MORRIS BERNSTEIN’S SIDDUR DATED 1840



My great great grandfather, Morris Bernstein brought a small pocket size Siddur with him on his journey to America. It was printed in 1840 in Hanover, Germany, his home. Morris was Orthodox and became Reform after he immigrated and the movement, which began in Germany, spread through the American Jewish community. The Siddur is approximately three inches by three inches and was printed for travelers to carry in their pockets. Other than the first page, which is in German and gives the date published as 1840, it is all in Hebrew. It contains the daily prayers and abbreviated excerpts for the Sabbath and the holidays.

Morris received the Siddur before immigrating to America, likely from his parents. He arrived in Huntsville Alabama before 1852 when we know he married Henrietta Newman in a civil ceremony . The Siddur remained in Huntsville for over 161 years.

Morris' daughter, my great grandmother Betty Bernstein Goldsmith, inherited the Siddur at her father's death in 1898. Betty's son, my grandfather, Lawrence Bernstein Goldsmith, inherited the Siddur at his mother's death in 1928. Lawrence's son, my father, Lawrence Bernstein Goldsmith, Jr. inherited the Siddur at his father's death in 1972. I inherited the Siddur at my father's death in 1995. I had it rebound so that it could be used and in 2010 I gave it to my son John, (Yonah Hanaw) who lives in Jerusalem, Israel. Yonah is the first member of our family who has been able to read the Siddur since his great great great grandfather died in 1898.

Before giving the Siddur to my son, I wondered how to present it and how it could be keep. The most appropriate way to honor and preserve it was to keep it in a meaningful box. My grandparents, Annie Schiffman and Lawrence Bernstein Goldsmith had a silver cigarette box that had been gold plated that my parents and I gave them on their fiftieth wedding anniversary in 1958. (My grandmother smoked cigarettes). The box was engraved with a "G" on top along with the date of their wedding anniversary. The cigarette box had lost most of its gold plating and the silver had tarnished, leaving a lovely antique patina. I had engraved on the top of the box "Siddur history on bottom of box." On the bottom I had engraved a history of the Siddur and the names of family members who have owned the Siddur and the dates the Siddur was received by then. The history begins with Morris Bernstein and ends with my son Yonah and the date I gave the Siddur to him. Yonah uses the Siddur every day for his daily prayers.

I would like to have kept the Siddur in our family collection of archives and artifacts since it was the oldest object in the collection; however, I felt it more important that Yonah have it. He has promised to give the Siddur to his eldest son Elisha at the appropriate time and have engraved at the end of the history, his son Elisha's name and the date that he gives it to him. This will be the next chapter in the Siddur's history which I hope will continue for many generations.