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With rapture I behold the light
Of thy returning day;
Direct, O God, my steps aright,
Nor let me from thee stray.
On thee alone, my hopes rely,
Thy name be ever blessed;
Here, in this soul, thy unity
Stands sacredly confess’d.
O, banish hence, far from my mind,
All evil thoughts away;
And grant my soul may favor find,
On this, thy holy day.
And at the altar as I bend,
To supplicate thy care;
In mercy, Lord! thy blessing send,
Upon my humble prayer.
“With Rapture I Behold the Light,” by Gershon Lazarus (1809-1869), published in 1842, appears under the subject “Sabbath” as Hymn 58 in Hymns Written for the Service of the Hebrew Congregation Beth Elohim, South Carolina (Penina Moïse et al., Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, 1842), p. 60. The title and wording of the first stanza were changed by the time the hymn was republished in the Union Hymnal for Jewish Worship (CCAR 1914). The wording provided here is as published in 1842. –Aharon Varady
Ḳahal Ḳadosh Beth Elohim (Hebrew: קהל קדוש בית אלהים, also known as Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim, or more simply Congregation Beth Elohim), founded in 1749 in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of the oldest Jewish congregations in the United States. The founding members of the synagogue were Jews of Spanish and Portuguese descent (Sepharadim), who arrived into Charleston via London, England. Before 1830 Ḳahal Ḳadosh Beth Elohim was a place of worship for Spanish and Portuguese Jews using Portuguese rituals as done in Portugal before the Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions. A splinter group animated by the European Reform movement, the Reformed Society of Israelites, formed in 1824. While at first this group did not succeed in reforming Beth Elohim, by the mid 1830s Beth Elohim had reabsorbed its members and its ḥazzan, Gustavus Poznanski (1804–1879), joined the Reform camp in 1840. After the first synagogue building was destroyed by fire in 1838, it was rebuilt two years afterward (in a Greek Revival style designed by Cyrus L. Warner) with an organ to the chagrin of the traditionalists. Ḳahal Ḳadosh Beth Elohim is recognized as the oldest Reform Jewish congregation in the Americas.
Gershon Lazarus (also Gershom Lazarus Larendon, 1804-1868) was a member of Congregation Beth Elohim in Charleston, South Carolina and steamboat inspector in the Custom House of the Port of Charleston (1847-1858).
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.)
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