Gebet beim Abscheiden des Teiges (חלה) | Domestic Prayer on Dividing the Dough, a teḥinah by Meïr Letteris (1846)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Miriam Wertheimer (translation) and Meïr haLevi Letteris

Shared on:

16 December 2021 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Erev Shabbat

Tags:

German vernacular prayer, English Jewry, German Jewry, English vernacular prayer, taking dough, baking ḥallah, 19th century C.E., חלה challah ḥallah, תחינות teḥinot, 57th century A.M., Jewish Women's Prayers

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.

TABLE HELP

Source (German)	Translation (English)
Gebet beim Abscheiden des Teiges. חלה	Domestic prayer on dividing the dough.
Barmherziger, himmlischer Vater! deine heiligen Gebote zu befolgen, ist mein unermüdliches, treuherziges Streben, meines lebens Ziel. Selbst die Gesetze, die mein schwacher Verstand nicht begreifen und deren Sinn ich nicht fassen kann, befolge ich frommergeben und gehorsam; denn du, Allgütiger, hast sie ja befohlen!	Merciful Father in Heaven! my never-failing and sincere endeavour, is to execute Thy holy commandments as the aim of my existence. Even those laws, Lord! which my feeble understanding cannot fathom — whose meaning and intent I cannot comprehend, resignedly and willingly I obey, because Thou, all-wise King! hast ordered them.
Auch das Gebot, zu allen Zeiten einen Theil des Teiges dir zu Ehren als Hebe zu weihen, befolge ich hiemit mit frommer Andacht, und danke dir, daß du mein Geschlecht würdig gefunden, diese Weihe zu begehen.	‘Tis thus, I herewith, with a devout spirit, perform the precept Thou hast enjoined upon us, to dedicate at all times a portion of the dough as a heave-offering unto Thee; and with my humble obedience, I unite my thanks, O Lord! that Thou hast formed me worthy of fulfilling this consecration.
Segne denn, o gütiger Vater! unser Händewerk, daß es uns niemals an Brod und Mitteln zu allen Lebensbedürfnissen mangle.	Bless us, Gracious Father! and bless the work of our hands, that we may never be in need of bread or other necessaries of life.
Erleuchte meine Augen, die Wunder deiner heiligen Lehre erschauen zu können. Das Brod, das ich für die heilige Sabbathfeier hiemit bereite, mahne mich zur Andacht und Dankbarkeit gegen deine Allgüte, sei mir ein Sinnbild jenes himmlischen Manna, das du unsern Vorfahren in der Wüste ertheilt, und deren doppelte Gabe du zur Sabbathnahrung schon am fechsten Wochentage ihnen beschieden und vorbereitet.	Enlighten my eyes to behold the wonders of Thy holy law; and let this bread, which I herewith prepare for the festival of the Sabbath-day, admonish me to be devout and grateful for Thy goodness. Let it be to me, as a symbol of that Heavenly manna, wherewith Thou didst feed my ancestors in the wilderness; and of which Thou didst send on the sixth day, a double portion for their nourishment, that they might consecrate to Thee, the sacred day of rest.

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.

TABLE HELP

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (German)	Translation (English)
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֺתָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ לְהַפְרִישׁ חַלָּה׃	Gelobet seiest du, o Ewiger! der du uns geboten hast, den Erstlingsteig dir als Hebe zu weihen.	Blessed art Thou, Eternal our God! who hast commanded us to dedicate the firstlings of the dough, as a peace offering unto Thee. Amen.

“Gebet beim Abscheiden des Teiges” was written by Meïr haLevi Letteris and published in תָּחֲנוּנֵי בַּת יְהוּדָה (Taḥnunei bat Yehudah): Andachtsbuch für Israelitische Frauenzimmer (1846), p. 86. In 1852, this teḥinah was translated into English (with a short prayer added for children) by Miriam Wertheimer under the title “Domestic prayer on dividing the dough” in Devotional Exercises for the Use of Jewish Women on Public and Domestic Occasions (1852), pp. 51-52.

Source(s)

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Gebet beim Abscheiden des Teiges (חלה) | Domestic Prayer on Dividing the Dough, a teḥinah by Meïr Letteris (1846)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/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.)

Miriam Wertheimer (translation)

Miriam Wertheimer (fl. mid-19th c.) was a pioneering English translator of teḥinot in Birmingham, England, and a direct descendant of Akiba Israel Wertheimer (1778–1835) was the first Chief Rabbi of Altona and Schleswig-Holstein. We know very little else about her save that she translated a collection of teḥinot in German into English that was published in 1852. She was a friend of Hester Rothschild who translated another collection of teḥinot and paraliturgical prayers. If you know more about Miriam Wertheimer, please contact us.

Meïr haLevi Letteris

Meïr (Max) haLevi Letteris (מאיר הלוי לעטעריס‎; 13 September 1800 – 19 May 1871) was an Austrian-Jewish poet, editor, and translator of the Galician Haskala. He translated into Hebrew works by Virgil, Lucian, Jean Racine, Lord Byron, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Ludwig August von Frankl, and others.

Pocket Pinterest Reddit 𝕏 Facebook Telegram WhatsApp SMS Email

Works of related interest:

"Shabbat at Beth Chai - lighting the candles" (credit: Alan Kotok, license: CC BY)

Gebet beim Eingange des Sabbath, vor dem Anzünden der Lichter Freitag Nachts | Prayer Before Lighting the Sabbath Lamp, a teḥinah by Meïr Letteris (1846)

Devotional exercises for the use of Jewish women (Miriam Wertheimer 1852) -- cover

📖 Devotional Exercises for the Use of Jewish Women on Public and Domestic Occasions, an anthology of teḥinot by Miriam Wertheimer (1852) translated from the work of Dr. Meïr Letteris

Gebet beim Eintritt in das Gotteshaus (Meir Letteris 1857) - cropped

Gebet beim Eintritt in das Gotteshaus | Prayer upon entering the house of God, by Dr. Meïr Letteris (1846)

Prayer on Entering the house of God (Miriam Wertheimer 1852 after Meir Letteris 1846) - cropped

Gebet beim Eintritt in das Gotteshaus | Prayer on Entering the House of God, by Dr. Meïr Letteris (1846)

Gebet wenn Seuchen oder epidemische Krankheiten herrsche | Prayer When Epidemic Diseases Prevail, a teḥinah by Meïr Letteris (1846)

Gebet an einem Fasttage (Meir Letteris 1857) - cropped

Gebet an einem Fasttage | Prayer on a Public Fast Day (תַּעֲנִית צִבּוּר), a teḥinah by Dr. Meïr Letteris (1846)

Gebet für alle Buß- und Fasttage (Meir Letteris 1846) - cropped

Gebet für alle Buß- und Fasttage | Prayer on Every Penitential and Fast Day, a teḥinah by Meïr Letteris (1846)

prev next

Comments, Corrections, and QueriesCancel reply

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=41513

Associated Image:

“Challah 30” (Rob and Stephanie Levy CC BY)

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)

Source Data: XML | JSON

Re-formatted: HTML | ODT

Terms of Use: Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:

Properly attribute the work to Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Miriam Wertheimer (translation) and Meïr haLevi Letteris.
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=41513>.
Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication. (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 contributors, patrons, or 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-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. If you like what you've found here, please help keep our project alive and online with your financial contribution.

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