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A siddur (Hebrew: סדור‎; plural סדורים siddurim) is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed. A separate article, Jewish prayer, discusses the prayers that appear in the siddur, and when they are said.

History of the siddur[link]

The earliest parts of Jewish prayer book are the Shema Yisrael ("Hear O Israel") (Deuteronomy 6:4 et seq), and the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), which are in the Torah. A set of eighteen (currently nineteen) blessings called the Shemoneh Esreh or the Amidah (Hebrew, "standing [prayer]"), is traditionally ascribed to the Great Assembly in the time of Ezra, at the end of the Biblical period.

The name Shemoneh Esreh, literally "eighteen", is an historical anachronism, since it now contains nineteen blessings. It was only near the end of the Second Temple period that the eighteen prayers of the weekday Amidah became standardized. Even at that time their precise wording and order was not yet fixed, and varied from locale to locale. Many modern scholars believe that parts of the Amidah came from the Hebrew apocryphal work Ben Sira.

According to the Talmud, soon after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem a formal version of the Amidah was adopted at a rabbinical council in Yavne, under the leadership of Rabban Gamaliel II and his colleagues. However, the precise wording was still left open. The order, general ideas, opening and closing lines were fixed. Most of the wording was left to the individual reader. It was not until several centuries later that the prayers began to be formally fixed. By the Middle Ages the texts of the prayers were nearly fixed, and in the form in which they are still used today.

The siddur was printed by Soncino in Italy as early as 1486, though a siddur was first mass-distributed only in 1865^{[citation needed]}. The siddur began appearing in the vernacular as early as 1538. The first - unauthorized - English translation, by Gamaliel ben Pedahzur (a pseudonym), appeared in London in 1738; a different translation was released in the United States in 1837.^[1]

Creating the siddur[link]

Readings from the Torah (five books of Moses) and the Nevi'im ("Prophets") form part of the prayer services. To this framework various Jewish sages added, from time to time, various prayers, and, for festivals especially, numerous hymns.

The earliest existing codification of the prayerbook was drawn up by Rav Amram Gaon of Sura, Babylon, about 850 CE. Half a century later Rav Saadia Gaon, also of Sura, composed a siddur, in which the rubrical matter is in Arabic. These were the basis of Simcha ben Samuel's Machzor Vitry (11th century France), which was based on the ideas of his teacher, Rashi. Another formulation of the prayers was that appended by Maimonides to the laws of prayer in his Mishneh Torah: this forms the basis of the Yemenite liturgy, and has had some influence on other rites. From this point forward all Jewish prayerbooks had the same basic order and contents.

Two authoritative versions of the Ashkenazi siddur were those of Shabbetai Sofer in the 16th century and Seligman Baer in the 19th century; siddurim have also been published reflecting the views of Jacob Emden and the Vilna Gaon.

Different Jewish rites[link]

Nusach Ashkenaz Siddur prayer book from Irkutsk, Russia, printed in 1918

There are differences among, amongst others, the Sephardic (including Spanish and Portuguese), Teimani (Yemenite), Chasidic, Ashkenazic (German-Polish), Bené Roma or Italkim and Romaniote (Greek, once extending to Turkey and perhaps the southern Italian peninsula) liturgies. Most of these are slight differences in the wording of the prayers; for instance, Oriental Sephardic and some Hasidic prayer books state "חננו מאתך חכמה בינה ודעת", "Graciously bestow upon us from You wisdom (ḥochmah), understanding (binah) and knowledge (daat)", in allusion to the Kabbalistic sefirot of those names, while the Nusach Ashkenaz, as well as Western Sephardic and other Hasidic versions retain the older wording "חננו מאתך דעה בינה והשכל", "Graciously bestow upon us from You knowledge, understanding, and reason". In some cases, however, the order of the preparation for the Amidah is drastically different, reflecting the different halakhic and kabbalistic formulae that the various scholars relied on in assembling their siddurim, as well as the minhagim, or customs, or their locales.

Some forms of the Sephardi rite are considered to be very overtly kabbalistic, depending on how far they reflect the ritual of Isaac Luria. This is partly because the Tetragrammaton frequently appears with varying vowel points beneath the letters (unpronounced, but to be meditated upon) and different Names of God appear in small print within the final hei (ה) of the Tetragrammaton. In some editions, there is a Psalm in the preparations for the Amidah that is printed in the outline of a menorah, and the worshipper meditates on this shape as he recites the psalm.

The Ashkenazi rite is more common than the Sephardi rite in America. While Nusach Ashkenaz does contain some kabbalistic elements, such as acrostics and allusions to the sefirot ("To You, God, is the greatness [gedullah], and the might [gevurah], and the glory [tiferet], longevity [netzach],..." etc.), these are not easily seen unless the reader is already initiated. It is notable that although many other traditions avoid using the poem "Anim Zemiroth" on the Sabbath, for fear that its holiness would be less appreciated due to the frequency of the Sabbath, the poem is usually sung by Ashkenazi congregations before concluding the Sabbath Musaf service with the daily psalm. The ark is opened for the duration of the song.

