PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

A complete Daily Prayer Book, in Hebrew and English, equally suitable for use in Synagogues, families, and schools, has never yet been within the reach of the community at large. The present volume is intended to supply this primal necessity. It owes its origin to the generosity and public spirit of Mrs. Nathaniel Montefiore, by whom the entire cost of production has been defrayed. It is, therefore, now possible for all who can afford the outlay of one shilling to obtain a book which could not otherwise have been offered to the public except at a far higher price.

No pains have been spared to render the work of permanent value, and worthy of its place as the Authorised Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire. As it was practically complete before the death of the late Chief Rabbi, Dr. N.M. Adler, it was enabled to receive, and to be issued with the stamp of his sanction and authorisation.

The main objects kept in view in the production of the book have been to furnish a correct text, (for the greater part of which S. Baer’s Abodath Israel has served as the basis), and a satisfactory translation, and to combine with these fundamental requirements the not insignificant advantages of good paper, clear type, and strong binding.

To render the volume still more suitable for general use, a number of Prayers for special occasions have been introduced. Of these, the Prayers to be said at the Consecration of a House, and upon the Sick and Death Bed, have been written or arranged by the Rev. Dr. Hermann Adler; the Prayer in the House of Mourning and the Thanksgiving to be offered up by Women after their Confinement are the same that have been in use for some years past, having been drawn up by the late Chief Rabbi. The Marriage Service and Morning and Evening Prayers for Children have also been introduced.

The English translation is entirely new. Its aim has been to unite accuracy and even literalness with due regard to English idiom, and to that simplicity of style and diction which befits the language of prayer. It should be noted that the Biblical passages were translated by an accomplished scholar upon the basis of the Revised Version, the text or margin of which rendering has, upon the whole been closely followed.

Thanks are due to the Rev. Dr. H. Adler, Dr. Friedlander, and Mr. I. Abrahams, for many valuable suggestions as well as for much assistance while the book was passing through the press.

The copyright of the book is vested in the Jewish Association for the Diffusion of Religious Knowledge.

[Rabbi Simeon Singer]
London, Tammuz , 5650 — July, 1890.

PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION

This Prayer Book remains after 70 years, an abiding memorial to the honoured name of Simeon Singer.

The successive editions and numerous reproductions of the Singer’s Prayer Book testify to its wide acceptance as the standard Jewish Prayer Book in English-speaking countries both in private and congregational worship.

The response to a letter which appeared in the Jewish Press in September 1956, announcing that a Revised Singer’s Prayer Book was being prepared and inviting suggestions for the proposed edition, provided further confirmation of the popularity of the Authorised Daily Prayer Book. The replies received contained suggestions advocating improvements in translation, the necessity for clarification of some rubrics and the inclusion of additional prayers. They were all given earnest consideration and in many cases adopted by the special Prayer Book Revision Committee which I set up.

The Members of the Revision Committee of which I was Chairman were: Dayan Dr. M.S. Lew; Rabbi Dr. A. Melinek; Dr. L.V. Snowman; Mr. Hugh Harris, M.A., M.Litt.; Rabbi Dr. J. Rabbinowitz, Hon. Secretary.

I would like to pay special tribute to all the members, and particularly to Rabbi Dr. J. Rabbinowitz who undertook the arduous and exacting task of preparing and editing the Manuscript of the Prayer Book and has seen it through the press. At all stages, the members of the Committee assisted in the reading of the proofs.

We met a number of times over a period of twelve months. At the first Meeting, the Committee decided to retain Singer’s translation with only such corrections as were required to remove ambiguity and conform with the changes of usage of the English language since the book first appeared. Dr. Snowman and Mr. Harris undertook the revision of the English and submitted their suggestions to the Committee and those accepted are embodied in the present edition.

The text of the Prayer Book is the same basically as printed by Singer with the subsequent additions for which my late predecessor Dr. J.H. Hertz זצ״ל was mainly responsible. This edition has been made more continuous than previously and consequently fresh pagination has had to be introduced.

