Kehot Publication Society, Chabad’s official publishing house, has published a new edition of Seder Tefilos Mekol Hashana also known as Siddur im Dach, or the Alter Rebbe’s Siddur.
Containing Chasidic discourses by the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the Siddur is one of the foundational texts of Chabad Chasidic literature. It was first published, posthumously, three years after the passing of the Alter Rebbe by his son and successor, Rabbi DovBer of Lubavitch, the Mitteler Rebbe.
This is the 14th edition (7th by Kehot) of this important work. Edited and produced by the Chabad Research Center (Maareches Otzar Hachasidim), it features a complete redesign and modern typeset; copious annotations and glosses on the margins; short synopses of all the discourses; detailed indices and facsimiles of the original handwritten manuscripts of the Mitteler Rebbe, which were also used in careful proofreading of the text.
Five years in the making, the editorial team consisted of the noted Chabad scholars Rabbis Eliyahu Matusof, Gavriel Schapiro and Simcha Zaiontz. They were further assisted by Rabbis Tzvi Hirsch Zalmanov, who composed the indices. Proofreading was headed by the late Rabbi Moshe Nemanow. Final expert proofreading was done by Rabbis Moshe Menachem Mendel Eidleman and Avraham Dovid Vaisfiche. The elegant layout and design was executed by Rabbi Yirmiya Berkowitz.
Sponsors of this prodigious project are the well-known philanthropists and supporters of Kehot Publications Society, Rabbi Dovid and Gitel Fischer, who dedicated the edition in merit of their family.
Kehot Publication Society’s Rabbi Yosef B. Friedman expressed Kehot’s deep appreciation to Rabbi and Mrs. Fischer for “encouraging, spearheading and making this important project possible.
“The new edition is an important addition to our ever-growing list of newly reconfigured sifrei Chasidus, and will certainly open its treasures for countless new students of Chabad Chasidus.”
The Siddur includes: the text of the prayers according to the Arizal as developed by R. Schneur Zalman; laws pertaining to prayer (and more) as codified by R. Schneur Zalman, and Chasidic discourses by R. Schneur Zalman as recorded by his son, the Mitteler Rebbe, and edited by the Rebbe the “Tzemach Tzedek.”
The Chasidic discourse are grouped under the following 27 headings, called Shearim (Portals): Tzitzis, Tefillin, Prayer, Shema, Nefilas Appaim, Torah Study, Ritual Hand Washing, Grace After Meals, Weddings and Bris Mila, Mikveh, Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, Festivals, Elul, Rosh Hashanah, Shofar, Yom Kippur, Sukkos, Lulav, Simchas Beis Hashoeiva, Chanukah, Purim, Festival of Matzos, Lag B’omer and Shavuos.
The new exquisite edition of the Siddur is published in a large 8½” x 11″ format, and now comprises a whopping 1,360 pages in two beautiful volumes.
In a discourse delivered in 1965 (Shabbos Mevarchim Menachem-Av 5725) the Rebbe referenced a discourse in the Alter Rebbe’s Siddur and mentioned the fact that the Siddur had just been released by Kehot. The Rebbe added: “Since it has just been printed, it has the additional preciousness associated with something new. I am certain that all the maamarim in the Siddur will be studied, including also this maamar.”
The Siddur is available at the Kehot Showroom in Crown Heights and online at the Kehot website and in fine seforim stores everywhere.
Sample pages are viewable here.
