בִּרְכָּת הַמַּפִּיל | Birkat haMapil, rhymed translation by Alice Lucas (1898)

Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license

Date: 2021-03-13

Last Updated: 2025-04-16

Categories: Bedtime Shema

Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., paraliturgical birkat hamapil, rhyming translation, ברכת המפיל birkat hamapil

Excerpt: A rhymed paraliturgical translation of the prayer over sleeping. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Paraliturgical Translation (English)
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֺהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַמַּפִּיל חֶבְלֵי שֵׁנָה עַל עֵינָי וּתְנוּמָה עַל עַפְעַפָּי:	Bless’d art Thou, O Lord of all, Who mak’st the bands of sleep to fall Upon mine eyes, and slumber press Mine eyelids down with heaviness.
וִיהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶֽיךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהַי וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתַי שֶׁתַּשְׁכִּיבֵֽנִי לְשָׁלוֹם וְתַעֲמִידֵֽנִי לְשָׁלוֹם	God of my fathers, may it be Thy will, this night to suffer me To lay me down in peace and rise In peace, when morning gilds the skies.
וְאַל יְבַהֲלֽוּנִי רַעְיוֹנַי וַחֲלוֹמוֹת רָעִים וְהַרְהוֹרִים רָעִים וּתְהֵא מִטָּתִי שְׁלֵמָה לְפָנֶֽיךָ וְהָאֵר עֵינַי פֶּן אִישַׁן הַמָּֽוֶת כִּי אַתָּה הַמֵּאִיר לְאִישׁוֹן בַּת עָֽיִן:	From thoughts of ill my slumber keep, And, lest the sleep of death I sleep, O Lighten Thou mine eyes, for Thou Lord, dost with light the eye endow.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה הַמֵּאִיר לָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ בִּכְבוֹדוֹ:	Bless’d art Thou, O Lord most high, Who in Thy glorious majesty, And in Thy gracious love hast given Light upon earth and light in heaven.

Alice Lucas’s rhymed paraliturgical translation of the Birkat haMapil (the blessing over sleep), was first published in her The Jewish Year (1898), page 183, under the title “Evening Prayer.” Linear correspondence between the Hebrew source and the English by Aharon Varady.

Source(s)

Contributor: Alice Lucas (translation)

Co-authors:

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

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