Compiled and translated by Paltiel (Philip) Birnbaum, the bilingual Hebrew-English Maḥzor ha-Shalem l’Rosh ha-Shanah (“Sephardic-Ḥasidic,” 1958) was part of a two volume set of maḥzorim Paltiel arranged following the publication of his Ashkenaz maḥzor for Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur in 1951 (also published by the Hebrew Publishing Co.).

“Sephardic” here does not refer to the liturgical custom of the Sepharadim, but rather to the liturgical custom of the ḥassidim who followed the school of Lurianic Kabbalah (a/k/a the nusaḥ ha-ARI z”l). Non-ḥassidic Jews referred to this “new” liturgical custom as “Sephardic” as it contained some liturgical customs familiar to some branches of the sepharadi diaspora. The term stuck and has been a familiar source of confusion for newcomers to Jewish prayer ever since.

This work is in the Public Domain due to the lack of a copyright renewal by the copyright holder listed in the copyright notice (a condition required for works published in the United States between January 1st 1924 and January 1st 1964).

This work was scanned by Aharon Varady for the Open Siddur Project from a volume held in the collection of the Varady family, Cincinnati, Ohio. (Thank you!) This work is cross-posted to the Internet Archive, as a repository for our transcription efforts.

Scanning this work (making digital images of each page) is the first step in a more comprehensive project of transcribing each prayer and associating it with its translation. You are invited to participate in this collaborative transcription effort!

“📖 מחזור השלם לראש השנה (נוסח האר״י)‏ | Maḥzor haShalem l’Rosh haShanah, translated and arranged by Paltiel Birnbaum (1958)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Aharon N. Varady (digital imaging and document preparation)

Aharon Varady, founding director of the Open Siddur Project, is a copyright researcher and amateur book scanner. He prepares digital images and new digital editions of prayer books and related works in the Public Domain in order to make their constituent parts (prayers, translations, annotations, etc.) publicly accessible for collaborative transcription by project volunteers. (In some cases, he finds existing digital editions prepared by others that require correction and reformatting.) If you appreciate his efforts, please send him a kind note or contribute to his patreon account.

Paltiel Birnbaum (translation)

Paltiel Philip Birnbaum​ (1904–1988) was an American religious author and translator, best known for his translation and annotation of the prayerbook Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem ([Complete] Daily Prayer Book), first published in 1949, and widely used in Orthodox and Conservative synagogues until the late 1980s. Birnbaum was born in Kielce, Poland and emigrated to the United States in 1923. He attended Howard College and received his Ph.D. from Dropsie College. He served for several years as the principal of a Jewish day school in Wilmington, Delaware, and directed Jewish schools in Birmingham, Alabama, and Camden, New Jersey. He was a regular columnist and book reviewer for the Hebrew-language weekly, Hadoar. He also served on the board of directors of the Histadrut Ivrit b'America, an American association for the promotion of Hebrew language and culture.

Hebrew Publishing Company

The Hebrew Publishing Company was founded in 1900 by Joseph Werbelowsky (1884-1919). Occupying a former bank building on Delancey Street in Manhattan’s Lower East Side until the mid 1970s, the company remained owned by the Werbelowsky family (later shortened to Werbel) until 1980 when it was sold to Charles Lieber (1921-2016). During its first eighty years, the publishing house grew to become one of the most prominent publishing houses for Jewish books and sheet music.

Works of related interest:

 

📖 מחזור השלם ליום כיפור (נוסח האר״י)‏ | Maḥzor ha-Shalem l’Yom Kippur, translated and arranged by Paltiel Birnbaum (1958)

📖 מחזור השלם לראש השנה ויום כפור (אשכנז)‏ | Mahzor ha-Shalem l’Rosh ha-Shanah v’Yom Kippur, translated and arranged by Paltiel Birnbaum (1951)

📖 הסדור השלם (נוסח האר״י)‏ | HaSiddur HaShalem (Ḥassidic-Sefardic), a bilingual Hebrew-English prayerbook translated and annotated by Paltiel Birnbaum (1969)

📖 המחזור לראש השנה ויום כּיפּור (אשכנז)‏ | Ha-Maḥzor for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, translated and arranged by Rabbi Ben-Zion Bokser (1959)

📖 מחזור אור לישראל לראש השנה (אשכנז) | Maḥzor Or l’Yisrael l’Rosh haShanah, translated by Rabbi Simon Glazer (1928)

📖 הסדור השלם (אשכנז)‏ | Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem, a bilingual Hebrew-English prayerbook translated and annotated by Paltiel Birnbaum (1949)

📖 תפלות לראש השנה (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Tefilot l’Rosh haShanah, arranged and translated by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1937)

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