Birthday Prayer, by Julia M. Cohen (1907)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Julia Matilda Waley Cohen

Shared on:

10 June 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Bnei (Bar/Bat) Mitsvah & Other Birthday Prayers

Tags:

children's prayers, English vernacular prayer, teḥinot in English, 20th century C.E., תחינות teḥinot, 57th century A.M.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Birthday prayer
	Almighty God! Who art the author of my being, I humbly thank Thee for having guarded me and taken care of me in all my past life, and preserved me in health and happiness during this past year of my life.
	O merciful God! forgive, I pray Thee, all I have done wrong in this year and in all my past life. “For there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared.” (Psalms 130:4)
	Strengthen me, O God! to try more and more earnestly in this coming year to do what I know to be right, and ever to resist doing what I know to be wrong; so that I may firmly prevent myself from being tempted, either by my own wicked desires or by the evil desires of others, to do what I know to be wrong.
	Put a new heart within me, O God! that I may be ever striving to grow better and more worthy of all the blessings Thou hast bestowed on me, O God!
	“Teach me to number my days that I may apply my heart unto wisdom.”^[1] Cf. Psalms 90:12. This day I have completed another year of my life, I have one less year to live. Help me, O Lord! to recollect how short my life may be, to think of the value of time, and never to waste my time in idleness; but ever to work to become wiser and to try to be useful to my fellow-creatures, and may it please Thee, O God! to endue me with wisdom and understanding.
	In Thy infinite mercy, O Lord! continue to grant me life, health, and happiness during the coming year.
	Bless also, O God! my dear Parents, Brothers, and Sisters, and all who are dear to me, and may Thy Divine care preserve them in health, strength, and happiness.
	“May Thy mercy, O Lord! be upon us, according as we hope in Thee.” (Psalms 33:22) Amen.
	Psalms 90

This “Birthday Prayer” is found in Julia M. Cohen’s The children’s Psalm-book, a selection of Psalms with explanatory comments, together with a prayer-book for home use in Jewish families (1907), pp. 304-305.

Source(s)

Notes[+]

Notes
1	Cf. Psalms 90:12.

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“Birthday Prayer, by Julia M. Cohen (1907)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft 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.)

Julia Matilda Waley Cohen

Julia Matilda Cohen née Waley (1853-1917) compiled a prayerbook for families and children, The children's Psalm-book, a selection of Psalms with explanatory comments, together with a prayer-book for home use in Jewish families (1907). Her father, Jacob Waley (1818-1873), was a co-founder of the United Synagogue. If you know any more about Julia M. Cohen, please contact us.

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Works of related interest:

The Children's Psalm-Book (Julia M. Cohen 1907) - title

📖 The Children’s Psalm-Book, by Julia M. Cohen (1907)

birthday prayer (Lilian H. Montagu 1895) - cropped

Birthday Prayer, by Lilian Helen Montagu (1895)

Detail of Marcus Heinrich Bresslau's Birthday Prayer.

[Prayer] on a Birthday, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)

a child's prayer on its birthday (frederick de sola mendes 1887)

A Child’s Prayer on its Birthday, by Frederick de Sola Mendes (1887)

a child's prayer on behalf of its parent's birthday (frederick de sola mendes 1887) - cropped

A Child’s Prayer on its Parent’s Birthday, by Frederick de Sola Mendes (1887)

Am Geburtsfeste des Vaters (Benjamin Szold 1867) - cropped

Am Geburtsfeste des Vaters | On one’s Father’s Birthday, by Rabbi Benjamin Szold (1867)

birthday meditation (Grace Aguilar 1853) - cropped

Birthday Meditation, by Grace Aguilar (1838)

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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