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מוריד הטל | Morid Hatal — to the One who settles the dew, post-October 7 — by Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg (neohasid.org 2024) Contributor(s):On Passover we end the prayers for rain that began on October 7, and begin the prayers for dew. The prayers end, but the war that began with the October 7 attack does not. Here is a reflection on that. . . . Contributor(s):“All Four (Are One),” riffing on the story in the haggadah of the four children, is a prayer-poem on the theme of intracommunal discord six months after October 7th (possibly reflected in the family dynamics at the seder table itself). Written by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, it was first published on the website of Bayit: Building Jewish on 2 April 2024. . . . Contributor(s):A kavvanah for the month of Adar in the pivotal US presidential election year of 2024 (the Jewish leap year of 5784). . . . Contributor(s):In the midst of terrible violence and war in Israel and Gaza, these words came in response to the questions: how to engage meaningfully with Ḥanukkah in 5784 with integrity. How can it still be a source of wisdom and liberation? . . . Contributor(s):“Upon My Heart” was offered by Rabbi Menachem Creditor and shared via the Open Siddur Project discussion group on 20 November 2023. The added hashtag “#bringthemhomenow” helps to contextualize the prayer-poem, as written to express the yearning for the return of the captives taken hostage during the 7 October massacres by HAMA”S and its allies. . . . “An important message, November 2023,” a prayer-poem in the form of a shipping notice by Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit Contributor(s):“An important message, November 2023” is a shipping notice from God and a meditation on parochial empathy. . . . Contributor(s):“An infinity of amens” was written by Hanna Yerushalmi on 15 October 2023 in the aftermath of the massacres on Shemini Atseret 5784. . . . Contributor(s):I tried to look at different aspects of what we as Jews contemplate and think about as we move towards the High Holy Days. God’s view of what we did out of fear and loneliness and perhaps why we can never see God’s face and for us to reflect on how we act in the world and what God has asked us of in this lifetime. This poem/prayer is perhaps a little rough, that was intentional. Rather than being a true historical commentary on Elul, I tried to tell a little story about it. . . . Contributor(s):This prayer/poem [‘Call of the Shema’] came out of Rabbi Greene’s (Rabbi of Cong. Har Hashem in Boulder, Colarado) sermon this past Friday and our Torah Study discussion Saturday morning on Parashat Eikev. . . . Contributor(s):While we focus on the Temple’s destruction and all that is related to the ninth of Av I believe that our internal work reflects how we see and perceive the external. . . . Contributor(s):“Comfort in Ruin: Tishah b’Av” was written by Rabbi Menachem Creditor and shared by the author via the Open Siddur Project Discussion Group on Facebook, 27 July 2023. . . . the song at the sea of ending one story and beginning another, by Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit (February 2023) Contributor(s):This piece emerged in February 2023 upon realizing that instead of reading ים סוף as Yam Suf (generally understood at the Sea of Reeds), it could be read as Yam Sof: Sea of End[ing]. It was apparent to me that we may have approached this sea (escaping from slavery) thinking that it would be the end of us. It was not. But it was the end of *something*. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer-poem for summoning the necessary courage, patience, and clarity for collective liberation as mapped onto the extra month of Adar in a leap year. . . . Contributor(s):“Perhaps: A Prayer with God for the World” by Rabbi Menachem Creditor was first published by the author on 8 July 2022 on his blog and on his Facebook page and shared through the Open Siddur Project Discussion Group (also on Facebook). . . . Contributor(s):“A Prayer for Ukraine” was first published by Chaya Kaplan Lester on her Facebook page. . . . 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. . . . אדמה ושמים | Adamah v’Shamayim (Earth & Heaven), a prayer-poem by Rabbi Louis Polisson after the song by Shimon Lev-Tahor (Suissa) Contributor(s):This poem was composed at the end of August 2020 / Elul 5780 as part of Rabbi Katy Allen’s Earth Etudes for Elul 5780. . . . 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. . . . I can’t breathe, We can’t breathe, Earth can’t breathe, a prayer-poem by Rabbi Arthur Waskow (the Shalom Center 2020) Contributor(s):A prayer-poem by Rabbi Arthur Waskow reflecting on our difficulty breathing, as a society, as humanity, and as a interconnected, interbreathing biosphere. . . . Contributor(s):Modeled after Gil Scott Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not be Televised,” written for Passover during the pandemic (April 2020). . . . Contributor(s):A prayer-poem by Rabbi Menachem Creditor reflecting on the challenges of the year 2020 up till Rosh haShanah. . . . Contributor(s):An interpretive version of Al HaNisim for Ḥanukkah that is playful, powerful, and embodied. May it fuel our activism, including the self-care and community-building that is part of activism. . . . Contributor(s):Today I turned my heart toward the new year and wrote a prayer-poem for Tashlikh, the Rosh haShanah ritual of casting bread or stones into the water to cast off one’s past wrongdoings. . . . Contributor(s):“For Tisha be’Av: Our Cherished Litany of Loss” by Rabbi Menachem Creditor was first published on his website, here. . . . Contributor(s):The Blessing over Separations was first read by Shelby Handler on Rosh Ḥodesh Kislev at the 2017 ADVA Reunion, a reunion of the community of Adamah Farm fellows and Teva Learning Center educators at Isabella Freedman Retreat Center. