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| Source (German) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
Gebet einer Handelsfrau |
Prayer of a tradeswoman |
Allmächtiger! es gehört zu deiner göttlichen Vorsehung, daß Handel und Wandel die Glieder der menschlichen Gesellschaft näher verbinde, und so ist auch der Handelsstand den du zu meiner Bestimmung mir angewiesen hast, wie jeder andere von deiner Allmeisheit für den Menschen als nothwendig und nützlich anerkannt worden, und jeder Mensch, der dieses Geschäft ehrlich und redlich betreibt, kann deines Beistandes und deiner Seligkeit versichert seyn. — Doch wird zu diesem Gerwerbe besonders eine unerschütterliche Rechtschaffenheit erfordert, wenn man den vielen Versuchungen entgehen will, denen der Handelsstand ausgesetzt ist. Der Kaufmann, sagt einer deiner heiligen Propheten, hat die Trugwage in seine Hand, und sehnt nach ungerechtem Gute sich. Auch lehrt die traurige Erfahrung es, daß viele aus diesem Stande, aus Geldbegierde die Kaüfer durch zu hohe Preise und Verfälschung der Waaren übervortheilen, und dem übertriebenen Gewinnste ihre Redlichkeit opfern. |
Almighty, it is part of your divine providence that trade and commerce bring the members of human society closer together, and so the trade that you have assigned to me for my purpose, like every other, has been recognized by your omnipotence as necessary and useful for man, and every man who conducts this business honestly and honestly can be assured of your support and your bliss. — But for this trade an unshakable integrity is especially required, if one wants to escape the many temptations to which the merchant class is exposed. The merchant, says one of your holy prophets, has the deceitfulness in his hand, and longs for unjust good.[1] Cf. Hosea 12:8. The correct verse citation seems to be mangled in both the 1815 and 1843 editions. (It is absent in the 1839 edition.) I’ll speculate that this prayer of a tradeswoman had a different valence for its male editors in the early 19th century. Incorrectly cited is Hosea 2:6 — a verse referencing harlotry rather than defrauiding merchants. Sad experience also teaches that many of this class, out of greed for money, overcharge the merchants by too high prices and adulteration of the goods, and sacrifice their honesty to the exaggerated profit. |
Da ich nun bei meinem Nahrungsstande so vielen Gefahren ausgefetzt bin, so rufe ich dich, o Gott! um deinen Beistand an, damit ich nicht von niedriger Gewinnfucht verblendet, mich durch Betrug und andere niedrige und ungerechte Mittel zu bereichern suche, und dich, mein Wohlthäter! und mein Gewissen darüber vergesse: denn der Betrüger, sagt der weise Salomo, genießt seines Betruges nicht, Fleiß hingegen ist ein Schatz des weisen Mannes. |
Since I am now exposed to so many dangers in my state of nourishment, I call upon you, O God, for your help, so that I may not be blinded by lowly greed for gain, seek to enrich myself by fraud and other low and unjust means, and forget you, my benefactor, and my conscience about it: for the deceiver, says the wise Solomon, does not enjoy his deception, but diligence is a treasure of the wise man. (Proverbs 12:27) |
Ich will also mich auf deinen Beistand verlassen, in meinem Geschäfte den größten Fleiß anwenden, die vorzüglichste Ordnung beobachten; aber nie will ich mich herabwürdigen, Durch unrechtes Maas und Gewicht, durch Verfälfchung der Waaren, zum Betrüger an meinem Nächsten zu werden; nie will ich zum wucherischen Gewinnste meine Zuflucht nehmen; nie will ich die schändliche Gewohnheit annehmen, durch Schwören, der Schwur mag wahr oder falsch seyn, den Kaüfer zu überzeugen zu suchen, daß ich die Waare nicht anders, als um den ihm bestimmten Preis geben kann. Mein Wort soll ihm statt des Schwurs, und meine Redlichkeit statt der Betheuerung gelten. Nie will ich mir die Einfalt und Unerfahrenheit der Kaüfer, durch Überbietung des Preises oder Darreichung schlechter Waare zu Nutzen machen; nie beim Einkauf der Armuth, der bedrängten Lage des Handwerkers oder sonstigen Verfaüfers mich bedienen, um ihnen ihre Feilschaft zu einem sehr niedrigen Preis abzudringen, und mit ihrem Schaden mich zu bereichern. |
I will therefore rely on your assistance, use the greatest diligence in my business, observe the most excellent order; but I will never degrade myself to become a cheat to my neighbor by unjust measure and weight, by adulteration of goods; I will never resort to usurious gain; I will never adopt the shameful habit of trying to convince the buyer by swearing, the oath may be true or false, that I cannot give the goods otherwise than for the price determined for him. My word shall apply to him instead of an oath, and my honesty instead of a betrayal. I will never take advantage of the simplicity and inexperience of the merchants by overbidding the price or offering bad goods; I will never make use of the poor, the hard-pressed situation of the craftsman or other merchant in order to wrest their bargain at a very low price from them, and to enrich myself at their expense. |
Denn dir, Allmächtiger, sind ja alle Wege offen, mir, wenn es dein Wille ist, Reichthum zu verschaffen, mir ihn, auf eine rechtschaffene mit der Religion, der Tugend und Nächstenliebe vereinbare Art, zukommen zu lassen! — Und ist es dein Wille nicht, so ist Trug und List mir unnütz. — Ich will daher ehrlich leben, und redlich mein Gewerb betreiben; damit ich einst ruhig sterben, und mit reinem unbefleckten Gewissen, getrost vor deinem Throne erscheinen möge! Amen. |
For you, Almighty, find all ways open to you, if it is your will to provide me with wealth, to give it to me in a way that is righteous and compatible with religion, virtue and charity! — And if it is not your will, then deceit and trickery are useless to me. — I will therefore live honestly and pursue my trade honestly, so that I may one day die quietly and appear confidently before your throne with a pure, unblemished conscience. Amen. |
“Gebet einer Handelsfrau (Prayer for a merchant woman)” was first published in Pereẓ (Peter) Beer’s Gebetbuch für gebildete Frauenzimmer mosaischer Religion (1815), as teḥinah №40 on p. 129-132 where it was rendered in Judeo-German. The German rendering transcribed above follows teḥinah №40 in Henry Frank’s 1839 edition on p. 110-112. A variation can also be found in the Beer’s 1843 edition as teḥinah №41 on p. 110-112.
We welcome corrections and improvements. The transcription of the German from Latin script in Fraktur type provided machine-readable text for a machine translation by DeepL, which we then edited for accuracy and clarity. –Aharon Varady
Sources
Notes
| 1 | Cf. Hosea 12:8. The correct verse citation seems to be mangled in both the 1815 and 1843 editions. (It is absent in the 1839 edition.) I’ll speculate that this prayer of a tradeswoman had a different valence for its male editors in the early 19th century. Incorrectly cited is Hosea 2:6 — a verse referencing harlotry rather than defrauiding merchants. |
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“Gebet einer Handelsfrau | Prayer for a merchant woman, a teḥinah by Pereẓ Beer (1815)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
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