https://opensiddur.org/?p=32052Prayer on the New Moon, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)2020-06-10 23:17:10A paraliturgical prayer for the New Moon on Rosh Ḥodesh.Textthe Open Siddur ProjectAharon N. Varady (transcription)Aharon N. Varady (transcription)Marcus Heinrich Bresslauhttps://opensiddur.org/copyright-policy/Aharon N. Varady (transcription)https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/Rosh Ḥodesh19th century C.E.תחינות teḥinot57th century A.M.Jewish Women's PrayersEnglish vernacular prayer
Father of all! Thou to whom millions raise their silent thanks; Thou, the Omniscient, who knowest even every soft heaving that moves our breast, every silent longing that buoys up our heart; hear me also when on this day, which Thou, according to the teachings of our pious ancestors, hast appointed for the pardon of sins, I call in deep humility upon Thee, merciful Father, to forgive the sins which I may have committed in the month just elapsed, against Thee and against my fellow creatures. Well do I perceive that the pleasures arising from sin are not lastingly gratifying; well I know that, sooner or later, shame, grief, remorse and reproach will follow upon the gratification which sin offers; well do I feel that even the repose which sin promises is, indeed, only the drowning and stifling of everything that is really important and sacred to me; I also am convinced that this pretended repose will be interrupted as often as my conscience grows alive within me, and I become myself again. Therefore, I beseech Thee, O Heavenly Father, assist me, that this conscientiousness be ever present before my mind, so that I may renounce sin only from this and similar noble motives, and that my contempt of sin may only flow from such pure sources. O, support me then, O God, who delighteth in repentance and penitence, so that I may always watch over my heart, ever to conquer wicked purposes, by a conviction of what is really good, and my innate freedom be not snatched from me by the violence of sin. Lend me the power to resign all unlawful transient gratification, and to seek salvation in striving after that which is eternal, and to seek truth and virtue in Thy faith. Renew, O All-merciful God, this month for good and for blessing, for joy and delight for as, for all Israel, and for all mankind. Amen.
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.)
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)
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