Lot 81
The Divine Service of American Israelites for the New Year – First Reform Machzor Printed in the United States, Edited by Isaac Mayer Wise – Cincinnati, 1866 – First Edition
The Divine Service of American Israelites for the New Year, edited by Isaac Mayer Wise. Cincinnati: Bloch & Co., 1866. Hebrew, English and German. First edition.
Reform machzor for Rosh Hashanah, by Isaac Mayer Wise (1819-1900), rabbi of Congregation B'nai Yeshurun in Cincinnati, and prominent Reform rabbi in the United States. This is the first Reform machzor printed in the United States (following the first Reform siddur, printed nine years earlier, in 1857, and also compiled by Wise).
Wise is known for his vision of uniting the diverse Jewish American communities under a common prayer rite, an idea he promoted in newspapers he edited and various other forums. The B'nai Yeshurun machzorim and American-rite siddur were part of this enterprise. The machzor is characterized by its innovative, liberal and universal approach to the traditional text, which is expanded, abbreviated or reworked.
212 pp., 15.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor blemishes. Minute worming to spine and margins, not affecting text. Ex-library copy, with stamps to title page; later cloth binding, with handwriting on spine. Label remnants to inside front board and abrasions to inside back board.
Goldman 53. Singerman 1949.