Prayer for a young maiden, by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Moritz Mayer

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22 June 2020 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Bnei (Bar/Bat) Mitsvah & Other Birthday Prayers

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19th century C.E., תחינות teḥinot, 57th century A.M., Jewish Women's Prayers, children's prayers, English vernacular prayer

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	All-gracious Father! Thou mindest and rememberest all creatures with paternal kindness, Thou guidest and protectest all created beings with paternal hand.
	I am Thy child,—Thou lovest me, Thou hast ever loved me, and shalt always love me. Thou didst lead my infancy in green pastures,—to Thee I am indebted for the joyful days of my youth, to Thee I owe all that I am and have. Thou gavest me kind and tender parents to guide, to counsel and help me, whose love and devotion attend to all my wants, and who adorn my life with sweet and precious joys.
	I approach Thee, God, with an humble heart and offer unto Thee, upon the altar of prayer, my childlike emotions, the gratitude of my soul.
	Thou seest my heart, it lies before Thee like an open book,—Thou knowest its every emotion,—every thought of my soul is disclosed before Thine allseeing eye. Oh! may all my feelings, thoughts and deeds be pleasing in Thy sight,—may I avoid everything that is displeasing unto my Heavenly Father.
	Oh! do Thou direct my heart unto all that is good, whenever it may threaten to deviate from the path of rectitude. Whenever in my inexperience I shall be unable to discriminate between good and evil, let Thy wisdom, teach me to choose aright, that I may ever practice virtue, obey Thy law in truth and sincerity, and walk before Thee in piety and innocence. Oh! grant that vanity may not deceive my heart;—that the allurements of this world may not captivate my senses; that I may not sacrifice them the precious hours that should be devoted to the performance of my duties;—that foolish levity may not lead me astray to violate the laws of morality and chastity; that the maiden’s dignity, the innocence of my heart, may be unto me my highest charm, my most precious adornment.
	Bless me, O God! with understanding and circumspection, with health of body and soul, with a cheerful; contented heart. Grant, that I may never violate the duties of filial love, that by no word or act of mine I may offend or grieve my parents,—that I may ever cause them joy and delight through my conduct. May Thy benediction, O Lord! descend upon them;—guard them against sickness, grief and anxiety;—bless their labors and exertions with success, and preserve them unto a happy old age, that they may enjoy a long life, strong and vigorous in soul and body. Amen.

“Prayer for a young maiden” is one of thirty prayers appearing in Rabbi Moritz Mayer’s collection of tehinot, Hours of Devotion (1866), of uncertain provenance and which he may have written. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Prayer for a young maiden, by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Moritz Mayer

Rabbi Moritz Mayer (originally Moses Maier, later Maurice Mayer; 1821-1867) born in Dürckheim-on-the-Haardt, Germany, fled to the United States and to New York as a political refugee of the 1848 revolution. In 1859, after seven years as the rabbi of Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim in Charleston, South Carolina, he returned in poor health to New York where he contributed frequently to the Jewish press, and translated various German works into English: Rabbi Samuel Adler's catechism, Abraham Geiger's lectures on Jewish history, and Ludwig Philipson's pamphlet, Haben die Juden Jesum Gekreuzigt? (the Crucifixion from the Jewish Point of View), et al. In 1866, a number of his English translations of Fanny Neuda's teḥinot in German (from her Stunden Der Andacht, 1855/1858) were published in a volume he titled Hours of Devotion. The work also included a number of his own prayers as well as those of Marcus Heinrich Bresslau. The following year, Moritz Mayer passed away. He was 45 years old.(We are indebted to Anton Hieke for his research on Mayer, "Rabbi Maurice Mayer: German Revolutionary, Charleston Reformer, and Anti-Abolitionist" published in Southern Jewish Life, 17 (2014), pp. 45-89.)For Mayer's translations of prayers by other authors, please visit here.

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Works of related interest:

Detail of Moritz Mayer's prayer for an orphan after the death of one or both of her parents.

Prayer for an Orphan, by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

Stunden der Andacht- Andachtsbuch für israelitische Frauenzimmer (Fanny Neuda 1855) - title

📖 Stunden der Andacht. ein Gebet⸗ und Erbauungs-buch für Israels Frauen und Jungfrauen | Hours of Devotion. a Book of Prayer and Edification for Israel’s Women and Maiden, a collection

Detail of Moritz Mayer's prayer for a wife whose husband is on a journey (Moritz Mayer 1866).

A Wife’s Prayer whose Husband is on a Journey, by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

Detail of Moritz Mayer's prayer for a widow (Moritz Mayer 1866).

A Widow’s Prayer, by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

Detail of Moritz Mayer's prayer in heavy sickness (Moritz Mayer 1866).

Prayer in Heavy Sickness, by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

Detail of Moritz Mayer's prayer for the eighth day of the feast of tabernacles - shmini atseret (Moritz Mayer 1866).

Prayer for Shmini Atseret (שמיני עצרת), by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

Detail of Moritz Mayer's prayer for the eve of the new year (Moritz Mayer 1866).

[Prayer] for the Eve of the New Year, by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

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Detail of Moritz Mayer’s prayer for a young maiden (Moritz Mayer 1866).

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17