English translations of certain Siddurim

[wgw]

Shalom.

I am an Eastern Orthodox,Christian who loves Judaism and related religions such as Samaritanism.

At present, I have English translations of an Orthodox Ashkenazi Siddur, which is very beautiful, a Karaite Siddur, and a Samaritan Defter (their equivalent of a Siddur).

I am looking for Orthodox translations of a Sephardic Siddur, not the form used by the Chasidim but the form used by Spanish Jews who fled Spain for other localities, or a Portuguese Siddur, such as the one used at the famous synagogue in Amsterdam. I am also looking for Enflish translations, if they exist, of a Yemeni Siddur, a Romaniote Siddur, a Morroccan or North African Siddur, a Siddur used by Syrian Jews, and any Siddurim or prayer books used by the Beta Israel or the non-Sephardic Jews of India, such as the Cochin Jews and Bene Israel, or by the Sephardic Cochin Jews if their Siddur as used at the Paradesi synagogue. I doubt English translations exist for most of the above, but I figure it can't hurt to ask.

Also, the older the siddurim the better, and I am especially interested in siddurim that have little or no explicit Kabbalistic content. I don't object to Kabbalah but view it as a natural and beautiful continuation of Jewish mysticism, but I am interested most in those services that reflect the Babylonian one year cycle of Torah reading, the liturgical aspects of the Babylonian Talmud, and little else, in other words, in the oldest and simplest services. However a diversity in liturgical books never hurt anyone, so if someone can link me to an elaborate recent Chasidic Siddur with lots of Kabbalah that would be cool too. My interest in the Jewish liturgy is broad enough to encompass everything, but deep when it comes to the most obscure, antique, or simple services of the Orthodox tradition.

I love the rebuilt Hurva Synagogue by the way. What are the services like there?

Also, I would like to visit a synagogue as part of my research into Jewish liturgy. I love the music at the Choral Synagogues in Eastern Europe especially of the Lithuanian Tradition, and the very dignified liturgy at some British synagogues, such as the now closed Blackpool Synagogue. I live in the Los Angeles area. Any suggestions?

May the blessings of Hashem be on all of you.

 

[rosends]

Does this help

ArtScroll.com - Siddur Hebrew/English: Complete Full Size - Sefard

 

[Levite]

Does this help

ArtScroll.com - Siddur Hebrew/English: Complete Full Size - Sefard

With nothing but respect, this is nusach Sfard, whereas I believe the OP is interested in nusach Sefaradi v'Edot HaMizrach.

For the benefit of other posters, Sfard does have roots in Sefardi nusach, since that is the basis of nusach ARI z"l, and Sfard is essentially a fusion of nusach ARI z"l and nusach Ashkenaz.

For the OP: I believe you may find some Hebrew-English Sefaradi siddurim for sale on nehora.com.

 

[rosends]

With nothing but respect, this is nusach Sfard, whereas I believe the OP is interested in nusach Sefaradi v'Edot HaMizrach.

For the benefit of other posters, Sfard does have roots in Sefardi nusach, since that is the basis of nusach ARI z"l, and Sfard is essentially a fusion of nusach ARI z"l and nusach Ashkenaz.

For the OP: I believe you may find some Hebrew-English Sefaradi siddurim for sale on nehora.com.

I understand -- I was just giving the only thing I could find quickly. The real advice is to wander into a good Judaica store, especially in a community which has diverse geographically based Jews, and see what sells.

 

[Levite]

I understand -- I was just giving the only thing I could find quickly. The real advice is to wander into a good Judaica store, especially in a community which has diverse geographically based Jews, and see what sells.

Quite so.

 

[wgw]

The NuSach Sefard is the Chasidic one, right? How much does it differ from the Ashkenazi and Sephardic siddurim?

I have heard really good things about Artscroll and their wuality; is that an electronic book?

I am hoping to get older translations in the public domain if possible because I just spent $490 on Eastern Orthodox liturgical books. Now granted that's nothing compared to the cost of your exquisite Torah Scrolls, but for a Seminarian it is a fair chunk of change. Also to complete my liturgical library if I get posted to a parish that doesn't have a full Menaion I would have to shell out another grand, but the parish would doubtless pay. The Menaion is a 12 volume behemoth that contains the variable parts of the service for each day of the year, except in Lent and the Feast of Weeks. Then we use the Triodion (with two supplements, total cost $75), and then after Pascha the Pentecostarion ($120); I also have the General Menaion which covers the most important feasts in the rest of the year.

