תפלה למספד על המלך גארג | Prayer for the Memorial Service of King George Ⅵ (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth, 15 February 1952)

Contributor(s):

Isidor Grunfeld, Alexander Altmann, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth and Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Shared on:

10 September 2022 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Mourning, United Kingdom

Tags:

elegies, 20th century C.E., King George Ⅵ, British Commonwealth, 58th century A.M., British Jewry, Memorial prayers, Prayers for leaders, British Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy

TOGGLE COLUMNS (on/off):

ADJUST COLUMN POSITIONS: select the column header cell and drag it where you want. show me!

COPY INDIVIDUAL COLUMN(S): use CopyTables, a browser extension.

TABLE HELP

Source (Hebrew)	Source (English)
תהלים קכ״א	[Psalms 121 is recited]
הַצּוּר תָּמִים פָּעֳלוֹ כִּי כָל־דְּרָכָיו מִשְׁפָּט אֵל אֱמוּנָה וְאֵין עָוֶל צַדִּיק וְיָשָׁר הוּא׃ (דברים לב:ד)	The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment; God of faithfulness and without inquity, just and right is he. (Deuteronomy 32:4)
יְיָ נָתַן וַיְיָ לָקָח יְהִי שֵׁם יְיָ מְבֹרָךְ׃ (איוב א:כא חלק)	The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. (Job 1:21 part)
יָקָר בְּעֵינֵי יְיָ הַמָּוְתָה לַחֲסִידָיו׃ (תהלים קטז:ה)	Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his loving ones. (Psalms 116:5)
מִי־הָאִישׁ הֶחָפֵץ חַיִּים אֹהֵב יָמִים לִרְאוֹת טוֹב׃ נְצֹר לְשׁוֹנְךָ מֵרָע וּשְׂפָתֶיךָ מִדַּבֵּר מִרְמָה׃ סוּר מֵרָע וַעֲשֵׂה־טוֹב בַּקֵּשׁ שָׁלוֹם וְרָדְפֵהוּ׃ (תהלים לד:יג-טו)	What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. (Psalms 34:13-15)
וְיָשֹׁב הֶעָפָר עַל־הָאָרֶץ כְּשֶׁהָיָה וְהָרוּחַ תָּשׁוּב אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר נְתָנָהּ׃ (קהלת יב:ז)	And the dust returneth to the earth as it was, but the Spirit returneth unto God, who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
מִי־לִי בַשָּׁמָיִם וְעִמְּךָ לֹא־חָפַצְתִּי בָאָרֶץ׃ כָּלָה שְׁאֵרִי וּלְבָבִי צוּר־לְבָבִי וְחֶלְקִי אֱלֹהִים לְעוֹלָם׃ (תהלים עג:כה-כו)	Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. (Psalms 73:25-26)
הספד	Memorial Address by Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld
תפלה	Prayer The Congregation stands
אֵל אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחוֹת לְכׇל־בָּשָׂר נַפְשֵׁנוּ בָּנוּ תִּתְעַטָּף וְתִדְמַע כׇּל עַיִן כִּי נָפְלָה עֲטֶרֶת רֹאשֵׁנוּ וּמַחְמַד עֵינֵינוּ לֻקַּח מֵאִתָּנוּ הַמֶּלֶךְ גׄארגׄ אֲשֶׁר בִּצִלּוֹ חַיִינוּ זֶה חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה׃ אָמְנָם לְכֻלָּנוּ אָב הָיָה שִׁבְטוֹ שֵׁבֶט מִישׁוֹר וָחֶסֶד שֵׁבֶט חֵרוּת וְשַלְוַת עַמִּים׃ הוּא עַשָׂה צְדָקוֹת לְכׇל־דָּת וְעָם וְלָשׁוֹן בִּמְדִינוֹת מַלְכוּתוֹ וְכׇל יִשְׁעוֹ וְחֶפְצוֹ לִדְרוֹשׁ טוֹבַת מַמְלַכְתּוֹ עַל־דְּבַר־אֱמֶת וְעַנְוָה־צֶדֶק זֶה הוֹדוֹ וְזֶה הֲדָרוֹ׃	Lord God of the spirits of all flesh! Our soul fainteth within us and every eye is dim with tears, for the crown of our heads and the delight of our eyes hast been taken from us, our King George (Ⅵ), under whose sway we have lived for fifteen years. Verily, he hath been even as a father unto us all. His sceptre was a sceptre of righteousness [and kindness], [a sceptre of] freedom, and humanity. His ever-present care was that justice be accorded to every creed, race and tongue under his dominion; and all the yearning of his heart was to seek the welfare of his realm in the cause of truth, meekness and righteousness. This was his glory; this was his majesty.
