SIDDUR (DAILY PRAYER BOOK) ACCORDING TO THE HASIDIC RITE (MINHAG SEFARAD), EDITED BY RABBI AARON BEN JEHIEL MIKHL HA-LEVI OF MICHALISZKI, SLAVUTA: RABBI SAMUEL ABRAHAM SHAPIRO, 1827-1828

A rare copy of an important Hasidic prayer book.

In 1811, Rabbi Jehiel Mikhl and his son Rabbi Aaron ha-Levi of Michaliszki published, in Berdychiv, a kabbalistically-tinged prayer book according to the general Ashkenazic rite (minhag ashkenaz), with commentary anthologized from numerous sources, entitled Seder tefillat nehora (see lot 183). The son would go on to produce a second siddur, this one according to the Hasidic rite (minhag sefarad) and including material culled from various Hasidic works, entitled Seder avodah u-moreh derekh, two editions of which were issued by the Shapiro press in Slavuta in 1821. Both prayer books were received with great enthusiasm and went on to be reprinted numerous times in various forms.

Seder avodah u-moreh derekh takes its name from the idea that Jewish prayer is a form of divine worship akin to the service (avodah) in the Temple (Ta‘anit 2a). The work was also meant to serve as a guide (moreh derekh) to those seeking to know the laws and customs associated with prayer and to pray with gusto and proper intention. At the rear of this edition, as is the case with other editions printed in Slavuta, appears a contract in which the editor sells the exclusive rights to his work to Rabbi Moses Shapiro. Two completely different versions of the siddur appeared in 1827: one printed at the press of Moses Shapiro and the other at the press of his son Samuel Abraham; the present lot is a copy of the latter edition.