Father, whate’er of earthly bliss — a paraliturgical elohai netsor hymn of the Reformed Society of Israelites (Charleston, South Carolina, ca. 1825)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown and Reformed Society of Israelites

Shared on:

26 April 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

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Tags:

19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, hymns, paraliturgical elohai netsor

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Father, whate’er of earthly bliss Thy Sov’reign will denies, Accepted at thy throne, let this, My humble pray’r arise —
	Give me a calm, a grateful heart, From every murmur free; The blessings of thy love impart, And make me live to thee.
	Let the sweet hope that thou art mine My life and death attend, Thy presence through my journey shine, And crown my journey’s end.

“Father, whate’er of earthly bliss” is the incipit to Hymn №6 in Barnett A. Elzas’s The Sabbath Service and Miscellaneous Prayers (1916), an edited reprinting of The Sabbath service and miscellaneous prayers, adopted by the Reformed Society of Israelites, founded in Charleston, S. C., November 21, 1825 (1830). The hymn appears on page 58 without any additional attribution.

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

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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.

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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)