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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice
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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice
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tag: Religious Zionism Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? A prayer for the success of the London Conference of 1939 which ultimately resulted in the publication of the 1939 White Paper. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., British Empire, British Jewry, London Conference of 1939, Mandatory Palestine, Religious Zionism Contributor(s): Jews have read sacred texts to commemorate miracles of redemption for a long time. Purim has Megilat Esther. Many communities read Megilat Antiochus or Megilat Yehudit for Ḥanukkah. But to many modern Jews, the most miraculous redemption in recent history was the founding of the state of Israel, as we commemorate on Yom ha-Atsma’ut. Like Purim, the story of the founding of Israel was entirely secular on a surface level, with no big showy miracles like a sea splitting or a mountain aflame. Like Ḥanukkah, a Jewish state in the Land of Israel won its independence against mighty forces allied in opposition. But we don’t have a megillah to read for Yom ha-Atsma’ut. Or do we? Just as Megillat Esther is said to be a letter written by Mordekhai to raise awareness of the events of Shushan, so too does the Israeli Scroll of Independence, Megilat ha-Atsma’ut, raise awareness of the events of the founding of the State of Israel. In this vein, I decided to create a cantillation system for Megilat ha-Atsma’ut. Ta’amei miqra were chosen attempting to follow Masoretic grammatical rules – since modern Hebrew has a different grammatical structure, the form is somewhat loose. Because of the thematic similarities to Purim, I chose Esther cantillation for the majority of the text. Just as some tragic lines in Esther are read in Eikhah cantillation, some lines regarding the Shoah or bearing grim portents for the wars to follow are to be sung in Eikhah cantillation. And the final phrases of chapters II and III are to be sung in the melody for the end of a book of the Ḥumash, or the Song of the Sea melody. They can be done in a call-and-response form, with the community reading and the reader repeating. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., civil declarations and charters, מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Progressive Zionism, Religious Zionism Contributor(s): The mi sheberakh for the IDF composed by Rabbi Shlomo Goren in the context of the Suez Crisis and Israel-Egypt conflict of 1956. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Egypt–Israel relations, צה״ל IDF, Religious Zionism, religious Zionist prayers, Suez Crisis Contributor(s): The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 21 February 1967. Categories: Tags: 90th Congress, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Closure of the Suez Canal (1967–1975), Egypt–Israel peace treaty, Egypt–Israel relations, English vernacular prayer, Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula, Prayers of Guest Chaplains, Religious Zionism, U.S. Senate, Six Day War, תחינות teḥinot Contributor(s): “Land of Hope and Promise” was published in Gates of Prayer: The New Union Prayerbook (CCAR 1975), pp. 240-241. In 1984, it was published as the “Prayer for Israel” in the Prayerbook for Jewish Personnel in the Armed Forces of the United States (Jewish Welfare Board 1984), p. 436. The work appears to have been adapted from a much earlier paraliturgical hashkivenu prayer offered in the Evening Service for the Sabbath from the Union Prayer Book Newly Revised (CCAR 1924) to be said by the Reader between the Shema and the Amidah in a version (№5) of the Friday night service, pp. 68-69. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, English vernacular prayer, ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Religious Zionism Contributor(s): Every year on Yom ha-Atzmaut I feel a certain sense of frustration about its liturgy, and the failure of Religious Zionism to shape the holiday into one that would make a clear and definite religious statement. The “festive” prayer for Yom ha-Atzmaut is a hotchpotch of Yom Kippur, Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat Mevarkhim, and Pesaḥ. One gets a sense that there is an avoidance of hard issues. Even such a simple thing as saying Hallel with a blessing is not yet self-evident, but a subject of constant debate. Every year, there seem to be more leading rabbis, who adopt crypto-Ḥaredi stances, issuing pronunciamentos as to why one must not enter into the doubt of saying a brakha levatala, an unnecessary blessing, in this case. (As I was typing these words, I was interrupted by a phone call from a friend with this very question!) Bimhila mikvodam (no affront to the honor due them intended), but what on earth do they think the Talmud is talking about when it says that “On every occasion that Israel are in distress and then delivered, they are to recite the Hallel” (Pesaḥim 116a), if not the likes of Yom ha-Atzmaut? Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The prayer for the State of Israel, composed May 2008/lyyar 5768 on the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel, was first shared on the web on May 7th, 2008 here and published on paper and PDF on May 8th, 2008 in an event organized by Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, “Embracing Justice: An Alternative Celebration and Learning for Yom Ha’Atzma’ut/Israel’s 60th Independence Day.” Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Progressive Zionism, Religious Zionism Contributor(s): The prayer for the welfare of IDF soldiers by Rabbi Shlomo Goren, with additional text as added by Dr. Alex Sinclair emphasizing our desire for soldiers to engage in righteous and ethical conduct in accord with the IDF code of conduct. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., צה״ל IDF, מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, מי שברך mi sheberakh, military, Progressive Zionism, Religious Zionism Contributor(s): An al haNissim prayer for Yom ha-Atsma’ut. Bring our soldiers home from the battlefields, alive and unharmed Let the blessing which You gave to Avraham come true Categories: Tags: 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., צה״ל IDF, מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, military, Religious Zionism Contributor(s): An Al Hanissim supplement for Sheva Asar b’Tamuz that acknowledges the fast day in light of the apparent achievements of the State of Israel, post-1948. According to Mishnah Pesaḥim 10:4, “One expounds (doresh) from ‘A wandering Aramean was my father’ (Deuteronomy 26:5) until he finishes the whole story.” This supplement to Maggid, the verse Deuteronomy 26:9 and its midrash, fulfills the obligation. The verse and its midrash fit into the Passover Haggadah after the ten plagues and the midrash on them, right before the song Dayyenu. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, haggadah supplements, post-exilic, Religious Zionism Contributor(s): Written on 6 Nisan 5783, 27 March 2023 (after nightfall), in response to the Israeli people’s spontaneous demonstrations against the government’s attempts to amass virtually unchecked power. The thirtieth chapter of Jeremiah is exceedingly appropriate for Yom ha-Atsma’ut, considering its emphasis on returning from exile and the importance of self-rule. It strikes me as one of the most Zionist (with a capital Z) chapters in the entirety of Neviïm. This prayer for Israel was written by Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein and first shared via his Facebook page on 10 October 2023, in the aftermath of the massacres by HAMA”S and its allies on 7 October 2023. He added, “A dear teacher of mine asked me to try and compose an appropriate prayer for this moment.” “תפילת הודיה לשוב החטופים (A prayer of thanks on return of the hostages)” was written and translated by Ze’ev Kainan on behalf of the Masorti Movement in Israel and Knesset haRabanim b’Yisrael, and shared by email and social media on 13 October 2025, erev Shemini Atseret, on the day of the return of the remaining living hostages taken captive by HAMA”S two years prior. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This is a prayer of lament and warning for the sake of the lives of all the peoples of the land, and for the sake of the heart of the Jewish and Israeli people, to help us all resist the cruelty that beckons. Dedicated to Awdah al-Hathaleen, whose spirit and kindness and courage remain with us. | ||
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