Prayer on the Day of Betrothal, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Marcus Heinrich Bresslau

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

Categories:

Engagements & Weddings

Tags:

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

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	All-merciful Father! God of Love! Thou hast created for the soul another soul to sympathise with it, for the heart another heart to beat similar to it. O, grant that I may have chosen a loving, noble being, which among millions has been created for me, and which can render me truly happy.
	Bless my choice, O, Father, so that there may proceed from the union of our hearts and minds joys without number.
	Bless us with Thy love, without which our days would pass away in deep melancholy.
	May the heart of him, whom I have chosen for my partner in life, beat with love of truth and virtue, and cling to them with all intensity.
	Pour out, All-loving Father, the fulness of Thy mercy over his head, keep him free from the deceptions of pretended friends, remove him from everything which could deprive him of a felicitous eternity by a dangerous though sweet enjoyment; grant him sober reflection in hours of joy, fortitude and resignation in time of trouble.
	O That the spirit of true love may animate him, for only such love it is, that renders us charitable and great, humble and courageous! It is such love only that beautifies the prospect of those fields, whither all Thy creatures will have to travel to attain salvation and higher felicity. Amen.

“Prayer on the Day of Betrothal” by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau was first published in his תחנות בנות ישראל Devotions for the Daughters of Israel (1852), p. 55.

In his preface to Devotions, Bresslau is clear that his prayers in English were adapted from traditional teḥinot that had earlier been published in France, Germany, and Poland. If you know of a specific prayer that may have served as the basis for this one, please leave a comment or contact us.

Source(s)

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Prayer on the Day of Betrothal, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)” 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.)

Marcus Heinrich Bresslau

Marcus Heinrich (also Mordecai Ḥayyim/Hyman/Heyman) Bresslau (ca. 1808-15 May 1864) was a Hebraist and newspaper editor. Born in Hamburg, he settled in England when young. For some time from 1834 he was Baal Ḳoreh (reader) at the Western Synagogue. He then taught Hebrew at the Westminster Jews’ Free School and went on to tutor privately. A maskil, he became involved with M. J. Raphall’s Hebrew Review and Magazine of Rabbinical Literature (1834-6). In October 1844 he was appointed editor of the relaunched Jewish Chronicle by proprietor Joseph Mitchell. Prickly and quarrelsome, he resigned in July 1848 but returned in around September. He remained until about October 1850. After Mitchell’s death in June 1854 he became proprietor (his middle name appearing as Heyman) and edited it until February 1855 when new proprietor Abraham Benisch succeeded him. Bresslau, who tried vainly to revive the Hebrew Review, wrote Hebrew poetry, produced a Hebrew grammar and a Hebrew dictionary, and translated various Hebrew manuscripts in the Bodleian Library. Bresslau compiled (we think) the first compilation of teḥinot in English for women. (Much of this information via Bresslau's entry in The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History)

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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