Thanksgiving and Prayer, by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)

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Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Grace Aguilar

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15 May 2023 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

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Mixed Dancing

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19th century C.E., תחינות teḥinot, 56th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, teḥinot in English

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Thanksgiving and prayer.
	Almighty and ever blessed God, oh permit a child of Israel to pour before Thee the thanksgiving of a grateful heart, and the prayer for continued mercies. The period to which I looked forward with pleasure and pain, is nearly over, and Thou hast hearkened to the fervent supplication I offered up at the commencement, and mercifully and abundantly answered it.
	Oh, my God, my lips would praise Thee, but my spirit is dull and tame, and I cannot raise it unto Thee.
	Oh, my God, truly I may say, I called upon Thee, and Thou didst answer me. “Never have I called in vain. Oh Thou who hearest prayer, why unto Thee will not all flesh come?” (Psalms 65:2-3)
	Father, I thank Thee for Thy unnumbered mercies. I bless Thy name, for from Thee all blessings come.
	Oh accept my acknowledgment and praise, tame and spiritless though it be. Oh let Thy mercy purify it from imperfection and make it acceptable to Thee.
	I bless Thee, oh my God.
	Father in Heaven, Thou hast in Thy wisdom ordained, I should leave for a short space the home I love. The change to my darkened eye would promise pleasure, but Thou seest the dread and pain which is also mingled with it.
	Oh let Thy spirit be with me wherever I may dwell. Guard me from the temptations that in scenes of pleasure will undoubtedly surround me. Grant me Thy grace to resist them all. Shield me with Thy wings; let me not fall from Thee.
	Oh let me not desert the path I have chosen. Oh permit not over-excitement to gain ascendancy and banish self-possession. Guard me in Thy mercy from that miserable depression which ever follows extreme excitement. Grant me a holy frame of mind, oh God; let me think, speak, and act, in all things soberly. Thou seest where my wishes tend; Thou knowest anticipation is decking the future with many varied hues, which I know will fade and die.
	Oh, mighty Father, guide me on in safety; oh let not such joyous fancies occupy my mind; let me not think of the future, for I know it not. Man has already employed it, but it is not ours, it may never be. Thou mayest in mercy refuse the wishes that now seem predominant.
	Teach me submission to Thy will, patience under disappointment. Thou mayest ordain its fulfilment; grant that I may meet happiness calmly, soberly.
	Oh, my God, I commit myself to Thee. Do Thou preserve Thy servant, for my own plans are as nothing. I know not the future. Let Thy blessing hover round me, oh my God, shielding me from evil, guarding me from temptation, from excitement; and if disappointment cometh, oh teach me to meet it submissively and cheerfully.
	Father, hear my prayer, for Thy Name’s sake!

“Thanksgiving and prayer” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section “Sacred Communings,” pp. 213-215. In the UK edition of Sacred Communings (1853) the prayer appears with small variations of spelling and punctuation on pages 128-129.

Source(s)

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Thanksgiving and Prayer, by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)” 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.)

Grace Aguilar

Grace Aguilar (2 June 1816 – 16 September 1847) was an English novelist, poet and writer on Jewish history and religion. Although she had been writing since childhood, much of her work was published posthumously. Among those are her best known works, the novels Home Influence and A Mother's Recompense. Aguilar was the eldest child of Sephardic Jewish refugees from Portugal who settled in the London Borough of Hackney. An early illness resulted in her being educated by her parents, especially her mother, who taught her the tenets of Judaism. Later, her father taught the history of Spanish and Portuguese Jews during his own bout with tuberculosis which had led the family to move to the English coast. After surviving the measles at the age of 19, she began to embark on a serious writing career, even though her physical health never completely recovered. Aguilar's debut was an anonymous collection of poems, The Magic Wreath of Hidden Flowers. Three years later she translated Isaac Orobio de Castro's Israel Defended into English at her father's behest. Later her The Spirit of Judaism drew interest and sales in both Britain and the United States after being published in Philadelphia by Isaac Leeser. He added a preface to the work elucidating his differences with her, the first of many clashes her work would have with mainstream Jewish thought. In the 1840s her novels began to attract regular readers, and Aguilar moved back to London with her parents. Despite her success, she and her mother still had to operate a boys' Hebrew school to stay solvent, which she resented for the time and energy it took from her writing. In 1847, she became ill again with a spinal paralysis which she did not let prevent her from visiting her brother in Frankfurt. Her health worsened and she died there that September.

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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