Prayer Before Sleep

2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the Remembrance Poppy in Canada
Prayer Before Sleep (from the Talmud Suite) by Sid Robinovitch, composer; Elmer Iseler, conductor; performed by the Elmer Iseler Singers; album Gloria: Sacred Choral Works (CBC Records, label series: Musica Viva, 1993).
From the Veterans Monument on French Mountain, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, photo by Lydia Adams

“They will never know the beauty of this place,
see the seasons change, enjoy nature’s chorus.
All we enjoy we owe to them, men and women
who are buried in the earth of foreign lands and in the seven seas.
Dedicated to the memory of Canadians who died overseas in the service of their country and so preserved our heritage.”

The Veterans Monument – Department of Veterans Affairs, Canada
View from the monument on French Mountain,
Cape Breton Highlands National Park – Placed in 1985.
Photo by Lydia Adams.

Prayer Before Sleep

Baruch atah Adonai
Eloheinu melech ha-olam

Exalted are Thou, O my Lord
Who art God and King of the World

Hamapil chavlei sheina al einai
Ut’numah al afapai

Who weighs down my eyes
with gentle bonds of sleep,
And refreshes my tired spirit with slumber.

Vihi ratson milfanecha
Adonai Elohai Velohei Avotai
Sh’tashkiveini l’shalom
V’ta-amideini l’shalom

May ever it be Thy will,
Lord my God, and God of all my fathers,
To lay me down in untroubled peace
And raise me up in peace once more.

V’al y’vahaluni rayonai
Vachalomot ra-im
V’harhorim ra-im
U-t’hi mitati shleima l’fanecha

Do not let dark imaginings disturb me
With thoughts of sin and despair,
O heal my fear and my suffering—
May my bed be enclosed in Thy care.

V’ha-er einai
Pen ishan hamavet
Ki atah hame-ir
L’ishon bat-ayin

Give light unto my eyes
Lest the sleep of death o’ertake me.
For ‘tis Thou who breathes life
Into man’s slumb’ring soul.

Baruch atah Adonai
Hame-ir la-olam kulo
Bichvodo

Exalted art Thou, O Lord,
Who illuminates all the world
With His Glory.