[Mesorah] Looking for Common Denominators

[D&E-H Bannett]

Your method of determining proper nusach by comparing Baer, 
Birnbaum, artscroll, Sefaradi and Hoffmeister is not going 
to tell you much because they all came into existence long 
after the changes were made.

But there is a cheap solution. One doesn't have to go back 
to the works of those who made most of the modifications, R' 
Shabetai Sofer, R' Eliyahu ben R' Azriel , R' Zalman Heneh 
(from the city Hanau but usually called Heneh) and R' 
Yitzhak Satanov. A group of P'rushim (mi-talmidei haGra) in 
Yerushalayim have already done it for us.

About ten years ago, they put out a siddur 'al pi nusach 
haGra entitled Siddur Eizor Eliyahu. The notes on every page 
point out by whom every modification was made.

For example, in my posting a few days ago, adding two-cents 
worth to R' Seth's posting, I wrote:
  It seems that the first siddur to change the
segol to a patach was that of R' Shabbetai Sofer (1615).  It
was copied by the siddur of R' Eliyahu ben R' Azriel of
Vilna (1704). And from there it spread and became accepted
by all nusach Ashkenaz.

Lest you think I examined all the sources or knew them by 
heart before I wrote the above, let it be known that all I 
did was look at the Siddur Eizor Eliyahu where, in "al 
harishonim... emet sha-ata hu",  it says that, before the 
siddurim of RSh"S and R' EbA"z, most siddurim had she-ata.

I always find it interesting that these two siddurim are
considered serious correctors and sources to be followed
while the following generation, R' Zalman Heneh (1725) and
R' Yitzhak Satanov (1780's) were attacked for their
multitude of "improvements and corrections". Even more
interesting, despite the attacks, R' Wolf Heidenheim and R'
Seligmann Baer accepted almost all of their "corrections"
and they have became standard in nusach Ashkenaz.

BTW, I have not yet seen R' Hoffmeister's Tefilat Yeshurun. 
In fact I didn't know it existed until you mentioned it.


bivrakha,

David