אָנָּא יְיָ זְכוֹר לוֹ צִדְקָתוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וִיהִי שְׂכָרוֹ אִתּוֹ וּפְעוּלָתוֹ לְפָנָיו הוֹדִיעֵהוּ אֹרַח חַיִּים שֹׂבַע שְׂמָחוֹת אֶת־פָּנֶיךָ נְעִימוֹת בִּימִינְךָ נֶצַח׃	We beseech thee, O Lord, remember unto him the righteousness which he wrought, and let his reward be with him, and his recompense before him. Oh make known unto him the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; in thy right hand bliss, for evermore.
מְקוֹר הַנֶּחָמוֹת תַּנְחוּמֶיךָ יְשַׁעְשְׁעוּ אֶת לֵב הַמַּלְכָּה הַנֶּאֶהָבָה אליזבטה וְכַאֲשֶׁר הָיִיתָ עִם הָאָב כֵּן הֱיֵה עִם הַבַּת הַיּוֹשֶׁבֶת עַל כִּסְאוֹ׃ זְרוֹעֲךָ תְּאַמֵּץ אוֹתָהּ לָשֵׂאת אֶת עוֹל הַמַּלְכוּת הַכָּבֵד׃ וְחַסְדְּךָ וַאֲמִתְּךָ תָּמִיד יִצְּרוּהָ׃ אַתָּה הָרוֹפֵא לִשְׁבוּרֵי לֵב וּמְחַבֵּשׁ לְעַצְּבוֹתָם הֱיֵה עִם אֵם הַמַּלְכָּה אליזבטה הַמְבַכָּה עַל בַּעַל נְעוּרֶיהָ וְעִם מרי הַמְּבַכָּה עַל בְּנָהּ׃ שַׁלֵּם נִחוּמִים לְכׇל בֵּית הַמְלוּכָה׃ וְכִימוֹת עִנִּיתָם כֵּן תְשַׂמְּחֵם׃	Source of all comfort! may thy consolation soothe the heart of our beloved Queen Elizabeth; and even as thou hast been with the father, so be thou with the daughter who sitteth upon his throne. May thine arm strengthen her to bear the heavy burden of governance, and thy lovingkindness and truth ever preserve her. Thou who healest the brokenhearted and bindest up their wounds, sustain with thy mercy the Queen Mother Elizabeth who, weepeth for the husband of her youth, and Queen Mary who weepeth for, her son. Send thy heavenly solace to all the members of the Royal House, and make them rejoice according to the days wherein they have been afflicted.
בִּלַּע הַמָּוֶת לָנֶצַח וּמָחָה יְיָ אֱלֹהִים דִּמְעָה מֵעַל כׇּל־פָּנִים (ישעיה כה:ח) אָמֵן וְאָמֵן׃	“He maketh death to vanish in life eternal; and the Lord God wipeth away tears from off all faces.” (Isaiah 25:8 part) Amen and Amen.
תהלים כ״ג	Psalms 23 will then be recited
	The Ark is opened
אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים שׁוֹכֵן בַּמְּרוֹמִים הַמְצֵא מְנוּחָה נְכוֹנָה תַּחַת כַּנְפֵי הַשְּׁכִינָה בְּמַעֲלוֹת קְדוֹשִׁים וּטְהוֹרִים כְּזֹהַר הָרָקִיעַ מַזְהִירִים אֶת נִשְׁמַת הַמֶּלֶךְ גׄארגׄ שֶׁהָלַךְ לְעוֹלָמוֹ אָנָּא בַּעַל הָרַחֲמִים תַּסְתִּירֵהוּ בְּסֵתֶר כְּנָפֶיךָ לְעוֹלָמִים וְתִצְרוֹר בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים אֶת־נִשְׁמָתוֹ׃ יְיָ הוּא נַחֲלָתוֹ וְיָנוּחַ בְּשָׁלוֹם עַל מִשְׁכָּבוֹ וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן׃	O God, who art full of compassion, who dwellest on high, grant perfect rest beneath the shadow of thy Divine Presence, in the exalted places among the holy and pure, who shine as the brightness of the firmament, to King George (Ⅵ) who hath gone to his eternal home. We beseech thee, Lord of compassion, shelter him for evermore under the cover of thy wings; and let his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life. The Lord is his inheritance. May he rest in peace. And let us say, Amen.
הנותן תשועה	[The prayer for the sovereign is recited]
	The Ark is closed
עלינו	Aleinu [is recited]
קדיש יתום	Mourner’s Ḳaddish [is recited]
יגדל	Yigdal [is recited]
אדון עולם	Adon Olam [is recited]
	The Congregation stands
אל שמור מלכתנו	[The national anthem is recited]

