Prayer of a mother for her sick infant child, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)

Contributor(s):

Marcus Heinrich Bresslau and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Shared on:

15 June 2020 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Child care, Well-being, health, and caregiving

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, infants, Jewish Women's Prayers, Prayers on behalf of children, תחינות teḥinot

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Source (English)

Scarcely has this child lovingly smiled upon me, scarcely has it recognised me, and its head already inclines to the valley of sorrow. O Divine compassion, from the lowest depths cries unto Thee the mother’s heart penetrated with unspeakable suffering; spare, all-kind Father this hardly budded flower, spare it, Father of mercy, and do not withdraw from me this good, the loss of which I should scarcely be able to overcome. Send to me, O Father, as Thou sendest unto the “Shunamite ” who mourned for her heavily sick child, a messenger of help, so that I may not be deprived of the precious gift which Thou hast presented me. Didst Thou not instruct us through Thy prophet. “Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver Thee, and Thou shalt glorify me!” And through Thy prophet Isaiah Thou didst promise to Thy people of Israel אֶצֹּק רוּחִי עַל־זַרְעֶךָ וּבִרְכָתִי עַל־צֶאֱצָאֶיךָ “I will pour out my spirit upon Thy seed, and my blessing upon Thy offspring:” extend then also this paternal promise to my child, bestow upon it health and long life. Yes, O Father, hope whispers to me: that Thou only wouldst prove my trust in Thee, Thou hast not determined on the death of my child, and after the short night, which now overclouds me, many delightful days will follow. Amen.

“Prayer of a Sick Child” was first published in Marcus Heinrich Bresslau’s collection of teḥinot, Teḥinot Banot Yisrael: Devotions for the Daughters of Israel (1852).

Source(s)

Notes

Notes
1	Psalms 50:15.
2	Isaiah 44:3.

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Prayer of a mother for her sick infant child, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Marcus Heinrich Bresslau

Marcus Heinrich (also Mordecai Ḥayyim/Hyman/Heyman) Bresslau (ca. 1808-15 May 1864) was a Hebraist and newspaper editor. Born in Hamburg, he settled in England when young. For some time from 1834 he was Baal Ḳoreh (reader) at the Western Synagogue. He then taught Hebrew at the Westminster Jews’ Free School and went on to tutor privately. A maskil, he became involved with M. J. Raphall’s Hebrew Review and Magazine of Rabbinical Literature (1834-6). In October 1844 he was appointed editor of the relaunched Jewish Chronicle by proprietor Joseph Mitchell. Prickly and quarrelsome, he resigned in July 1848 but returned in around September. He remained until about October 1850. After Mitchell’s death in June 1854 he became proprietor (his middle name appearing as Heyman) and edited it until February 1855 when new proprietor Abraham Benisch succeeded him. Bresslau, who tried vainly to revive the Hebrew Review, wrote Hebrew poetry, produced a Hebrew grammar and a Hebrew dictionary, and translated various Hebrew manuscripts in the Bodleian Library. Bresslau compiled (we think) the first compilation of teḥinot in English for women. (Much of this information via Bresslau's entry in The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History)

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.)

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=32152

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Detail of Marcus Heinrich Bresslau’s Prayer for a Sick Child

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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

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