Philip Birnbaum

{{Infobox Jewish leader

| name = Philip Birnbaum

| native-name =

| native-name-lang =

| main_work = Daily Prayer Book (1949)

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1904|03|30}}

| birth_place = Kielce, Poland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1988|03|19|1904|03|30}}

| death_place = Manhattan, New York, United States

| buried =

| burial_place =

| nationality =

| denomination = Orthodox

| residence =

| dynasty =

| parents =

| father =

| mother =

| spouse =

| children =

| occupation =

| profession =

| alma_mater =

| semicha =

| signature =

}}

Philip Birnbaum ({{Langx|he|פַּלְטִיאֵל בִּירֶנְבּוֹים|translit=Paltiel Birenboym}}; March 30, 1904 – March 19, 1988) was an American religious author and translator. He is best known for his work Ha-Siddur ha-Shalem, a translation and annotation of the Siddur first published in 1949.{{cite web

|url=http://www.lookstein.org/resources/bionotes.pdf

|title=Hadrat Melech: Biographical Notes

|date=May 5, 2003

|first=Shlomo|last=Pereira

|access-date=September 25, 2006

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502035808/http://www.lookstein.org/resources/bionotes.pdf

|archive-date=May 2, 2014

|url-status=dead

}}

Biography

File:Philip Birnbaum - ha-Siddur ha-Shalem (The Daily Prayer Book,1949).pdf of the Birnbaum Siddur. One can scroll through the entire siddur by clicking on the image.]]

Birnbaum was born in Kielce, Poland and emigrated to the United States in 1923. He attended Howard College and received his Ph.D. from Dropsie College. He served for several years as the principal of a Jewish day school in Wilmington, Delaware, and directed Jewish schools in Birmingham, Alabama,{{cite book

|title=A Century of Jewish Life In Dixie: The Birmingham Experience

|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0817350217 |isbn=0817350217

|first=Mark H.|last=Elovitz |date=2003

| publisher=University of Alabama Press |quote=Knesseth Israel Congregation … Among the venerable teachers were … Philip Birnbaum.}} and Camden, New Jersey. He was a regular columnist and book reviewer for the Hebrew-language weekly Ha-Doar. He also served on the board of directors of the Histadrut Ivrit b'America, an American association for the promotion of Hebrew language and culture.{{cite web|url=http://www.jidaily.com/SPeJ|title=Guide to the Records of Histadruth Ivrith of America|website=Jewish Ideas Daily}}

His works include translations (with annotation and introductory material) of the Siddur (first published in 1949), the Machzor, the Torah with Haftorot, and the Passover Haggadah (published by the Hebrew Publishing Company). These translations sought to express reverence without appearing archaic. His Siddur and Machzor were pioneering in that the Hebrew text is of uniform typeface, "unlike the helter-skelter boldface paragraphing … found in Old World siddurim".{{cite news |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1176152818456 |title=Power and Politics: Prayer books and resurrection |first=Elliot |last=Jager |date=April 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108185002/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1176152818456 |archive-date=January 8, 2012}} His Siddur also contains the rarely published Megillat Antiochus.

Until the advent of the Artscroll and Koren translations,{{cite news |last1=Breslow |first1=Samuel |title=He wrote a beloved prayer book. But his gravestone misspelled his name. |url=https://forward.com/culture/511038/philip-birnbaum-author-translator-prayer-book-siddur-gravestone-correction/?amp=1 |access-date=31 March 2023 |work=The Forward |date=19 July 2022 |language=en}} the Birnbaum Siddur and Machzor were widely used in Orthodox and Conservative synagogues, selling over 300,000 copies. These works presented "an accessible American English translation" and were pioneering in addressing American Jews' "perceived deficiencies in personal and communal prayer".{{cite news |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/112469/ |title= Even a New Siddur Can't Close 'God Gap'|first=Saul |last=Berman |author-link=Saul Berman |date=August 19, 2009|work=The Forward}}

Birnbaum is also well known for his works of popular Judaism: his excerpted translation of Maimonides Mishne Torah, was one of the first into English; his "Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts" and "A Treasury of Judaism" (an Anthology excerpting over 70 classic works) were widely referenced.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/22/obituaries/philip-birnbaum-83-author-of-books-for-jewish-liturgy.html?scp=1&sq=birnbaum&st=nyt |title=Philip Birnbaum, 83, Author of Books For Jewish Liturgy |date=March 22, 1988|first=Ari L. |last=Goldman |work=The New York Times}} He also produced a "readable" summary and translation of the Tanakh.

