[Judaica- Exceedingly Scarce Presentation Copy- Montagu, Lilian Helen] Prayers for Jewish Working Girls

London: Wertheimer, Lea & Co, 1895. First Edition. First Edition. 12 x 8 cm. Original light brown printed wrappers (mended at spine). 32pp. PRESENTATION COPY, "Miss Richman, With affectionate thanks from L. H. M." An exceedingly scarce survival, the earliest of works by Lily Montague (1873 ñ 1963), influential female Jewish author, suffragist (she was a founding member of the Jewish League for Woman Suffrage), and early influencer on the rights of women who played a major role in Progressive Judaism. We can find no other copies of this early work by Montagu in the marketplace, and few are known to have survived, much less a Presentation Copy. Prayers for Jewish Working Girls (1895) is a collection of twenty-five prayers in vernacular English dedicated to the members of the West Central Girlsí Club, founded in 1893 by Lilian and co-led by her and her sister Marian Montagu.

Lily Montagu played a key role in making Liberal Judaism more than a fringe movement in Great Britain in the early 20th century. Raised in an Orthodox home, Montagu questioned the aspects of Orthodoxy that were, for women especially, contradictory, that expected her to foster a close relationship to God without providing the necessary tools, such as membership in a congregation or Hebrew education. Seeking a different religious community that accepted and encouraged womenís participation, she founded and led religious services for women for nine years before founding the Liberal Religious Union in 1902. She helped establish Liberal Jewish synagogues across Great Britain, was president of the L.R.U. for over 20 years, and was a founding member of the World Union of Progressive Judaism. An important and scarce survival, indeed.