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the Open Siddur Project ✍︎ פְּרוֹיֶּקט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ
an open-source, community-grown archive for those sharing prayers and crafting their own prayerbooks
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תְּפִלָּה לְחֵיְילוֹת אַרְצוֹת הַבְּרִית | Prayer for the Safety of the United States Armed Forces (2014)  Contributor(s): Categories:This “Prayer for the Safety of the American Military Forces” by an unknown author was first shared on the website of the Orthodox Union on 5 February 2014 with the note, “The RCA and the OU have circulated a special prayer to be said in synagogues during Shabbat services in support of our armed services courageously waging the battle against the scourge of global terrorism.” . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:“Prayer for High School Graduation” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 73, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:“Prayer for National Holiday” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 71, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:“[Prayer] For Peace Among the Nations” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 59, from where this prayer was transcribed. . . . Prayer for Reparation and Restoration, an alternative to the Prayer for Welfare of the Government by Rabbi Brant Rosen (Tzedek Chicago) Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for collective and communal well-being with an emphasis on dismantling systems of oppression and repairing their harms. . . .  Contributor(s):A contemporary Jewish prayer for healng, used at congregation Tzedek Chicago. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A kavvanah for clarifying and elevating the activity of tax preparation. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for the government on a day of violent insurrection in the heart of American democracy. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for the observance of Memorial Day in the United States. . . . Inauguration Day Prayer for the Government of the United States, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org 2021) Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for the government of the United States of America on the day of the 59th Presidential Inauguration. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for America on the day upon which right-wing militias carried out an insurrection upon the representative democratic institution of the United States. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer on being present in the moment of the inauguration of the 59th president of the United States. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:The full text of Rabbi Lauren Berkun’s benediction offered at the end of the third day of the Democratic National Convention, 20 August 2020. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for the United States, its leaders and government and its citizens — a personal response to things that were troubling me in the months before November’s election – in particular the level of divisiveness in our country, and what seemed to me to be a growing sense that it isn’t important to respect people we disagree with, and an ever more prevalent belief that we are entitled to decide for ourselves which rules to follow, and all that matters are own rights and our beliefs, not our responsibilities to one another. Inspired by the events of 2020 . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A virtual prayer for Veterans Day 2020. . . .  Contributor(s):A private prayer for fulfilling your civic duty and voting, whether in a voting booth or by mail. The concluding partial berakhah (without its full preamble, so as to avoid a berakhah levatala) is traditionally stated upon seeing a king of a nation, so in a democratic regime it seems appropriate to adopt for the voters. . . . Prayer for Every Voice to be Heard and All Votes to be Counted, by Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann (2020) Contributor(s):A prayer for the day after the US day of elections that all votes be counted. . . . How Desolate Lie Our Borders, a prayer adaptated from Eikhah for a Tishah b’Av vigil at an immigrant detention center by Rabbi Brant Rosen (2019) Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for the correction of the United States immigration policy in support of immigrants and open borders. . . . תפילה להצבעה | A Prayer for Voting with a Pledge to Help Repair the World, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org 2008/2020) Contributor(s):This prayer is broadly speaking a prayer that we learn to work together to create a better future, and it incorporates a pledge to do one thing for healing the world, for tikkun olam, that will make this future a reality. It’s not a prayer about winning or getting other people to see things our way, like some of the others I’ve seen. Whomever we support, we need to pray for strength for the next president, and for the whole country, to face what will be challenging times. . . . תְּפִלָּה בְּעַד מֶמְשֶׁלֶת שָׁלוֹם | Prayer for a Government of Peace, by Zackary Sholem Berger (2019) Contributor(s):A prayer for a government when that government is causing pain through malicious policies. . . . תְּפִלָּה לְמַעַן אַרְצוֹת הַבְּרִית בְּעֵת נִסָּיוֹן | A Prayer for the United States at a Time of Trial, by Rabbi Joe Schwartz (2019) Contributor(s): Categories:“A Prayer for the Spiritual Welfare of the United States at a Time of Trial,” by Rabbi Joe Schwartz was first published at The Forward on 28 June 2019. