Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת 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. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Rev. Newton Mann (1836-1926), born in Cazenovia, New York, was a Unitarian minister in Wisconsin, New York, and Nebraska. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was appointed head of the Western Sanitary Commission, with which he served until the end of the war. He then entered the Unitarian ministry, and in 1865 organized the Unitarian Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he was ordained and where he served for three years. Then followed a pastorate of two years in Troy, New York, and in 1870 he accepted a call to Rochester, where he remained eighteen years. His last charge was at Omaha, Nebraska, where for twenty years he ministered to a substantial congregation. He wrote Evolution of a Great Literature (1905), introducing scholarly biblical criticism to general readers.

Max Landsberg (1845–1927), born in Berlin, Prussia, was the senior rabbi of the B'rith Kodesh Congregation, Rochester, New York, and one of the best known and most beloved Jewish religious leaders in the United States. He was the eldest son of the rabbi Meyer Landsberg (1810–1870) the rabbi of Hildesheim. After matriculating from high school in 1862, he studied philosophy and oriental philology at the universities of Göttingen and Breslau, completing his studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau where he received his rabbinical degree. In 1866, he earned a doctorate from the University of Halle. From 1867, he taught at the seminary in Hanover until 1871 when, on the recommendation of the Jewish reformer Abraham Geiger (1810–1874), he moved to Rochester where he was elected rabbi of the B'rith Kodesh congregation, taking up his appointment in March 1871. In addition to his religious duties, thanks to his scholarship and his interest in philanthropy, he was soon recognized as one of the city's most eminent citizens. By 1894, under his leadership the B'rith Kodesh congregation had grown to more than 250. Langsberg was also active in supporting Rochester's charitable societies, aimed at improving conditions for the poor and needy. Under the United Hebrew Charities of Rochester, these included the Hebrew Benevolent Society, established in 1850, and the Hebrew Ladies' Benevolent Society (1865). He also contributed to social welfare and rights for immigrants, hosting events at the synagogue, including a presentation by the Danish-American social reformer Jacob Riis in 1901. Events were open to the public, in line with Landsberg's efforts to develop collaboration with Christian churches interested in similar objectives. For the JPS 1917 Tanakh, he translated the book of Genesis. He also published the Hymn book for Jewish worship (1880), Ritual for Jewish worship (1885), The position of woman among the Jews (1893), and Outline of the Jewish religion (1899).