Souls of the Righteous — a prayer-poem for Shabbat parashat Éqev by Alice Montefiore Lucas (1898)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Alice Montefiore Lucas

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24 February 2026 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, Forgiveness, פרשת עקב parashat Eqev, Prayers as poems

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die, and their departure is taken for misery and their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace. (Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-3)
	Souls of the Righteous
	Souls of the righteous — in God‘s hand they lie Untouched by shadows from the pilgrim land, No pain, or torment ever cometh nigh Souls of the righteous in God‘s hand.
	Such peace is theirs earth cannot understand, Although to the unwise they seemed to die, They are at rest, a holy, blessed band.
	Like to the stars, whose radiant galaxy Gleams in the tent of heaven o’er us spann’d, So shine, among His angels set on high, Souls of the righteous in God‘s hand.

“Souls of the Righteous” by Alice Montefiore Lucas was written for “Sabbath—ⅩⅬⅦ,” (i.e., Shabbat parashat Éqev) and first published in her collection of prayers, The Jewish Year (1898), p. 103.

Source(s)

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.)

Alice Montefiore Lucas

Alice Julia Lucas (née Montefiore) (2 August 1851 – 25 March 1935) was a British Jewish poet, translator, and communal worker. Alice Julia Montefiore was born in 1851, the elder daughter of Nathaniel M. Montefiore and Emma Goldsmid. Alongside her brother Claude Montefiore, she studied Judaism under Solomon Schechter at the Hochschule in Berlin. On 24 April 1873 she married barrister Henry Lucas, who later served as treasurer and vice-president of the United Synagogue. In 1900 she helped establish the Jewish Study Society, modelled after the Council of Jewish Women, of which she served as the first president. Lucas also sat on the women's committee of the Westminster Jews' Free School and its preparatory nursery, the Jews' Infant School.

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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)

Souls of the Righteous — a prayer-poem for Shabbat parashat Éqev by Alice Montefiore Lucas (1898)

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