first English translation of any part of the Siddur
MEARS, Abraham.
The book of religion, ceremonies, and prayers of the Jews, as practised in their synagogues and families on all occasions: On their Sabbath and other holy-days throughout the year, to which is added, a preface showing the intent of the whole. The contents, and an index, with the Hebrew title of each prayer made English; with many remarkable observations and relations of the rabbis: All which are what the modern Jews religiously observe. Translated immediately from the Hebrew, by Gamaliel Ben Pedahzur, Gent.
London, Printed for J. Wilcox, 1738.
This comprehensive, and occasionally rather critical, study of Jewish life and practices is dominated by the first English translation of any part of the Siddur, the definitive Jewish prayer-book. Translated by Abraham Mears (under the pseudonym of Gamaleil Ben Pedahzur, according to Roth), an apostate member of the English Ashkenazi community, it was intended as an exposition of Judaism rather than a service book, but in providing phonetic translations of the Hebrew title of each prayer Mears explicitly promotes its use 'to Beginners in the Hebrew Tongue' and 'all Persons that resort to the Synagogues'. The transliterated Hebrew title for each prayer is found in the margins, enabling the curious non-Hebrew reading Christian to attend and follow a synagogue service. The transliteration of the Hebrew characters provides a clue as to how Hebrew was pronounced in the eighteenth-century Ashkenazi community of London.
The book was not intended for liturgical use, but rather for scholarly readership, so it is not in effect a prayer-book. It reflects the growing interest in Judaism on the part of non-Jewish Englishmen of the eighteenth century.
First edition, 8vo (20.5 x 13 cm); xiv, 96; 291, [7] pp.; modern blue cloth boards; first and last leaf restored with some marginal loss of text; edges stained, corners rubbed.
ESTC T86072; Roth B8:6.
Stock code 106895
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