PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

      A COMPLETE DAILY PRAYER BOOK, IN Hebrew and English, equally suitable for use in Synagogues, families and schools, has never yet been within the reach of the community at large. The present volume is intended to supply this primal necessity. It owes its origin to the generosity and public spirit of Mrs. Nathaniel Montefiore, by whom the entire cost of production has been defrayed. It is, therefore, now possible for all who can afford the outlay of one shilling to obtain a book which could not otherwise have been offered to the public except at a far higher price.

      No pains have been spared to render the work of permanent value, and worthy of its place as the Authorised Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire. As it was practically complete before the death of the late Chief Rabbi, Dr. N.M. Adler, it was enabled to receive and to be issued with the stamp of his sanction and authorisation.

      The main objects kept in view in the production of the book have been to furnish a correct text (for the greater part of which S. Baer’s Abodath Israel has served as the basis), and a satisfactory translation, and to combine with these fundamental requirements the not insignificant advantages of good paper, clear type and strong binding.

      To render the volume still more suitable for general use, a number of Prayers for special occasions have been introduced. Of these, the Prayers to be said at the Consecration of a House, and upon the Sick and Death Bed, have been written or arranged by the Rev Dr. Hermann Adler, the Prayer in the House of Mourning and the Thanksgiving to be offered up by Women after their Confinement are the same that have been in use for some years past, having been drawn up by the late Chief Rabbi. The Marriage Service and Morning and Evening Prayers for Children have also been introduced.

      The English translation is entirely new. Its aim has been to unite accuracy and even literalness with due regard to English idiom, and to that simplicity of style and diction which befits the language of prayer. It should be noted that the Biblical passages were translated by an accomplished scholar upon the basis of the Revised Version, the text or margin of which rendering has, upon the whole, been closely followed.

      Thanks are due to the Rev. Dr. H. Adler, Dr. Friedlander and Mr. I. Abrahams, for many valuable suggestions as well as for much assistance while the book was passing through the press.

      The copyright of the book is vested in the Jewish Association for the Diffusion of Religious Knowledge.

      London, Tammuz, 5650 – July 1890