Prayer for a Sick Child, by Rabbi Moritz Mayer (1866)

Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license

Date: 2020-06-22

Last Updated: 2025-02-18

Categories: Child care, Well-being, health, and caregiving

Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., childhood illness, English vernacular prayer, infants, Jewish Women's Prayers, prayers concerning children, Prayers of Primary Caregivers, Prayers on behalf of children, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: A mother's prayer for an ill infant or child. . . .

Content:

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	O All-merciful Father! from the depth of my aggrieved heart I implore Thee: spare my child, do not take away this treasure that Thou gavest unto me from Thine boundless grace and goodness. I know, this treasure is Thine as all other boons which I call mine; thou disposest of them according to Thy holy will. Oh! may it be Thy holy will to preserve for me this precious jewel! Once Thou spokest unto Thy suffering Congregation: “Call unto me in need, and I shall hear thee!”^[1] Jeremiah 33:3. And through the inspired Isaiah Thou gavest the consoling assurance unto Thy people Israel: “I will pour my spirit upon thy children, and my blessing upon thine offspring!”^[2] Isaiah 44:3 part. Oh! extend this paternal promise also upon my child, grant him (her) health and long life.
	And unto me grant strength in all the cares and trials of life, fortify my courage in the fulfillment of my duties and in the endurance of all the heavy burdens that Thy paternal hands may impose upon me. In Thee, God! I trust, for Thou art nigh unto all who call upon Thee. Amen.

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Source (English)

O All-merciful Father! from the depth of my aggrieved heart I implore Thee: spare my child, do not take away this treasure that Thou gavest unto me from Thine boundless grace and goodness. I know, this treasure is Thine as all other boons which I call mine; thou disposest of them according to Thy holy will. Oh! may it be Thy holy will to preserve for me this precious jewel! Once Thou spokest unto Thy suffering Congregation: “Call unto me in need, and I shall hear thee!” And through the inspired Isaiah Thou gavest the consoling assurance unto Thy people Israel: “I will pour my spirit upon thy children, and my blessing upon thine offspring!” Oh! extend this paternal promise also upon my child, grant him (her) health and long life.

And unto me grant strength in all the cares and trials of life, fortify my courage in the fulfillment of my duties and in the endurance of all the heavy burdens that Thy paternal hands may impose upon me. In Thee, God! I trust, for Thou art nigh unto all who call upon Thee. Amen.

“Prayer for a Sick Child” is one of thirty prayers appearing in Rabbi Moritz Mayer’s collection of tehinot, Hours of Devotion (1866), of uncertain provenance and which he may have written. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

Notes

Notes
1	Jeremiah 33:3.
2	Isaiah 44:3 part.

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

Name: Moritz Mayer
Bio: Rabbi Moritz Mayer (originally Moses Maier, later Maurice Mayer; 1821-1867) born in Dürckheim-on-the-Haardt, Germany, fled to the United States and to New York as a political refugee of the 1848 revolution. In 1859, after seven years as the rabbi of Ḳ.Ḳ. Beth Elohim in Charleston, South Carolina, he returned in poor health to New York where he contributed frequently to the Jewish press, and translated various German works into English: Rabbi Samuel Adler's catechism, Abraham Geiger's lectures on Jewish history, and Ludwig Philipson's pamphlet, Haben die Juden Jesum Gekreuzigt? (the Crucifixion from the Jewish Point of View), et al. In 1866, a number of his English translations of Fanny Neuda's teḥinot in German (from her Stunden Der Andacht, 1855/1858) were published in a volume he titled Hours of Devotion. The work also included a number of his own prayers as well as those of Marcus Heinrich Bresslau. The following year, Moritz Mayer passed away. He was 45 years old. (We are indebted to Anton Hieke for his research on Mayer, "Rabbi Maurice Mayer: German Revolutionary, Charleston Reformer, and Anti-Abolitionist" published in Southern Jewish Life, 17 (2014), pp. 45-89.) For Mayer's translations of prayers by other authors, please visit here.
Website:
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/moritz-mayer

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: prayer for a sick child (Moritz Mayer 1866)
Caption: Detail of Moritz Mayer's prayer for a sick child (Moritz Mayer 1866).