https://opensiddur.org/?p=32438Prayer After Safe Delivery [in Childbirth], by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)2020-06-22 16:04:23A prayer of a woman following the birth of her infant child.Textthe Open Siddur ProjectAharon N. Varady (transcription)Aharon N. Varady (transcription)Moritz Mayerhttps://opensiddur.org/copyright-policy/Aharon N. Varady (transcription)https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/Conception, Pregnancy, and Childbirth19th century C.E.תחינות teḥinot57th century A.M.Jewish Women's PrayersinfantsEnglish vernacular prayerpare
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“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemelh thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies.”[1] Psalms 103:1-4.
How dark was everything around me but a few hours ago; anxiety filled my heart, and I was afraid of the results of my fears and pains. But when I called in my woe, the Lord heard me, and saved me from my troubles. The hours of anxiety have passed, and now joy and light surround me. Thou, God! hast safely led me through the dangers of the hour of delivery, Thou hast done more unto me than I ventured to hope; thou hast fulfilled my prayer, Thou hast given me a dear, healthful, well-formed child. Therefore, I praise Thy mercy, and shall never forget Thy benefits; my heart and mouth shall ever overflow with thanks and praises of Thy supreme power and loving-kindness.
And with filial confidence in Thy mercy I commit all my cares unto Thee, trusting that Thou wilt accomplish the work of grace which Thou hast commenced. Thou wilt renew my strength, that I may be able to fulfill the duties of a good and faithful mother.
My God and Lord! Bestow Thy protection also upon my newborn infant, that it may thrive and grow, and be healthful in body and soul, to be a pleasure unto Thee, a delight unto me and my beloved husband, an honor unto all men. Yea, Eternal One I in Thee I place my trust, I wait upon Thee help; he who trusteth in Thee shall never be put to shame. Amen.
“Prayer After Safe Delivery” is one of thirty prayers appearing in Rabbi Moritz Mayer’s collection of tehinot, Hours of Devotion (1866), of uncertain provenance and which he may have written. –Aharon Varady
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 naqeniשְׁגִיאוֹת 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.)
Rabbi Moritz Mayer (originally Moses Maier, later Maurice Mayer; 1821-1867) born in Dürckheim-on-the-Haardt, Germany, fled to the United States and to New York as a political refugee of the 1848 revolution. In 1859, after seven years as the rabbi of Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim in Charleston, South Carolina, he returned in poor health to New York where he contributed frequently to the Jewish press, and translated various German works into English: Rabbi Samuel Adler's catechism, Abraham Geiger's lectures on Jewish history, and Ludwig Philipson's pamphlet, Haben die Juden Jesum Gekreuzigt? (the Crucifixion from the Jewish Point of View), et al. In 1866, a number of his English translations of Fanny Neuda's teḥinot in German (from her Stunden Der Andacht, 1855/1858) were published in a volume he titled Hours of Devotion. The work also included a number of his own prayers as well as those of Marcus Heinrich Bresslau. The following year, Moritz Mayer passed away. He was 45 years old.(We are indebted to Anton Hieke for his research on Mayer, "Rabbi Maurice Mayer: German Revolutionary, Charleston Reformer, and Anti-Abolitionist" published in Southern Jewish Life, 17 (2014), pp. 45-89.)For Mayer's translations of prayers by other authors, please visit here.
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