Meditations on the Life of Moses, Our Great Legislator, Appointed for the 7th Adar, the Anniversary of his Death, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Marcus Heinrich Bresslau

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10 June 2020 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Shiv'ah b'Adar

Tags:

19th century C.E., Mosheh Rabbenu, תחינות teḥinot, 57th century A.M., Jewish Women's Prayers, English vernacular prayer

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Devoted to the service of Truth, guided by a holy zeal for the good, strengthened by piety and philanthropy, lived Moses, the servant of God, and the great benefactor of mankind; listening only to the dignifying call of duty, following only the behests of his Divine Master; and thus, high greatness combined with deep humility, true dignity joined to unfeigned meekness, distinguished his divine career. The allurements to evil never shook his faith; neither the dangers of the sea, nor the disasters of the desert could daunt him; neither the ingratitude of strangers tolerated by him ערב רב, nor the rebellious band of Ḳoraḥ could dishearten him; for purity gave courage, benevolence inspired, and confidence in God strengthened him.
	Not in vain did this great man sacrifice his very existence to the call appointed to him by God, for thousands of years have already passed away in the lap of time, and yet ripen the fruit of his blissful seed; yet millions walk by the light, the rays of which he diffused from Sinai’s mount by Divine Command. Who can survey the fulness of the blessings spread by Moses? Who can comprehend to its full extent the light and peace, the joy and the hope which he disseminated in the midst of Israel, and rendered happy a whole nation for time everlasting?
	So much a pure and holy will is able to accomplish; so much sublime power is in man. Therefore will I thank Thee, O Eternal, for the fulness of Thy gifts; I will praise Thee for every ray of truth, for every power to exercise virtue, and for every resistance to temptation. Then only, when we shall have accomplished all, may the eve of life set in, and then our end shall be mild and serene, like that of our Legislator. Whoever, like Moses, strives upward for enlightment and virtue, he garners treasures for eternity. Whoever, like this godly man, trusts to the Father of all, feels soft repose, and walks in serenity. Whoever, like unto Moses, promotes philanthropy, and dries the tears of the sufferer, honours God; whoever follows the path of acknowledged good with sacred truth, achieves the highest diadem attainable by man.
	To perform that which he taught, in the name of God, was his last prayer; to perform it be our pride; to follow the Word of God be our only striving: Amen.

Source(s)

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Meditations on the Life of Moses, Our Great Legislator, Appointed for the 7th Adar, the Anniversary of his Death, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)” 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.)

Marcus Heinrich Bresslau

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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Detail of Marcus Heinrich Bresslau’s Meditation on Mosheh Rabbeinu for the 7th of Adar.

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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