Request for feedback on minhag Ashkenaz benscher

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10 Sep 2017 14:28 #2832 by TKriha
I’m new to the forum but know a couple of members; for those that don’t know me I’m a baal teshuva with Ashkenaz heritage living in a small community down under.

I am working on minhag Ashkenaz resources (benschers, guides, and perhaps siddurim) with modern typesetting and English instructions that hopefully will be of interest to members. (If not to use, then at least of interest that others can use them.)

There have been several excellent projects to produce minhag Ashkenaz siddurim in recent years but none of them with English instructions which would be useful for baalei teshuva or those less fluent in Hebrew.

My first project is a compact benscher with all brachos before and after food on two sides of a single page. For more information about the project see this post .

I’m planning to make this user-printable benscher available free so a minhag Ashkenaz benscher is accessible and affordable for anyone who wants one.

I am looking for ‘beta testers’ to trial the benscher and give me feedback on the design, Hebrew text, and of course the English instructions.

If you would like to review the benscher please sign up to my beta tester list and you’ll be emailed a link to where you can download it. You can sign up here .

Gut voch!

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11 Sep 2017 04:13 #2833 by TKriha
I should also add for those interested (as most probably are in a nusach forum!) that for the source text I used Rabbi Rallis Wiesenthal's siddur which he kindly publicly released on Open Siddur . Rabbi Wiesenthal extensively consulted Rabbi Binyamin Shlomo Hamburger in producing the siddur and I also asked a couple of questions of them both which further informed the birkas hamazon text I used.

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10 Oct 2017 21:26 #2839 by Israel
I'd be happy to test. One suggestion, don't use the elongated font that one sometimes sees in Yekke publications. Make sure all letters are of a consistent width. I'd prefer that even with a ragged left justification than to see the distracting stretched out letters.
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19 Oct 2017 00:42 #2847 by Melech
Interesting. I actually find the type fonts I think you're referring to to be much easier to read, as the Hebrew letters look much more genuine than the modern, monospaced fonts. Either way, I think it's advantageous to alternate font types/ sizes, as was typically done in the older siddurim, which is very useful to the eyes.

Melech
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19 Oct 2017 04:37 #2849 by TKriha
Thanks for the feedback.

I'm planning to use the very same fonts used in Koren siddurim, which I think balance modern and historic aesthetics to create a timeless look and feel.

Importantly they're very readable - they're even designed so every letter is distinguishable even if only the top third is visible.

Also importantly, there are two fonts in the family: Koren Siddur which is used for siddur text with nikudim but not taamim and Koren Tanakh used for Tanakh text with nukudim and taamim. They're subtly different ensuring the Tanakh text is distinct and always with taamim (important in minhag Ashkenaz).

If you would like to see how they look in practice I've used them in the beta testing version of the printable trifold benscher which you can get by signing up as a beta tester .

The fonts are as small as I'd ever want to use them in order to fit all brachos before and after food onto two sides of a page. Even so the feedback is that it's still readable even for non-native Hebrew readers.

I'd love to hear your feedback on its readability - and of course on the text itself.

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