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories: Tags:An invocation by Rabbi Jill Jacobs, executive director of T’ruah, offered at the opening dinner of the Council on Foreign Relations annual Religion and Foreign Policy Workshop, June 2019. . . . תפילה ליום הודו על חנוכּה | Prayer for when Thanksgiving Day falls during Ḥanukkah, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org) Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for “Thanksgivukkah,” on the rare year that the two festivals intersect. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:Psalms 140 decries the injustice tolerated, supported, and rallied around within the community of Israel. This contemporary adaptation does the same. . . . Purim 2021: From Darkness to Light, by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat & Rabbi David Evan Markus (Bayit: Building Jewish, 2021) Contributor(s): Categories:Tropified texts for Purim 2021 juxtaposing the text of Queen Esther with the words of Vice President Kamalla Harris and poet laureate Amanda Gorman. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer in English to end gun violence before Rosh haShanah, . . . Nevertheless She Persisted: A Modern Esther Tribute for Purim and Women’s History Month, by Rabbi David Evan Markus (2018) Contributor(s): Categories:Purim affirms Esther’s stand against official silencing, abuse of power, misogyny and anti-Semitism. At first an outsider, Queen Esther used her insider power to reveal and thwart official hatred that threatened Jewish life and safety. We celebrate one woman’s courageous cunning to right grievous wrongs within corrupt systems. The archetype of heroic woman standing against hatred continues to call out every society still wrestling with official misogyny, power abuses and silencing. For every official silencing and every threat to equality and freedom, may we all live the lesson of Esther and all who stand in her shoes: “Nevertheless, she persisted.” . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:“A Prayer for the New Year (5781)” was first published by Rabbi Menachem Creditor online at his Facebook Page and shared with the Open Siddur Project through our Facebook discussion group. . . . Contributor(s): Categories:“An Intention for the New Year (5779)” was first published by Rabbi Menachem Creditor online at his blog and shared with the Open Siddur Project through our Facebook discussion group. . . . קריאות ליום הזכרון | Torah and Haftarah Readings for Days Memorializing Fallen Military Personnel, compiled by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer Contributor(s): Categories:This is a Torah reading (divided into three aliyot) and a Haftarah reading to be recited on Memorial Day or any local equivalent day to honor those who died for their nation. . . . תפילה לארצות הברית לאחר הטבח בפּיטסבּורג | Prayer for the United States after the Pittsburgh Massacre, by Rabbi Stephen Belsky (2018) Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer composed in the aftermath of the mass murder of the Dor Ḥadash community at the Ets Ḥayyim (Tree of Life) Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh on Shabbat morning 27 October 2018. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:Rabbi David Dine Wirtschafter writes, “Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of Marshall County, Kentucky who, now have joined an ever growing list of places to experience a mass shooting at a public school. We grieve for the families of the two teenagers who were killed. May the 18 others who were injured speedily recover from their wounds. These incidents are terrible no matter where they happen but there is something all the more unsettling when they occur so close to home.” . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for justice offered for the Poor People’s Campaign Rally for Action at Grace Lutheran Church in Evanston on March 22, 2018. . . .  Contributor(s):This is a petition for the worker in the style of “Av Haraḥamim” and similar texts, using Biblical and Mishnaic language and co-opting it into a new meaning. It could be read after the Torah service (like many other petitionary texts) or focused on in private. The Biblical relationship between God, humanity, and labor is fascinating. Often it is treated as a curse placed upon us, and just as often as the purpose of humanity. In Genesis 3:19 it is the curse placed upon a disobedient First Adam, but less than a chapter earlier in Genesis 2:15 it is the reason for First Adam’s creation in the first place! In the past century or so, traditional Judaism has somewhat tilted away from the ideas of worker’s rights so clearly stated in the Tanakh and in rabbinic texts. Partially this was to disassociate from the Bundists, partially out of fear of “looking too Communist” in a xenophobic American society, and partially because the Jewish working class is nowhere near as substantial a part of the community as it once was. If this text is meant to do anything, it’s to show that love of God and love of the worker aren’t opposed to each other – in fact, they go hand in hand! . . . דאנקסגיו אלע די בּוּנע | Tanksgiv All the Boona, an al hanissim prayer of thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for thanksgiving day in the United States by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. . . . Contributor(s): Categories: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): Categories:A litany of hoshanot for use in a ritual prayer circle march on the festival of Sukkot. . . .  