Charity, a hymn by Felix Adler (1888)
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=45866
open_content_license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Date: 2022-07-28
Last Updated: 2025-03-27
Categories: Repenting, Resetting, and Reconciliation
Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English poetry, English vernacular prayer, Ethical Humanism, hymns, universalist, צדקה tsedaqah
Excerpt: "Charity" is a hymn by Felix Adler, first published in The Ethical Record vol. 1, no. 1. (April 1888), sheet music page 4. For an account of this hymn being sung, find The Journal of Industrial Education, "Autumn Festival of the Workingman's School. Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1889." vol. 4, no. 9 (May 1890). . . .
Content:
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Charity
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There is a gracious friend that came
To earth our steps to guide,
Sweet Charity they call her name
And love she scatters wide
She banishes our dismall fears
She soothes each smarting pain
She leads us thro’ the vale of tears
Unto the light again, the light again.
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For others’ woes she bids us care
And feel for others’ need,
To heal the sick, to clothe the bare,
And hungry mouths to feed.
Our deepest, bitt’rest grief ’twill soothe
To think of others more;
To spread the light of joy and truth
Where darkness reign’d before,
Where darkness reign’d before.
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O Charity, O Love, O Light,
Hope, strength in Thee we find
To live as servants of the Right,
True, tender, real, and kind;
To make life glorious without cease
Until our day be pass’d,
Until we sleep in endless peace
The dreamless sleep at last,
The dreamless sleep at last.
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“Charity” is a hymn by Felix Adler, first published in The Ethical Record vol. 1, no. 1. (April 1888), sheet music page 4. For an account of this hymn being sung, find The Journal of Industrial Education, “Autumn Festival of the Workingman’s School. Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1889.” vol. 4, no. 9 (May 1890).
Source(s)
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Co-authors:
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Name: Felix Adler
Bio: Felix Adler (August 13, 1851 – April 24, 1933) was a German-Jewish American professor of political and social ethics, rationalist, influential lecturer on euthanasia, religious leader, and social reformer who, in 1876, founded the Ethical Culture movement. Felix Adler was the son of Rabbi Samuel Adler of Temple Emanu-El, the most prominent reform synagogue in New York City.
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Adler_(professor)
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/felix-adler
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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: 804px-Charity_by_Jacques_Stella
Caption: "Charity" by Jacques Stella (ca. mid-17th c.)
