Customer Reviews

Daily Prayer Book: Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem

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Ha-Siddur ha-Shalem is a very good basic siddur. It has some good and not so good features I would like to share with others who are considering this siddur.

I like the completeness of this siddur. It takes me through the prayers of the day, week, month, and season with relative ease. Intertwined with the basic structure are the wonderful pieces of timeless teachings by the Sages and Rabbis, songs, and other writings that have helped steer the Jewish community over centuries. It has the following basic structure: Morning, afternoon and evening services; Welcoming of Sabbath; Evening, morning and afternoon services for Sabbaths; Ethics of the Fathers; Conclusion of Sabbath; Monthly rites; Yearly festival and memorial rites; Lifetime rites (death, birth, marriage); Blessings; Night Prayer.

I do not like the typesetting in this suddur. The Hebrew and Aramaic are of the classic Squares which are very hard on the eyes. No prayer stands out from any other prayer since the type used are all the same size with no shading of any text. Though this makes all prayers in this siddur stand in equal value of importance, the loss of distinction of the weekly, monthly, and seasonal prayer additions from the basic daily prayer can happen rather easily. However, the siddur has footnotes that give insight on how the prayers were constructed. I have found them to be very helpful and insightful. It is very refreshing to have an Orthodox siddur that is not polarised to extremists' opinions.

I first discovered this book sitting in a dusty corner of my parents book shelf and fell in love immediately. the way this siddur is worded reaches the spirit and draws the mental out of evey day affairs. It does not distinguish prayers in bold or italics because "no one prayer is any more important than the next prayer. An most wonderful, fulfilling siddur I've seen.

This Siddur is the one I use daily. I have the artscroll Siddur and it is a good choice also - but the Birnbaum speaks to my heart. The language is clearer and more accessible to me as someone not coming from a Jewish upbringing.

It is a source of comfort in times of trouble and a connection with Adonai.

The Kessinger reprint of "Daily Prayer Book" by Birnbaum has high quality paper, sturdy binding and covers with a clear dark print. However, there is one major problem. This is a Hebrew book that should be printed to read from the right cover to the left cover (the reverse of English). Kessinger printed the book to read from left cover to right as an English book. This makes the book unusable as a Hebrew prayer book. I had to return the purchase. I wrote to Kessinger but have not received a reply.

Once the Birnbaum siddur was the standard siddur for most Orthodox congregations. I remember it well from my childhood. I have a great affection for its ' clean and clear' look. There is a beauty in just seeing the Hebrew letters. I on occasion still davven with the Birnbaum synagogue. I have never thought of it this way but I suppose it adds a dimension in feeling , a kind of memory of past prayers, the worlds of my childhood.
It is simply a siddur I love.