Simeon Singer

Simeon Singer (1846 – 1906) was an English Rabbi, preacher, lecturer and public worker. He is best known for his English translation of the Siddur, the Authorized Daily Prayer Book, informally known as the "Singer's Siddur".

Singer was born in London in 1846 to a Hungarian father and English mother. At age 8 (1855) his mother took him to visit Raab, then in Hungary. She believed he would get a better education there, but shortly after their arrival she contracted cholera and died within 24 hours. Simeon remained there a few months with family members, and then returned to London. He "possessed an exceptional mind", and at the age of 13 he was the recipient of the Barnett Myers Scholarship, allowing him to study.

He became a student at the Day School of Jews' College, which had only recently been founded in 1855. The curriculum of the school was wide and in addition to Biblical Hebrew, included English, French, German, as well as Mathematics and Science. Singer thus spoke German and French fluently, and some Italian, acquired a working knowledge of Latin and Greek, and was generally well-educated in the arts and sciences.

He later moved into the College itself, when he decided to enter the Ministry. His studies there were interrupted by the death of its principal, the Rev Barnett Abrahams. Singer was then fortunate to be taught by the new principal, Dr Michael Friedländer, who "took a kindly interest in young Singer". In 1867, whilst still a student, he became part-time minister, and combined this with teaching at the Day School, where he was for a time headmaster. He remained at Jews' College for 12 more years.

In 1890 he received his Semicha (the Rabbinical Diploma) from Rabbi Isaac Hirsch Weiss of Vienna, author of Dor Dor v’Dor’shav. He underwent a series of written and oral examinations, spending two months there "being rigorously examined". Singer had begun rabbinical studies with Dayan Jacob Reinowitz of the London Beth Din in 1879, [1] eventually following a "demanding three-year course of study" with Weiss; he visited the Continent often and spent much time either with Weiss, or studying by himself under Weiss' guidance.

...
Wikipedia