Hasidim, though usually ethnically Ashkenazi, usually use liturgies with varying degrees of Sephardic influence, such as Nusach Sefard and Nusach Ari, in order to follow the order of the prayers set by Rabbi Isaac Luria, often called "Ari HaKadosh", or "The Holy Lion". Although the Ari himself was born Ashkenazi, he borrowed many elements from Sephardi and other traditions, since he felt that they followed Kabbalah and Halacha more faithfully. The Ari did not publish any siddur, but orally transmitted his particular usages to his students with interpretations and certain meditations.^[2] Many siddurim containing some form of the Sephardic rite together with the usages of the Ari were published, both by actual Sephardic communities and for the use of Hasidim and other Ashkenazim interested in Kabbalah. In 1803, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi compiled an authoritative siddur from the sixty siddurim that he checked for compliance with Hebrew grammar, Jewish law, and Kabbalah: this is what is known today as the "Nusach Ari", and is used by Lubavitch Hasidim. Those that use Nusach HaAri claim that it is an all-encompassing nusach that is valid for any Jew, no matter what his ancestral tribe or identity, a view attributed to the Maggid of Mezeritch.

The Mahzor of each rite is distinguished by hymns (piyyutim) composed by authors (payyetanim). The most important writers are Yose ben Yoseh, probably in the 6th century, chiefly known for his compositions for Yom Kippur; Eleazar Kalir, the founder of the payyetanic style, perhaps in the 7th century; Saadia Gaon; and the Spanish school, consisting of Joseph ibn Abitur (died in 970), ibn Gabirol, Isaac Gayyath, Moses ibn Ezra, Abraham ibn Ezra and Judah ha-Levi, Moses ben Nahman (Nahmanides) and Isaac Luria. In the case of Nusach HaAri, however, many of these High Holiday piyyutim are absent: the older piyyutim were not present in the Sephardic rite, on which Nusach HaAri was based, and the followers of the Ari removed the piyyutim composed by the Spanish school.

Complete versus weekday siddurim[link]

Some siddurim have only prayers for weekdays; others have prayers for weekdays and Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath). Many have prayers for weekdays, Shabbat, and the three Biblical festivals, Sukkot (the feast of Tabernacles), Shavuot (the feast of weeks) and Pesach (Passover). The latter are referred to as a Siddur Shalem ("complete siddur").

Variations and additions on holidays[link]

There are many additional liturgical variations and additions to the siddur for the Yamim Noraim (The "Days of Awe"; High Holy Days, i.e. Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur). As such, a special siddur has developed for just this period, known as a mahzor (also: machzor). The mahzor contains not only the basic liturgy, but also many piyutim, Hebrew liturgical poems. Sometimes the term mahzor is also used for the prayer books for the three pilgrim festivals, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.

Popular siddurim[link]

Below are listed many popular siddurim used by religious Jews.

Variety of popular Siddurim.

Ashkenazi Orthodox[link]

• Siddur Ha-Shalem (a.k.a. the Birnbaum Siddur) Ed. Philip Birnbaum. The Hebrew Publishing Company. ISBN 0-88482-054-8 (Hebrew-English)
• The Metsudah Siddur: A New Linear Prayer Book Ziontalis. (Hebrew-English)
• The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the British Commonwealth, translation by Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks (the new version of "Singer's Prayer Book") (Hebrew-English)
• The Artscroll Siddur, Mesorah Publications (In a number of versions including an interlinear translation and fairly popular today.) (Hebrew, Hebrew-English, Hebrew-Russian, Hebrew-Spanish, Hebrew-French) The " great innovation" of the Artscroll was that it was the first siddur " made it possible for even a neophyte ba’al teshuvah (returnee to the faith) to function gracefully in the act of prayer, bowing at the correct junctures, standing, sitting and stepping back" at the correct place in the service. "^[3]
• Siddur Rinat Yisrael, Hotsa'at Moreshet, Bnei Brak, Israel. (In a number of versions, popular in Israel.) (Hebrew)
• Siddur Siach Yitzchak (Hebrew)
• Siddur Tefilas Kol Peh (Hebrew)
• Siddur Tefilas Sh'ai, Feldheim Publishers : Israel/NewYork (Hebrew)
• Siddur HaGra (reflecting views of the Vilna Gaon)
• Siddur Aliyos Eliyahu (Popular among followers of the Vilna Gaon who live in Israel and abroad) (Hebrew)
• Siddur Kol Bo (Hebrew)
• Koren Sacks Siddur (Hebrew-English), Koren Publishers Jerusalem: based on latest Singer's prayer book, above (described as the first siddur to "pose a fresh challenge to the ArtScroll dominance."^[4])

Sephardic[link]

Spanish and Portuguese Jews[link]

(Characterised by relative absence of Kabbalistic elements:)

• Book of Prayer: According to the Custom of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews David de Sola Pool, New York: Union of Sephardic Congregations, 1979
• Book of Prayer of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation, London. Volume One: Daily and occasional prayers. Oxford (Oxford Univ. Press, Vivian Ridler), 5725 - 1965.

