Siddur Torah Or – Brooklyn 1941 – The edition edited by the Rebbe & from which he davened.

Siddur Torah Or – Brooklyn 1941 – The edition edited by the Rebbe & from which he davened.

Siddur Edited by the Rebbe Upon Arriving in the United States in the Summer of 1941.

Siddur Torah Or, prayers for the year-round, Shabbat and festivals, following the rite of Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the Baal HaTanya, compiled by Rabbi Avraham David Lawat Rabbi of Nikolayev; proofread and corrected by Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Brooklyn, NY, 1941.

This siddur was proofread and prepared for print by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. When the rebbe arrived in the United States from France on 28th Sivan 1941, his father-in-law, Rebbe Rayatz, asked him to proofread, correct and prepare for print the Torah Or siddur (first printed in 1887, see adjoining article). During Av and Elul 1941, the rebbe was busy proofreading and correcting this siddur. It was published several days before Rosh Hashanah 1941.

[4], 5-233; [1], 37, 39-41 Leaves.

21.2 Cm.

Siddur Torah Or:

The siddur compiled by Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the Baal HaTanya, was printed already in his lifetime in several editions, in Shklow and Kopust. From the passing of the Baal HaTanya until 1887, the siddur was reprinted in dozens of editions. In many of the editions, the printers were not particular to preserve the accurate text of the prayers and laws, and in some editions the printers combined the text of Siddur HaRav with the texts of other prevalent siddurim. In the 1880s,   Rabbi Avraham David Lawat, Rabbi of Nikolayev (Mykolaiv; maternal grandfather of the Lubavitcher Rebbe), began studying and researching the original text of Siddur HaRav. To that end, he searched for editions of the siddur published in the lifetime of the Baal HaTanya. Upon finding such a siddur, he set to work proofreading and correcting the text of Siddur HaRav, according to the siddur he found, and in 1887, he printed the Siddur HaRav in Vilna under a new title – Siddur Torah Or. He appended to it his own composition, Shaarei Tefillah – sources of the prayer texts and rulings of the Baal HaTanya.

However, immediately after the siddur was published, R. Lawat obtained another edition of Siddur HaRav published in the lifetime of the Baal HaTanya. In light of this, R. Lawat produced a new, corrected edition of Siddur Torah Or – the Vilna 1889 edition. Yet the same occurred once again. As soon as the 1889 edition was published, R. Lawat obtained a third siddur edition published in the lifetime of the Baal HaTanya, and he began preparing a third, updated edition of Siddur Torah Or. This third edition was only published after the passing of R. Lawat (Adar 1890), in Vilna 1896, and it includes the latter's illustrious work – Shaar HaKollel (see Beit Aharon VeYisrael, 186, pp. 136-137).

The 1941 Edition:

The 1941 edition, which is mostly a photocopy of one of R. Lawat's editions, was edited by the Rebbe, based on the instructions and rulings of his father-in-law, Rebbe Rayatz. Any doubt which arose, particularly pertaining to the vocalization, was resolved by Rebbe Rayatz. This edition contains several additions and changes (described in great detail in the booklet Hagahot LeSiddur Rabbenu HaZaken, Brooklyn 2007, by R. Shalom Dov Ber Levin). Approximately a month after the siddur was printed, Rebbe Rayatz wrote an open letter to Chabad Chassidim, in which he asks them "to pray from this siddur, and to educate their sons to pray from this siddur".

This edition was printed in only two thousand copies (Hagahot LeSiddur Rabbenu HaZaken, Brooklyn 2007, p. 36).

The Rebbe's Siddur:

This edition of the siddur was constantly used by the rebbe, from the day it was published until his final day. Every prayer, every Birkat HaMazon and blessing after eating, every blessing at weddings he officiated, were recited all from this siddur edition. "The rebbe would keep it with him at all times, and it almost never left his hands. He would take it with him to the synagogue and Beit Midrash, into the Hitvaadut, to recite the blessings over the moon and sun, into the Sukkah and to Tashlich. He used it to pray and recite blessings. During his entire tenure, the rebbe used the same siddur, never exchanging it for a different one… as is well-known, preparing this siddur for print was the first project undertaken by the rebbe upon his arrival in the United States… and from that moment, he prayed with it for the rest of his life, without fail" (Introduction to Siddur HaRav, Chazak edition, 2015, pp. 11-12, note 14).

Bound in at the end: Siddur Torah Or & Sharei Tefilah part 2.

49 Leaves. Brittle pages & tears.

Overall Good condition, some pages loose, test block split, original binding shows signs of use.