Offerings, by Alice Lucas (1898)
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=36210
open_content_license: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Date: 2021-03-15
Last Updated: 2025-02-28
Categories: Weekday Amidah
Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Openers, Prayers as poems, Psalms 51, פרשת תרומה parashat Terumah
Excerpt: A meditation on prayer and earnest offering. . . .
Content:
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Source (English) |
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וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר׃
דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
וְיִקְחוּ־לִי תְּרוּמָה
מֵאֵת כָּל־אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ
תִּקְחוּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִי׃ (שמות כה:א-ב)
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And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel,
that they bring me an offering:
of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart
ye shall take my offering. (Exodus 25:1-2)
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וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִיד לְאָרְנָן …
לֹא־אֶשָּׂא אֲשֶׁר־לְךָ לַיהוָה
וְהַעֲלוֹת עוֹלָה חִנָּם׃ (דברי הימים א׳ כא:כד)
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And king David said to Ornan …
I will not take that which is thine for the Lord,
nor offer burnt offerings without cost. (I Chronicles 21:24)
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Offerings
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Shall I offer unto the Lord
That which has cost me naught,
That which I have not bought
For silver and gold at a price?
Shall I to God’s altar bring
Thine oxen for offering?
Then thine, not mine, were the sacrifice.
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Let me not bring thee, O Lord,
That which has cost me nought,
Prayers that I have not sought
To shape to my spirit’s need,
Resolves half-hearted and faint,
And hopes and longings that paint
Joys of earth’s giving, not heavenly meed.
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Lord, let me bring unto Thee
Prayers that true faith has wrought,
Self-sacrifice, dearly bought,
And patience, whose lamp never dies,
With penitence, set apart;
For a broken and contrite heart
O Lord, Thou wilt not despise.
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An original poem composed by Alice Julia Lucas and selected for the 29th Shabbat in the cycle of annual readings of the Torah portion in her anthology of poetry and translated piyyutim, The Jewish Year (1898), pp. 42-43.
Source(s)
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Co-authors:
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Name: Alice Lucas (translation)
Bio: 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.
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Lucas_(poet)
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/alice-lucas
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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
Featured Image:
Title: Horned_Altar
Caption: "Reconstruction of an ancient Israelite horned altar (based upon the remnants of the original one) as it was used to sacrifice animals. The original altar was probably dismantled during the time of Hezekiah, the King of Judah, with the centralization of the Israelite cult in the temple of Jerusalem. Location: Tel Be'er Sheva." (credit: Gugganij, license: CC BY-SA)
