Siddur HaRav (Baal HaTanya) – Zhitomir, 1864 – Part II – Incomplete Copy

Siddur HaRav (Baal HaTanya) – Zhitomir, 1864 – Part II – Incomplete Copy

Siddur according to the text of the Arizal, by R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi – the Baal HaTanya. [Zhitomir: R. Chanina Lipa and R. Yehoshua Heshel Shapira, grandsons of the rabbi of Slavita, 1864]. Part II only.
Incomplete copy, without title page and first leaf.
The text of the Siddur, the laws and the two Chassidic essays (HaKol Kol Yaakov and He'ara LeTikkun Chatzot) were compiled and composed by the Baal HaTanya. The other Chassidic discourses (commentaries to the prayers) were delivered by the Baal HaTanya and recorded by his son the Mitteler Rebbe, R. Dov Ber Shneuri of Lubavitch. These siddurim are known amongst Chabad chassidim as Siddur im Dach.
3-62; 94 leaves. Lacking first two leaves. Extra copies of leaves 41-44 of second sequence. 25 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including large, dark stains to some leaves. Wear. Marginal creases and tears. Minor open tear to one leaf, affecting text. Worming, affecting text. Old binding, damaged and detached.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.

Siddur HaRav
The siddur compiled by the Alter Rebbe, Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi – the Baal HaTanya, was printed in his lifetime in several editions, in Shklow and Kopust (Kopys). His brother, R. Yehuda Leib (Maharil) of Janowitz, author of She'erit Yehuda, describes the work involved in arranging the siddur: "Apart from perfecting the text, to conform with the Kavanot of the Arizal, he also perfected the grammar". Rebbe Shalom Dov Ber of Lubavitch wrote about it: "It is well known that he devoted 20 years to preparing the prayer text, producing a new version every year, until the twentieth version came out purified, refined and cleansed". The Baal HaTanya himself commended his siddur, "I corrected the siddur, making it identical to the siddur of Anshei Knesset HaGedola…". According to traditions handed down to his descendants, in order to ascertain the correct version of the text, the Baal HaTanya studied and critically examined 60 (according to some – 32) different versions of prayer books, including 8 versions of the Siddur HaAri.
The Baal HaTanya included in his siddur many instructions and laws pertaining to the prayers. These laws often differ from the laws recorded in his Shulchan Aruch. In his siddur, he tends to rule based on Rishonim and Kabbalists, whilst in his Shulchan Aruch, he follows the opinions of Acharonim, predominantly that of the Magen Avraham. Wherever the rulings in the siddur are in conflict with those in his Shulchan Aruch, Chabad chassidim abide to the rulings in the siddur, since it was composed after the Shulchan Aruch (as his grandson, the Tzemach Tzedek, testifies in his novellae on Tractate Shabbat).
The Baal HaTanya also included in his siddur two Chassidic essays composed especially for the siddur. The first (p. 8a) is titled HaKol Kol Yaakov (this essay was reprinted in the Shklow 1806 edition of the Tanya, at the end of the book), and the second (p. 95a), He'ara LeTikun Chatzot.
As mentioned, the siddur was published in several editions during the lifetime of the Baal HaTanya. With each edition, he improved and further corrected the text and laws. However, the editions printed in his lifetime are not extant. R. Avraham David Lawat relates, in his preface to Shaar HaKollel (Vilna, 1896), that he succeeded in obtaining the Shklow 1803 edition, and two subsequent editions printed in Kopust in the Baal HaTanya's lifetime (the Shklow and Kopust editions mentioned by R. Lawat were lost with time; only one copy, lacking title page, was discovered in recent years).
After the Baal HaTanya's passing in 1813, his siddur was printed in two volumes, in Kopust 1816. The prayer rite of the Kopust edition is mostly based on the last edition printed in Baal HaTanya's lifetime, apart from some sections which were left according to earlier editions, mostly in terms of vocalization. Since then, the siddur was printed in over two hundred editions.