Wikipedia's first sentence called it “prayer book used by religious jews on the high holy days”. Today it says “one of the earliest illuminated manuscripts of ashkenazi origin”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2005
The mahzor ( machzor in Hebrew , pl. machzorim ) is the prayer book used by religious Jews on the High Holy Days ( Yamim Noraim , "The Days of Awe")of Rosh Hashanah , Yom Kippur , and the three "Pilgrim Festivals" ( shalosh regalim ) of Passover , Shavuot , and Sukkot . It is a specialized form of the siddur , the prayerbook used by Jews the world over.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16177608.
The opening as it stood in 2010 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The mahzor (alternately machzor , plural mahzorim , Hebrew מחזור, and [maχzoˈrim] , respectively) is the prayer book used by Jews on the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur .Many Jews also make use of specialized mahzorim on the three "pilgrimage festivals" of Passover , Shavuot , and Sukkot .The prayer book is a specialized form of the siddur , which is generally intended for use in weekday and Shabbat services.The word mahzor means "cycle" (the root Ħ-Z-R means "to return").It is applied to the festival prayer book because the festivals recur annually.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 367067850.
The opening as it stood in 2015
A machzor The mahzor (alternately machzor , plural mahzorim , Hebrew מחזור, and , respectively) is the prayer book used by Jews on the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur . Many Jews also make use of specialized mahzorim on the three "pilgrimage festivals" of Passover , Shavuot , and Sukkot . The prayer book is a specialized form of the siddur , which is generally intended for use in weekday and Shabbat services. The word mahzor means "cycle" (the root Ħ-Z-R means "to return"). It is applied to the festival prayer book because the festivals recur annually.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 669219291.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Prayer book used by Jews on holidays See also: Siddur and mahzor A machzor The machzor ( , plural machzorim , and , respectively) is the prayer book used by Jews on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur .Many Jews also make use of specialized ‘‘machzor’’s on the three "pilgrimage festivals" of Passover , Shavuot , and Sukkot . The machzor is a specialized form of the siddur , which is generally intended for use in weekday and Shabbat services. The word machzor means "cycle"; the root ח־ז־ר means "to return".The term "machzor" originally referred to a book containing prayers for the entire year, including weekdays and Shabbat as well as holidays.Later (first in Ashkenazi communities) a distinction developed between the siddur which included weekday and Shabbat prayers, and the machzor which included festival prayers.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965124030.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Prayer book used by Jews on holidays See also: Siddur and mahzor Amsterdam Machzor , written in Cologne c. 1250, is one of the earliest illuminated manuscripts of Ashkenazi origin .Joods Historisch Museum Mahzor written on parchment in Hebrew in an Italian square script and dated to the 14th or 15th century.Chester Beatty Library The machzor ( , plural machzorim , and , respectively) is the prayer book which is used by Jews on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur .Many Jews also make use of specialized machzorim on the three pilgrimage festivals of Passover , Shavuot , and Sukkot . The machzor is a specialized form of the siddur , which is generally intended for use in weekday and Shabbat services. The word machzor means "cycle"; the root ח־ז־ר means "to return". The term machzor originally referred to a book containing prayers for the entire year, including weekdays and Shabbat as well as holidays. Later (first in Ashkenazi communities) a distinction developed between the siddur , which included weekday and Shabbat prayers, and the machzor , which included festival prayers. Nevertheless, the original type of Machzor containing all of the prayers for the year continued to be used (even if less common) at least into the 20th century.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177203705.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Prayer book used by Jews on holidays See also: Siddur and mahzor Amsterdam Machzor , written in Cologne c. 1250, is one of the earliest illuminated manuscripts of Ashkenazi origin . Joods Historisch Museum Mahzor written on parchment in Hebrew in an Italian square script and dated to the 14th or 15th century. Chester Beatty Library The machzor ( Hebrew : מחזור , plural machzorim , pronounced [maχˈzoʁ] and [maχzoˈʁim] , respectively) is the prayer book which is used by Jews on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur . Many Jews also make use of specialized machzorim on the three pilgrimage festivals of Passover , Shavuot , and Sukkot . The machzor is a specialized form of the siddur , which is generally intended for use in weekday and Shabbat services. The word machzor means "cycle"; the root ח־ז־ר means "to return". The term machzor originally referred to a book containing prayers for the entire year, including weekdays and Shabbat as well as holidays. Later (first in Ashkenazi communities) a distinction developed between the siddur , which included weekday and Shabbat prayers, and the machzor , which included festival prayers. Nevertheless, the original type of Machzor containing all of the prayers for the year continued to be used (even if less common) at least into the 20th century.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1253376999. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “prayer book used by religious jews on the high holy days”. Today it says “one of the earliest illuminated manuscripts of ashkenazi origin”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
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What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
prayer book used by religious jews on the high holy days
Now
one of the earliest illuminated manuscripts of ashkenazi origin
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.