An Evening Meditation, by Annie Josephine Levi (1900)

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Annie Josephine Levi and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

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23 April 2023 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, תחינות teḥinot, teḥinot in English

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	To err is human, to forgive divine. (Alexander Pope.^[1] From Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Criticism, Part Ⅱ (1711). )
	I thank Thee, Almighty Father, for having protected me through this day and granted me health to enjoy the many pleasures which Thou continually bestowest upon me.
	I am grateful to Thee for withholding me from falling into temptation, and pray that Thy Fatherly care will guide me in whatever position I may be placed in the future.
	Father, if trouble should enter my household, as it must at some time or another, teach me to bear it bravely, and do my part towards alleviating the misery of those who must share the burden with me.
	Forgive the sins I may have committed during the past hours, and let me seek my rest with a feeling of kindliness towards all Thy creatures.
	Be Thou near me and my dear ones through this night, and grant that we may all meet on the morrow refreshed by sleep and prepared to follow our several pursuits. Amen.

This untitled “Evening Meditation” was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), pp. 108-109.

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Notes

Notes
1	From Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Criticism, Part Ⅱ (1711).

Annie Josephine Levi

Annie Josephine Levi (1868-1911) was an American Jewish writer and poet, the daughter of Joseph C. Levi (a prominent lawyer) and Dinah Julia Levi née Emanuel. Annie Levi arranged a prayerbook, Meditations of the Heart in 1900, containing prayers by her and others and with an introduction by Rabbi Gustav Gottheil. Aside from her contributing short stories, poems, essays and letters to periodicals around the turn of the century, we know very little else about this author. By the mid-1890s she was living with her family in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, and later too, at the time of her death in Manhattan, New York. Her paternal grandparents emigrated from England. If you know more about Annie Josephine Levi, please contact us.

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.)

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[evening meditation] (Annie Josephine Levi 1900)

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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)

An Evening Meditation, by Annie Josephine Levi (1900)

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