In Time of Trouble, a prayer by Annie Josephine Levi (1900)
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=50304
open_content_license: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication date_src_start: 1900-00-00 date_src_end: 1900-00-00 languages_meta: [{"name":"English","code":"eng","standard":"ISO 639-3"}] scripts_meta: [{"name":"Latin","code":"Latn","standard":"ISO 15924"}] Date: 2023-04-23
Last Updated: 2025-04-25
Categories: Well-being, health, and caregiving, Addenda
Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Distress, English vernacular prayer, Jewish Women's Prayers, suicidal ideation, suicide, suicide prevention, teḥinot in English, תחינות teḥinot
Excerpt: "In Time of Trouble" was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), page 146. . . .
Content:
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In time of trouble
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“Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.” (Thomas Moore)
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Another day dawns for me
as for all Thy creatures, O Father,
and yet, in my weakness,
I know not how I shall endure
the hours until night.
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Sinful wishes have sprung up within my heart,
and I have prayed for death;
but Thou in Thy wisdom
wouldst not hear my prayer,
and I must live and share
the common lot of those
into whom Thou hast breathed
the breath of life.
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Forgive my evil inclinations,
and show me the right path,
that I may perform my daily duties
cheerfully and submissively.
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May this prayer imbue me
with the spirit of contentment,
whatever trials may be given me to endure.
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Make me humble before Thee,
and lead me into Thy ways.
Amen.
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“In Time of Trouble” was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), page 146. This prayer expresses suicidal ideation as a consequence of profound emotional and/or physical distress. If you find yourself in such distress, please avail yourself of the resources at the Suicide & Crisis Hotline. (By phone in the United States, simply dial 988.)
Source(s)
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Co-authors:
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Name: Annie Josephine Levi
Bio: Annie Josephine Levi (1868-1911) was an American Jewish writer and poet, the daughter of Joseph C. Levi (a prominent lawyer) and Dinah Julia Levi née Emanuel. Annie Levi arranged a prayerbook, Meditations of the Heart in 1900, containing prayers by her and others and with an introduction by Rabbi Gustav Gottheil. Aside from her contributing short stories, poems, essays and letters to periodicals around the turn of the century, we know very little else about this author. By the mid-1890s she was living with her family in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, and later too, at the time of her death in Manhattan, New York. Her paternal grandparents emigrated from England. If you know more about Annie Josephine Levi, please contact us.
Website:
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/annie-josephine-levi
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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
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Title: in time of trouble (Annie Josephine Levi 1900)
Caption: in time of trouble (Annie Josephine Levi 1900)