Contributor(s):Rabbi Marvin Hier offered this prayer of blessing for Donald Trump and the United States of America on January 20, 2017 at the inauguration day ceremony. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for the electorate to be recited together with the Prayer for Government on the Shabbat before an election (federal, state, or local). . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:The full text of Rabbi Julie Schonfeld’s benediction offered at the end of the first day of the Democratic National Convention, July 25th, 2016. . . .  Contributor(s):A prayer for a Nurse’s Commencement ceremony at Beth Israel Hospital on 19 September 1951. . . . Haftarah for MLK Shabbat: “I have a Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963), cantillated by Rabbi David Evan Markus Contributor(s):In 2017, Rabbi David Evan Markus prepared the end of Dr. King’s famous speech read at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (August 28, 1963) with trope (t’amim, cantillation). The following year on Facebook he shared a recording of the reading hosted on Soundcloud. Rabbi Markus writes, “This weekend at Temple Beth El of City Island, I offered the end of Dr. King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, which I set to haftarah trope because I hold Dr. King to be a prophet. When my community applauded, I offered President Obama’s response, ‘Don’t clap: vote.’ And do more than vote: organize, donate, volunteer, help, heal, advocate. Only then, in Dr. King’s words quoting Isaiah 40:5, will ‘all flesh see it together.'” . . .  Contributor(s):On Tuesday, we go to the polls in a momentous election that for many of us has generated a combination of anxiety, excitement, fear, and confusion. We offer you this prayer, which you can recite this Shabbat, before you vote, or while you are waiting for returns. . . . Haftarah for MLK Shabbat: Four excerpts from a “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963), cantillated by Rabbi David Evan Markus (Tu biShvat 5782) Contributor(s):This is a haftarah comprised of excerpts from a “letter from a Birmingham jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. (16 April 1963). The haftarah was cantillated by Rabbi David Evan Markus for a public reading on MLK Shabbat (the sabbath preceding MLK Day). . . .  Contributor(s):“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. . . . Haftarah for MLK Shabbat: Excerpts from speeches by MLK Jr. (1956-1968) selected by Rabbi Marcia Prager, cantillated by Ḥazzan Jack Kessler Contributor(s):These quotations from Dr. King’s speeches were edited by Rabbi Marcia Prager and set to Haftarah Trop by Hazzan Jack Kessler. This adaptation was first published in Kerem (Fall 2014), in Jack Kessler’s article, “English Leyning: Bringing New Meaning to the Torah Service.” . . . הגדה לסדר פסח | Seder in the Streets Passover Haggadah, compiled by Danielle Gershkoff, Rachel Lerman, Rachel Beck, and Margot Seigle (5774/2014) Contributor(s): Categories:This Haggadah was created specifically for a seder that took place April 20, 2014 outside the White House as an act of solidarity with the #not1more deportation campaign hunger strikers. While it is created for a seder without food, in a cross cultural setting, framed around the issue of deportation, there are many gems that can be adapted to work for any seder. This is a work of love. We hope you enjoy, use, and share! We would love to hear from you! Email us at jewssayno2deportation@gmail.com to get in touch or to share how you adapt it for your community. Check out some reflects on the seder here. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A “mi sheberakh” prayer for U.S. war veterans on the shabbat preceding Veterans Day (November 11). . . .  Contributor(s): Categories: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. . . . Excerpts from the Speeches and Letters of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from an ecumenical MLK Day service by Temple Emanu-El & Abyssinian Baptist Church Contributor(s):Selections from speeches and letters by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. read in ecumenical services for Martin Luther King Day in the United States. . . .  Contributor(s):The full text of Rabbi David Wolpe’s benediction offered at the end of the second day of the Democratic National Convention, September 6th, 2012. . . . תפילה ל-11 בספטמבר | Memorial Prayer for those whose lives were lost on 11 September 2001, by Rabbi Gilah Langner (2011) Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer on the anniversary of the attacks on 11 September 2001. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer upon the inauguration of President Obama in January 2009. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer for the great aspirations of the country of the United States of America. . . .  Contributor(s): Categories:The full text of Rabbi David Saperstein’s invocation offered on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention, August 8th, 2008. . . . Prayer for Immigrant Justice at an Interfaith Vigil at the Broadview Detention Center, by Rabbi Brant Rosen (2008) Contributor(s): Categories:A prayer offered at the Broadview Detention Center for an interfaith vigil in support of the detainees and for change in US immigration policy. . . . |
