Concluding Prayer for Hallel in the Home Service for the Festival of Passover, by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy (1896)
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=62243
open_content_license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license date_src_start: 1896-00-00 date_src_end: 1896-00-00 languages_meta: [{"name":"English","code":"eng","standard":"ISO 639-3"}] scripts_meta: [{"name":"Latin","code":"Latn","standard":"ISO 15924"}] Date: 2025-06-26
Last Updated: 2025-06-26
Categories: Hallel
Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, particularism and universalism
Excerpt: This is a concluding prayer in the Hallel service at the Passover seder by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy to his Haggadah or Home Service for the Festival of Passover (1896) pp. 32-34. The prayer does not appear in subsequent editions. The prayer threads the needle between the particularly Jewish communal focus of Passover and the universalist themes that animated Levy's Liberal Jewish mission. . . .
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Most merciful God!
With the Psalmist of old we may say:
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth,
may Israel now say:
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed againat me.
The plowers plowed upon my back,
they made long their furrows.
The hand of man has been against us
but none has been able to turn aside the eternal decree
that Israel ahall be a blessing to the world.
As the ancient people were delivered from Egyptian bondage,
so, again and again they have been brought out safe
from the snare of the fowler.
We, their grateful descendants,
thank thee and praise Thee
that Thou hast ever been with us,
that Thou didst command Right and Truth
to guard us on the way we have gone.
It is through the Lord’s great mercies
that we have not been consumed.
It is thy tender pity
that has ever surrounded us
and hovered over us
as the eagle hovers o’er its nest.
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When we were awearied waiting so long
for the time of prediction
that even now has not yet come,
Thy servants ever inspired us with the hope
that the end is worthy of our struggle,
that the cause is worthy of the suffering it has brought.
We thank Thee
for all the words of comfort and cheer,
for all the lessons of Duty and Love
that Thy servants have given us.
Inspired by their devotion ta Thee, they have uplifted a world.
Their example has led men to strive for liberty.
When the tyrant sought to enslave,
our ancestors bravely revolted.
Israel praising thee on the Red Sea’s banks
for thy gracious protection
has taught men never to suffer the godlike within them
to become debased by bondage.
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We ask Thee
to continue Thy protection over us
and all dear to us.
Be pleased to protect our land
and our homes.
We are grateful that our lot has been cast
in such pleasant places.
We pray that more and more
this people may appreciate its great blessings.
May here men learn to love one another
and to abide together in unity.
May they learn that Thou alone art God,
that Thou art Father of us all.
May the genius of liberty
that is so dear to this people
spread all over the earth.
May oppression cease,
and ignorance depart.
May the shadows flee away
and the bright morning of liberty and love,
of peace and joy be ushered in all the world over.
May the knowledge of Thee increase
and may men recognize Thy greatness and Thy goodness.
May they learn to express their faith in Thee
as Israel has unwaveringly announced it:
Hear, O Israel, the Eternal is our God,
the eternal God is Unity. (Deuteronomy 6:4)
Amen.
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This is a concluding prayer in the Hallel service at the Passover seder by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy to his Haggadah or Home Service for the Festival of Passover (1896) pp. 32-34. The prayer does not appear in subsequent editions. The prayer threads the needle between the particularly Jewish communal focus of Passover and the universalist themes that animated Levy’s Liberal Jewish mission. –Aharon Varady
Source(s)
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: J. Leonard Levy
Bio: Rabbi Joseph Leonard Levy (1865-1917), born in London, was a Liberal/Reform movement rabbi in the United Kingdom and the United States. He was educated at Jews' College and University College (B.A.), London, at Bristol University, England, and at Western University of Pennsylvania (D.D.). Rabbi Levy was rabbi of the Bristol Hebrew Congregation (1885-1889) and of Bnai Israel Congregation, Sacramento, California (1889-1893); associate rabbi of the Keneseth Israel Congregation, Philadelphia (1893-1901); and, since 1901, has been rabbi of the Rodeph Shalom congregation, Pittsburg. In 1898 he was elected chaplain of "Keegan's Brigade," with which he served through the Spanish-American war. Levy was the organizer of a number of charitable and religious societies among the Jews of Philadelphia. He is the author of a translation of the tractate Rosh haShanah of the Babylonian Talmud (Philadelphia, 1895). He published also The Greater Lights (1895); Home Service for the Passover (1896); The Nineteenth Century (1901); A Book of Prayer (Pittsburg, 1902); The Jew's Beliefs (1903); The Children's Service and Hymnal (1903); Text-Book of Religion and Ethics for Jewish Children (1903); Sabbath Reading (1904); and eight volumes of Sunday lectures. Levy is the editor of the Jewish Criterion, published at Pittsburg.
Website: https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9892-levy-joseph-leonard
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/joseph-leonard-levy
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