New Orthodox siddur with German translation published in Germany
For the first time in more than a century, a one-volume contemporary Orthodox prayer book has been published in German, the Jewish community in Berlin said on Monday.
“This prayer book has all the prayers a person needs for the entire year, including the holidays, except for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur,” Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal said.
The prayer book was printed in Israel, and copies were sent to Germany. The newly translated siddur coincides with Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel.
“For hundreds of years, one of the main ways of commemorating the tribulations we endured was through prayer,” Teichtal said. “This year, I’m certain that reciting the prayer ‘Almighty, Filled with Compassion’ in memory of the six million who were murdered in the Holocaust will evoke great emotion in me, because I will be reciting it along with the contemporary German translation as it appears in the new prayer book.”
The book can be purchased on the Swiss Jewish website Books & Bagels and on Amazon.
“Aside from the technical advantage of translating the prayers into German, I feel that one way to encourage the younger generation to join us in remembering and honoring the past is by linking memories of the past to a revitalized movement of Jewish spirituality,” Teichtal said.
The prayer book spans 1,400 pages, split between German and Hebrew.
“The project was completed by a team of five, including a main editor, translators and proofreaders, all of whom are members of the Jewish community in Berlin,” Teichtal said. “The endeavor was made possible thanks to the generous support of the community.”