The Siddur

The Siddur is a book that contains the prayers recited by Jews on weekdays, Shabbat, and the main prayers for holidays. In certain editions, Torah readings for Mondays and Thursdays of the week are also included.

History

The first known Siddur is attributed to Rav Natronai Gaon, who sent it to the Alisano community in Spain. This was followed by the Siddur of Rav Amram Gaon of Sura, written for the Barcelona community in Spain. Copies were sent to Jewish communities throughout the diaspora, and it became the foundation for the development of prayer texts in Jewish communities.

Other notable Siddurim include those of Rav Saadia Gaon, the Rambam's Siddur, and Machzor Vitry, written by Rashi's student Rabbi Shimah of Vitry, which was the first Siddur in the French Jewish tradition.

As prayers and customs accepted into the prayer order increased, Siddurim began to appear containing prayers for Shabbat and weekdays, while prayers for the Three Festivals (Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot) and the High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) appeared separately and are called Machzor.

Versions of the Siddur

Extended topic – Siddur Admur HaZaken

Although Avraham Avinu established Shacharit prayer, Yitzchak Avinu established Mincha prayer, and Yaakov Avinu established Maariv prayer, the text of the prayers we have today was not established by them. The Shemoneh Esrei prayer was established by the Men of the Great Assembly, and in fact, the current prayer order from end to beginning was established and arranged by Rav Saadia Gaon.

The text for Jews from Ashkenazic lands – Germany and its surroundings – is Nusach Ashkenaz, while Nusach Sefard is designated for Jews from Eastern countries. Nevertheless, according to Kabbalah, Nusach Sefard is considered a more elevated text, which is why disciples of the Baal Shem Tov prayed with it. Although this text was intended only for people of high spiritual stature, Chassidim adopted the practice of praying with it. According to Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk's explanation, when a person is connected to a tzaddik and follows his ways, he too is considered to be at the level of the tzaddik, which is why Chassidim adopted the practice of praying in Nusach Sefard.

The Alter Rebbe (Admur HaZaken) corrected the text of the Arizal, which he compiled from sixty old and precise Siddurim. Based on this, he established his Siddur.

Praying from the Siddur

Many tzaddikim had the custom of saying everything from the Siddur, even short prayers and blessings.

The Rebbe had the custom from his early childhood to pray only from the Siddur. During the years of his leadership, he would bring the Siddur with him to farbrengens only because at the end he would need to recite an after-blessing. Despite the Siddur being worn and partly torn from extensive use, he did not replace it. He received this Siddur from his father-in-law, the Rebbe Rayatz.

The Rebbe had several Siddurim with holy origins, and when he would go to Mincha prayers where a groom was present, he would bring one or more Siddurim so that the grooms could pray from them.

See Also

• Siddur Admur HaZaken
• Siddur Torah Ohr
• Siddur with Dach
• Siddur Rostov
• Siddur Tehillat Hashem
• Siddur of the Baal Shem Tov

Further Reading

• Nitzutzei Rebbi, Looking into 'Siddurim', Hitkashrut Weekly, Issue 1385, page 9