A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book, Edited by Aliza Lavie, is one I have in my collection of Jewish prayer books. Tefillat Nashim (Women’s Prayers) is the Hebrew version of the book.

I began reading this beautifully composed book, and was immediately overcome, and was captured by the poetic and emotional content within the pages. The prayers within, are taken from Lavie’s extensive research into the customs and spirituality of women throughout the ages. The prayers are ones that she gathered far and wide, throughout the world, and are prayers used by women, whether written by a man or written/conceived by a woman. These prayers brought comfort to women, and guided them through their daily lives, and specific life events.

In fact, Lavie does state in the preface that, “Significantly, Judaism’s entire conception of prayer originated with a woman. After the destruction of the Temple, a fixed prayer formula was set down to replace the daily Temple sacrifices. Many of the laws and details pertaining to this prayer formula were derived from the biblical account of the supplication of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, for a son. Out of all instances of prayer in the Bible, the rabbis chose this woman’s heartfelt, personal appeal to God as the paradigm for the individual, whispered prayer that is at the heart of every public prayer service“.

A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book has seven sections:

Moments in a Woman’s Life
Barrenness and Fertility
Prayers for Mothers
Women’s Mitzvot
Festivals and Holy Days
Times of Crisis
Prayers for Peace and Redemption

Each section holds its own compilation of prayers. The prayers are personal, filled with not only spiritual content, but words that speak from the heart and the soul of the author, to the heart and soul of a woman. Each prayer within A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book, are written in both English and Hebrew. There are explanations pertaining to the prayers, explaining the individual/s who wrote them, and/or where they originated, including the country if known.

One of the most touching prayers is one entitled “Auschwitz Haggadah of Freedom, written for Pesach 1945-5705, by Toby Trackeltaub, while she was imprisoned in Auschwitz.

“A moment before she collapsed and died on the death march in January of that year, she handed it over for safekeeping to her friend, Aliza Klein.” Of course, I read this prayer during Pesach.

The prayer is Toby Trackeltaub’s beautiful and soulful legacy, and one that will live on. And, as Holocaust Remembrance Day/Yom Hashoah nears, I will read this prayer in her memory.

I constantly refer to A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book, edited by Aliza Lavie. It is a book that rests on my night stand, always within reach, always there when I need the comfort of its poignant, beautiful and magnificent words. I have received extreme contentment from reading the prayers, and they have brought me spiritual solace, inspiration and illumination, during moments of joy, celebration, and moments of grief and sadness.
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Sunday April 19, 2009 – 25th of Nisan, 5769