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer-poem for Rosh Ḥodesh Adar Alef which occurs on Jewish leap years (before the month of Adar containing the festival of Purim). . . . Contributor(s):This eulogy by Andrew Meit was read at Temple Beit Ami in Rockville, Maryland at the funeral of Benjamin Meit. Andrew writes, “Ben would have turned 19 next week. He died from complications from depression and mental illness.” Donations in Ben’s memory may be made here. If you or anyone you know is in need of help, please call 911, or 1-800 273 8255, the national suicide prevention hotline. . . . אֵל בָּרוּךְ | El Barukh, an alphabetic acrostic piyyut together with the lyrics to Aleph Bass by Darshan Contributor(s):A song by Darshan including the alphabetic acrostic piyyut, El Barukh, part of the morning Yotser Ohr blessing made prior to the Shema at the official beginning of the Shaḥarit service. . . . A Blessing for the Bugs on the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals, Rosh Hashana La-Behemah, by Trisha Arlin Contributor(s):I have come to see That we are not the only creatures who are B’tzelem Elohim, We are all in God’s image. So today, on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul, On the New Year of the Domesticated Beasts, Let’s give thanks to the bugs Like the four questioning children Wise and snarky and simple and oblivious, Like the four worlds of the kabbala The earth, the sky, the heart and the spirit We give thanks and acknowledge The bugs we have domesticated The bugs who serve us in their wild state The bugs that hurt us or gross us out And the bugs who live only for themselves, without any reference to us. . . . Contributor(s):This prayer was written to introduce the service at a shiva minyan. . . . Contributor(s):This is the month when we tell the story Of the escape from the narrow place. This is the month of Shabbat Shirah, When we sing the song of liberation. We give thanks for freedom. This is the month when we talk of wine and nuts and fruit, The New Year of the Trees. This is the month of Tu Bishvat When we eat the gifts of our planet. We give thanks to the earth. . . . The Breath of All Life, a paraliturgical Nishmat Kol Ḥai for Shabbat morning by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat Contributor(s):A prayer-poem inspired from the liturgical prayer, Nishmat. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer-poem supplication for the afternoon of Shabbat. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer-poem inspired by the ritual Havdallah, preparing a separation between Shabbat and weekday time. . . . Contributor(s):A playful, expansive, embodied riff on “Hashiveinu Hashem eilecha v’nashuva, ḥadesh yameinu k’kedem.” Suitable for Tisha B’Av, Elul, the Days of Awe, and every day. . . . Contributor(s):I wrote this a few days after the Boston Marathon bombing. It arose out of a meditation service which I led at my synagogue. The doors to our sanctuary were open, so we had the sounds of the nearby wetland in our ears, and I invited the meditators to join me in cultivating compassion and sending it toward Boston. The line “My heart is in the east and I am in the west” is adapted from the medieval Spanish poet Judah haLevi. . . . Contributor(s):Please God Let me light More than flame tonight. More than wax and wick and sliver stick of wood. More than shallow stream of words recited from a pocket book. . . . Contributor(s):We lift Miriam’s cup, Dancing prophet celebrating the world that is now. And we tell God we are grateful For the water from the earth that was Miriam’s gift, Welcome necessity, On God’s behalf. Miriam announces joy! And teaches us to save ourselves. Miriam, the bringer of mercy, There’s no prayer for her in the haggadah— So make one up! . . . Contributor(s):A prayer-poem for healing by Trisha Arlin. . . . Contributor(s):[In Parshat Vayigash] we read of the members of Jacob’s family who went down to Egypt. There were 53 grandsons listed, but only a single granddaughter – Seraḥ, the daughter of Asher. The commentators wonder, what was so exceptional about this girl that her name was recorded? The Midrash spills forth with stories portraying an image of a unique and endearing Biblical heroine. Seraḥ stands as a trusted, beloved sage of the people. She possessed an uncommon gift of healing through poetry and music. Somewhat as Orpheus is to Greek myth, so is Seraḥ to the Biblical myth – the archetypal poet and bard. . . . Contributor(s):A prayer upon the inauguration of President Obama in January 2009. . . . Contributor(s):Sh’sh’sh’ma Yisra’el — Listen, You Godwrestlers! Pause from your wrestling and hush’sh’sh To hear — YHWH/ Yahh Hear in the stillness the still silent voice, The silent breathing that intertwines life; YHWH/ Yahh elohenu Breath of life is our God, What unites all the varied forces creating all worlds into one-ness, Each breath unique, And all unified; YHWH / Yahh echad! Yahh is One. Listen, You Godwrestlers! No one people alone owns this Unify-force; YHWH / Yahh is One. . . . Contributor(s):“The Song of Miriam” by Rabbi Ruth Sohn was first published as “I Shall Sing to the Lord a New Song,” in Kol Haneshamah: Shabbat Vehagim, Reconstructionist Prayerbook, 1989, 1995 Second Edition. Reconstructionist Press, pp. 768-769. (This poem was also published in several haggadot and other books and set to music by several composers in the U.S. and Israel.) Rabbi Sohn wrote the poem in 1981 as a rabbinical student after immersing herself in the Torah verses and the traditional midrashim about Miriam, and after writing a longer modern midrash about Miriam. Part of this modern midrash was published as “Journeys,” in All the Women Followed Her, ed. Rebecca Schwartz (Rikudei Miriam Press, 2001). . . . בַּשָּׁנָה הַבָּאָה | baShanah haBa’ah (Next Year), an elegy by Ehud Manor for his brother killed during the War of Attrition (1968) Contributor(s):“baShanah haBa’ah” (Next Year) by Ehud Manor written in 1968 in memory of his brother Yehudah. . . . Contributor(s):A Hebrew translation of the lyrics to Harry Nilsson’s “One” (1967) as sung by Aimee Mann (1995) . . . Contributor(s):The poem, “Psalm of Gratitude” by the Jewish poet and educator, Ben Aronin. . . . |
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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. . . .