From Strength to Strength, a prayer on Shemini Atseret/Simḥat Torah for cultivating spiritual strength (CCAR 1923)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown and Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

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5 March 2026 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, חזק חזק ונתחזק ḥazaq ḥazaq venitḥazeq, חיזוק ḥizuq, teḥinot in English

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	Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: ‘My way is hid from the Lord, and my right is passed over from my God’? Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, nor is weary? His discernment is past searching out. He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might He increaseth strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; but they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:27-31)
	Said R. Nehorai: “If necessary, I would neglect all other earthly labors, and teach my son only the law of God, for a man benefits from it in this world, and it endures as an aid to him through eternity. Other labors are not so; for when man falls into sickness or old age or sorrow, and he is no longer able to pursue his daily tasks, he will suffer hunger. But not so if he knoweth God’s law, for it will preserve him from evil in his youth, and give him unfailing help in his old age. For it is said: ‘Those that wait for the Lord shall increase in strength’ (Isaiah 40:31), [and] ‘They shall still flourish in old age’ (Psalms 92:15).” (Kiddushin 82b.5)
	We do not know our own strength. We make use of physical means to develop our muscular powers. Our spiritual power, too, needs strengthening, for in the crises of life, physical vigor will serve us as poorly as it did Samson. As we nurture our bodies, so we must fortify our souls. With every effort of self-control, with every exercise of self denial, with every struggle against temptation, we gather moral power. We go from strength to strength as we grow in self-mastery.
	Let us go from strength to strength direct to God. Strength grows from what it feeds upon. In fulfilling the will of the Omnipotent One we borrow strength from Him. God is thus the greatest and surest source of spiritual energy. Faith in Him enables us to face every trial with calm assurance, and to surmount every difficulty. We can seek for strength in the study of the Divine Word. The Bible is a veritable power-house of religious strength. One cannot read a Psalm thoughtfully without receiving an increase of spiritual force. The prayerbook is an inexhaustible spring of hope, courage and energy. The power to do things, to bear burdens often comes to us in unexpected moments. We have drawn upon a hidden source; God is helping us, though we are unaware of His help. Let us consciously claim the great power of God’s Love, ever calling upon us to exert ourselves bravely in His cause.
	Omnipotent God, all nature lives by Thy royal word. Thou alone art Master of all things. Naught can arise against Thee and resist Thy will. Neither the devices of cunning nor the efforts of might can avail against Thee.
	If in reliance upon our powers we strive against Thy law, then are our council [is] confused and our strength is as naught. We have seen an end to every earthly excellence, but Thy commandments amid the ruins of our world, desolate and forsaken, stand firm. If Thy laws are our delight, if we seek to fulfil Thy purposes, then cometh strength from Thee, and we labor and are not weary; we toil and are not faint.
	Heavenly Father, teach us Thy will. Accustom us to seek out Thy purposes and to train our human will to harmonize with Thine eternal plan. Teach us to labor with Thee in Thy works of creation, so that the work of our hands be established by Thy support, and the meditations of our heart [be] purified by thoughts of Thee. Grant that in performing deeds of mercy we grow in lovingkindness, and in aiding the weak according to Thy behest, we go from strength to strength. Amen.

“From Strength to Strength” is the nineteenth prayer found in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 68-70. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution of authorship for any of the prayers in this volume.

Source(s)

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.)

Unknown

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada.

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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)

From Strength to Strength, a prayer on Shemini Atseret/Simḥat Torah for cultivating spiritual strength (CCAR 1923)

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