Date: Thursday, 3rd Jul, 2008

In a double celebration last Thursday, Year 1 pupils at Naima Jewish Preparatory School in Maida Vale celebrated their Chagigat HaSiddur along with the launch of a new Book of Prayer for Children named ‘Pirheh Naima'.

Following an accomplished presentation to parents on the theme of ‘giving thanks', the youngsters participated in an interactive session with Rabbi Dr Abraham Levy OBE, Spiritual Head of the Congregation of Spanish & Portuguese of Britain and Ireland, on the same topic of giving thanks to Hashem for the many gifts they receive on a daily basis. Parents then received copies of the newly published prayer book to present to their own children at the moving ceremony.

The Book of Prayer presented to the children is a completely new bespoke production for the Spanish & Portuguese Congregation, specifically designed to meet the needs of their school children in their own liturgy. It replaces the older ‘Tefillat Yeled' children's Spanish & Portuguese siddur of 1969, for many years out of print. When told that the Iraqi Prayer Book used by the school in the interim was also out of print, the Jewish Studies team at the Maida Vale School were prompted to fill the gap by producing their own prayer book.

With a Preface by Rabbi Dr Abraham Levy, Principal of Naima JPS, ‘Pirheh Naima' was edited by Mrs Fayge Levenberg, Deputy Head and Head of Jewish Studies of Naima JPS, typeset and produced by Mrs Shoshana Hill, and proofread by the Reverend Svi Amroussi.

Head teacher Michael Cohen explained: "Tefillah is central to our school ethos and this most attractive new siddur will further enhance the ‘Hiddur' - beauty - of the Mitzvah for our children."

The new Book of Prayer for Children includes all the prayers regularly recited by the children at school, as well as some blessings for the Jewish Holidays, Pirkei Avot, and Monday's and Thursday's Torah readings. It also contains basic Shabbat prayers to enable the children to follow the longer Shabbat service at the nearby Lauderdale Road Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, ‘Sha'ar HaShamayim'.

"We are very proud that we have produced a Children's Prayer book in the unique tradition of the Spanish and Portuguese Congregation of London. This current edition contains many, many more prayers than the one we published thirty years ago," said Rabbi Dr Levy. "We also intend to make a pocket-sized edition so that the children can carry it with them wherever they go."

PHOTO CREDIT: ELIANE FATTAL