Leo Merzbacher. Seder Tephilah – The Order of Prayer for Divine Service.

<<First edition of Samuel Adler’s revised edition of Leo Merzbacher’s 1855 prayer-book>> . The first Reform prayer-book to contain an English rather than German translation of the prayers. Despite the modest title-page, Adler’s production here was not merely a revision, but in actuality he completely reworked and entirely altered the liturgy. Leo Merzbacher’s original version of the prayers was quite traditional. “As resourceful and accomplished a liturgist as Merzbacher proved to be, he seldom sought to… willfully turn aside from the traditional cannon” (Friedland, p. 36). Samuel Adler, on the other hand (Merzbacher’s successor at Temple Emanu-El of New York) had no such reservations about adopting radical change to the structure of the prayer-book. In his version of the “Order of Prayer” not only did Adler not defer to Jewish tradition, rather he entirely changed the liturgy according to his subjective views of how synagogue services should be conducted (see Eric Lewis Friedland, (Brandeis University dissertation), The Historical and Theological Development of the non-Orthodox Prayerbooks in the United States, 1967). Indeed it was precisely this 1860 version of the “Order of Prayer” that was adopted by Temple Temple Emanu-El in New York, and all subsequent issues of the “Order of Prayer” utilized Samuel Adler’s revisions. The Union Prayer-book itself was largely based on Adler’s 1860 revision. Consequently, this prayer-book was the cause of much controversy. Orthodox Rabbi Bernard Illowy of St. Louis fumed that whomsoever utilized this “so-called” prayer-book was to be “entirely excluded from all religious communion” (see Michael A. Meyer, Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement (1995) p. 237). Leo Merzbacher (1809-56) received his Rabbinic ordination from the celebrated R. Moses Sofer of Pressburg (the “Chasam Sofer”), the leading opponent of the Reform movement. Merzbacher immigrated to America in the 1840’s and was appointed the first rabbi of Temple Temple Emanu-El in New York where he served until his death. He adopted changes in synagogue custom such as the prominent use of an organ and eradicating the observance of the second day of festivals. Samuel Adler (1809-91) replaced Merzbacher in Temple Emanu-El in 1857, where he served until 1891. Adler’s son, Felix, was the founder of the Ethical Culture movement. <<Exceptionally rare. No record of the 1860 volume in WorldCat.>> Neither Deinard (cf. nos. 966 and 968) nor Goldman (cf. no. 48) record this edition.