![the Open Siddur Project [logo]](https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Open-Siddur-Project-Logo-2016.svg){kind=logo}
The following prayer by Glikl bat Yehudah Leib (1646-1724) appears at the conclusion of the third book in her memoirs. Chava Turniansky writes,[1] Chava Tunriansky, Glikl: Memoirs (1691-1719) (Brandeis 2019), p. 144, ft. 203 (page 245 footnote 553 in the 2006 Hebrew edition).
This passage echoes High Holiday prayers….Glikl highlights her plea as a woman in three places: she states that “we are Your [male and female] servants” while the original text only mentions [male] servants; she describes herself as “a maidservant of mighty God” similarly to Ḥannah in 1 Samuel 1:11, in which the word “maidservant” is reiterated three times; and in the simile “as a servant-girl beseeches her mistress,” which echoes the verse “as the eyes of a slave-girl follow the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are towards the Lord our God” (Psalms 123:2).
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.
| Source (Yiddish) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
דער גרוישי לעבינדיגי גאט, דער װיל זיך דאך אײן מאלט איבר אונש מרחם זײן אונ׳ אונש אויז דען גלות ארליזין כדי מיר המקום ב״ה רעכט קענין דינין װיא עש גיהערט צו זײן אונ׳ דאז אלי פעלקיר ארקענין אונ׳ װישין דאז מיר דײן גליפטיש פאלק זײן[2] ‘יכירו וידעו כל יושבי תבל’ (‘עלינו לשבח’, תקיעתא, הנאמרת בעמידת המוסף בראש השנה, ראו: גולדשמידט, ראש השנה, עמ׳ 229) |
God, eternal and mighty, will surely be compassionate and lead us out of Exile, to serve Him as we should, and all nations will recognize that we are Your beloved people. |
אונ׳ דוא, גרושיר גאט, דוא בישט יוא אונזיר פאטיר, זוא ארבארים דיך אך אליש װיא אײן פאטיר זיך ארבארימט איבר אײן קינד. אונ׳ בישט אך אונזיר הער אונ׳ מיר זײן דײני קנעכט אוני מײדין.[3] ‘אנו עמך ואתה אלהינו, אנו בניך ואתה אבינו, אנו עבדיך ואתה אדונינו׳ (ערבית ליום כיפור ועוד, ראו: גולדשמידט, יום כיפור, עמ׳ 45); ‘אם כבנים רחמנו כרחם אב על בנים ואם כעבדים עינינו לך תלויות עד שתחננו’ (‘היום הרת עולם’ במוסף לראש השנה, ראו: גולדשמידט, ראש השנה, עמ׳ 244). אלזו װאלין מיר ניט אויף הערין צו בעטין אן אונזרין גינעדיגין גאט ביז ער זיך איבר זײני קנעכט מרחם איזט. |
And you, mighty God — You are our father. Be compassionate with us, as a father is with his children. You are our Lord; we are Your servants. Hence, we will not cease to pray to our merciful God until He shows mercy to His servants. |
אונ׳ איך, דען גרושין גאט דײני דינשט מאט, ביט אליש אײני מײט אן אירי װערטין, דען אונזרי אויגין אונ׳ הערטץ הענגיט אליש אן דיך. |
I, a maidservant of mighty God, beseech You, as a servant-girl beseeches her mistress, for our hearts are dependent upon You alone. |
This prayer by Glikl of Hameln was made from the text transcribed and published in Chava Turniansky’s critical edition, Glikl: Memoirs (1691-1719) (Shazar 2006), pp. 242-244, and Sara Friedman’s English translation of that edition, edited by Turniansky (Brandeis University Press 2019), p. 144. I have arranged the text, and set the Yiddish opposite its translation, by linear phrase. –Aharon Varady
Source(s)
Glikl of Hameln Memoir 1691-1719 (Chava Turniansky 2006) p. 242 Glikl of Hameln Memoir 1691-1719 (Chava Turniansky 2006) p. 244
Notes
| 1 | Chava Tunriansky, Glikl: Memoirs (1691-1719) (Brandeis 2019), p. 144, ft. 203 (page 245 footnote 553 in the 2006 Hebrew edition). |
|---|---|
| 2 | ‘יכירו וידעו כל יושבי תבל’ (‘עלינו לשבח’, תקיעתא, הנאמרת בעמידת המוסף בראש השנה, ראו: גולדשמידט, ראש השנה, עמ׳ 229) |
| 3 | ‘אנו עמך ואתה אלהינו, אנו בניך ואתה אבינו, אנו עבדיך ואתה אדונינו׳ (ערבית ליום כיפור ועוד, ראו: גולדשמידט, יום כיפור, עמ׳ 45); ‘אם כבנים רחמנו כרחם אב על בנים ואם כעבדים עינינו לך תלויות עד שתחננו’ (‘היום הרת עולם’ במוסף לראש השנה, ראו: גולדשמידט, ראש השנה, עמ׳ 244). |
“A Prayer for Divine Mercy, by Glikl bat Yehudah Leib from her memoirs (ca. early 18th c.)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under their Fair Use Right (17 U.S. Code §107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use), in respect to the copyrighted material included. Any additional work that is not already in the Public Domain is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Stable Link:
https://opensiddur.org/?p=46875
Associated Image:
(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in category pages and in shared links on social media.)
Terms of Use:
Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:
- Properly attribute the work to Chava Turniansky (transcription), Sara Friedman (translation) and Glikl bat Yehudah Leib.
- 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=46875>.
- Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (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
![Blue and white synagogue tile decorated with Moorish arch and floral motif and inscribed with the Hebrew word אתה “atah” (you), Morocco, 18th century. This tile is most likely from one of the four imperial cities: Fez, Meknes, Marrakesh, or Rabat. Original record notes that this tile came from a Moroccan synagogue. Possibly from the formula “barukh atah bevo’echa uvarukh ata btsetekha” (ברוך אתה בבואך וברוך אתה בצאתך), Deuteronomy 28:6; cf. tiled inscriptions in Lazama synagogue, Marrakech. (From the Magnes Museum collection, Tile [77-275].)](https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/4715290282-39071aaeb8-o-e1730011803183-250x250.png)
Comments, Corrections, and Queries