"Teach me to be real!" a prayer for integrity by Rabbi Clifton Harby Levy (1927)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=50119

Date: 2023-04-18

Last Updated: 2023-04-19

Categories: Self-Reflection

Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, integrity, Jewish Science movement, teḥinot in English, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: This untitled prayer by Rabbi Clifton Harby Levy accompanied his short essay, "Applying Judaism to Life" found in The Helpful Manual (Centre of Jewish Science, 1927), pp. 4-5. . . .

Content:

APPLYING JUDAISM TO LIFE

Jewish Science is the application of Judaism to the art of living. It utilizes every well tested method for insuring the well being of body, mind and Spirit. It begins with the great appeal accepted by all Jews as the first, last and continuous duty of each and every Jew: “to LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul and all thy might.”

The attainment of this Love of God is achieved only as we advance in the real contemplation of God, as found in the Universe and within ourselves; the concentration on God as the Eternal and Infinite Source of all life and goodness; the consecration of each human being to the Love of God.

The demonstration of our Love of God consists in our fuller obedience to every law, physical, mental and Spiritual, all of which emanate from God, and through which we prove our own Godliness.

Our Love of God is progressive, for it is in proportion to our deeper sense of God, the fuller consciousness of His immanence, within and about us; to our clearer comprehension of God’s laws as made manifest through scientist and Prophet; our completer consecration to God through the more perfect following of all the laws, by which we are attuned to God.

As we advance in the apprehension of these laws we perfect ourselves through applying all of these principles to living. We do so easily and without strain because of our Love for God, the higher ethical motive. All fear is banished from consciousness because we are sure of the presence of God, and in that presence there can be no fear.

Every moment of life is inspired by this trust in God, flowing from our certainty of His nearness. We are near God as we are filled with consciousness of Him. We cannot live the better, higher life unless we are possessed of God. We are removed from God only as we close our consciousness to His love and mercy. But we can always return by the deep desire to become harmonized with His law and through that attuned to Him.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Teach me, O God, to be real!
	Help me to see the way to live in accord with love of Thee, [in accord with love] of all men.
	Show me how I may speak the truth and live it.
	May I be willing to suffer for the right and day by day prove each one of my beliefs.
	May I grow in the doing of duty, simply as I see it and as it has been taught by those inspired by Thee.
	Help me to be content with little, eager to help others, and to make myself more worthy of Thy love and mercy.
	Let every word and deed be right, in thy sight, that out of the feeling of Thy nearness I may be surer of myself, more certain of Thee. Amen.

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This untitled prayer by Rabbi Clifton Harby Levy accompanied his short essay, “Applying Judaism to Life” found in The Helpful Manual (Centre of Jewish Science, 1927), pp. 4-5.

Source(s)

 

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Aharon N. Varady (editing/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
• 
  Name: Clifton Harby Levy
  Bio: Rabbi Clifton Harby Levy (1867–1962), was a Reform rabbi in the United States. Born in New Orleans, he was ordained at Hebrew Union College (1890), served as rabbi of Congregation Gates of Hope, New York City (1890–91), and as superintendent of classes for immigrant children established by the Baron de Hirsch Fund. Levy later served congregations in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1892–94) and Baltimore, Maryland (1894–96), where he organized a Jewish kindergarten in a religious school and the first United Hebrew Charities. He founded Tremont Temple, Bronx, New York, and was its rabbi from 1906 to 1921. He left the pulpit rabbinate in 1921 and in 1924 organized the Centre of Jewish Science, New York City. As part of the Jewish Science movement, it sought to counter the influence of Christian Science among acculturated American Jews and to inject spirituality into the Reform Jewish synagogue. He was a founding member of the American Council for Judaism, which consisted primarily of anti-Zionist Reform rabbis and laymen. While still a student, Levy published a five-act Purim play, Haman and Mordecai (1886). During his stay in Baltimore he edited Jewish Comment. He edited The Bible in Art (1936) and The Bible in Pictures (1942), and served as art editor of the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia.
  Website: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/levy-clifton-harby
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/clifton-harby-levy

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