The Alter Rebbe's Siddur

The Alter Rebbe's Siddur was established by the Alter Rebbe and first printed in 1803 in Shklov. It was subsequently printed two more times in Kopust, and dozens more times in various variations. Some versions are more similar to the original and some less so. The "Torah Ohr" siddur that is commonly used today is very similar to the Alter Rebbe's siddur with added references and sources.

The Alter Rebbe's intention in arranging the siddur was that it should be a siddur equally accessible to every nefesh with proper kavanah. Nevertheless, important halachos are woven throughout in hints, some of which contain major halachic innovations.

The Rebbe defined in one of his letters the purpose of the halachos that the Alter Rebbe included in his siddur: "1. Very concise halachic rulings on common matters that are relevant to every nefesh, and need to be available even to one who doesn't have a Shulchan Aruch at hand at that time. 2. Individual practices (not halachos) related to saying a particular tefillah or bracha."

Editing the Siddur's Nusach

The Alter Rebbe worked for many years on editing the nusach of the siddur.

The Rebbe Rashab wrote: "As is known, he worked on the nusach for 20 years and each year he arranged a different nusach, until the twentieth time it emerged refined, clarified and purified."

The Tzemach Tzedek testified about the editing of the nusach that "when the Alter Rebbe established the siddur - he had before him sixty siddurim of different nuschaos, and from all of them he selected and refined the nusach that is in his siddur."

The First Printing

Rabbi Avraham Dovid Lavut writes in his introduction to 'Shaar HaKollel': "This siddur was first printed during his lifetime in 1803 in Shklov."

And in Sefer HaSichos 5704, the Rebbe notes that "the Alter Rebbe's siddur was first printed in Shklov in 1803. But apparently there were records of nusach changes before this, because in 1798 the government already gave permission to Chassidim to daven in their nusach."

Until now, we have not found a copy of the Alter Rebbe's siddur that was printed in 1803, and even from the two printings of this siddur in Kopust, no copy remains.

Regarding this, the Rebbe Rashab wrote that "I did not obtain the first printed siddur even after much effort, and I estimate that it can certainly be found in the library in Petersburg."

Recently, the first printed siddur from Shklov 1803 was discovered.

See Also

• Siddur with Dach
• Siddur Torah Ohr
• Siddur Rostov
• Siddur Tehillat Hashem
• Rabbi Yisrael of Ger and Siddur Tehillat Hashem
• Siddur Rabbeinu HaZaken