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סליחות səliḥot —⟶ tag: סליחות səliḥot Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? Im Afes Rova’ ha-Qen, an Aqedah (poetic retelling of the binding of Isaac) written by the 12th-century scholar R. Ephraim ben Isaac of Regensburg, is one of the few piyyuṭim of Ashkenazi origin to have a beloved place in the Sephardic liturgy. (Much more commonly things go the other way.) In current Sephardic practice it is recited every single weeknight in the month of Elul, as part of the seliḥot liturgy — as well as on the second day of Rosh haShanah. It is also recited in most Ashkenazi Seliḥot liturgies — in the Bohemian and Lithuanian customs on the fast of Gedaliah, and in the Polish custom on the fourth day of the ten days. Which means that not only is this Ashkenazi piyyuṭ beloved by Sephardim, it is substantially *more* beloved by Sephardim than it is by Ashkenazim! And as with any beloved piyyuṭ, it has been translated into the colloquial for all the people to appreciate its language. The following is not only the complete Hebrew text of Im Afes along with a new English translation, but also a rhyming Ladino translation composed by R. Reuven Eliyahu Yisrael, the spiritual leader of the Sephardic community of Craiova, Romania, and published in the aforementioned town in the year 1910 (in טראדוקסייון ליברי די לאס פואיזיאס איבראיקאאס). To demonstrate the techniques used by R. Yisrael in his translation, a literal translation of the Ladino, as well as a transcription into the Latin-script Aki Yerushalaim orthography, is also provided. Categories: Tags: 12th century C.E., 50th century A.M., Avraham Avinu, Children of Avraham, in the merit of our ancestors, Ladino Translation, Nusaḥ Sefaradi, paraliturgical seliḥot, פיוטים piyyuṭim, self-sacrifice, סליחות səliḥot, יצחק Yitsḥaq Contributor(s): Some Jewish communities, especially those in the region of the Four Lands, have a custom of fasting on the 20th of Sivan. This day has a full seliḥot service, commemorating a series of horrors that occurred on that day, most prominently the Chmielnicki (Khmielnetsky) massacres of 1648-49. But this poem was written for another horrific occurrence on 20 Sivan, the blood libel of Blois in 1171. This was the first time the accusation of ritual murder was ever made against the Jews of France, but it wasn’t the last. This seliḥah poem, written by Hillel ben Jacob of Bonn, starts with the dramatic accusation that God has abandoned the people Israel, continuing by listing those who died in myriad horrid ways, and ending with several citations from the apocalyptic final chapter of the book of Joel. Categories: Tags: 12th century C.E., 50th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, Blois Incident of 1171, קינות Ḳinōt, סליחות səliḥot Contributor(s): This seliḥah poem, written by R. Joseph of Chartres, commemorates the martyrdom of approximately 150 Jews in Clifford’s Tower, York, England, in the year 1190. A summary of the events of 1190, sometimes referred to as “the English Masada,” can be found here. Like many medieval Jewish poems about massacres, Elohim B’alunu carefully treads the line between assuming guilt and declaring innocence. This poem, interestingly enough, directly calls out the person seen by R. Joseph of Chartres as ultimately responsible — the crusader King Richard Ⅰ. Beloved in Christian memory, this radical zealot of a king has a much darker, more horrific reputation among Jewish and Muslim groups. Categories: Tags: 12th century C.E., 50th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, British Jewry, King Richard I, קינות Ḳinōt, סליחות səliḥot, York Massacre of 1190 Contributor(s): “Even haRoshah” (the corner stone) is a seliḥah recited on the Fast of Tevet in the Ashkenazi nusaḥ minhag Polin. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): A pizmon (a seliḥah with a refrain, to be recited aloud) recited in the Sephardic rite for the seventeenth of Tammuz, Elohei Yeshuatenu, like most seliḥot for that day, features stanzas for each of the five tragedies that occurred on the day. But what’s unique about it is the legend of its author. This piyyuṭ is signed with the name Andreas, the signature of the legendary Jewish Pope Andreas, whose popular story can be found throughout the Jewish world. This seliḥah, “Moshel ba-Elyonim Atah Yadata,” was written by Rabbi Mosheh ben Yeshayah Menaḥem Bachrach during an epidemic. It is included in the Seliḥot of Posen, Krakow, Prague, Worms, and Alsace. The text here was transcribed from the Siddur Kol Bo, vol. 3 (1923), p. 33. One of the most