Greek, Turkish and Balkan Sephardim[link]

(Usually characterised by presence of Kabbalistic elements:)

• Siddur Zehut Yosef (Daily and Shabbat) According to the Rhodes and Turkish Traditions, Hazzan Isaac Azose, Seattle, Washington: Sephardic Traditions Foundation, 2002

North African Jews[link]

(Usually characterised by presence of Kabbalistic elements:)

• Siddur Od Abinu Ḥai ed. Levi Nahum: Jerusalem (Hebrew only, Livorno text, Libyan tradition)
• Mahzor Od Abinu Ḥai ed. Levi Nahum (5 vols.): Jerusalem (Hebrew only, Livorno text, Libyan tradition)
• Siddur Vezaraḥ Hashemesh, ed. Messas: Jerusalem (Hebrew only, Meknes tradition)
• Siddur Ish Matzliaḥ, ed. Mazuz, Machon ha-Rav Matzliah: B'nei Brak (Hebrew only, Djerba tradition)
• Siddur Farḥi (Hebrew with Arabic translation, Egypt)
• Siddur Tefillat ha-Ḥodesh, ed. David Levi, Erez : Jerusalem (Hebrew only, Livorno text, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian traditions)[2]
• Siddur Patah Eliyahou, ed. Joseph Charbit, Colbo: Paris (Hebrew and French, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian traditions)[3]
• Mahzor Zechor le-Avraham, Yarid ha-Sefarim : Jerusalem (Based on the original Zechor le-Abraham: Livorno 1926, Hebrew only, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian traditions, days of awe only)
• Siddur Darchei Avot (Moroccan)
• Siddur Oro shel Olam

Middle Eastern Mizrachim (Sephardim)[link]

(Usually characterised by presence of Kabbalistic elements:)

[edit] Syrian

• The Aram Soba Siddur: According to the Sephardic Custom of Aleppo Syria Rabbi Moshe Antebi, Jerusalem: Aram Soba Foundation, 1993
• Siddur Abodat Haleb / Prayers from the Heart Rabbi Moshe Antebi, Lakewood, New Jersey: Israel Book Shop, 2002
• Kol Yaacob: Sephardic Heritage Foundation, New York, 1990.
• Bet Yosef ve-Ohel Abraham: Jerusalem, Manṣur (Hebrew only, based on Baghdadi text)
• Orḥot Ḥayim, ed. Yedid: Jerusalem 1995 (Hebrew only)
• Siddur Kol Mordechai, ed. Faham bros: Jerusalem 1984 (minhah and arbit only)
• Abir Yaakob, ed. Haber: Sephardic Press (Hebrew and English, Shabbat only)
• Orot Sephardic Siddur, Eliezer Toledano: Lakewood, New Jersey, Orot Inc. (Hebrew and English: Baghdadi text, Syrian variants shown in square brackets)
• Maḥzor Shelom Yerushalayim, ed. Albeg: New York, Sephardic Heritage Foundation 1982

[edit] Israeli, following Rabbi Ovadia Yosef

• Ohr V’Derech Sephardic Siddur
• Siddur Yeḥavveh Daat
• Siddur Avodat Ha-shem
• Siddur Ḥazon Ovadia
• Siddur L'maan Shmo

Edot Hamizrach (Iraqi)[link]

• Tefillat Yesharim: Jerusalem, Manṣur (Hebrew only)
• Siddur Od Yosef Ḥai
• Kol Eliyahu, ed. Mordechai Eliyahu
• Siddur Rinat Yisrael - (Edot Hamizrach edition), Hotsa'at Moreshet, Bnei Brak, Israel. (Hebrew)

Yemenite Jews (Teimanim)[link]

Baladi[link]

• Siddur Tiklal: Tzalach Yihiyeh Ben Yehuda, 1800
• Siddur Tiklal: Torath Avoth [4]
• Siddur Siaḥ Yerushalayim: Rabbi Yosef Qafiḥ/Kapach [5]
• Tiklal Ha-Mefoar (MAHARITS) Nusahh Baladi, Meyusad Al Pi Ha-Tiklal Im Etz Hayim Ha-Shalem Arukh Ke-Minhag Yahaduth Teiman: Bene Berak : Or Neriyah ben Mosheh Ozeri, [2001 or 2002] [6]

Shami[link]

• Siddur Tefillat HaḤodesh - Beit Yaakov, Nusaḥ Sepharadim, Teiman, and Edoth Mizraḥ
• Siddur Kavanot HaRashash, Shalom Sharabi, Publisher: Yeshivat HaChaim Ve'Hashalom

Chassidic Siddurim[link]

• Siddur Tehillat HaShem (the version currently used by Chabad-Lubavitch)
• Siddur Torah Or (the Alter Rebbe's original edition)
• Nusach Sefard Siddurs

Conservative Judaism[link]

• Sabbath and Festival Prayer Book Ed. Morris Silverman with Robert Gordis, 1946. USCJ and RA
• Weekday Prayer Book Ed. Morris Silverman, 1956. USCJ
• Weekday Prayer Book Ed. Gershon Hadas with Jules Harlow, 1961, RA.
• Siddur Sim Shalom Ed. Jules Harlow. 1985, 980 pages, RA and USCJ.
• Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals Ed. Lawrence Cahan, 1998, 816 pages. RA and USCJ.
• Siddur Sim Shalom for Weekdays Ed. Avram Israel Reisner, 2003, 576 pages. RA and USCJ.
• Siddur Va'ani Tefilati Ed. Simchah Roth, 1998, 744 pages. Israeli Masorti Movement and Rabbinical Assembly of Israel. Hebrew.
• Va'ani Tefilati: Siddur Yisre'eli Ed. Ze'ev Kenan, 2009, 375 pages. Israeli Masorti Movement and Rabbinical Assembly of Israel. Hebrew.
• Siddur Lev Yisrael Ed. Cheryl Magen, 1998, 432 pages. Camp Ramah. Hebrew.