This is the prayer offered at the “Memorial Service on Friday, 15th February, 1952 (Eve of Sabbath, 19th Shebat, 5712) at the New West End Synagogue (London, W. 2) for His Late Majesty King George (VI)” as given by the Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (officiated by Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld and Rabbi Dr. A. Altmann, M.A. [Joint Deputies for the Chief Rabbi], the Rev. Ephraim Levine, M.A., the Rev. R.H. Levy, M.A.). Many thanks to Jeffrey Maynard for providing the page images of the service containing this prayer at his blog, Jewish Miscellanies. Aside from this faithful transcription, I have added citation references. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“תפלה למספד על המלך גארג | Prayer for the Memorial Service of King George Ⅵ (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth, 15 February 1952)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Isidor Grunfeld

Isidor Grunfeld (1900–1975), also known by his Hebrew name Yeshaya Yishai ha-Kohen Grunfeld, was a dayan (rabbinical judge) and author who was associated with the London Beth Din (rabbinical court). He is best known for several popular works on Jewish law, and for his translations of the works of Samson Raphael Hirsch.

Alexander Altmann

Alexander Altmann (April 16, 1906 – June 6, 1987) was an Orthodox Jewish scholar and rabbi born in Kassa, Austria-Hungary (present-day Košice, Slovakia). He emigrated to England in 1938 and later settled in the United States, working productively for a decade and a half as a professor within the Philosophy Department at Brandeis University. He is best known for his studies of the thought of Moses Mendelssohn, and was indeed the leading Mendelssohn scholar since the time of Mendelssohn himself. He also made important contributions to the study of Jewish mysticism, and for a large part of his career he was the only scholar in the United States working on this subject in a purely academic setting. Among the many Brandeis students whose work he supervised in this area were Elliot Wolfson, Arthur Green, Heidi Ravven, Paul Mendes-Flohr, Lawrence Fine, and Daniel Matt.

Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth

The Office of the Chief Rabbi is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth and is the senior rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations. The present incumbent is Ephraim Mirvis who leads the Office of the Chief Rabbi (OCR).

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.)

Pocket Pinterest Reddit 𝕏 Facebook Telegram WhatsApp SMS Email

Works of related interest:

King Charles III arrives at Buckingham Palace (credit: ChiraJon, license: CC BY)

תפילה עבור המלך | Prayer for the Monarch at the Coronation of King Charles Ⅲ, by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth

הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה | Prayer in honour of the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ, by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth 2016)

Double Rainbow Appears Over Buckingham Palace as Crowd Gathers to Mourn Queen (Chris J. Ratcliffe, Bloomberg)

Prayer to Mark the Passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ, by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth 2022)

Queen Elizabeth II smiling during a visit to the headquarters of British Airways at Heathrow Airport, London, to mark their centenary year.

Prayer for the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ, by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth 2022)

King George VI, H.M. Queen Elizabeth, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, of United Kingdom, Portrait, World War II. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה | Prayer for the Royal Family of King George Ⅵ (1942)

Wedding of George V of the United Kingdom and Princess Mary of Teck in 1893

הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה | Prayer for the Royal Family of King George Ⅴ (1931)

Prayer for the success of the Four-Power Conference at Geneva (Office of the Chief Rabbi [of the UK and the Commonwealth] 1955) - cover page

Prayer for the Success of the Four-Power Conference at Geneva, by Rabbi Israel Brodie (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth, 16 July 1955)

prev next

Comments, Corrections, and QueriesCancel reply

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=46751

Associated Image:

Funeral of King George VI (1952)

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)

Source Data: XML | JSON

Re-formatted: HTML | ODT

Terms of Use: Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:

Properly attribute the work to Isidor Grunfeld, Alexander Altmann, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth and Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription).
Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=46751>.
Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)

Additional Notes:

The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.

Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.

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