A Bedtime Prayer for the Young, by Annie Josephine Levi (1900)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=50323

Date: 2023-04-23

Last Updated: 2024-12-02

Categories: Bedtime Shema

Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., children's prayers, English vernacular prayer, teḥinot in English, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: This untitled "Evening Meditation for the Young," a bedtime prayer, was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), page 137. . . .

Content:

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	“By all that He requires of me I know what God Himself must be.” (John G. Whittier.[1] From “Revelation” by John G. Whittier, 1886 (as found in the Complete Poetical Works of John G. Whittier, vol. 2: Poems of Nature, Religious Poems, etc., p. 342-344. )
	Dear Father in heaven, as I am about to lay me down to rest I want to offer Thee a prayer of thanks for all the kindness Thou hast shown unto me today.
	I know I did not deserve Thy goodness, for I did not do my duty as I ought. I have been fretful and impatient, hasty, too, when I should have controlled my temper. And yet, how thoughtful were my dear parents to me, their erring child!
	But I ask Thy forgiveness, God, for all these failings, and pray for help to improve in the future.
	Watch over me and my dear ones this night; let us meet again in love ready to do whatever Thou sendest us to do, with a willing heart. Amen.

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This untitled “Evening Meditation for the Young,” a bedtime prayer, was written by Annie Josephine Levi and published in her anthology of teḥinot in English, Meditations of the Heart (1900), page 137.

Source(s)

 

Notes[+]

Notes

1	From “Revelation” by John G. Whittier, 1886 (as found in the Complete Poetical Works of John G. Whittier, vol. 2: Poems of Nature, Religious Poems, etc., p. 342-344.

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  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
• 
  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: [evening meditation for the young] (Annie Josephine Levi 1900)
Caption: [evening meditation for the young] (Annie Josephine Levi 1900)