Progressive and Reform Judaism[link]

• Ha-Avodah Shebalev, The prayer book of The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, Ed. The Council of Israel Progressive Rabbis (MARAM), 1982
• The Companion to Ha-Avodah Shebalev published by Congregation Har-El Jerusalem in 1992 to help English-speaking immigrants and visitors; Hebrew pages from the original Ha-Avodah Shebalev, English translations from Gates of Prayer: The New Union Prayer Book with additional translations by Adina Ben-Chorin.
• Seder ha-Tefillot: Forms of Prayer: Movement for Reform Judaism, London 2008, ISBN 0-947884-13-0; ISBN 978-0-947884-13-0 Official prayer book of the Reform movement in Britain
• Liberal Jewish Prayer Book: Vol. 1 (Services for Weekdays, Sabbaths, Etc.), 1926, 1937; Vol. 2 (Services for The Day of Memorial {Rosh Hashanah} and The Day of Atonement), 1923, 1937; Vol. 3 (Services for Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles), 1926; all published by the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, U.K.
• Service of the Heart: Weekday Sabbath and Festival Services and Prayers for Home and Synagogue, Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues, London, 1967
• Gate of Repentance: Services for the High Holidays, Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues, London, 1973
• Vetaher Libenu: Purify Our Hearts, Congregation Beth El, Sudbury, MA 1980
• Siddur Lev Chadash, Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues, UK, 1995.
• Machzor Ruach Chadashah, Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues, London, 2003.
• Olat Tamid: Book of Prayers for Jewish Congregations

All of the following published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis:

• Union Prayer Book, vol. 1 (Sabbath, Festivals, and Weekdays), 1895, 1918, 1940; vol. 2 (High Holidays), 1894, 1922, 1945
• Gates of Prayer: The New Union Prayer Book, 1975
• Gates of Repentance: The New Union Prayer Book, 1978, 1996
• Gates of Prayer for Shabbat and Weekdays: A Gender Sensitive Prayerbook, 1994
• Mishkan T'filah [Tabernacle of Prayer]: A Reform Siddur, 2007
• Mishkan T'filah for Gatherings: A Reform Siddur, 2009
• Mishkan T'filah for Travelers: A Reform Siddur, 2009

Reconstructionist Judaism[link]

Kol Haneshamah: Shabbat Vehagim

• Prayer Books edited by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan and others:
  • Sabbath Prayer Book, Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945
  • High Holiday Prayer Book (Vol. 1, Prayers for Rosh Hashanah; Vol. 2, Prayers for Yom Kippur), Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1948
  • Supplementary Prayers and Readings for the High Holidays, Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1960
  • Festival Prayer Book, Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1958
  • Daily Prayer Book, Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1963
• Hadesh Yameinu (Renew our days): a book of Jewish prayer and meditation, edited and translated by Rabbi Ronald Aigen. Montreal (Cong. Dorshei Emet), 1996.
• Kol Haneshamah Prayerbook series, ed. David Teutsch:
  • Erev Shabbat: Shabbat Eve, Reconstructionist Press, 1989
  • Shirim Uvrahot: Songs, Blessings and Rituals for the Home, Reconstructionist Press, 1991
  • Shabbat Vehagim: The Sabbath and Festivals, Reconstructionist Press; 3rd edition (August 1, 1998)
  • Limot Hol: Daily Prayer Book, Reconstructionist Press; Reprint edition (September 1, 1998)
  • Kol Haneshamah: Prayers for a House of Mourning, Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (October 10, 2001)
  • Kol Haneshamah: Mahzor Leyamim Nora'Im, Fordham University Press; Bilingual edition (May 1, 2000)

Digital Options[link]

[edit] iPhone

• Siddur RustyBrick
• Pocket iSiddur Paul Abraham Jaimovich
• Siddur Nusach Ari: Dovid Zirkind, JewishContent.org
• Esh Siddur: Elyahu Sheetrit
• Siddur HD (iPad): RustyBrick

[edit] Android

• Siddur Tehillat Hashem Avraham Makovetsky
• Smart Siddur Lite Karri Apps
• Siddur Sfaradi RobertR
• AndDaaven Siddur S Popper

[edit] Blackberry

• JewishContent.org
• Hebrew In Hand

See also[link]

• The Transliterated Siddur
• Jewish services
• Nusach
• Amidah
• List of Jewish prayers and blessings
• Amram Gaon
• Eleazar Kalir
• Siddur of Saadia Gaon
• Torah databases (for electronic Hebrew texts of the siddur with vowels)
• Sephardic law and customs

References[link]

