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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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זמירות zemirot —⟶ tag: זמירות zemirot Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? “[I’m Spending] Hanukkah in Santa Monica” by Tom Lehrer was first written at the request of Garrison Keillor for his radio show The American Radio Company on which it was performed twice, in 1990 and 1992. The song was later released on the album, Bible & Beyond (Larry Milder, 1999). The first recording of Tom Lehrer singing his song can be heard on The Remains of Tom Lehrer (Disc 3) (2000). In 2022, Tom Lehrer gave an enormous Ḥanukkah present to the world, dedicating his entire oeuvre to the Public Domain including this song. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, English vernacular prayer, satire, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): These are the lyrics of the song, Miryam haNevi’ah, written by rabbis Leila Gal Berner and Arthur Waskow (with Hebrew by Leila Gal Berner) as found published in My People’s Prayer Book, vol. 7: Shabbat at Home, (ed. L. Hoffman, 1997), section 3, p. 189. The English lyrics are from an article published several years earlier — “Memories of a Jewish Lesbian Evening” by Roger McDougle appearing in Bridges (vol. 4:1, Winter/Spring 1994), on the top of page 58. No specific date is given for the havdalah program described in the article, alas. If you know the earliest reference for the publication or use of Miryam haNevi’ah, please contact us. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., הבדלות havdalot, Miriam, שירת הים Shirat haYam, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): A pun filled ditty by the Fall 2010 Jewish environmental educators of the Teva Learning Center. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., eco-conscious, humor, peace, Prayers of Jewish Farmers, punning, Teva Learning Alliance, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): “In the Sukkah At Least, It’s a Wonderful World” by Len Fellman was written for Sukkot in 2015. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This is a new version of the popular Ḥanukkah song, Banu Ḥoshekh. (The original by Sara Levi-Tanai can be found here.) Our new version does two things: 1) it avoids the association of darkness and blackness (shḥor) with evil and harm, which in our society gets tangled up with white supremacy, and 2) honors the darkness as something precious that we need, especially in our time of light pollution when so much of the time, so many people can’t even see the stars. The birkon/bentsher (blessing-book) prepared for the wedding of Honi Sanders and Simona Dalin on July 7th, 2019. Some communities have a practice of singing a song about Miriam alongside the well-known Havdalah song about Elijah the Prophet. But Miriam isn’t really a parallel to Elijah — she’s a parallel to Moshe and Aaron. When we’re talking about distaff counterparts to Elijah the clearest example is Seraḥ bat Asher. Seraḥ, the daughter of Asher, is mentioned only a handful of times in the Tanakh, but is given great significance in the midrash. Like Elijah, she is said to have never died but entered Paradise alive, and comes around to the rabbis to give advice or teachings. This song, which includes several references to midrashim about Seraḥ, is meant to be sung to any traditional tune of “Eliyahu haNavi.” It is dedicated to Ḥazzan Joanna Selznick Dulkin (shlit”a), who introduced me to the legends of Seraḥ bat Asher. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): Qevelta de-Liba’i (“My Heart’s Lament”) is a melancholy song I wrote in Targumic Judeo-Aramaic in 2010. This piece is an existential peek into an old man’s private moment. He looks in the mirror and waxes wistful, longing for his bygone youth. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): Eli Kevodi (My God, My Glory”), for seudah shelisheet, was composed by Asher Hillel Burstein in 2018. The hymn was awarded the “Rabbi Hershel Matt Creative Liturgy Award,” the first prize in the creative liturgy contest sponsored by ARC (The Association of Rabbis and Cantors), an interdenominational group of Jewish clergy. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This piece is about Ḥanina ben Dosa, a wonder-working rabbi who lived in Judea in the first century. The singer pleads to Ḥanina that he intercede in Israel’s behalf and obtain God’s help and salvation for her and the world. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Hanina ben Dosa, intercession, prayers for intervention, גאולה geūlah (redemption), זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): An original Judeo-Arabic adaptation of the song “Oy Khanike” (derived from the Yiddish poem of the same name by Mordkhe Rivesman) also known in English as “Oh Ḥanukkah” or in Hebrew as “Y’mei ha-Ḥanukka.” With thanks to Mazen Haddad for his help with the Arabic! Some notes: 1) Case endings and nunation, which would (in colloquial dialects) often be skipped or dropped, are transcribed in brackets. 2) The word “sufnāj” is a Moroccan Arabic dialectal word which is the agent noun for sfenj, a traditional type of North African doughnut. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): An original Ladino adaptation of the song “Oy Khanike” (derived from the Yiddish poem of the same name by Mordkhe Rivesman) also known in English as “Oh Chanukah” or in Hebrew as “Y’mei ha-Ḥanukka.” I’m aware that the custom of spinning tops was not originally a Sefaradi one. So sue me, I was looking for something to rhyme with “libertaḏ.” I’ve included the Rashi script, the Aki Yerushalaim orthography, and (as an added bonus) the Cyrillic transcription used by the Jews of the Balkans. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This piyyut versifies the Laws of Prayer as derived from the verses recounting Hannah’s prayer (TB Berakhot 31a-31b). In addition to using the words of the verses from which these laws are derived, this poem is itself a prayer: «Train my lips to pray like those of Hannah!». It can be sung as a reshut (introductory piyyut) for the Haftarah of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, when these verses are read. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): “Shirat Miriam and Devorah / Uri, Uri” (Song of Miriam, Song of Deborah / Rise up, Rise Up) was first published in 2024, as the second of four piyyutim published through the Diwan Ashira Project by Ephraim Kahn. This piyyut envisions Queen Esther’s prayer as she enters King Ahasuerus’ palace unbidden. In Tractate Megilla 15b, the sages associate verses from Psalm 22 with Esther in these pivotal moments. Written in the first person, this poem weaves together verses from Psalms and the Book of Esther, along with interpretations and commentaries of Talmudic Sages, to evoke Esther’s prayer at this crucial moment. Its structure mirrors the Rosh Hashanah piyyut “‘Et Sha‘are Ratson”, which recounts the binding of Isaac through the perspectives of its protagonists. Like Isaac, Esther is headed to a sacrifice, but she goes with full awareness and intent for the sake of her people. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Esther, תענית אסתר Fast of Esther, משתה Mishteh, פיוטים piyyuṭim, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): A satirical look at contemporary Israeli civil society in Hebrew and English, as adapted from Tom Lehrer’s sardonic “National Brotherhood Week” (1965). Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This piyyut tells the story of Naomi and Ruth through an imagined dialogue. Naomi, aged and alone, is taken aback by Ruth’s unwavering attachment. Ruth explains that it is with Naomi—and her faith—that she finds the truth and authenticity she longs for. It can also be read as an allegorical dialogue between the Torah and the people of Israel, you insist on remaining loyal to her. פתרונו כפול: פשוטו על נעמי ורות ורומז לתורה עם כנסת ישראל. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., French translation, Naomi, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Ruth, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): A Passover adaptation of “Marching through Georgia” by Henry Clay Work (1832-1884). Categories: Tags: English vernacular prayer, Freedom, haggadah supplements, Jewish liberation, liberation, liberation from mitsrayim, Slaveholders' Rebellion (1861-1865), זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): In the style of the full Eliyahu haNavi piyyuṭ recited by some communities every Havdalah, a piyyuṭ in honor of Seraḥ bat Asher, retelling the events of her life according to the midrashim. This is not the first time I’ve written a Havdalah piece on Seraḥ, the distaff counterpart to Elijah in the midrash. She also inspired this shorter song. Like the full Eliyahu haNavi piyyuṭ, this is in three-line rhyming stanzas with a repeated refrain. Unlike it, it is in a tashraq reverse alphabetical acrostic, followed by an authorial tag — this time using a matronymic. Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Acrostic signature, הבדלות havdalot, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Psychopomp, reverse acrostic, Seraḥ bat Asher, זמירות zemirot Contributor(s): | ||
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