It would be good to get clarification, yes. Though I'm inclined to say that the Hasidic nusah could be treated as "Ashkenazic or unspecified" because conflating it with Edot ha-Mizrah is counterproductive. Especially since if the word ספרד doesn't appear but the nusah is clearly Ashkenazic, I imagine the item would be cataloged as Ashkenazic. There are lots of different versions of each nusah, and its useful to have an umbrella term for related versions, but lumping Sephardic and Hasidic together doesn't really help anyone--librarians, scholars, or other patrons--with finding or understanding resources.
(Side note: It's not instinct so much as a lifetime of experience - my Brooklyn school led davening in nusah sfard, my family davened nusah sfard, and my friend group included a Lubavitch friend who davened nusah Ari and a Sefardi friend who davened Edot ha-Mizrah. We all kept Ari and Edot ha-Mizrah siddurim and bentchers at our homes for when those friends were over, and they had nusah sfard for us.) I look forward to hearing what the committee decides. Dainy Dr. Dainy Bernstein ey/they Hebraica Library Specialist University of Pennsylvania Libraries On Fri, Sep 5, 2025, 5:44 PM Shinohara, Jasmin <jsh...@upenn.edu> wrote: > P.S. Looking at the relevant authority records, I don't think there have > been any updates "to clarify that the single qualifier “Sephardic” is used > to signify both rites" (per the action item in the 2012 minutes). > > Cataloging committee folks, would you please consider that as a next step? > > Thanks again, Jasmin > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Heb-naco <heb-naco-boun...@lists.osu.edu> on behalf of Shinohara, > Jasmin via Heb-naco <heb-naco@lists.osu.edu> > *Sent:* Friday, September 5, 2025 5:38 PM > *To:* Dainy Bernstein <dainybernst...@gmail.com>; Hebrew Name Authority > Funnel <heb-naco@lists.osu.edu> > *Subject:* Re: [Heb-NACO] Siddur / mahzor nusah > > Hi, Dainy, thank you for your question. Your instinct is on target: > Sephardic rite (נוסח ספרד/nusaḥ Sefarad) is not to be confused with the > rite of Sefaradim, Jews of the Orient and North Africa, called ʻAdot > ha-Mizraḥ. Unfortunately, both > Hi, Dainy, thank you for your question. > > Your instinct is on target: Sephardic rite (נוסח ספרד/nusaḥ Sefarad) is > not to be confused with the rite of Sefaradim, Jews of the Orient and North > Africa, called ʻAdot ha-Mizraḥ. Unfortunately, both are described with the > same preferred title, in your case, Maḥzor (Sephardic). |p High Holidays. > Indeed, looking in LC's catalog for this title, you'll find a conflation of > the two types of Sefarad/Sepharadi. This is a known issue that was last > discussed in the Cataloging Committee's meeting in 2012 > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://rascat.pbworks.com/w/page/55517046/Minutes*202012__;JQ!!KGKeukY!wKVVqcZuNdic0euuGbUIjFz40c3ZTqn8AvN67oYh-a3g9Eo_S6TtRn7W2jkEdIl6GEJQpYOHOHwQPbdoYuDFNQ$>. > The minutes record: > "3) Action, if any, to be taken regarding Nusaḥ Sefarad: The group > considered issues that were first raised by Ella Ruderman of Yeshiva > University, who questioned the Library of Congress (LC) practice of using > the qualifier “Sephardic” for liturgical works identifying themselves as > either “Nusaḥ Sefarad” or “Minhag ha-Sefaradim ṿa-'Adot ha-Mizraḥ.” It > was acknowledged that the two rites differ, and that “Nusaḥ Sefarad” is > used by various Ashkenazic communities, Hasidic and non-Hasidic, so the > current usage of the qualifier “Sephardic “ may be misleading in many > cases. It was noted that the Encyclopaedia Judaica (EJ) distinguishes > between the two rites, using "Sefarad" for “Nusaḥ Sefarad” and "Sephardi" > for “Minhag ha-Sefaradim…” Discussion covered a number of the alternatives > suggested in the LC notes document (NusahSefarad.doc > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://rascat.