א תחנה פאר א אשה מעוברת אז זיא גײט צו קינד | Tkhine for a Pregnant Woman when She is about to Give Birth (1910)

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International

Date: 2020-02-03

Last Updated: 2025-02-18

Categories: Conception, Pregnancy, and Childbirth

Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Jewish Women's Prayers, prayers for pregnant women, pregnancy, Yiddish vernacular prayer, תחינות teḥinot, תחינות tkhines

Excerpt: A prayer for a pregnant woman approaching her childbirth. . . .

Content:

Source (Yiddish)	Translation (English)
ליבער אונ גוטער גאָט! איך בין ניט װערט די חֲסָדִים, װאָס דו טוסט אימער מיט מיר, נאָר בִּזְכוּת די דרײַ מִצְוֹת, װעלכע דו האָסט גיבּאָטין יעדער אִשָׁה, נִדָה, חַלָה, הַדְלָקַת הַנֵר װאָס מען דארף היטען, די דרײַ מִצְוֹת זאָלין מגין זײַן אױף מיר, אז איך זאָל ניט בּאשטראָפט װערין חָלִילָה פאר די זינד פון חַוָה, אונ איך זאָל קײן גרױסע יְסוּרִים ניט לײַדין חָלִילָה, אונ איך זאָל געבּױרין א קינד אײַן עוֹבֵד ה׳ בֶּאֱמֶת וְאֱמוּנָה, בֶּן יְרֵא אֱלֹהִים׃	Good and dear God! I am not worthy of the lovingkindness that you always bestow upon me. May the merit of the three mitsvot which you have commanded every woman to keep — niddah, ḥallah, and hadlokot nerot — protect me,^[1] Mishnah, Shabbat 2:6: “Because of three transgressions women die at childbirth: because they neglect the laws of menstrual purity, taking ḥallah, and lighting the candles.” that I may not — ḥolilah — be punished for Ḥavah’s sin, and may I not — ḥolilah — suffer any great pain. May I give birth to a child who is a servant of YHVH in truth and in faith, a son who fears Elohim.

Source (Yiddish)

Translation (English)

ליבער אונ גוטער גאָט! איך בין ניט װערט די חֲסָדִים, װאָס דו טוסט אימער מיט מיר, נאָר בִּזְכוּת די דרײַ מִצְוֹת, װעלכע דו האָסט גיבּאָטין יעדער אִשָׁה, נִדָה, חַלָה, הַדְלָקַת הַנֵר װאָס מען דארף היטען, די דרײַ מִצְוֹת זאָלין מגין זײַן אױף מיר, אז איך זאָל ניט בּאשטראָפט װערין חָלִילָה פאר די זינד פון חַוָה, אונ איך זאָל קײן גרױסע יְסוּרִים ניט לײַדין חָלִילָה, אונ איך זאָל געבּױרין א קינד אײַן עוֹבֵד ה׳ בֶּאֱמֶת וְאֱמוּנָה, בֶּן יְרֵא אֱלֹהִים׃

Good and dear God! I am not worthy of the lovingkindness that you always bestow upon me. May the merit of the three mitsvot which you have commanded every woman to keep — niddah, ḥallah, and hadlokot nerot — protect me, that I may not — ḥolilah — be punished for Ḥavah’s sin, and may I not — ḥolilah — suffer any great pain. May I give birth to a child who is a servant of YHVH in truth and in faith, a son who fears Elohim.

This is a faithful transcription of the א תחנה פאר א אשה מעוברת אז זיא גײט צו קינד (“Tkhine for a Pregnant Woman when She is about to Give Birth”) as it appears in the compilation of tkhines, Rokhl Weeps for Her Children (1910). I have transcribed it without any changes from The Merit of Our Mothers בזכות אמהות A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, compiled by Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1992. shgiyot mi yavin, ministarot nakeni.

Source

Notes

Notes
1	Mishnah, Shabbat 2:6: “Because of three transgressions women die at childbirth: because they neglect the laws of menstrual purity, taking ḥallah, and lighting the candles.”

Contributor: Unknown Author(s)

Co-authors:

Name: Tracy Guren Klirs (translation)
Bio: Rabbi Tracy Guren Klirs received her B.A. in Yiddish literature at the University of Chicago and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1977. She was ordained as a rabbi from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 1984. Her book, The Merit of Our Mothers: A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women’s Prayers, was published by HUC Press in 1992. She serves as the rabbi of Temple Kol Tikvah in Davidson, North Carolina.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/RabbiKlirs
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/tracy-guren-klirs

Name: Unknown Author(s)
Bio: Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.
Website:
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/unknown

Name: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Bio: 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.)
Website: https://aharon.varady.net
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady-transcription