Rosh HaShana CONT. FROM PAGE R60 Plerioreth9 HOUSE L'Shanah Tovah! To our fabulous volunteers; the best anywhere. From your most appreciative friends at Menorah House. With every hope that the New Year brings you all happiness, good health, prosperity. L'Shana Tova This new year, join us in making a difference by supporting ORT schools in the U.S A , Israel, the former Soviet Union and around the world. Technological Training in a Jewish Environment WOMEN'S AMERICAN IMP" Michigan Region Office 6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 150 Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48301 (248) 723-8860 (248) 723-8861 fax E-mail: michort@speedlink.net DONESON WORLD CLASS TRAVEL Wishes All Our Wonderful Clients and Friends A Happy and Healthy New Year! Organization for Educational Resources and Technological Training 248-353-5811 HARVARD ROW MALL 444e4 Wish Our Customers The Best In Health And Happiness For The New Year 9/10 1999 162 Detroit Jewish News 800-772-5811 21742 W.11 MILE RD SOUTHFIELD, MI 48076 air =rum JEWISH NEWS FAX 248-353-7477 CLASSIFIEDS GET RESULTS! Call (248)354-5959 some 10,000 Jews. In London, it appears, there were enough people Who knew Hebrew and there were schools to train the youth in the language. Furthermore, Yiddish and Ladino translations of the machzor and the siddur (daily prayer- book) were readily available. The colonial scene was quite differ- ent. Since the few colonial American synagogues all followed the Sephardic ritual, the Ashkenazic members could not readily use their own prayerbooks, which had a Yiddish translation geared to the Ashkenazic ritual. And by now the Sephardim in America were second and third generation Americans; they were not as conver- sant with the Hebrew as their parents and grandparents. So an English translation was essential since it was the common language. Finally, in the summer of 1761, the small volume was issued anony- mously, no translator specified. Most probably, the translator was Isaac Pinto, a highly knowledgeable Jew in New York. However, it seems that he left his name off because in 1761 the Jewish community of New York was not completely free of "its feelings of colonial inferiority." Hence, it was thought to be a bit presumptuous for a New Yorker to upstage the resourceful and talented London Jewish community and issue the first English translation ever of a prayerbook. The work known as Evening Service of Roshashanah and Kippur does not contain a complete translation of the machzor. That would have been too much to expect. The translation of the Aleinu prayer demonstrates that the American Jew who prepared it had the original text of the prayer. Moreover, the prayer for the gov- ernment highlights the British Royal House. "Bless, preserve, guard and assist our Sovereign Lord King George the Third, her Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales, and all the Royal Family." It continues, "The Supreme King of Kings, inspire him, and his Council, and the States of his Kingdoms, with Benevolence towards us and our Brethren." Who could have predicted that when the Jews arrived in New Amsterdam 345 years ago, that America would today host such a vibrant Jewish community on the eve of Rosh HaShana 5760, also the dawn of the secular new millenni- um. H