Shmini Atseret is a strange festival. In some ways part of Sukkot, in some ways its own thing, it occupies an equivocal place in the yearly cycle. But one thing that is completely true: Shmini Atseret is on Pi Day. Well, Pi Approximation Day — the twenty-second day of the seventh month. Inspired by my friend and math enthusiast Aryeh Baruch (may he have a long life), I’ve compiled this altered form of the haftarah for Shmini Atseret in the diaspora, including the description of King Solomon’s “molten sea,” as well as an Aramaic “reshut” poem with a numeral acrostic of the first few digits of pi. . . .
The reshut for the prayer for rain and dew on Shemini Atseret and Pesaḥ, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
The reshut for praying at dawn, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
The reshut for praying at dawn, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
The reshut for praying at dawn, in Hebrew with English translation. . . .
A popular piyyut for all occasions by Avraham ibn Ezra. . . .
The piyyut, Agadelkha, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .
Tags: 12th century C.E., 49th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, אגדלך Agadelkha, cosmological, קדיש ḳaddish, פיוטים piyyutim, רשות reshut, ספר יצירה Sefer Yetsirah, זמירות zemirot
Modeh Ani, in Hebrew with English translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. . . .
Tags: 16th century C.E., 21st century C.E., 54th century A.M., 58th century A.M., Alive, English vernacular prayer, Gratitude, מודה אני Modeh Ani, רשות reshut, Sunrise, Wakefulness
Modeh Ani first appeared as an addendum in Seder ha-Yom (1599) by Moshe ibn Makhir of Safed. A slightly different formula offers a deep insight into who and what has returned to one’s self upon waking. . . .
This translation of “Adonai boker e’erokh lekha” by Rabbi David Aaron de Sola of a piyyut by an unknown paytan was first published in his Ancient Melodies of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (1857). . . .
A hymn by the abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, included in the hymnal of Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Philadelphia in 1926. . . .
“The Open Door of the Heart” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), pp. 43-44, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .
Thankful am I in your Presence, Spirit who lives and endures, for You’ve returned to me my soul with compassion. Abundant is your faith! . . .
Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Alive, English vernacular prayer, Gratitude, מודה אני Modeh Ani, רשות reshut, shaḥarit, Spirit, Sunrise, Wakefulness
“The personal prayer of this shaliaḥ tsibbur” with a translation of the piyyut “Oḥilah la’El” was first published on Facebook by Yosef Goldman and shared through the Open Siddur Project via its Facebook discussion group. . . .
Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, חזנות ḥazzanut, כוונות kavvanot, Oḥilah la'El, Openers, Philadelphia, preparation, רשות reshut, סליחות səliḥot, prayers of the shaliaḥ tsibbur, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah
Hineni – the leader’s prayer that opens the High Holy Days Mussaf has always been a challenge for me. While a dramatic moment in the service, it always seemed a little *too* grand to represent a prayer of humility. This is a version of it I wrote in an attempt to make myself more comfortable at that moment. –Rabbi Oren Steinitz . . .
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