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ספר תפלת החדש : כמנהג ק״ק ספרדים
(Sepher Tephiloth Hachadash – Daily Prayers according to the Sephardic Rite)
Bombay: Anglo-Jewish and Vernacular Press (Aaron Jacob Divekar), 1889.
A rare siddur printed for the Bene Israel Jewish community of India, presenting the traditional Sephardic liturgy in Hebrew with a Marathi translation.
The translation was prepared by Joseph Ezekiel Rajpurkar (1834–1905), a noted scholar of Hebrew and Marathi and headmaster of the David Sassoon Benevolent Institution in Bombay. Rajpurkar was a leading intellectual figure within the Bene Israel community and worked to make Hebrew liturgy accessible to Marathi-speaking Jews.
The book was published by Ezekiel Benjamin Penkar for the benefit of the Bene Israel communities of western India.
The volume contains three title pages in Hebrew, English, and Marathi. The Hebrew title page announces that the prayers are presented “in the holy tongue and in Marathi, such as has never existed before,” in order to benefit the Bene Israel communities living in the cities of India.
The Hebrew text follows one of the standard Livorno Sephardic siddur editions, reflecting the influence of Livorno liturgical printing throughout Jewish communities of the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and India.
The Hebrew and Marathi texts are printed on facing pages with parallel pagination, allowing readers to follow the prayers in both languages. At the beginning of the book appear a Marathi introduction and indexes.
Bene Israel Jews
Bombay Jewish printing
Hebrew Marathi siddur
Joseph Ezekiel Rajpurkar
David Sassoon Benevolent Institution
Indian Jewish liturgy
Sephardic prayer book India
Anglo-Jewish Vernacular Press
Jewish India 19th century
