Many have written about the siddur. However, really davening with it is incredible. The font is great. It is clear. The translation is nice (I am not a Hebrew scholar, but have some functional ability with the language). The commentary is great by a scholar that I find thoughtful, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain and the Commonwealth.
So, what does this mean for the hated Artscroll? Well, Artscroll will still continue. It is established and a well-known, if offensive product. It has a wide range of products too, beyond that, some of which are useful (if you know their bent and can dig a bit deeper).
However, what this does is add competition into the market of Orthodox/Traditional Siddurim. It offers the buyer choices. While I often state that choice is something that we do not often have, here we have a market of fairly well defined goods, a set liturgical book with instructions, translation, and commentary in English. The advent of choice, actually could only help this market.
While I do not want the traditional siddurim market to turn into a veritable cola aisle (with so many choices that it becomes paralyzing), I do think a limited set of wortwhile options is good. And so, I welcome this siddur not only because it is aesthetically appealing, less offensive to me, and wonderfully put together, but because it really does offer a choice.
And note, I am not even that traditional.
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