The Baal Shem Tov, or Besht —  the founder of Chasidism — 
met the soul of the Messiah during an ascent to heaven. 
The Besht asked him, "When will the Master come?" 
The Messiah answered, "When your wellsprings break forth to the outside!" 
(from a letter written by the Besht to his brother-in-law about one of his soul ascents) 


 
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Hu Ya'aneinu (fathers and mothers) for Yom Kippur Eve and Selichot pdf

It's hard to imagine that we've been saying the prayer-piyut Hu Ya'aneinu, "The One will answer us", for so many centuries, without mentioning Sarah, Deborah, Ruth, and so many other heroic women. This version of the prayer includes verses for both the women and the men of our Jewish story, in appropriate liturgical Hebrew.

The first version of this egal Hu Ya'aneinu was written in 1995 by Mark Frydenberg and myself; it's been updated in numerous ways. See especially the verse about Rachel, which is recast in messianic terms. While some traditional verses about the men have been left out to make space for the new verses, I carved out space to put Elijah back in. (Needless to say, feel free to add the rest as well as to add new women in your own version.) Other egalitarian versions of Hu Ya'aneinu can be found on Ritualwell.

Download/view the pdf or the Davka file of Hu Ya'aneinu!
Here's the English:

The One who answered Abraham our father on Mount Moriah, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Sarah our mother in the tent opening, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Isaac their son when he was tied down on the altar, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Rebecca at the well, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Jacob in Beth El, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Leah in the field and the tent, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Joseph in the prison, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Shifra and Puah in Pharaoh's house, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered our ancestors at the Reed Sea, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Miriam by the shore of the sea, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Moses in Horeb (Sinai), Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Aaron with the incense pan, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Joshua in Gilgal (and stilled the sun), Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Deborah at Mount Tabor, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Samuel in Mitzpah, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Ruth at the threshing floor, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered David and Solomon in Jerusalem, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Elijah on Mount Carmel, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Jonah deep in the bowels of the fish, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Daniel in the lion's den, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who answered Mordechai and Esther in Shushan palace, Hu ya'aneinu.
The One who will answer the cry of Rachel our mother in Ramah, Hu ya'aneinu.
May the One who answered all the righteous, the devoted, the pure and the upright,
answer to us, though we cannot be so righteous and devoted,
so pure and upright.


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Very good except the ending. In both this version and that of the traditional piyut the inference is that all of those mentioned were "righteous, devout and pure." An examination of the lives of at least some of these would prove quite the contrary. Perhaps they should be noted for their courage of leadership, the ability to endure hardship while working for Kidush Hashem, and for the benefit of Amcha. They had foibles, weaknesses, as do the rest of us. The end of the last sentence seems to attempt to somewhat deal with this issue as it concludes with "as this moment needs". This make the sentence ambiguous. Why not clarify it and take a stand?

Posted by: Danel Jezer at October 10, 2008 5:25 PM

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