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/54443295/NusahSefarad.doc?force_download=1__;!!KGKeukY!wKVVqcZuNdic0euuGbUIjFz40c3ZTqn8AvN67oYh-a3g9Eo_S6TtRn7W2jkEdIl6GEJQpYOHOHwQPbdKRjMgAA$>). > Members commented on the need for extensive bibliographic file maintenance > if any change in practice is implemented, including that of ceasing to > qualify by rite altogether. The problem of distinguishing between Sefarad > and Ari rites, was also noted, as these rites are considered to be related > and similar, but not identical. The question was posed about how important > these distinctions are to users, and there was general agreement that doing > away with distinctions by rite would be a loss to users. The National > Library of Israel’s practice is to provide information about the rite in a > note, rather than in the uniform title. There was general agreement that > in many cases, it is not realistic to expect catalogers to have the time or > knowledge to be able to distinguish rites more finely than is currently > done. > Action item: The decision was made to maintain current practice; however, > LC will update the appropriate authority records to clarify that the single > qualifier “Sephardic” is used to signify both rites." > I will let the current cataloging committee decide if they'd like to > reconsider the matter. > > Other documentation related to liturgy that is found on the wiki includes > Distinguishing > between Ashkenazic and Sephardic liturgical rites > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://rascat.pbworks.com/w/page/161003130/Ashkenazi*20vs*20Sefaradi*20liturgy__;JSUl!!KGKeukY!wKVVqcZuNdic0euuGbUIjFz40c3ZTqn8AvN67oYh-a3g9Eo_S6TtRn7W2jkEdIl6GEJQpYOHOHwQPbcHo1cCvA$>; > Subject Heading Patterns for Jewish Liturgical Works (e.g. Haggadah, > Maḥzor, and Siddur) > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://rascat.pbworks.com/w/page/152220933/Subject*20Heading*20Patterns*20for*20Jewish*20Liturgical*20Works__;JSUlJSUl!!KGKeukY!wKVVqcZuNdic0euuGbUIjFz40c3ZTqn8AvN67oYh-a3g9Eo_S6TtRn7W2jkEdIl6GEJQpYOHOHwQPbcfyIPfcg$> > . > > Please don't hesitate to reach out with further questions. > > Thanks, Jasmin > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Heb-naco <heb-naco-bounces+jshino=pobox.upenn....@lists.osu.edu> > on behalf of Dainy Bernstein via Heb-naco <heb-naco@lists.osu.edu> > *Sent:* Friday, September 5, 2025 2:07 PM > *To:* heb-naco@lists.osu.edu <heb-naco@lists.osu.edu> > *Subject:* [Heb-NACO] Siddur / mahzor nusah > > Hi all, I'm working on a Rosh ha-Shanah/Yom Kippur mahzor (OCLC 31984821) > which has the word ספרד on the title page, but includes instructions in > Yiddish. The call number assigned to this title is BM674. 47, which is > specifically for Sephardic > Hi all, > > I'm working on a Rosh ha-Shanah/Yom Kippur mahzor (OCLC 31984821) which > has the word ספרד on the title page, but includes instructions in Yiddish. > The call number assigned to this title is BM674.47, which is specifically > for Sephardic mahzorim. But I'm not convinced it is actually Sephardic as > in Edot ha-Mizrah - based on the Yiddish, and some digging around in the > included/excluded phrases and tefilot, I think this is "nusah Sephard," > which is a definitely Ashkenazic nusah used by Hasidic congregations and > has nothing to do with Sephardim or Mizrahim. > > I couldn't find any information about this confusion in terminology. If > documentation for that exists, I'd be grateful if anyone knows of it and > can share it. Otherwise... any thoughts? > > Dainy > > Dainy Bernstein > *ey/they* > Hebraica Library Specialist > University of Pennsylvania Libraries > --- > Book reviews for Shelf Awareness and AJL > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://dainy-bernstein.com/book-reviews-by-dainy-bernstein__;!!KGKeukY!zwXi4nnxfMwUAFN5BPVfDl6mbydx4poB19ZaWLgocVv-9lu39EXjlFJxT9v2ShICAnoMGSn1Bnv9de-Tw9lSEPnKOgZLZQ$> > --- > *Artifacts of Orthodox Jewish Childhoods > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.benyehudapress.com/books/artifacts-of-orthodox-childhoods/__;!!KGKeukY!zwXi4nnxfMwUAFN5BPVfDl6mbydx4poB19ZaWLgocVv-9lu39EXjlFJxT9v2ShICAnoMGSn1Bnv9de-Tw9lSEPlpW1WVzA$>* > [image: Artifacts of Orthodox Jewish Childhoods: Personal and Critical > Essays: Bernstein, Dainy: 9781953829252: Amazon.com: Books] >
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