[Prayer] in Illness, by Rabbi Avraham Samuel Soltes (ca. 1950s)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=29600

Date: 2020-01-26

Last Updated: 2020-11-08

Categories: Well-being, health, and caregiving

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Btselem Elohim, English vernacular prayer, still small voice, מי או מה who or what

Excerpt: A prayer to provide some relief and comfort tor an ill patient. . . .

Content:

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	O Thou still, small voice[1] Cf. 1 Kings 19:11-13.  whose love is the heart of the universe, my whispering soul seeks the rhythm of Thy heartbeat, that in its reverberating concords it may find strength and serenity.
	When I behold Thy heavens, O Lord, the glories of Thy creation, what am I that Thou shouldst hear my whispers, who am I that my murmuring should touch Thy spirit? Yet, I know that the light which fires the stars, the heat which warms the sun is the light of my beloved’s eyes, the warmth of his spirit’s embrace.
	For Thou hast made man in Thine image And crowned him with Thy glory: –the glory of mind that perceives the wonders of the universe; –the glory of heart that hears Thy music in the wind and sees Thy smile in the rosebud; –the glory of spirit that speaks from soul to soul binding one to another with the sustaining rapture of love.
	In all these ways have I felt the crowning glory of Thy presence, Lord, the loving touch of Thy hand, the tender voice of Thy concern. I know, then, that Thou art with me, now, as I entrust myself to the skill of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy healing wisdom. Be Thou with them in their art, and guide their heads and hands that I may be restored in health and strength to continue Thy work– refracting into dim and harried lives the rays of Thy warming light.
	Sustain the spirits of those who love me that they may have faith in Thy divine judgment, for it is their boundless love that strengthens my faith in Thee.
	O God, who hast given us rain for our bodies and added rainbows for our souls, wheat for our sustenance and flowers for our spirit, and to the necessary embrace of breeding hast bestowed the fiery ecstasy of love, be gracious also unto us at this hour, beyond our deserving.
	Into Thy hand I commit my spirit; For Thy salvation, I hope, O Lord. Amen.

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Rabbi Abraham Soltes’s “[Prayer] in Illness” is an undated prayer published in his collection of prayers, תפלה Invocation: A Sheaf Of Prayers (Bloch 1959). The earliest prayer in that collection dates to 1950 and we are confident this prayer can be dated between that year and the date of publication.

Source(s)

 

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Notes[+]

Notes

1	Cf. 1 Kings 19:11-13.

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Avraham Samuel Soltes
  Bio: Rabbi Avraham Soltes (1917-1983) was a Reform Jewish rabbi, the Jewish chaplain at the United States Military Academy in West Point, an author and a leading figure in Jewish cultural affairs. He was born in New York City. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1937 and received a master's degree from Columbia University in 1938. After being ordained in 1942 by the Jewish Institute of Religion (now HUC-JIR), he served as chaplain at Cornell and McGill Universities and then was assistant rabbi at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan from 1946 to 1949. He subsequently served as rabbi at Temple Sharey Tefilo in East Orange and Temple Emanuel in Great Neck. He began his service at West Point as a voluntary chaplain in 1963 and was made a permanent member of the staff in 1981. His interests also took him into commerce, and from 1969 to 1974, he was vice president for community affairs of the Glen Alden Corporation, which in 1972 was merged into the Rapid America Corporation. From 1974 to 1977, he was assistant to the president of Tel Aviv University. He was credited with a key role in the establishment of the New York medical division at the university. In 1981, Rabbi Soltes received the Jabotinsky Award from Prime Minister Menachim Begin for his service to Israel. From 1977 until his death Rabbi Soltes had been the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Chavairuth of Bergen County, in Tenafly, N.J. He participated in many cultural and educational activities that interpreted Jewish art, music and literature. He was chairman of the National Jewish Music Council from 1963 to 1969 and a member of the board of the National Jewish Book Council from 1967 to 1972. Rabbi Soltes, a commentator on Jewish music for American listeners, was the host of a radio program, ''The Music of Israel,'' on WQXR from 1974-1983. Among his writings were Palestine in Poetry and Song of the Jewish Diaspora (Master's thesis HUC-JIR 1942) and Off The Willows: The Rebirth of Modern Jewish Music (1970).
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/avraham-samuel-soltes
• 
  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-transcription

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