• Jewish Liturgy: A Comprehensive History, Ismar Elbogen, Jewish Publication Society, 1993. This is the most thorough academic study of the Jewish liturgy ever written. Originally published in German in 1913, and updated in a number of Hebrew editions, the latest edition has been translated into English by Raymond P. Scheindlin. This work covers the entire range of Jewish liturgical development, beginning with the early cornerstones of the siddur; through the evolution of the medieval piyyut tradition; to modern prayerbook reform in Germany and the United States.
• Joseph Heinemann "Prayer in the Talmud", Gruyter, New York, 1977
• Kavvana: Directing the Heart in Jewish Prayer, Seth Kadish, Jason Aronson Inc., 1997.
• The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer Macy Nulman, Jason Aronson Inc.,1993. Provides in one volume information on every prayer recited in the Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditions. Arranged alphabetically by prayer, this book includes information on the prayers, their composers and development, the laws and customs surrounding them, and their place in the service.
• Jakob J. Petuchowski "Contributions to the Scientific Study of Jewish Liturgy" Ktav, New York, 1970
• Goldschmidt, Meḥqare Tefillah u-Fiyyut (On Jewish Liturgy): Jerusalem 1978
• Wieder, Naphtali, The Formation of Jewish Liturgy: In the East and the West
• Reif, Stefan, Judaism and Hebrew Prayer: Cambridge 1993. Hardback ISBN 978-0-521-44087-5, ISBN 0-521-44087-4; Paperback ISBN 978-0-521-48341-4, ISBN 0-521-48341-7
• Reif, Stefan, Problems with Prayers: Berlin and New York 2006 ISBN 978-3-11-019091-5, ISBN 3-11-019091-5
• The Artscroll Siddur, Ed. Nosson Scherman, Mesorah Publications. A popular Orthodox prayerbook with running commentary. The amount of commentary varies by version.
• The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the British Commonwealth, translation by Rabbi Eli Cashdan. An Orthodox prayerbook widely used in the UK and other Commonwealth countries.
• Siddur HaEsh (of Fire) in Hebrew Wikibooks
• Amidah, entry in the Encyclopaedia Judaica, Keter Publishing
• JNUL Digitized Book Repository, page with links to facsimile prayer books from 1475 to 1981
• Siddur Audio, website with text and audio of selections from the Siddur

Chief Rabbi the Right Honourable  The Lord Sacks  Kt
Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
Position	Chief Rabbi
Organisation	United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
Began	1991
Ended	Incumbent
Predecessor	The Lord Jakobovits
Personal details
Born	(1948-03-08) March 8, 1948 (age 64) London, England
Nationality	British
Denomination	Orthodox
Spouse	Elaine Taylor Sacks
Children	Joshua, Dina and Gila
Alma mater	Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge New College, Oxford King's College London
Semicha	Jews' College and Etz Chaim Yeshiva (London)

Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks, Kt (born 8 March 1948, London) is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. His Hebrew name is Yaakov Zvi. As the spiritual head of the United Synagogue, the largest synagogue body in the UK, he is the Chief Rabbi of the British Orthodox synagogues, but he is not a religious authority for the Federation of Synagogues or the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations or the other movements, Masorti, Reform and Liberal Judaism.^[1][2]

Family[link]

He is married with three children.^[3] One of his daughters, Gila Sacks, is a former Special Adviser to Gordon Brown.

Education[link]

Sacks was educated at St Mary's Primary School and Christ's College Finchley, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge (MA), New College, Oxford, King's College London (PhD), Jews' College London and Etz Chaim Yeshiva (London).^[4]

In addition to the PhD he earned at King's College,^[5] he has also been awarded honorary doctorates from the universities of: Cambridge; Glasgow; Haifa; Middlesex; Yeshiva University; Liverpool and St. Andrews, Roehampton University and is an honorary fellow of Gonville and Caius and King's College London.

Career[link]

In September 1991 Sacks succeeded Lord Jakobovits as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. Prior to taking up his current post, Rabbi Sacks was Principal of Jews' College, as well as rabbi of the Golders Green and Marble Arch synagogues.^[6]

Sacks heads the Chief Rabbi's Cabinet^[4] consisting of fourteen other rabbis who advise him on a number of areas, such as Jewish education, Israel, Jewish-Christian relations, matters relating to the Beit Din (Jewish court), and several other areas of concern to the Jewish community. The Chief Rabbi's Cabinet meets on a quarterly basis and its members are entitled to represent the Chief Rabbi at public events.

Sacks had been Principal of Jews' College, London, the world's oldest rabbinical seminary, as well as rabbi of the Golders Green (1978–1982) and Marble Arch (1983–1990) Synagogues in London. He gained rabbinic ordination from Jews' College as well as from London's Etz Chaim Yeshiva (London).

Praise and recognition[link]

In September 2001 the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred on him a doctorate of divinity in recognition of his first ten years in the Chief Rabbinate of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

In 2004, his book The Dignity of Difference was awarded the Grawemeyer Award for Religion.

