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  "title": "Your First Siddur",
  "summary": "A siddur is the New Jew’s most-used Jewish book. Buy one with English translation, transliteration, and clear instructions.",
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    "article": {
      "slug": "where-to-start-your-first-siddur",
      "title": "Your First Siddur",
      "deck": "A siddur is the New Jew’s most-used Jewish book. Buy one with English translation, transliteration, and clear instructions.",
      "summary": null,
      "level": "orientation",
      "sectionSlug": "prayer-liturgy",
      "tags": [
        "siddur",
        "prayer",
        "judaica"
      ],
      "publishedAt": "2026-07-25T09:21:40.871Z",
      "wordCount": 492,
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    "section": {
      "slug": "prayer-liturgy",
      "title": "Prayer & Liturgy"
    },
    "image": {
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      "title": "Your First Siddur"
    },
    "blocks": [
      {
        "type": "summary",
        "body": "Summary. The [siddur](/glossary.json#letter-S) (prayer book) is the engine of Jewish daily life. For a New Jew, the right first siddur has three features: parallel Hebrew and English, transliteration for the central prayers, and a layout that tells you what to say and when. The Koren Shalem Siddur (Orthodox), Sim Shalom (Conservative), and Mishkan T’filah (Reform) are the dominant choices in their respective worlds. Buy the one that matches the shul you intend to attend, and read the introduction.",
        "text": "Summary. The siddur (prayer book) is the engine of Jewish daily life. For a New Jew, the right first siddur has three features: parallel Hebrew and English, transliteration for the central prayers, and a layout that tells you what to say and when. The Koren Shalem Siddur (Orthodox), Sim Shalom (Conservative), and Mishkan T’filah (Reform) are the dominant choices in their respective worlds. Buy the one that matches the shul you intend to attend, and read the introduction."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Walk into any synagogue and you will be handed a siddur. The siddur (literally “order”) is the prayer book that contains the daily, Shabbat, and festival liturgy. There are dozens of editions, and the right one for a New Jew depends on the community you will pray with.",
        "text": "Walk into any synagogue and you will be handed a siddur. The siddur (literally “order”) is the prayer book that contains the daily, Shabbat, and festival liturgy. There are dozens of editions, and the right one for a New Jew depends on the community you will pray with."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "The Major Orthodox Siddurim",
        "text": "The Major Orthodox Siddurim"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The Koren Shalem Siddur ([Nusach](/glossary.json#letter-N) Ashkenaz or Sepharad editions). The commentary by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, z”l, is unmatched as a companion for the thinking New Jew. The typography is exceptional.",
        "text": "The Koren Shalem Siddur (Nusach Ashkenaz or Sepharad editions). The commentary by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, z”l, is unmatched as a companion for the thinking New Jew. The typography is exceptional."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The ArtScroll Siddur ([Nusach Ashkenaz](/glossary.json#letter-N), Sefard, or [Edot HaMizrach](/glossary.json#letter-E)). Densely annotated, deeply traditional, and the dominant siddur in most American Orthodox shuls.",
        "text": "The ArtScroll Siddur (Nusach Ashkenaz, Sefard, or Edot HaMizrach). Densely annotated, deeply traditional, and the dominant siddur in most American Orthodox shuls."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The Tehillat Hashem—the standard Chabad siddur, in compact and full editions.",
        "text": "The Tehillat Hashem—the standard Chabad siddur, in compact and full editions."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Conservative and Reform",
        "text": "Conservative and Reform"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Siddur Sim Shalom and the more recent Siddur Lev Shalem (Rabbinical Assembly)—the Conservative movement’s standard siddurim, with English, transliteration, and modern egalitarian language.",
        "text": "Siddur Sim Shalom and the more recent Siddur Lev Shalem (Rabbinical Assembly)—the Conservative movement’s standard siddurim, with English, transliteration, and modern egalitarian language."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Mishkan T’filah (CCAR Press)—the Reform movement’s standard siddur, with multiple translations and contemporary readings on the facing page.",
        "text": "Mishkan T’filah (CCAR Press)—the Reform movement’s standard siddur, with multiple translations and contemporary readings on the facing page."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "If you do not yet know which shul you will attend, buy the Koren Shalem Siddur (Nusach Ashkenaz). It is perhaps the most beautiful siddur published in English, its commentary is an excellent introductory frame to the prayers, and it is at home in any Modern Orthodox or Traditionalist setting. Read the introduction front to back—Rabbi Sacks’s opening essay on the architecture of Jewish prayer is itself worth the price of the book.",
        "text": "If you do not yet know which shul you will attend, buy the Koren Shalem Siddur (Nusach Ashkenaz). It is perhaps the most beautiful siddur published in English, its commentary is an excellent introductory frame to the prayers, and it is at home in any Modern Orthodox or Traditionalist setting. Read the introduction front to back—Rabbi Sacks’s opening essay on the architecture of Jewish prayer is itself worth the price of the book."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Where Denominations Diverge",
        "text": "Where Denominations Diverge"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Nusach (the textual and musical tradition of a community’s prayer) divides along several lines. Nusach Ashkenaz is the rite of most Western and Central European Jews. [Nusach Sepharad](/glossary.json#letter-N) (Hasidic Ashkenazi) is the rite of most Hasidic communities. Nusach Edot HaMizrach is the rite of most Sephardic and Mizrahi communities. Within Reform and Conservative siddurim, the structure of the service is largely the same as Orthodox, but with edits (egalitarian language, omission of the daily sacrificial readings, alternative readings replacing the second paragraph of the [Shema](/glossary.json#letter-S) in classical Reform).",
