Prayer for the Feast of Purim, by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

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Moritz Mayer and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

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

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19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, Problematic prayers, תחינות teḥinot

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	We thank Thee, O Keeper and Guardian of Israel, for the help which Thou didst afford unto our race in the days of Mordecai, at this season, when Haman, in his malice and revenge, designed to destroy all the Israelites of the vast Empire of Persia, young and old, men and women. The king’s messengers had already traversed the country in all directions with the decree ordering the extermination of all the children of Thy people;— the day had already arrived on which the cruel despot intended to gratify his vengeance by a general massacre;— the enemy had already triumphantly exclaimed: “I pursue, I overtake, I divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them! I draw my sword and destroy them with my hand;” (Exodus 15:9) — but Thine almighty hand frustrated the wicked devices of the persecutor and caused him to fall into the very snare which he had prepared for Thine innocent children they were saved, and rejoiced.
	And through whom didst Thou accomplish this great and wonderful deliverance? Thou, O God, chosest a feeble woman for Thy messenger, for an instrument of the redemption of Thy people, that all the world might learn, how great Thou art also in little things, how Thy power works also in the weak; how that which seems powerless turns triumphantly mighty in Thy hand, that which is fragile and humble, strong and sublime; that we also may know and take to heart, that, however lowly and feeble a man may be, he is nevertheless commissioned by Thee, to do and accomplish the good unto the benefit and blessing of his fellow-men.
	O God! grant me also, that my feeble powers may succeed in doing what is good and useful,— that my life may not pass away profitless and fruitless,— that my name may become worthy to be praised and blessed by those who live with me and by those who shall live after me. Amen.

“Prayer for the Feast of Purim” 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. This prayer is tagged as problematic owing to the explicit sexism in its sensibility. –Aharon Varady

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Moritz Mayer

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.

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=32460

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Detail of Moritz Mayer’s prayer for the feast of Purim (Moritz Mayer 1866).

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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)

Prayer for the Feast of Purim, by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

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