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<title>Nostradamus's recommended book list for a prayerbook publishing office</title>
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<h1>Basic Bookshelf for a Siddur Publishing Office</h1>
<p>In the summer of 2004, a publisher of Jewish
prayer books asked me to recommend a basic list of reference books for their
office library. Off the top of my head, I named some of the titles that I
thought were essential for their kind of work. Since then, I've given the topic
quite a bit more thought and have come up with this little bibliography. It's
still a work in progress and I'd appreciate any suggestions that would improve
it.</p>
<p>Recommendations that I'm less sure of are given in square brackets.</p>
<hr>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Siddurim from the four movements</b></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Gates of Prayer </i>(Reform)</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Siddur Sim Shalom </i> (Conservative)</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Kol Haneshamah</i><i> </i>(Reconstuctionist. Various
editions; you might start with "Shabbat vehagim.")</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal">Birnbaum <i>Daily Prayer Book: Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem </i>(Orthodox)</li>
<li><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">[Marcia Falk's <i>Book of
Blessings </i>(feminist siddur)]</font></li>
<li><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">[<i>Or Chadash: A Guide to Shabbat Celebration
</i>(the original P'nai Or siddur) or one of the other <a href="http://www.aleph.org/catalog.html#Anchor-Siddurim-47857">
Jewish Renewal siddurim</a>.]</font></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Siddur commentaries</b></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <i>Gates of Understanding, </i>vols. I and II (Reform.
Essential commentary on <i>Gates of Prayer</i> and <i>Gates of Repentance</i>.)</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">[<i>Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim
Shalom </i>(Conservative)]</font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>The Authorized Daily Prayer Book, </i>Joseph H.
Hertz (Traditional. Annotated siddur shaleim.)</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>The Complete Artscroll Siddur </i>(Annotated
siddurim with a vast apparatus of helpful information. Orthodox. Many editions to
choose from. Outstanding typography.)</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>My People's Prayer Book, </i>Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman
(Not a siddur, but an exhaustive treatment of its contents. Reform. 7 vols, Jewish Lights Publ.)</li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Tanakh</b></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>The Jerusalem Bible</i> -- <i> Tanakh Koren with English Translation</i>
(Not the Catholic translation, also named <i>Jerusalem Bible.</i>) </li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (</i>Hebrew only)</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal">The <i>Tanakh</i> from the Jewish Publication Society
(Now available in a Hebrew-English edition. Also available on CD-ROM.)</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">[The above editions are highly regarded,
but all derive more or less from the Leningrad Codex. Some authorities claim
the Aleppo Codex is more "accurate" so it might be nice to have an
Aleppo scion in your library. Rabbi Mordechai Breuer's famous work
on the Aleppo Codex has been published in various editions over the years. In 2000,
his work was incorporated in the magnificent <i>Keter Yerushalayim, the Jerusalem Crown</i>,
published by Karger of Basel, Switzerland. The Karger edition sells for $255
but I've seen a Ben Tzvi edition for about $40, and the earlier editions
published by </font><font size="2">Mossad Harav Kook are available for even
less.]</font>
</li>
<li><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">For convenience, it might be nice to
have a one-volume Hebrew-English T'hillim. One might choose the
venerable Soncino <i>Psalms</i>, edited by the Rev. Dr. A. Cohen, or the
newer one-volume Artscroll <i>Tehillim</i> edited by Rabbis Hillel Danziger
and Nosson Scherman.</font></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Talmud</b>
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i> Mishnah</i>, Herbert Danby (English)</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Soncino <i> Talmud</i>
(English and Hebrew) on CD ROM (The Hebrew text of the Talmud is included with Davkawriter.)</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Berachos </i>from the Artscroll Mishnah series or <i> Tractate Berachoth
</i>from the Blackmun Mishnayot. </li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">[Dr. Zvi Ehrman's <i>Tractate Berakhot </i>from
the El-Am Talmud series, while hard to find, sounds excellent.]</font></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Dictionaries</b>
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal">Marcus Jastrow for Aramaic (Targum, Talmud,
etc. Hebrew-English)</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to <a href="http://www.library.yale.edu/cataloging/hebraicateam/Hebraica%20Cataloging/chap5.htm">a
bibliography at Yale</a>, you'll also want an Alcalay (Hebrew-English) to help
distinguish the schwa na from the schwa nach.</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">[Avraham Even-Shoshan's 5-volume edition is considered
authoritative by librarians (Hebrew-Hebrew).]</font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">[<i>Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and
English Lexicon -- o</i>ld but still highly regarded]</font></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Transliteration</b></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="transliteration.htm">My page on
transliteration</a></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal">Artscroll transliterated siddur (Ashkenazi, many
editions)</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">[There are also several guides to the correct pronunciation of Hebrew, specifically in davening and Torah
reading (e.g., <i>Eim le'Mikra haShaleim</i> by Rabbi Nissan Sharoni).]</font></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Reference</b></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Jewish Liturgy & Its Development, </i>A.Z.
