Prayer for a Day of Prayer and Humiliation on Account of the Revolt in India, by the S&P Bevis Marks Congregation (6 November 1857)
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=59654
open_content_license: Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication Date: 2025-01-19
Last Updated: 2025-02-18
Categories: Conflicts over Sovereignty and Dispossession, War, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Tags: British East India Company, British Empire, British Jewry, Colonialism, Hindustan, Indian Rebellion of 1857, Mughal Empire
Excerpt: This "Prayer for a day of prayer and humiliation on account of the revolt in India" is the second of two prayers appearing in article titled, "Humiliation" appearing in The Asmonean (6 November 1857), on page 5. As an introduction, the article begins: "The British nation have been holding a day of humiliation on account of the revolt in India. The following are copies of the prayers specially composed for the occasion." The prayer is attributed simply to the S&P Synagogue (in London, a/k/a Bevis Marks Congregation) but the author was likely the Hazan of the synagogue at the time, Rabbi David de Aaron de Sola. . . .
Content:
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Sovereign of the Universe,
thou rulest the raging of the sea;
thou stillest the tumult of nations;
thou hast ordained the kingdoms of the earth,
and at thy pleasure thou dost elevate or humble them.
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In thy abundant mercy
thou hast shown favor unto this kingdom,
under whose protection we find shelter.
Thou hast magnified its name among nations,
and thou hast placed under its dominion
all the races who dwell in the various states of India.
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This dominion has been exercised
with mercy and justice;
lawless plunderers have been restrained
and peace has been established in the land.
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But now wicked men have risen
and rebelled against our most gracious Sovereign Lady,
Queen Victoria.
They were her own soldiers,
eating her bread,
but now they are in open rebellion.
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With the most ungrateful barbarity
they have slain all who fell into their power.
They showed no respect for old age,
they had no compassion upon women and babes,
whom they put to death by most ignominous and cruel torments.
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Protector of all thy creatures!
unto thee do all the distressed and afflicted
raise their eyes.
Hearken unto the cry
of these who are hard pressed
by the rebels, and traitors.
Permit them not to fall into the hands of their enemies.
Be thou unto them a strong rock, a fortified castle;
extricate them from the snares
which have been cast around them,
and in thy righteousness deliver them.
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Thou who lovest righteousness
and hatest wickedness,
support our Sovereign Lady the Queen;
inspire her ministers with wisdom and knowledge,
that they may be sagacious in all their plans,
successfull in all their undertakings.
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Protect her troops and sailors;
grant discretion and energy
unto all her generals and captains.
Shelter them against the inclemencies of climate and weather;
grant them strength and courage on the day of battle;
utterly crush and subdue their enemies before them;
that all the inhabitants of India may hear and tremble,
and never more act presumptuously.
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Speedily put an end to all wars.
Cause peace to blossom, salvation to grow;
may the valleys be covered with corn,
the hills girded with joy;
remove all disease from the midst of us,
for thou, O Lord, healest us.
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May our eyes behold the time
when thou wilt gather us
from the four corners of the earth,
and again plant us on thy holy mount,
that there we may worship thee
in uprightness for ever.
May the same by the gracious will.
Amen!
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This “Prayer for a day of prayer and humiliation on account of the revolt in India” is the second of two prayers appearing in an article titled, “Humiliation” appearing in The Asmonean (6 November 1857), on page 5. As an introduction, the article begins: “The British nation have been holding a day of humiliation on account of the revolt in India. The following are copies of the prayers specially composed for the occasion.” The prayer is attributed simply to the S&P Synagogue (in London, a/k/a Bevis Marks Congregation) but the author was likely the Hazan of the synagogue at the time, Rabbi David de Aaron de Sola.
Source(s)
Prayer for a day of prayer and humiliation on account of the revolt in India (The Asmonean, 6 November 1857), p. 5
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Co-authors:
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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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Name: David de Aaron de Sola
Bio: David de Aaron de Sola or David Aaron de Sola (1796 – 1860) (Hebrew: דוד אהרן די סולה) was a rabbi and author, born in Amsterdam, the son of Aaron de Sola. In 1818, D.A. de Sola was called to London to become one of the ministers of the Bevis Marks Congregation under Haham Raphael Meldola (who would also later become his father-in-law). De Sola's addresses before the Society for the Cultivation of Hebrew Literature led the mahamad (board of directors of the congregation) to appoint him to deliver discourses in the vernacular, and on March 26, 1831, he preached the first sermon in English ever heard within the walls of Bevis Marks Synagogue (all previous ones being spoken in Spanish or Portuguese). His discourses were subsequently published by the mahamad. Of his style, one observer wrote: "Though a scholar and a thinker, yet he...used the most unpedantic terms and assumed a quiet, colloquial manner.
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_de_Aaron_de_Sola
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/david-de-aaron-de-sola
Featured Image:
Title: Attack of the Mutineers on the Redan Battery at Lucknow, July 30th, 1857
Caption: Attack of the Mutineers on the Redan Battery at Lucknow, July 30th, 1857 in Ball, Charles, The History of the Indian Mutiny: Giving A Detailed Account of the Sepoy Insurrection in India (c.1860) Page not numbered, among the illustrations at the beginning of Volume III.