Out of curiosity are Jewish liturgical libraries in terms of music for the Chazzan that expensive or complex? I've seen some Chazzans in beautiful vestments; I love the six pointed birettas. I wish more synagogues used Morroccan style oil lamps for the elegant effect they produce; correct me if Im wrong but beeswax candles aren't kosher so you have to use paraffin candles.

Also one other question: are the Megillot kept in the Torah Ark with the Torah Scrolls or do you have another place for them?

 

[rosends]

The NuSach Sefard is the Chasidic one, right? How much does it differ from the Ashkenazi and Sephardic siddurim?

I have heard really good things about Artscroll and their wuality; is that an electronic book?

I am hoping to get older translations in the public domain if possible because I just spent $490 on Eastern Orthodox liturgical books. Now granted that's nothing compared to the cost of your exquisite Torah Scrolls, but for a Seminarian it is a fair chunk of change. Also to complete my liturgical library if I get posted to a parish that doesn't have a full Menaion I would have to shell out another grand, but the parish would doubtless pay. The Menaion is a 12 volume behemoth that contains the variable parts of the service for each day of the year, except in Lent and the Feast of Weeks. Then we use the Triodion (with two supplements, total cost $75), and then after Pascha the Pentecostarion ($120); I also have the General Menaion which covers the most important feasts in the rest of the year.

Out of curiosity are Jewish liturgical libraries in terms of music for the Chazzan that expensive or complex? I've seen some Chazzans in beautiful vestments; I love the six pointed birettas. I wish more synagogues used Morroccan style oil lamps for the elegant effect they produce; correct me if Im wrong but beeswax candles aren't kosher so you have to use paraffin candles.

Also one other question: are the Megillot kept in the Torah Ark with the Torah Scrolls or do you have another place for them?

Here is another siddur recommendation

http://www.amazon.com/Siddur-Sasson-Sephardic-Weekday-Mizrach/dp/B007ZDWN82

We have prayer books that include daily, sabbath and some holiday prayers, some prayer books that are just weekday (or even just weekday afternoon and evening) and some that are for specific holidays (the most well known being the "machzor" for Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur, but Artscroll and others sell books just for each of the 3 pilgrimage festivals). Prayer is often a series of mix and match, adding in specific liturgical passages or torah readings to the every day prayers or omitting a passage or section on a certain day, so the prayer books are often rife with "jump to page x" or "skip from here to page y." Often, instead of buying a series of prayer books, people buy daily guides which explain what is and is not said on a given day. You can buy one or download/view online Ezras Torah - The Human Side of Philanthropy

Music is a whole other story. Some synagogues have appointed cantors, others have educated laymen lead services and choose tunes from among a vast array of sources and styles so I can't speak to any standardized library. Contact (for example) YUTorah Online - Belz School of Jewish Music for more.

The Ark usually holds just the Torah scrolls but can also hold other things for safe keeping (including the "yad" for the reader to point to the text, other books or scrolls, or in the case of my school, batteries for the microphone we use on weekdays).

 

[dantech]

The NuSach Sefard is the Chasidic one, right? How much does it differ from the Ashkenazi and Sephardic siddurim?

I have heard really good things about Artscroll and their wuality; is that an electronic book?

Other than the Hasidics which live by it, many people find the Artscroll series somewhat opinionated in their translations.

Out of curiosity are Jewish liturgical libraries in terms of music for the Chazzan that expensive or complex?

There are many different levels of Chazzanut. Some very simple, some very complex. It also varies greatly between the different denominations. I, being from the Moroccan side, know that our synagogues are very dedicated to the musical part of things.
This isn't specifically Moroccan, but have a look :Chazzanut Online - Jewish Sheet Music, Jewish Liturgical Music.

Here is a part of the Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur prayer that is said right before the Amida, and it is sung by a Moroccan:

.

Here's his youtube channel: דוד מימון אוטמזגין - YouTube

I've seen some Chazzans in beautiful vestments; I love the six pointed birettas. I wish more synagogues used Morroccan style oil lamps for the elegant effect they produce; correct me if Im wrong but beeswax candles aren't kosher so you have to use paraffin candles.

