It is not because of all the old English translations that turn regular old davening lyrics into Shakespearian plays. Its not the abridged versions of davening that they use, only to tell you to go back to page 357 to find what you are looking for. Nope!!!
Birnbaum Machzors provide one who uses them with one of the greatest feelings of joy on Rosh Hashanah besides for that first bite into warm honey slathered raisin challah. In fact I would argue that the feelings that come from using a Birnbaum Machzor may even beat the honey slathered challah, gravy laden brisket and dip the apple in the honey song.
The great feeling I am talking about happens during every Rosh Hahsanah prayer in which the chazan is droning on and you are trying to find your place in the super complicated Birnbaum. When you eventually find your place which was lost in the first place because due to Artscrolls monopoly on the Jewish prayer book market- you come to the joyous realization that the chazan just skipped over a whole bunch of pages in your machzor.
I first realized that davening was way shorter then my machzor said it was during Maariv when they were busting out some of those responsive prayers about how God rocks and all. He does by the way, and I was lost of course because I was mad at myself for forgetting my Artscroll machzor. Of course most of the high holiday davening is spent turning pages and counting how much we have to go and the Birnbaum Machzor allows you the thrill of knowing we just skipped a whole bunch of davening is hard to compare to any other Rosh Hashanah feeling.
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boooo birnbaum!
Gotta say, I disagree. Arthur Scroll is so much better than Burnbaum. You skip pages in the AScroll too. Personally, when I think of Artscroll all i think of is an old shul with worn out talleisim on a rack.
I also like Artscroll way better- but when your stuck with Phillip you have to think of how cool it is that you skip half the pages.
No love for the new Chabad Machzorim? Simple, dare I say elegant layout, no snooty translation or commentary, and best of all, using one virtually guarantees that you’re in a Chabad House!
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TRS, also the chabad one tells you exactly when to sit and stand which is extra helpful.
There’s a Birnbaum demographic and an Artscroll demographic. I would define the Birnbaum demographic as the same folks who drive General Motors sedans – Buicks, Oldsmobiles.
Listen to all of you, rejoicing at the chance to skip out on praise to Hakadosh Baruch Hoo!! You apikorsim are missing the point of tefilah. I’m embarassed with myself for even reading this shtuss of a blog. You’re all a boosha to klall yisrael! If you can’t handle the whole davening, don’t sit in for the whole thing and count down pages to birchat cohanim. Do the basics(mussaf without chazaras hashas) and give it your all. Otherwise the davening turns into a tedious watered-down borefest with nothing but resentment for the king whom we’re praying at to begin with.
Tesya- well if you don’t bring your own machzor you are likely to enter the Birnbaum demographic
When I was a kid I had to use the old school Machzorim, and I had the same experience.
Now I have an Artscroll with interlinear translation, and it’s awesome; I can actually understand what I’m saying without having to skip back and forth between pages.
I love a Birnbaum Siddur or Machzor too. The Hebrew printing is clear and readable, the English is not ancient and stilted, compared to the previous generation of Machsorim, and there are cool comments at the bottom.
I never got into standard Artscroll, but I enjoyed Metsudah for a bunch of years. For a siddur, I’m enjoying the Artscroll Interlinear a lot.
I refuse to be a part of ignorant, intellectually dishonest “Artscroll Judaism.” For Artscroll at its worst, read the translation of Shir Hashirim in the Siddur.
I think of artscoll the same way I view ticketmaster: scumbags.
what about the workout? they are about 15 lbs each.
When I was a kid I used to count down the pages to the end of davening and was always thrilled with the English translation machzorim because that meant it was actually half of that amount of pages. I no longer need to count down the pages, because I’ve been doing it for so many years, I already know how much is left. (Aleinu in mussaf is the getting over the hump). Now my daughters sit next to me and count down the pages.
I am very proud of this tradition and look forward be’ezrat Hashem one day to some granddaughters doing some good counting.
shana tova.
This is like the thrill of not saying the long tachnun on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.
I grew up on Birnbaum; he lived in “C” shuls, too.
Now in Israel, the Eng. siddurim and machzorim I have are all artscroll, and they’re missing all sorts of things needed for Israeli prayer. They’re too gulusdik for me.
Nice: Exactly!
Any machzor that leaves out the story of the Unesana Tokef rabbi getting his arms and legs chopped off is not a machzor I want to use.
I pointed the story out to my 12 year old cousin this year and he was freaked out for the rest of Mussaf, I think I created a heretic in our days.
Happy New Year!
Try “Mimecha Eleicha”. It’s all in Hebrew, but it has absolutely the best side commentary; everything from the very traditional to the very contemporary and even radical. The Yom Kippur machzor even has a quote from Yona Vallach, apparently at one of her few reasonable moments.
Those of us who’ve learned enough Hebrew have EARNED the right to drift in services.
Birnbaum may be out of print but my old (parents’ neighborhood) shul still goes by Birnbaum. Recently, they rebinded the covers. My new shul is a Young Israel- solidly an Artscroll place. I’m lucky they have two worn Birnbaums and Hertz chumashim on the shelves for me.
Sergey long time no speak- its true artscroll has a monopoly unless you go chabad of course- then tehilas Hashem is taking over.
Taking over? Tehillat hashem completed its monopoly in Chabad around fifty years ago, when it ousted its predecessor, the Siddur Torah Or.