Sacks was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2005 "For services to the Community and to Inter-faith Relations."^[7]

He was made an Honorary Freeman of the London Borough of Barnet in September 2006.^[8]

On 13 July 2009 it was announced that Sacks was recommended for a life peerage with a seat in the House of Lords by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.^[9][10] He took the style Baron Sacks of Aldgate in the City of London.^[11]

He was invited to the wedding of Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton as a representative for the Jewish community.^[12]

Views[link]

Some Orthodox opposition[link]

After the publication of his book The Dignity of Difference, a group of Haredi rabbis, most notably Rabbis Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Bezalel Rakow, accused Sacks of heresy against what they consider the traditional Orthodox viewpoint (although many Orthodox Jews and others as well consider the Haredi'im sector "ultra-Orthodox" rather than merely "Orthodox," see Haredi article). According to them, some words seemed to imply an endorsement of pure relativism between religions, and that Judaism is not the sole true religion, e.g. "No one creed has a monopoly on spiritual truth." This led him to rephrase more clearly some sentences in the book for its second edition, though he refused to recall books already in the stores.^[13]

In his "Preface to the Second Edition" of the book, Sacks wrote that certain passages in the book had been misconstrued: he had already explicitly criticised cultural and religious relativism in his book, and he did not deny Judaism's uniqueness. He also stressed however that mainstream rabbinic teachings teach that wisdom, righteousness and the possibility of a true relationship with God are all available in non-Jewish cultures and religions as an on-going heritage from the covenant that God made with Noah and all his descendants, so the tradition teaches that one does not need to be Jewish to know God or truth or to attain salvation.^[14][15] As this diversity of covenantal bonds implies, however, traditional Jewish sources do clearly deny that any one creed has a monopoly on spiritual truth. Monopolistic and simplistic claims of universal truth he has characterized as imperialistic, pagan and Platonic, and not Jewish at all.^[16]

Efforts to accommodate Haredi Jews[link]

A book by the British historian and journalist Meir Persoff, Another Way, Another Time, has argued that "Sacks’s top priority has been staying in the good graces of the Haredi, or strictly Orthodox, faction, whose high birthrate has made it the fastest-growing component of British Jewry." But, Persoff has argued, "the Orthodox circles Sacks strives to placate will never consider him Orthodox enough no matter what he does."^[17]

Rabbi Gryn and Rabbi Jacobs[link]

Sacks provoked considerable controversy in the Anglo-Jewish community in 1996 when he refused to attend the funeral service of the late Reform Rabbi Hugo Gryn and a private letter he had written in Hebrew, which (in translation) asserted that Gryn was "among those who destroy the faith," was leaked and published. He wrote further that he was an "enemy" of the Reform, Liberal and Masorti movements, leading some to reject the notion that he is "Chief Rabbi" for all Jews in Britain. He attended a memorial meeting for Gryn, a move that brought the wrath of some in the ultra-Orthodox community.^[18][19] Rabbi Dow Marmur argued that after attending the memorial service, Sacks then attempted to placate the ultra-Orthodox community, an attempt which Marmur has described as “neurotic and cowardly."^[20]

A similar stance was taken by Sacks and his Beth Din when they prevented the retired Rabbi Louis Jacobs, who had helped establish the British branch of the Masorti movement, from being called up for the Reading of the Torah on the Saturday before his grand-daughter's wedding.^[21]

Secularism and Europe's changing demographics[link]

Sacks has expressed concern at what he regards as the negative effects of materialism and secularism in European society, arguing that they undermine the basic values of family life and lead to selfishness. In 2009 Sacks gave an address claiming that Europeans have chosen consumerism over the self-sacrifice of parenting children, and that "the major assault on religion today comes from the neo-Darwinians." He argued that Europe is in population decline "because non-believers lack shared values of family and community that religion has."^{[22][23][24][25]}

Consumerism and Steve Jobs[link]

Rabbi Sacks made remarks at an inter-faith reception attended by the Queen, in November 2011, in which he criticised what he believed to be the selfish consumer culture that has only brought unhappiness. "The consumer society was laid down by the late Steve Jobs coming down the mountain with two tablets, iPad one and iPad two, and the result is that we now have a culture of iPod, iPhone, iTune, i, i, i. When you're an individualist, egocentric culture and you only care about 'I,’ you don’t do terribly well." ^{[26][27][28][29]} In a later statement, the Chief Rabbi's office said "The Chief Rabbi meant no criticism of either Steve Jobs personally or the contribution Apple has made to the development of technology in the 21st century."^[26]

Current positions[link]

• Rabbi and Spiritual Leader, Western Marble Arch Synagogue, London (since May 1, 2004).
• Jakobovits Professor in modern Jewish thought, Jews' College London, 1982.
• Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth (since September 1, 1991).
• Visiting professor of theology at King's College London.
• Honorary fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, 1993.
• Presentation (Honorary) fellow, King's College London, 1993.
• Member of the Board of World Religious Leaders, The Elijah Interfaith Institute.^[30]

Previous positions held[link]

• Lecturer in moral philosophy, Middlesex Polytechnic, 1971–1973.
• Lecturer, Jews' College London, 1973–82; director of its rabbinic facility, 1983–1990; Principal, 1984–1990.
• Visiting professor of philosophy at the University of Essex, 1989–1990.
• Sherman lecturer at the University of Manchester, 1989.
• Riddell lecturer at the University of Newcastle.
• Cook lecturer at the University of Oxford, University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews.
• Visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Sacks is also a frequent guest on both television and radio, and regularly contributes to the national press. He delivered the 1990 [[BBC]] [[Reith Lectures]] on The Persistence of Faith].