        "text": "Nusach (the textual and musical tradition of a community’s prayer) divides along several lines. Nusach Ashkenaz is the rite of most Western and Central European Jews. Nusach Sepharad (Hasidic Ashkenazi) is the rite of most Hasidic communities. Nusach Edot HaMizrach is the rite of most Sephardic and Mizrahi communities. Within Reform and Conservative siddurim, the structure of the service is largely the same as Orthodox, but with edits (egalitarian language, omission of the daily sacrificial readings, alternative readings replacing the second paragraph of the Shema in classical Reform)."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Sources",
        "text": "Sources"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, A Guide to Jewish Prayer—on the structure and history of the siddur.",
        "text": "Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, A Guide to Jewish Prayer—on the structure and history of the siddur."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin, To Pray as a Jew—chapter on choosing a siddur.",
        "text": "Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin, To Pray as a Jew—chapter on choosing a siddur."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Introduction to the Koren Shalem Siddur.",
        "text": "Introduction to the Koren Shalem Siddur."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[The Siddur - The Prayer Book](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/682092/jewish/The-Siddur.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "The Siddur - The Prayer Book — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[The Chassidic Prayerbook - The Arizal's Prayer Liturgy - Redacted by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2089176/jewish/The-Chassidic-Prayerbook.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "The Chassidic Prayerbook - The Arizal's Prayer Liturgy - Redacted by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Nusaḥ](https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nusa-x1e25) — Jewish Virtual Library.",
        "text": "Nusaḥ — Jewish Virtual Library."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Further Reading",
        "text": "Further Reading"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Reuven Hammer, Or Hadash—a commentary on Sim Shalom.",
        "text": "Reuven Hammer, Or Hadash—a commentary on Sim Shalom."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Lawrence A. Hoffman (ed.), My People’s Prayer Book series—denominationally-mixed scholarly commentary on the siddur.",
        "text": "Lawrence A. Hoffman (ed.), My People’s Prayer Book series—denominationally-mixed scholarly commentary on the siddur."
      }
    ],
    "related": [],
    "goDeeper": [
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-prayers-the-shema",
        "title": "The Shema",
        "level": "essential",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-prayers-the-shema.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-prayers-the-amidah-shemoneh-esrei",
        "title": "The Amidah (Shemoneh Esrei)",
        "level": "essential",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-prayers-the-amidah-shemoneh-esrei.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-prayers-morning-blessings-birkot-hashachar",
        "title": "Morning Blessings (Birkot HaShachar)",
        "level": "essential",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-prayers-morning-blessings-birkot-hashachar.json"
      }
    ],
    "glossary": {
      "edot-hamizrach": {
        "term": "Edot HaMizrach",
        "hebrew": "עֵדוֹת הַמִּזְרָח",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "'The communities of the East' — Jews of Middle Eastern and North African lands, and the prayer rite those communities share with the broader Sephardic world.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "nusach-ashkenaz": {
        "term": "Nusach Ashkenaz",
        "hebrew": "נוּסַח אַשְׁכְּנַז",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The prayer rite of Central and Eastern European (Ashkenazi) communities, standard in most non-Hasidic Ashkenazi synagogues.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "nusach-sepharad": {
        "term": "Nusach Sepharad",
        "hebrew": "נוּסַח סְפָרַד",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The prayer rite adopted by Hasidic communities, blending the Ashkenazi liturgy with elements of the Sephardic rite under Kabbalistic influence — not to be confused with the rite of Sephardi Jews themselves.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "shema": {
        "term": "Shema",
        "hebrew": "שְׁמַע",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The central declaration of Jewish faith — 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One' — recited with its Torah paragraphs every morning and evening.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-prayers-the-shema"
      },
      "nusach": {
        "term": "nusach",
        "hebrew": "נוּסָח",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The version or rite of the liturgy a community follows — such as Nusach Ashkenaz or Nusach Sepharad — and, in music, its traditional prayer melodies. The plural is nusachot.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "siddur": {
        "term": "siddur",
        "hebrew": "סידור",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Jewish prayer book (plural siddurim), from a root meaning 'order' — it arranges the daily, Shabbat, and festival prayers in their fixed sequence.",
        "moreSlug": "where-to-start-your-first-siddur"
      }
    }
  },
  "links": [
    {
      "rel": "parent",
      "title": "Prayer & Liturgy",
      "href": "/sections/prayer-liturgy.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "The Shema",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-prayers-the-shema.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "The Amidah (Shemoneh Esrei)",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-prayers-the-amidah-shemoneh-esrei.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Morning Blessings (Birkot HaShachar)",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-prayers-morning-blessings-birkot-hashachar.json"
    }
  ]
}