Selichot for the Propitiatory and Penitential Days, and for the Minor Fasts, to which are added the Selichot for the Minor Day of Atonement with a New English Translation by David Asher, Ph. Dr. (Vallentine & Sons 1912) is, we believe, the most comprehensive collection of seliḥot with an English translation in the Public Domain.
Scanning this work 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 project!
This work was scanned by Aharon Varady for the Open Siddur Project from a volume held in the collection of the HUC Klau Library, Cincinnati, Ohio. (Thank you!) This work is cross-posted to the Internet Archive, as a repository for our transcription efforts.
“סדר סליחות מכל השנה | Seder Seliḥot mikol ha-Shanah :: The Order of Seliḥot for the entire year, translated by David Asher, Ph.D. (1912)” is shared by the contributors with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project, which he founded and directs. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin, Ministarot Nakeniשְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. Besides his transcription work, Varady occasionally translates prayers and contributes his own original work. (Varady also serves as editor and administrator of the Open Siddur Project website, opensiddur.org, and is an outspoken advocate for open-source in Judaism more of which can be read about in this interview in the Atlantic Magazine.)
David Asher (born at Dresden Dec. 8, 1818; died in Leipsic Dec. 2, 1890) was a German-Jewish scholar and educator . He received his early education at the Jewish school of his native city, and subsequently entered the gymnasium there, being one of the first Jews admitted to the institution. As his mother was unable to support him, his stay there was short. Asher then learned the trade of carving and gilding, thereby supporting himself as a journeyman artisan during his travels to various cities of Germany and Austria. On the invitation of a wealthy relative he went to London, where he learned English at a private school—subsequently becoming assistant teacher there—and at the same time assiduously studied philosophy, philology, Hebrew, and modern languages. Later, Asher held various offices in the Jewish congregation and was tutor to the children of the chief rabbi of England. Upon his return to Germany he obtained the degree of doctor of philosophy at the Berlin University. Settling in Leipsic, he soon acquired reputation as an English instructor, having among his pupils many persons of high rank. For seven years he held the post of English master at the Commercial School; and for eight years that of examiner of candidates for higher schools at the university. He was also a member of the Academy for Modern Languages, in Berlin, and official interpreter to the Royal Law Courts of Leipsic. A linguist of the first order, he was engaged in literary work of varied character, and diligently contributed to most of the leading German journals, as well as to the English periodicals the "Times," "Athenæum," "Academy," and "Jewish Chronicle." For the last he translated Dr. Döllinger's "Address on the History of the Jews of Europe." Asher distinguished himself as an interpreter of the philosophy of Schopenhauer; and as an ardent champion of his own coreligionists, energetically combating antisemitic attacks. (lightly adapted from his entry in the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia)
So far, it’s cross-posted here and in our collection of scanned (and digital native) works at the Internet Archive. We can get this posted to Hebrew Wikisource and start transcription there. Would you like to take the lead on this, Amir?
Is work to transcribe this ongoing somewhere? Would like to contribute.
So far, it’s cross-posted here and in our collection of scanned (and digital native) works at the Internet Archive. We can get this posted to Hebrew Wikisource and start transcription there. Would you like to take the lead on this, Amir?