prominent martyrs in the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648–1649 was the kabbalist and sage Yəḥiel Mikhel ben Eliezer ha-Kohen, known to posterity as the Martyr of Nemiryv. This unique poetic El Malei Raḥamim was said in his honor, and communities that fast on 20 Sivan still recite it to this day. Categories: Tags: 17th century C.E., 55th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, Chmielnicki massacres of 1648–1649, אל מלא רחמים El Malé Raḥamim, סליחות səliḥot Contributor(s): An exhortation given by Ḥakham Ishak Nieto published before his translation of the Sliḥot, in Spanish with English translation by Isaac Pinto (1766). Categories: Tags: 18th century C.E., 55th century A.M., exhortation, Openers, סליחות səliḥot, תשובה teshuvah, תוכחות tokheḥot, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah Contributor(s): “Prayer for the Penitential Days” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in the UK edition of Sacred Communings, pp. 90-91. It is not found in the US edition. Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., Aseret Yemei Tshuvah, English vernacular prayer, paraliturgical seliḥot, סליחות səliḥot, תחינות teḥinot, teḥinot in English Contributor(s): “Meditation for the Penitential Days” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in the UK edition of Sacred Communings, pp. 88-90. It is not found in the US edition. Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., Aseret Yemei Tshuvah, English vernacular prayer, paraliturgical reflections, paraliturgical seliḥot, סליחות səliḥot Contributor(s): A comprehensive arrangement of seliḥot (סליחות, penitential prayers) for the entire year, translated into English by the great scholar David Asher. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This penitential prayer dated “Tishri 5628 [October 1867]” was offered in conclusion to “A Penitential Sermon” reprinted in The Jewish Messenger on 25 November 1867. It was preserved by Rabbi Morais in his ledger (page 34, clipping 041), an archive of newsclippings recording material he contributed to the press, among other announcements. (Many thanks to the Library of the University of Pennsylvania for helping to make this resource accessible.) Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Philadelphia, Ḳ.Ḳ. Miḳveh Israel (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), סליחות səliḥot, תשובה teshuvah Contributor(s): A prayer-poem by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan based on the writings of Rabbi Leo Baeck, as published in the Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p.426-7. A seder seliḥot (a penitential prayer service) for the first day of seliḥot, in the week prior to Rosh ha-Shanah, as prepared and translated by Philip Paltiel Birnbaum and published by Hebrew Publishing Co., in 1952. “Thou Who Art Spirit” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 54, from where this prayer was transcribed. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This undated “Atonement Prayer” by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), p. 352. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, סליחות səliḥot, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah Contributor(s): This egalitarian adaptation of the Me she’Ana seliḥah for the season of Teshuvah was made by Julia Andelman and Lisa Exler in September 2004. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., עננו anenu, Avot and Imahot, egalitarian, in the merit of our ancestors, מי שענה Mi She’anah, North America, סליחות səliḥot, traditional egalitarian, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah Contributor(s): Judy Gumbo co-authored this Al Ḥeit with her partner Stew Albert, ז״ל, before his passing in 2006. This Al Ḥeit was most recently used as part of Yom Kippur Kol Nidre services across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street 5772. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., על חטא Al Ḥeyt, English vernacular prayer, liberation, North America, סליחות səliḥot, וידוי vidui Contributor(s): A prayer of forgiveness to convey to one’s inner and vulnerable self during the period of sometimes unrelenting and harsh introspection prior to the blessing for rain. A Tishah b’Av seliḥah for Gaza during the 2014 Gaza War. Categories: Tags: 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael, Needing Translation (into Arabic), Needing Translation (into Hebrew), فلسطين Filasṭīn Palestine, Palestinian Diapsora, Palestinian refugees, Refugee Crisis, סליחות səliḥot Contributor(s): | ||
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