Works by Jonathan Sacks[link]

• Traditional alternatives: Orthodoxy and the future of the Jewish people (1989)
• Tradition in an Untraditional Age (1990)
• BBC Reith Lectures: The Persistence of Faith (1990)
• Persistence of Faith (1991)
• Arguments for the Sake of Heaven (1991)
• Crisis and Covenant (1992)
• One People? (1993)
• Will We Have Jewish Grandchildren? (1994)
• Community of Faith (1995)
• Torah Studies: Discourses by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson (1996)
• The Politics of Hope (1997 revised 2nd edition 2000)
• Morals and Markets (1999)
• Celebrating Life (2000)
• Radical Then, Radical Now (published in America as A Letter in the Scroll) (2001)
• Dignity of Difference (2002) (Grawemeyer Award winner)
• The Chief Rabbi's Haggadah (2003)
• To Heal a Fractured World – The Ethics of Responsibility (2005)
• The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Fourth Edition (2006)
• The Home We Build Together – Recreating Society (2007)
• The Koren Sacks Siddur (2009)
• Covenant & Conversation: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible (2009)
• Future Tense: Jews, Judaism, and Israel in the Twenty-first Century (2009)
• The Great Partnership: God, Science and the Search For Meaning (2011)
• The Koren Sacks Rosh HaShana Mahzor (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jonathan Sacks

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jonathan Sacks

• Office of the Chief Rabbi
• Koren Publishers Jerusalem website
• Amazon Author Page
• The 1990 BBC Reith Lectures 1990: The Persistence of Faith

John Reed
Reed in 2007
Born	(1969-02-07)February 7, 1969 TriBeCa, New York City
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Columbia University
Occupation	novelist
Website
http://www.johnreed.org

John Reed (born February 7, 1969) is an American novelist. He is the author of four novels: A Still Small Voice (2000), Snowball's Chance (2002) with a preface by Alexander Cockburn, The Whole (2005), and All the World's a Grave: A New Play by William Shakespeare (2008). His fifth book, Tales of Woe (2010), is a collection of twenty-five stories, chronicling true stories of abject misery.

Biography[link]

Born in 1969 in New York City, Reed is the son of artist David Reed and Judy Rifka.^[1] He attended Hampshire College, and received a Masters in Fine Art in Creative Writing from Columbia University.^[2] He teaches at The New School.

Reed was an early contributor to, and subsequently an editor with, Open City, a New York literary journal published by Robert Bingham, who later founded the book series.

Works[link]

He is affiliated with the New York Press and The Brooklyn Rail. "Americans are extremely sophisticated in terms of narrative forms," said Reed in an interview. "We see it in commercials, we see it on TV, we see it in movies. But the narrative forms we're talking about are three acts, five acts, depending on how you want to look at it. They're all based on a Christian model of sin, suffering, redemption; which is not a large model."^[3]

A Still Small Voice[link]

A Still Small Voice (Delacorte 2000, Delta 2001), Reed’s first novel, is a historical novel based on the life of a girl growing up in Kentucky from 1850-1870.

Snowball's Chance[link]

Snowball's Chance (Roof Books 2002/2003), Reed’s second novel was a controversial send-up of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and ended in a cataclysmic attack on the “Twin Mills” (reminiscent of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center). It became a bestseller in the field of books by independent literary publishers.^[4]

The Whole, or, Duh Whole[link]

Wikinews has related news: John Reed on Orwell, God, self-destruction and the future of writing

John Reed discusses politics after 9/11 and Reed's take on Orwell's neoconservativism.

Reed between BOMB magazine's senior editor Monica de la Torre and editor-in-chief Betsy Sussler.

The Whole, Reed’s third novel, parodied MTV and was released in 2005 by MTV Books (Simon & Schuster). The novel described a gigantic hole that appears in the middle of the country, which engulfs four states.

All the World's a Grave[link]

Reed, in a new work, returns to the overhaul of canonical English writers in All the World's a Grave, fall 2008, Penguin Books. The work, subtitled "A New Play by William Shakespeare", is a tragedy in five acts, a "mash-up" constructed of lines drawn from five Shakespeare tragedies and one Shakespeare history; Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo & Juliet and Henry V. In the "literary trick" (as described by Page Six of The New York Post) Shakespeare's lines are rearranged into a wholly new story, in which Prince Hamlet of Denmark goes to war to claim his bride and the daughter of King Lear, Juliet. Upon a triumphant return home, Hamlet discovers that his mother has murdered his father, and married Macbeth. Visited by his father's ghost, and goaded by the opportunistic Lieutenant Iago, Hamlet is driven mad by the erroneous belief that Juliet is having an affair with General Romeo.^[5]

References[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: John Reed (novelist)

External links[link]

• John Reed's website
• All the World's a Grave, book website.
• Kill the beavers!, The Daily Telegraph, November 22, 2002.
• John Reed: Saint George and the Damn Truth, Moby Lives, Nove,ber 10, 2003.
• John Reed: The Whole, an excerpt, Brooklyn Rail, January 2005.
• Dinitia Smith: A Pig Returns to the Farm, Thumbing His Snout at Orwell, The New York Times, November 25, 2002.
• Cathy Young: Blaming the Victim, Reason.com, December 3, 2002.
• Andrea Scrima: Review of Tales of Woe, Rumpus, November 16, 2010.
• Interview with Arthur Phillips on rewriting Shakespeare

Leo Baeck
German stamp, 1957 for 1st anniversary of the death of Leo Baeck
Personal details
Born	(1873-05-23)23 May 1873 Lissa
Died	2 November 1956(1956-11-02) (aged 83) London, England
Denomination	Reform
Spouse	Natalie Hamburger

Leo Baeck (23 May 1873 – 2 November 1956) was a 20th century German Rabbi, scholar, and a leader of Progressive Judaism.

