Simeon Singer
Simeon Singer (1846–1906) was an English Rabbi, preacher, lecturer and public worker. He is best known for his English translation of the Authorised Daily Prayer Book, informally known as the "Singer's Siddur".
Biography
Personal life and education
Singer was born in London in 1846 to a Hungarian father and English mother. At age 8 (1855) his mother took him to visit
He became a student at the
He later moved into the College itself, when he decided to enter the Ministry. His studies there were interrupted by the death of its principal, the Rev Barnett Abrahams. Singer was then fortunate to be taught by the new principal, Dr Michael Friedländer, who "took a kindly interest in young Singer". In 1867, whilst still a student, he became part-time minister, and combined this with teaching at the Day School, where he was for a time headmaster. He remained at Jews' College for 12 more years.
In 1890 he received his eventually following a "demanding three-year course of study" with Weiss; he visited the Continent often and spent much time either with Weiss, or studying by himself under Weiss' guidance.
On returning to England, Singer did not demand that his title be changed to "Rabbi", and he continued to be called "Reverend". Relatedly, "he evidenced his self-denial" by declining to stand for the post of
He married Charlotte Pyke in 1867. They had six children: Jules, Samuel, David, Richard, Charles and Freda. His son was the historian Charles Singer; Israel Abrahams was his son-in-law.
Career
In 1867, at age 21, he became minister of the Borough Synagogue in
He was "a power in the community in the direction of moderate progress"; he was "a lover of tradition, yet at the same time he recognized the necessity of well-considered changes". In 1892 at his instigation the first English Conference of Jewish Preachers was held, and some reforms were then and at other times introduced, such as the introduction of Bible Readings in English, the admission of women as choristers and the inclusion of the express consent of the bride as well as the bridegroom at the marriage ceremony. He did much to reunite Conservatives and Liberals in the community, and he himself preached at the Reform Synagogue in Manchester.
He had no love for the
Works
Singer's most famous work was his new edition and English translation of the Authorized Daily Prayer Book (published in 1890), a work which has gone through many large editions and which has probably been the most popular (both with Jews and Christians) of any book published by an English Jew. The Hebrew text was that of Seligman Baer's classic Avodat Yisrael, to which Singer provided an "authorised" version of the liturgy capable of standardising and stabilising the synagogue service and helping to create an "established" Judaism in Britain and the Commonwealth (the so-called "Minhag Anglia".)
The Siddur was expanded in 1917 under Chief Rabbi
This Siddur – in its various editions – has remained the standard prayer book for most orthodox Jews in Great Britain, and for many in the Commonwealth, and is still informally known as the "Singer's Siddur." In 1915 the Bloch Publishing Company published an American version, The Standard Prayer Book, which was widely used until the introduction of Philip Birnbaum's Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem in 1949.
In 1896 the Cambridge University Press published Talmudical Fragments in the Bodleian Library of which Singer was joint author with Solomon Schechter.
Israel Abrahams had access to all of his manuscripts and, after Singer's death, produced three volumes of his
See also
- List of British Jews
- Siddur § Popular siddurim
- Joseph Diggle: in 1897 Singer strongly opposed Diggle's policy at the London School Board, but refused nomination as a member.
- Philip Birnbaum
External links and references
References
- public domain: Israel Abrahams (1911). "Singer, Simeon". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Rabbi Geoffrey L. Shisler, The Life of the Rev Simeon Singer, lecture, March 2004.
- Rabbi Dr. Raymond Apple, Rev Simeon Singer.
- Rabbi Dr. Raymond Apple, Sacks & the Singer Siddur (book review)
Fulltext resources
- The Authorised Daily Prayer Book (translated by Rabbi Simeon Singer, 1890), The Open Siddur Project
- The standard prayer book; authorized English translation by the Rev. S. Singer (1915), archive.org
- Annotated Edition of the Authorised Daily Prayer Book with Historical and Explanatory Notes, and Additional Matter, wikisource.org
- The Literary Remains of the Rev. Simeon Singer, with Memoir, archive.org
- Talmudical Fragments in the Bodleian Library, hebrewbooks.org