Morris Silverman
{{Short description|American rabbi and author}}
{{for|the American philanthropist|Morris Silverman (philanthropist)}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2016}}
Morris Silverman (1894–1972) was a Conservative rabbi and writer.
Biography
Silverman was born on November 19, 1894, in Newburgh, New York, the son of Lena ({{Nee|Friedland}}) and Simon Silverman, who were Russian Jewish immigrants.{{cite web|url=https://jhsgh.org/collections-2/|title=Collections|date=April 2004|publisher=Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford|pages=25–26|accessdate=2011-02-11}} He edited the High Holiday Prayer Book, popularly known as the "Silverman Machzor" in 1939, which became the official prayer book for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur for the United Synagogue of America, the institutional arm of the Conservative movement in the U.S., for over half a century. He published it through his publishing company, Prayer Book Press, now{{When|date=May 2025|reason=No date given.}} a subsidiary of Media Judaica.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}
Silverman edited the [https://opensiddur.org/?p=15128|Sabbath and Festival Prayer Book],{{External links inline|date=May 2025}} which was the official prayer book for the Conservative movement until the late 1980s.{{cite web|url=https://opensiddur.org/compilations/liturgical/siddurim/shabbat-siddur/seder-tefilot-yisrael-sabbath-festival-prayer-book-1946/|title=The Open Siddur Project|work=the Open Siddur Project ✍ פְּרוֺיֶקְט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ |date=September 2021|publisher=The Open Siddur Project|accessdate=2021-09-22 |last1=Silverman |first1=Morris }}
Silverman's primary literary output was liturgical books, many of which he co-wrote with his son, Rabbi Hillel E. Silverman, including Siddurenu, a prayer book for school children, a prayer book for summer camps, and ahaggadah for the Passover Seder.
Silverman was the long-time rabbi of the Emanuel Synagogue, a Conservative synagogue in West Hartford, Connecticut.[https://primo-tc-na01.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=JTS_ISLANDORAjts_421895&context=L&vid=JTS&lang=en_US&search_scope=JTS&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=default_tab&query=any,contains,Rabbi%20morris%20silverman&offset=0.xml Jewish Theological Seminary: Ratner Center Papers: Morris Silverman (1894-1972), Papers.]
He came from a family of Jewish clergy and writers. His wife, Althea H. ({{Nee|Osber}}), wrote many children's books, and his son, Hillel, also a rabbi, is an author.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} His grandson is actor Jonathan Silverman. His great-nephew, Richard Sillman, was the youngest (among the first) cable TV directors in the United States.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ddWvXulV5WYC&dq=richard+sillman&pg=PA340|title=Technological milestones of the electronic age|isbn=978-0-8263-5163-0 |accessdate=2014-01-06 |last1=Herrick |first1=Dennis F. |date=15 August 2012 |publisher=UNM Press }}{{cite book|url=http://cablecenter.org/|title=Larry Satkowiak, President and Chief Executive Officer/Board of Directors, Cable Center/Cable Museum, non-online archives/library|accessdate=2014-01-21}}
Awards
Silverman was a 1953 recipient of the George Washington Honor Medal from Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for Editorial.
References
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Category:American Conservative rabbis