Reviews for Artscroll Siddur: Nusach Sefard

The average rating for Artscroll Siddur: Nusach Sefard based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-09-04 00:00:00 Dean Jong Elimelech "Mike" Tress was what is called a "balebatish" hero in the Orthodox world. In other words, he wasn't a rabbi or a scholar, but is celebrated for his activism and organizational abilities. Before and after the war, he created youth groups to stem the tide of assimilation. During the war, he was active in the rescue of numerous Jews. His life is certainly one worth reading about. Unfortunately, though, I only read about half of this book. It's hagiographic, which bothers me a little, and often anti-Mizrachi, which bothers me much more. I may take it out of the library again and finish at some point, but I don't feel a tremendous pull to do so. To the extent that I do, it's because of Mike Tress himself and not the quality of the book.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-09-29 00:00:00 Moby Watkins In this survey exploring the relationship between science and Judaism, the author, the mysterious Mr. Pollack, shows an adeptness for explaining scientific principles simply and for outlining arguments that lead to very interesting conclusions... mostly. He does make a number of logical points that support his thesis that science and Judaism are compatible, and which I had never pondered before. I particularly enjoyed the quantum mechanics and free will section. However, I found several arguments to be problematic and more guided by wishful thinking rather than a logical stream of thought. In particular, I felt the evidence from the psychology chapter paradoxically could serve as evidence both for Gd and for the human creation of the idea of a god, a negation that underwhelms. Toward the end of the book, Pollack makes very intriguing arguments regarding conservatism, liberalism, rationalism, and humanism with many valid points that had never crossed my mind and really provoked me to think. But in the end I found these arguments only to be overly defensive, self-aggrandizing, and ultimately tautological (in more ways than one), rendering them kind of useless. To his credit, Pollack does mention that the book "Closing of the American Mind," from which he takes some arguments, can seem harsh and overwrought...although it's not too clear where the two philosophies differ. Somewhere between the middle and the end, there is an insightful passage about Dr. Arno Penzias, one of the co-discoverers of cosmic microwave background radiation (the signature of the Big Bang). He said, even if this background radiation was never discovered, he would still believe Gd created the world. A wonderful conviction to be sure, but it almost negates the whole point of the book! However, to me it offers a truer glimpse of what it means to believe, rather than in the seeking of Gd in science. Yet, at the end of it all, I do believe in the author's conclusion- that Gd does indeed leave his fingerprints on the universe.