Siddur (Jewish prayer book)

Hello Friends,

A siddur is the Jewish prayer book containing prayers according to the order of the Jewish calendar. It is the instrument of synagogue worship and includes prayers for weekdays, Sabbath, New Moon and all the festival and fast days, together with the relevant halakhot (guidleines) preceding each section. The word Siddur comes from a Hebrew root meaning "order".

I was given this highly decorative Siddur as a bar mitzvah present back in September 1966. I don't remember who gave it to me, and I don't recall even once opening it to read it. I still do have this book.

This image was one of my early experiments with phantograms, shot in October 2004. I took these shots with a Canon Powershot G3, the left eye and right eye shots seperated by 2-1/2" using a home made slide bar. The Canon G3 was an excellent early 4 megapixel digital camera, the same camera I used to create my first book, Phantograms from Nature in 2005.

Today is the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur (day of atonement). An observant Jew will attend services, fast from sunset last night until sunset tonight, reflect on all his/her poor choices and actions in the past year, and consider how he/she might improve one's self in the coming year. I'm not and have never been a very observant Jew. Most of my prayers are done on the baseball field toward self serving ends, but I will spend some time today reflecting on how to live a better life.

Best regards,

Barry Rothstein

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