from neglecting to put my heart and soul in to each and every prayer, praise and blessing. May my prayer come before You, O Hashem, at a time of grace, and may it be accepted favorably by You. Amen. . . .

Contributor(s): Virginia Spatz
Shared on ו׳ באלול ה׳תשע״ה (2015-08-21) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Social Justice, Peace, and Liberty, Mass Shootings & Gun Violence
Tags: United States, Neighborhood Violence, 21st century C.E., Parashat Shoftim, 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, שפטים Shoftim, Gun violence in the United States, Needing Translation (into Hebrew)
“Does joy come in the morning, where weeping has not tarried for the night? Can we dance together, if we have not yet joined in lament?” This prayer is a kavanah for the morning blessings, using language and images from the prayer “Mah Tovu” [how lovely are your tents] commonly recited in the early morning blessings. Offered with special intention for the healing of Congress Heights, Capitol View, and other neighborhoods in Washington, DC, rocked by persistent violence. . . .
A litany of hoshanot for use in a ritual prayer circle march on the festival of Sukkot. . . .

Contributor(s): Menachem Creditor
Shared on כ״ב באב ה׳תשע״ח (2018-08-03) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Well-being, health, and caregiving
Tags: Gratitude, North America, all bodies, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, thanksgiving, pain, Needing Translation (into Hebrew), מודים Modim
Rabbi Menachem Creditor first shared this prayer in the Open Siddur Project discussion group on Facebook, here. . . .
A Jewish Prayer for Nakba Day, by Rabbi Brant Rosen. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady
Shared on ה׳ באייר ה׳תשע״ג (2013-04-15) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Conflicts over Sovereignty and Dispossession, Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Yom ha-Atsma'ut (5 Iyyar), Independence Day (July 4th), Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday of November)
Tags: eco-conscious, Gratitude, על הנסים al hanissim, acquisition, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Indigenous Peoples, נודה לך Nodeh L'kha, primordial scream, stewardship, shomrah ul'ovdah, colonization, conquest, settlement, refugees, immigration, sanctuary, subjugation, hegemony, Needing Translation (into Hebrew), מודים Modim
Opportunities to express gratitude on civic days of patriotic thanksgiving demand acknowledgement of an almost unfathomably deep history of trauma — not only the suffering and striving of my immigrant ancestors, but the sacrifice of all those who endured suffering dealt by their struggle to survive, and often failure to survive, the oppressions dealt by colonization, conquest, hegemony, natural disaster. Only the Earth (from which we, earthlings were born, Bnei Adam from Adamah) has witnessed the constancy of the violent deprivations we inflict upon each other. The privilege I’ve inherited from these sacrifices has come at a cost, and it must be honestly acknowledged, especially on secular/national days of thanksgiving, independence, and freedom. I insert this prayer after Al Hanissim in the Amidah and in the Birkat Hamazon on national days of independence and thanksgiving. . . .
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