Praying still, by faith sustained:
'Thou with whom the holy dwell,
Scorn not Jacob's prayer unfeigned,
Mark the tears of Israel!'"




The First Bath of Ablution


The wind is keen, the frost is dread,
Toward the icy water,
By aunt and mother forth is led
The fisher's lovely daughter.

"Dive in, dive in, my child, with haste!
There's naught whereon to ponder,
The time, dear heart, we must not waste:
The sun has set out yonder.

"God's mercy, child, is great and sure:
Fear not but He will show it!
Leap in,--leap out! and you are pure,--
'Tis over ere you know it!"

The frost and cold with cruel knife
The tender form assail.
Ah, would you be a Jewish wife,