Early years[link]

Baeck was born in Lissa (Leszno) (then in the German Province of Posen, now in Poland), the son of Rabbi Samuel Baeck, and began his education at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau in 1894. He also studied philosophy in Berlin with Wilhelm Dilthey, served as a rabbi in Oppeln, Düsseldorf, and Berlin, and taught at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums (Higher Institute for Jewish Studies). In 1905 Baeck published The Essence of Judaism, in response to Adolf von Harnack's The Essence of Christianity. This book, which interpreted and valorized Judaism through a prism of Neo-Kantianism tempered with religious existentialism, made him a famous proponent for the Jewish people and their faith. During World War I, Baeck was an army chaplain in the German Imperial Army.

Nazi persecution and deportation[link]

In 1933, after the Nazis seized power, Baeck worked to defend the Jewish community as president of the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden, an umbrella organization that united German Jewry from 1933 to 1938. After the Reichsvertretung was disbanded during the November Pogrom, the Nazis reassembled the council's members under the government controlled Reichsvereinigung. Leo Baeck headed this organization as its president until his deportation. On 27 January 1943, he was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Leo Baeck became the "honorary head" of the Council of Elders (Judenrat) in Theresienstadt. As such, he was protected from transports and with his protection list, could also save his relatives from transports,^[1] among others his grand-niece Ruth (b. 1925). Moreover, Baeck became "prominent", which meant that he had better accommodation, better food and could receive mail more often.^[2] He gave lectures, was active in the interfaith dialogue between the Jews and Christians of Jewish origin, worked in the youth care sector, which he directed from November 1944 on, and was friendly with many of the functionaries. After liberation, he headed the Council of Elders; the last Elder of the Jews was the Czech communist Jiří Vogel.^[3] Baeck's lectures were credited with helping prisoners survive their confinement. Heinrich F. Liebrecht said Baeck's lectures helped him to discover wellsprings of strength and the conviction that his life had a purpose. "From here came the impulse to really endure, and the belief that we were able to do so."^[4]

Up until his deportation, numerous American institutions offered to help him escape the war and immigrate to the United States.^{[citation needed]} Leo Baeck refused to abandon his community and declined the offers.^{[citation needed]} Nevertheless, he managed to survive the Holocaust, though three of his sisters perished in the ghetto.^[5]

Post-war life and work[link]

After the war, Baeck relocated to London, where he accepted the Presidency of the North Western Reform Synagogue in Temple Fortune. He taught at Hebrew Union College in America, and eventually became Chairman of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. It was during this time he published his second major work, This People Israel, which he partially penned during his imprisonment by the Nazis.

In 1955, the Leo Baeck Institute for the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry was established, and Baeck was the first international president of this institute. The asteroid 100047 Leobaeck is named in his honour, as is Leo Baeck College, the Reform/Progressive rabbinical college in London.

He died on 2 November 1956, in London, England and has nine living descendants: a granddaughter, a great-grandson, five great-great-grandchildren (four great-great-grandsons and one great-great-granddaughter), and two great-great-great-grandchildren. His daughter and great-grandson are deceased.

See also[link]

• Leo Baeck Institute

Bibliography[link]

• Baker, Leonard (1982) Hirt der Verfolgten : Leo Baeck im Dritten Reich. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta. ISBN 3-12-930760-5 (German);
• Baker, Leonard (1978) Days of sorrow and pain : Leo Baeck and the Berlin Jews. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-506340-5 ;
• Neimark, Anne E. (1986) One man's valor : Leo Baeck and the Holocaust E.P. Dutton, New York, ISBN 0-525-67175-7 (for juvenile audience);
• Friedlander, Albert H.: Teacher of Theresienstadt, Overlook Press; Reprint (July 1991), ISBN 0-87951-393-4 (10), ISBN 978-0-87951-393-1 (13)
• Heuberger, Georg and Backhaus, Fritz (2001): Leo Baeck 1873-1956: Aus dem Stamme von Rabbinern, Frankfurt: Jewish Museum. ISBN 3-633-54169-1

References[link]

External links[link]

• Guide to the Papers of Leo Baeck
• Leo Baeck at Find-A-Grave
• Akiba Ernst Simon and Yehoyada Amir (1972, 2006), Leo Baeck, from Encyclopaedia Judaica; via Jewish Virtual Library
• Leo Baeck, Jewish Philosopher and Bridge Between the Rationalists and the Existentialists, JewishGates, via archive.org

Institutions named in honor of Leo Baeck

• Leo Baeck College - rabbinical school in London
• Leo Baeck Education Center - junior high and high school in Haifa, Israel
• Leo Baeck Centre for Progressive Judaism, Melbourne - Synagogue and Community Centre
• Leo Baeck Day School - Preschool to Grade 8 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Leo Baeck Old Age Home, Herbartstrasse, Berlin, Germany
• Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem
• Leo Baeck Institute London
• Leo Baeck Institute New York
• Leo Baeck Foundation- foundation with the help of Leo Baeck's family to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Leo Baeck's yahrzeit: to foster rabbinic training and interreligious dialogue .
• Leo Baeck Temple Reform congregation in West Los Angeles, California