Mention should be made of the following additional prayers which have been introduced: Shalom Aleichem—translated by Rabbi Dr. J. Rabbinowitz; Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel; Zemiroth for Sabbath morning—translated by Dr. L.V. Snowman ; Searching for Chametz; Eruv Tavshilin; Kiddush for Festival mornings; Kiddush for the morning of the New Year; Prayers for Travellers amended to include scriptural verses to be recited by those travelling by sea or air; A new Bar mitsvah Prayer composed by the Chief Rabbi in place of the one by Haham Artom.

Attention is also drawn to the verse translation of Adon Olam by the late Mrs. Alice Lucas, which replaces the prose translation by the late Rev. S. Singer. This has been introduced as a tribute to the association of the Lucas family with the publication of the Singer’s Prayer Book from the first edition up to the present time.

I would like to take this opportunity of expressing appreciation to Dr. S. Fundaminsky, Education Officer of the London Board of Jewish Religious Education, and Dr. N. Wieder, a member of the staff of Jews’ College, for helpful suggestions in connection with the new Bar mitsvah Prayer.

It is my fervent hope that this revised edition will prove as popular and indispensable as the former editions and that it will contribute to a deepening sense of reverence to Him who hearkeneth to prayer.

ISRAEL BRODIE,
Chief Rabbi.

Ḥanukkah 5722

NOTE TO THE NEW EDITION

Since the Singer’s Prayer Book as it has come affectionately to be known, was first published in 1890, there have been twenty-six further impressions, and over that period more than half a million copies have been sold.

As a result of the persistent advocacy of the late Chief Rabbi, Dr. J.H. Hertz, the Prayer Book was revised in a number of respects. The rubrics were suitably amended and the need for cross-reference, a serious drawback in former editions, considerably reduced. During the Second World War, as a result of enemy action, the plates from which the Prayer Book was printed were destroyed, and subsequent impressions had to be reproduced by photo-litho process. The stage was reached in 1955 when it was decided to take the opportunity to prepare a new and revised edition under the guidance of the present Chief Rabbi, Dr. Israel Brodie.

It has always been the policy of the Committee to publish the Prayer Book at the lowest price possible having regard to cost of materials and labour, and for some time the generous donation received many years ago in memory of Mrs. Louis Cohen of Liverpool helped towards this end. With the vastly increased cost of production, this aid was in itself wholly insufficient. An appeal was accordingly made to a number of public spirited gentlemen well known in the Community for their ready response to worthy causes, and generous donations were received from the following:—
Sir Maurice Bloch, Sir Jack Brunei Cohen, Mr. Jack Cotton, the late Jack Goodenday, Mr. Felix Levy, Lord Marks of Broughton, the late L.J. Montefiore, Mr. Harold Samuel, Sir Isaac Wolfson, Bart., and others.

Contributions were also received through Rabbi I. Abrahams, M.A., of Cape Town, South Africa; Rabbi J. Danglow, C.M.G., O.B.E., V.D., M.A., of Melbourne, Australia, and from Mr. Ivan Shortt, J.P.

Thanks to this most valuable help, it has been possible to keep the price at a reasonable level and I feel that in comparison with the cost of other publications of a similar standing to-day, the price of the volume is not unreasonable.

Previous editions have been published during the presidency of my late father, Henry Lucas, and under the late Arther E. Franklin, Alfred Eichholz and Ernest H. Schiff.

Nathaniel S. Lucas,
Chairman,

United Synagogue — ק״ק כנסת ישראל

SINGER’S PRAYER-BOOK PUBLICATION COMMITTEE

The Very Rev. The Chief Rabbi, Dr. Israel Brodie
Nathaniel Sampson Lucas, Esq., M.B. (Chairman)
Samuel Davies, Esq., J.P.
S.S. Levin, Esq., LL.B.
Alfred Woolf, Esq., J.P.
Alfred H. Silverman, Esq., F.C.A. (Secretary)

Woburn House,
Upper Woburn Place,
London, W.C. 1.