Prayer of Thanksgiving on Recovering from Sickness, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)

Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license

Date: 2020-06-15

Last Updated: 2025-02-02

Categories: Well-being, health, and caregiving

Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, thankfulness, thanksgiving, ברכת הגומל birkat hagomel, תחינות teḥinot, מודים Modim

Excerpt: A thanksgiving prayer on recovering from a serious illness. . . .

Content:

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	Freed from the painful couch of sickness, Thou O God of kindness, hast again restored me to happy life: from the holy cup of Thy salvation I drank recovery in abundant measure. Intoxicated with joy I bring unto Thee the thank-offering of a heart filled with delight, I praise Thy wondrous power, and inspired with renewed ardour of life, every beat of my pulse shall thank Thee. Precious pearl from the hand of heaven—health—oh precious gem, the gift of God! may I always preserve thee, never forget thy high value, and not lavishingly waste or exhaust thee, divine present! Every succeeding hour will I economically employ for the salvation of my soul; I will lay up every moment with interest; I will draw advantage from every breath of life, to serve Thee, my Creator, with body and soul בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַגּוֹמֵל לְחַיָּבִים טוֹבוֹת שֶׁגְּמָלַנִי כָּל טוֹב “Praised be Thou, O Eternal, who deals benevolently with the guilty, and hast bestowed upon me every good.” Amen.

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Source (English)

Freed from the painful couch of sickness, Thou O God of kindness, hast again restored me to happy life: from the holy cup of Thy salvation I drank recovery in abundant measure. Intoxicated with joy I bring unto Thee the thank-offering of a heart filled with delight, I praise Thy wondrous power, and inspired with renewed ardour of life, every beat of my pulse shall thank Thee. Precious pearl from the hand of heaven—health—oh precious gem, the gift of God! may I always preserve thee, never forget thy high value, and not lavishingly waste or exhaust thee, divine present! Every succeeding hour will I economically employ for the salvation of my soul; I will lay up every moment with interest; I will draw advantage from every breath of life, to serve Thee, my Creator, with body and soul בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַגּוֹמֵל לְחַיָּבִים טוֹבוֹת שֶׁגְּמָלַנִי כָּל טוֹב “Praised be Thou, O Eternal, who deals benevolently with the guilty, and hast bestowed upon me every good.” Amen.

“Prayer of Thanksgiving on Recovering from Sickness” was first published in Marcus Heinrich Bresslau’s collection of teḥinot, Teḥinot Banot Yisrael: Devotions for the Daughters of Israel (1852).

Source(s)

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

Name: Marcus Heinrich Bresslau
Bio: 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)
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Hyman_Bresslau
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/marcus-heinrich-bresslau

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

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Title: thanksgiving on recovering from sickness (Marcus Heinrich Bresslau 1852)
Caption: Detail of Marcus Heinrich Bresslau's Prayer of Thanksgiving on Recovering from Sickness