Philip Birnbaum

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Philip Birnbaum

Philip Birnbaum (1904-1988; also Paltiel Birnbaum) was an author and translator, best known for his translation and annotation of the siddur

Siddur

A siddur is a Judaism prayer book, containing a set order of List of Jewish prayers and blessings. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed....
(Jewish Prayer Book), first published in 1949.

baum was born in Kielce

Kielce

Kielce is a city in central Poland with 202,609 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship ....
, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
and emigrated to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
in 1923. He received his Ph.d.

Ph.D.

Ph.D. or PHD may stand for:* Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group* Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip...
from Dropsie College.

His works include translations (with annotation

Annotation

An annotation is an addition made to pragmatics in a book, document, online record, video, or other information.Commonly this is used, for example, in draft documents, where another reader has written notes about the quality of a document at a certain point, "marginalia", or perhaps just underlined or highlighted passages....
and introductory material) of the Siddur

Siddur

Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
with Haftorot, and the Passover Haggadah.

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Encyclopedia

Philip Birnbaum (1904-1988; also Paltiel Birnbaum) was an author and translator, best known for his translation and annotation of the siddur

Siddur

Biography

Birnbaum was born in Kielce

Kielce

Kielce is a city in central Poland with 202,609 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship ....
, Poland

Poland

United States

Ph.D.

Annotation

Siddur

Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
with Haftorot, and the Passover Haggadah. These translations sought to express reverence without appearing archaic

Archaism

In language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula ....
. His Siddur and Machzor were pioneering in that the Hebrew text is of uniform typeface

Typeface

In typography, a typeface is a set of one or more fonts, in one or more sizes, designed with stylistic unity, each comprising a coordinated set of glyphs....
, "unlike the helter-skelter boldface paragraphing... found in Old World

Old World

The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans, Asians, and Africans in the 15th century....
siddurim" . His siddur also contains the rarely published Megillat Antiochus

Megillat Antiochus

Megillat Antiochus is a work recounting the story of Hannukah and the history of the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire.This work has come down to us in both Aramaic language and Hebrew language; the Hebrew version is a literal translation from the Aramaic original....
.

Until the recent advent of the Artscroll

ArtScroll

ArtScroll is an imprint of translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Judaism perspective published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd., a publishing company based in Brooklyn, New York, New York City....
translations, "the Birnbaum translations" were widely used in Orthodox

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
(and Conservative

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern Jewish denominations of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s....
) synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
s. The value of his work for the popularization of synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
services

Jewish services

Jewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
for American Jews

American Jews

American Jews, or Jewish Americans, are Jews who are United States citizens or resident aliens. The United States is home to the second largest Jewish community in the world depending on religious definitions and varying population data....
cannot be overestimated.

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

Maimonides

Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon , the Rambam, and Musa ibn Maymun , was born in C?rdoba, Spain, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204.....
Mishne Torah, was one of the first into English; his "Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts" was widely referenced. He also produced a "readable" translation of the Tanach.

On his death, the Hebrew Publishing Company described him as "the most obscure best-selling author" ; it is noteworthy that an immigrant at age 19 should achieve such status as a translator into English.

Works

Daily Prayer Book: Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem. Hebrew Publishing Company, 1977. ISBN 0884820548
High Holy Day Prayer Book. Hebrew Publishing Company, 1979. ISBN 0884822400
Prayer Book for Sabbath and Festivals. Hebrew Publishing Company, 1977. ISBN 0884820548
The Birnbaum Haggadah. Hebrew Publishing Company, 1976. ISBN 0884829081
The Concise Jewish Bible. Hebrew Publishing Company, 1977. ISBN 0884824519
Torah and the Haftarot. Hebrew Publishing Company, 1983. ISBN 0884844560
Maimonides Mishneh Torah (Yad Hazakah). Hebrew Publishing Company, 1970. ISBN 0884824365
Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts. Hebrew Publishing Company, 1979. ISBN 0884829308