Jewish law discusses about some candles that aren't kosher to light for Shabbat, because they are unstable, and dangerous.
Today however, candles are manufactured in a way that makes them all pretty much stable, and there are therefore no restrictions.

Also one other question: are the Megillot kept in the Torah Ark with the Torah Scrolls or do you have another place for them?

From what I've seen around the different synagogues i've been to, no one keeps the Meguilot in the Torah Ark. They are normally kept at home, in their own casing.

 

[wgw]

The singing was exquisite. I get particularly excited about the musical traditions of Syrian Jews and also Egyptian Karaites, who use melodies which closely resemble the form of chant used by Syriac and Assyrian Christians, who are largely of Jewish descent (the Assyrians for example in their lectionary retain an identifiable Torah and haftarah portion that matches at chapter and verse barriers some Jewish "lectionaries" if I may dare to use the word to describe your weekly Torah portion and corresponding haftarah,mand Assyrian churches historically featured a Bema; the Chaldean Catholics, who are Assyrians who joined the Roman Catholic Church, are reinstalling bemas in all of their churches). My belief is that if we get behind this material we can find a common core of Semitic music, liturgy and cultural practices that may go back as far as the first century and offer us a glimpse, through a mirror darkly, of the services at the Second Temple before the vicious Romans destroyed it. If only we could peer back through time and see the priests in their splendid vestments making the morning offering following the "Shema Israel."

 

[Levite]

The NuSach Sefard is the Chasidic one, right? How much does it differ from the Ashkenazi and Sephardic siddurim?

Nusach Sfard (nusach means more or less version, or style, and is often idiomatically translated in reference to liturgy as "rite" or "practice") is, like I said, essentially a fusion liturgy. It was created some time between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries by Chasidim and the Ashkenazi mystics who preceded them. It is based in large part upon nusach ARIz"l (the nusach created by Rabbi Isaac Luria, the sixteenth century master Kabbalist, which he based on nusach Sefaradi, the nusach of the Sefaradim-- Jews of the Iberian peninsula), mixed liberally with nusach Ashkenaz (the nusach of Ashkenazi-- Central and Eastern European-- Jews).

It's hard to gauge precisely how much difference there is between Sfard and Ashkenazi and Sefaradi. I personally tend to think that Sfard is much more similar to Ashkenazi than Sefaradi, though I have heard some Ashkenazim who encounter it initially find it very different, and thus presumably more like Sefaradi. The language is richer, the poetry a little more ornate, and there are various additions to the liturgy-- both additional liturgical poems inserted, and also additional verses or clauses to extant liturgical poems or pericopes.

I have heard really good things about Artscroll and their quality; is that an electronic book?

It wouldn't at all surprise me to learn there's an electronic version of Artscroll.

I have to be honest, I am not a fan of Artscroll. I know some people love it, and even I can't deny that, unfortunately, there are some times when it has its uses. But I dislike their translation style, and I think they purposefully interpolate ideology into their translations, biasing the translation to suit particular agenda in Jewish law and theology. I also think their instructions to the reader are both too intrusive and too reflective of a desire to present one particular set of interpretations and customs as monolithic and absolute.

My strong preference for Hebrew-English siddurim is the Koren Sacks siddur. They have an Ashkenazi version and a Sfard version (which they have misleadingly transliterated "Sepharad," but it is Sfard, not Sefaradi), but, unfortunately, I do not believe they have a Sefaradi version so far. But personally, I would rather have an older translation, even if it is clunky and archaic, than use Artscroll. I understand that others will feel differently, but....

...correct me if Im wrong but beeswax candles aren't kosher so you have to use paraffin candles.

I have never heard anyone say that beeswax candles are not kosher. I can think of no reason why they should be.

Also one other question: are the Megillot kept in the Torah Ark with the Torah Scrolls or do you have another place for them?

I have actually been to a very large synagogue where the Ark was so enormous that, in addition to quite a number of Torah scrolls (and assorted adornments for the scrolls), a couple of megillot in ornamental cases as well.

But at least in my experience, that was a rarity. I do not know of any regular practice of keeping megillot in the Ark. I often see them in rabbis' offices, occasionally in people's homes.