Legacy

On his death, one writer described him as "the most obscure best-selling author".

The Jewish Agency's Culture department describes "the Birnbaum" as "one of the most useful versions of the prayerbook."{{cite web |website=The Jewish Agency

|url=http://www.jewishagency.org/jewish-culture/content/25361

|title=The Worship Service as a Cultural Experience |date=August 30, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126040211/http://www.jewishagency.org/jewish-culture/content/25361 |archive-date=November 26, 2018}}

Birnbaum's original gravestone misspelled his name, had the wrong birth year, and called him a "renouned author & scholar". In 2022, the original gravestone was replaced with one with all three mistakes corrected and a Hebrew verse from the High Holiday liturgy added.{{cite web

|url=https://forward.com/culture/511038/philip-birnbaum-author-translator-prayer-book-siddur-gravestone-correction/

|title=He wrote a beloved prayer book. But his gravestone misspelled his name.

|date=July 19, 2022

|first=Ari L.|last=Goldman

|access-date=July 19, 2022

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720015250/https://forward.com/culture/511038/philip-birnbaum-author-translator-prayer-book-siddur-gravestone-correction/

|archive-date=July 20, 2022

|url-status=live

}}

Publications

{{cite book|title=Daily Prayer Book: Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1949|url=https://archive.org/details/PhilipBirnbaumHaSiddurHaShalemTheDailyPrayerBook1949/page/n1/mode/2up}}
{{cite book|title=High Holyday Prayer Book : Mahzor Ha-shalem|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1951|url=https://archive.org/details/mahzorhashalemlroshhashanahvyomkippurashkenaz1951/page/n1/mode/2up}}
{{cite book|title=The Arabic Commentary of Yefet ben Ali the Karaite, on the Book of Hosea|date=1942|isbn=9781258042332|last1=Birnbaum|first1=Philip|last2=Hal-Lewi|first2=Yafet Ben Ali|publisher=Literary Licensing, LLC }}
{{cite book|title=Selihot|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1952|url=https://archive.org/details/selihotpaltielbirnbaum1952/mode/2up}}
{{cite book|title=The New Treasury of Judaism|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1957|isbn=0884824101}}
Machzor for [https://archive.org/details/mahzorhashalemlroshhashanahsefardpaltielbirnbaum1958/page/n1/mode/2up Rosh Hashanah] and [https://archive.org/details/mahzorhashalemlyomkippursefardpaltielbirnbaum1958/page/n1/mode/2up Yom Kippur], Nusach Sefard. Hebrew Publishing Company. 1958.
{{cite book|title=Daily Prayer Book: Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem : Nosach Seferad|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1969|url=https://archive.org/details/hasiddurhashalemhassidicsefardicpaltielbirnbaum1969/page/n1/mode/2up}}.
{{cite book|title=Daily Prayer Book: Ha-Siddur Ha-Shalem|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1977|isbn=0884820548}}
{{cite book|title=High Holyday Prayer Book|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1979|isbn=0884822400}}
{{cite book|title=Prayer Book for Sabbath and Festivals|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1977|isbn=0884820548}}
{{cite book|title=The Birnbaum Haggadah|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1976|isbn=0884829081|url=https://archive.org/details/sederhaggadahshelpesahpaltielbirnbaum1953}}
{{cite book|title=The Concise Jewish Bible|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1977|isbn=0884824519}}
{{cite book|title=Torah and the Haftarot|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1983|isbn=0884844560}}
{{cite book|title=Maimonides Mishneh Torah (Yad Hazakah)|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1970|isbn=0884824365}}
{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1979|isbn=0884829308}}
{{cite book|url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/33429|title=A Book of Jewish Concepts|publisher=Hebrew Publishing Company|date=1964}}

References

External links

{{cite web|url=https://jewishaction.com/tribute/a-most-obscure-best-selling-author-dr-philip-birnbaum/|first=David|last=Olivestone|title=A Most Obscure Best-Selling Author: Dr. Philip Birnbaum|work=Jewish Action|date=Winter 2018}}
Yosef Lindell, [https://www.jta.org/2021/08/31/opinion/why-a-high-holidays-prayer-book-is-still-going-strong-after-70-years Why a High Holidays prayer book is still going strong after 70 years]

Category:1904 births

Category:1988 deaths

Category:20th-century American educators

Category:20th-century American Jews

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:20th-century American translators

Category:20th-century Polish Jews

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:American Orthodox Jews

Category:Dropsie College alumni

Category:Hebrew-language writers