Philip Birnbaum

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Philip Birnbaum
Personal
Born(1904-03-30)March 30, 1904
DiedMarch 19, 1988(1988-03-19) (aged 83)
Manhattan, New York, United States
ReligionJudaism
DenominationOrthodox

Philip Birnbaum (Hebrew: פַּלְטִיאֵל בִּירֶנְבּוֹים, romanizedPaltiel Birenboym; March 30, 1904 – March 19, 1988) was an American religious author and translator. He is best known for his work Ha-Siddur ha-Shalem, a translation and annotation of the Siddur first published in 1949.[1]

Biography

Title page of the Birnbaum Siddur. One can scroll through the entire siddur by clicking on the image.

Birnbaum was born in

Dropsie College. He served for several years as the principal of a Jewish day school in Wilmington, Delaware, and directed Jewish schools in Birmingham, Alabama,[2] and Camden, New Jersey. He was a regular columnist and book reviewer for the Hebrew-language weekly Ha-Doar. He also served on the board of directors of the Histadrut Ivrit b'America, an American association for the promotion of Hebrew language and culture.[3]

His works include translations (with

Haftorot, and the Passover Haggadah (published by the Hebrew Publishing Company). These translations sought to express reverence without appearing archaic. His Siddur and Machzor were pioneering in that the Hebrew text is of uniform typeface, "unlike the helter-skelter boldface paragraphing … found in Old World siddurim".[4] His Siddur also contains the rarely published Megillat Antiochus
.

Until the advent of the

Artscroll and Koren translations,[5] the Birnbaum Siddur and Machzor were widely used in Orthodox and Conservative synagogues, selling over 300,000 copies.[6] These works presented "an accessible American English translation" and were pioneering in addressing American Jews' "perceived deficiencies in personal and communal prayer".[7]

Birnbaum is also well known for his works of popular Judaism: his excerpted translation of

Tanakh
.

Legacy

On his death, one writer described him as "the most obscure best-selling author".[8]

The Jewish Agency's Culture department describes "the Birnbaum" as "one of the most useful versions of the prayerbook."[9]

Birnbaum's original gravestone misspelled his name, had the wrong birth year, and called him a "renouned author & scholar". In 2022, the original gravestone was replaced with one with all three mistakes corrected and a Hebrew verse from the High Holiday liturgy added.[10]

Publications

References

  1. ^ Pereira, Shlomo (May 5, 2003). "Hadrat Melech: Biographical Notes" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 2, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2006.
  2. . Knesseth Israel Congregation … Among the venerable teachers were … Philip Birnbaum.
  3. ^ "Guide to the Records of Histadruth Ivrith of America". Jewish Ideas Daily.
  4. ^ Jager, Elliot (April 17, 2007). "Power and Politics: Prayer books and resurrection". Archived from the original on January 8, 2012.
  5. ^ Breslow, Samuel (19 July 2022). "He wrote a beloved prayer book. But his gravestone misspelled his name". The Forward. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  6. ^ Goldman, Ari L. (22 March 1988). "Philip Birnbaum, 83, Author of Books For Jewish Liturgy". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  7. ^ Berman, Saul (August 19, 2009). "Even a New Siddur Can't Close 'God Gap'". The Forward.
  8. ^ a b Goldman, Ari L. (March 22, 1988). "Philip Birnbaum, 83, Author of Books For Jewish Liturgy". The New York Times.
  9. ^ "The Worship Service as a Cultural Experience". The Jewish Agency. August 30, 2005.
  10. ^ Goldman, Ari L. (July 19, 2022). "He wrote a beloved prayer book. But his gravestone misspelled his name". Archived from the original on July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.

External links