Idelsohn</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i> Jewish Liturgy: A Comprehensive History, </i> Ismar Elbogen</li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">[I can't imagine anything that Idelsohn
and Elbogen would have overlooked, but if they did, it's probably covered in
the <i>Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer </i>by Macy Nulman.]</font></li>
<li><i>Chicago Manual of Style</i></li>
<li>
<i>SBL Handbook of Style</i> (The style guide of the
Society of Biblical Literature. After the strong brew of the Chicago Manual,
this is weak tea indeed. Yet it is a necessary supplement to the Chicago Manual
for all the biblical minutiae it covers. Material for a proposed student
supplement
is <a href="http://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/SBLHS_SS92804_Revised_ed.pdf">available
online</a>.)</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<h3>Some additional thoughts</h3>
<p>I've decided to focus on the books that would be of particular
interest to a siddur publisher. Thus I've left out the dictionaries, production
references, and Pantone books, as well as the style, usage and grammar works
that should be in <i>any</i> publishing office -- though I've made an exception
for the <i>
Chicago Manual</i>, the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of the wise publisher's
bookshelf. </p>
<p>Likewise, I've chosen to leave out basic works on Judaism (there are
fine reading lists all over the Web), guides for <i>baalei t'filah</i>, how-to books for
congregants, and works on the history of the siddur. A fascinating <a href="http://www.exc.com/JoelHoffman/ReadingList.html">suggested
reading list</a> is maintained on the Web by Dr. Joel M. Hoffman.</p>
<p>If one doesn't have a strong background in the literature of the siddur, Abraham Millgram's <i>Jewish Worship</i> and Barry Holtz's <i>Back
to the Sources </i>will help you get up to speed.</p>
<p>For a vast array of Jewish texts in Hebrew, there's the <i>Judaic Classics Deluxe Edition
</i>on CD ROM. Available from Davka for only $79. [Also see the <i>Judaic Bookshelf
-- Master Library</i> from <a href="http://www.jewishsoftware.com/products/Judaic_Bookshelf_Master_Library_238.asp?bhcd2=1103953830">TES</a>,
and the <i>Torah CD-Library </i>from <a href="http://www.dbsus.com/">DBS</a>.]</p>
<p>Wikipedia has a useful list of texts
available in electronic form (search for "Torah database"). Such online resources can be wonderful for
study purposes but the careful publisher will keep in mind the uncertain provenance
and risks of copyright infringement that can come with using online resources.</p>
<p>I would have liked to list a good showing of Hebrew typefaces but I simply
don't know of one.</p>
<p>Finally, every publisher should have a house style sheet and every manuscript
a book style sheet. For an example of a house style sheet, see the one used by
the <a href="http://www.cjs.upenn.edu/JQR/style.htm"><i>Jewish Quarterly Review</i></a>. As for book style sheets, see the <i>Chicago
Manual</i> (15th edition) 2.54, <i>SBL Handbook</i> 2.1, or Judith Butcher's <i>Copy-editing, </i>p. 21.</p>
<p>Thanks to Dr. Ernest Rubinstein, Rabbi Royi Shaffin, Debbie Smilow, Warren
Wolfsohn, and Larry Yudelson. <i>The Book of Jewish Books</i> by Ruth S. Frank and William Wollheim,
and the online archives of Mail.Jewish
and the Avodah Mailing List were also valuable resources.</p>
<font color="black">
<p align="center">You are invited to share your thoughts about this bibliography.
Please email <a href="mailto:nos@nostradamus.net">Barry Nostradamus Sher</a>.</p>
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