Prayer for Parents, by Marcus Heinrich Bresslau (1852)

Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license

Date: 2020-06-11

Last Updated: 2025-03-08

Categories: Bnei (Bar/Bat) Mitsvah & Other Birthday Prayers

Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, prayers on behalf of parents, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: A prayer by a daughter on behalf of her parents. . . .

Content:

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	What on the face of the globe can be likened unto the fidelity of a father and the tender love of a mother? They who led me into the world through the gate of life; they who joyfully offered numberless sacrifices for my welfare; they, who carefully sowed the heavenly seed of every human virtue in the tender soul of the child; they, who unremittingly sought to promote the happiness of my life from my birth—O God, let them enjoy happy and joyful days. O Father, let the names of them both stand long in the book of life. If in the black clouds of the storm a dark fate draws near, O keep it off from them, and preserve them from pain and affliction. If an arrow of disaster threatens to fly to that heart, under which I felt the first pulsation of life: O Lord, arrest it and ward it off.
	With no earthly good am I able to requite the tender love of the faithful father and affectionate mother; therefore reward Thou them, all-kind Father, with Thy blessing, reward them with tranquillity of mind, with concord and contentment, with health and cheerfulness, and sustain them long, even long yet in this life of pilgrimage. Amen.

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Source (English)

What on the face of the globe can be likened unto the fidelity of a father and the tender love of a mother? They who led me into the world through the gate of life; they who joyfully offered numberless sacrifices for my welfare; they, who carefully sowed the heavenly seed of every human virtue in the tender soul of the child; they, who unremittingly sought to promote the happiness of my life from my birth—O God, let them enjoy happy and joyful days. O Father, let the names of them both stand long in the book of life. If in the black clouds of the storm a dark fate draws near, O keep it off from them, and preserve them from pain and affliction. If an arrow of disaster threatens to fly to that heart, under which I felt the first pulsation of life: O Lord, arrest it and ward it off.

With no earthly good am I able to requite the tender love of the faithful father and affectionate mother; therefore reward Thou them, all-kind Father, with Thy blessing, reward them with tranquillity of mind, with concord and contentment, with health and cheerfulness, and sustain them long, even long yet in this life of pilgrimage. Amen.

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: prayer for parents (Marcus Heinrich Bresslau 1852)
Caption: Detail of Marcus Heinrich Bresslau's Prayer for Parents.