A Woman’s Prayer for the Shabbat before the New Moon

A WOMAN’S PRAYER FOR THE SHABBAT BEFORE THE NEW MOON

Master of all worlds, You gave us the new moon/Rosh Hodesh, a time of favor to pray to You, Adonai our God, so we pour out our hearts in prayer and raise our voices before You. In the merit of our foremother Sarah, for whom You prevented the foreign king Avimelech from harming her, may no one bring harm to any of her descendants. In the merit of our foremother Rebecca, through whose actions Jacob received blessings from his father Isaac, may we merit to see these blessings manifest speedily among her descendants, the Jewish people. In the merit of our foremother Rachel, as You promised that in the merit of her prayers her descendant would [eventually] be redeemed from all harm, please uphold this promise speedily in our days. In the merit of our foremother Leah, who cried so much her eyes became delicate, bring light and joy to our eyes. Renew this month for us for good, bring enduring joy and happiness, turn all our troubles to goodness.

—Sarah Rebecca Rachel Leah Horowitz (18th century), Bolechow, Polish Galicia

Excerpted from Supplication of the Matriarchs, an eight-page, trilingualprayerin Aramaic, Yiddish, and Hebrew for theShabbatbefore the new moon. In the introduction, Horowitz argued the legitimacy of women’s involvement in talmudic and halachic discourse and explored the significance of women’s prayer, and its ability to bring redemption. Leah Horowitz, as she was called, was renowned for her knowledge ofTalmud. The author Ber of Bolechow reports that Ms. Leah, “the famous scholar,” helped him prepare for his Talmud teaching; the anonymous workSefer Ozar Sichot Chachamim describes her as “a great scholar, well versed in the Talmud” and recounts her chavruta/partner learning of Talmud with another woman scholar, Dinah, the wife of Saul Halevi, the chief rabbi of The Hague between 1748 and 1785.