Lift Up Your Hands, a hymn by David Nunes Carvalho (Reformed Society of Israelites, Charleston, South Carolina, 1826)

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David Nunes Carvalho, Reformed Society of Israelites and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

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8 October 2021 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

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19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, American Reform Movement, English vernacular prayer, hymns, South Carolina, United States

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Lift up your hands, rejoice, rejoice; The sacred call of Heaven obey Fear no reproach, a mighty voice, The great YHVH leads the way.
	To Abraham he unveiled the light, Whose glory, at his high command, Pierced the deep gloom of pagan night, To lead him to a heavenly land.
	Urged by his zeal, his faith our guide, We seek the radiant path he trod. Like him with humble truth confide, Our whole dependence on our God.
	Alone to him in pious song The voice of gratitude shall raise Our heart and understanding tongue Shall sing unceasingly his praise Lift up your hands up above.

“Lift Up Your Hands” appears as Hymn 15 in The Sabbath service and miscellaneous prayers, adopted by the Reformed society of Israelites, founded in Charleston, S.C., November 21, 1825 (1830, Bloch: 1916), p. 62. The hymn was written for the second anniversary celebration of the Reformed Society of Israelites (which would have been in 1826). Gary Zola writes that the prayer was written by David Carvalho for the Society as indicated in Abraham Moïse’s annotated copy of the 1830 prayerbook.^[1] Find, “The First Reform Prayerbook in America” (p. 116 ft. 32) in Platforms and prayer books: theological and liturgical perspectives on Reform Judaism (2002) I have replaced the vocalized Tetragramaton in the fourth line of the first stanza with ‘YHVH.’ I have preserved the wording as handwritten in the endpapers of the Constitution of the Reformed Society of Israelites, 1825. –Aharon Varady

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Notes
1	Find, “The First Reform Prayerbook in America” (p. 116 ft. 32) in Platforms and prayer books: theological and liturgical perspectives on Reform Judaism (2002)

David Nunes Carvalho

David Nunes Carvalho (1784-1860), born and educated in London, England, was a merchant, author, and ḥazzan for the Reformed Society of Israelites in Charleston, South Carolina, the first Reform congregation in the United States. He helped to compile the first Reform prayerbook in English, the fourth oldest Reform prayerbook in the world.

Reformed Society of Israelites

The Reformed Society of Israelites (1824-1833) was a group of forty-seven congregants of Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, Charleston, South Carolina, who gathered in late 1824 to petition the congregation to modify the service of prayers with an adapted liturgy emphasizing English translations, original hymns, and other modifications. Among other reforms, the group called for shorter services and sermons conducted in English that would relate the weekly parashah to everyday life. Prominent leaders in the group were Isaac Harby (1788–1828), Abraham Moïse (1799-1869), and David Nunes Carvalho (1784-1860). After Harby's death in 1828, the group published a prayerbook (later reprinted by Barnett Elzas/Bloch in 1916). In 1833, the group dissolved but in rejoining Beth Elohim they also managed to succeed in their original mission in putting the congregation on a firm Reform movement trajectory.

Aharon N. Varady (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.)

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=39411

Associated Image:

Print; Carvalho, Solomon Nunes; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; Charleston, South Carolina, United States; 1838_Kaplan Collection Upenn

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "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)

Lift Up Your Hands, a hymn by David Nunes Carvalho (Reformed Society of Israelites, Charleston, South Carolina, 1826)

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