Zevi Scharfstein
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Zevi Scharfstein (
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: ''צבי שרפשטיין'') was a prolific Hebrew-language educator, writer, and publishing entrepreneur who authored 423 works in 698 publications during his career. The hosts of a special celebration in Detroit honoring Scharfstein on his seventieth birthday in 1954 described him as "one of the country's leading Jewish educators" whose Hebrew instructional materials were in very wide use in the United States. His 1972 obituary in the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' attributed a hundred Hebrew textbooks for children to his credit, many of which in the early 1970s were "still considered classics in Hebrew schools." Scharfstein was educated as a child by private tutors, and his only official academic degree was an honorary Doctor of Hebrew Letters, awarded by the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism as well as a hub for academic scholarship in Jewish studies ...
. But his prolific career and founding of the Shilo publishing house made him "a teacher of teachers" in the
Jewish Diaspora The Jewish diaspora ( ), alternatively the dispersion ( ) or the exile ( ; ), consists of Jews who reside outside of the Land of Israel. Historically, it refers to the expansive scattering of the Israelites out of their homeland in the Southe ...
.


Personal life

Scharfstein was born in
Dunaivtsi Dunaivtsi (, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kamianets-Podilskyi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine. It is located on the river Ternavka, 22 km away from the railway station Dunaivtsi and 68 km from the Khmelnytskyi, Ukr ...
in the
Podolia Podolia or Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and northeastern Moldova (i.e. northern Transnistria). Podolia is bordered by the Dniester River and Boh River. It features ...
region of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, in present-day
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. During his childhood, he was strongly influenced by the
Haskalah The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Wester ...
movement, and the movement's emphasis on childhood education and the development of a contemporary Hebrew press both shaped his life and career. After witnessing the violence of
pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...
s in the region followed by the onset of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Scharfstein immigrated to the United States "without a broken heart." He wrote of "writing new textbooks intended and prepared for the young generation of America."


Career

Once in the US, he quickly founded a monthly magazine for children, ''Shaharut'' (Youth). Published by the Bureau of Jewish Education in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, ''Shaharuts original mission was to teach Jewish topics and Hebrew language. After the 1917
Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...
, the periodical shifted to short stories and articles about Jewish life in Palestine. Scharfstein also joined the Bureau of Jewish Education, founded by noted American Hebraist Samson Benderly in 1910, although Scharfstein was not among the group of proteges known as "the Benderly Boys," Scharfstein believing that Benderly often preferred American-born recruits over immigrants. Scharfstein was an instructor of Hebrew and Hebrew education at the Teachers Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City from 1916 until his retirement in 1960. In the early 1920s, he founded Shilo Publishing House with the help of his brother, Asher. Controlling his own press and going to market with his own materials freed Scharfstein from the limitations of working within the existing philosophical, pedagogical, and financial power structures of the Hebraist movement. One of his first books was emblematic of his mission: ''Sifurei ha-Torah le-yeladim'' (Torah Stories for Children). Shilo is still in operation, offering books on "the Hebrew language, studying to read the
Haftorah The ''haftara'' or (in Ashkenazic pronunciation) ''haftorah'' (alt. ''haftarah, haphtara'', ) "parting," "taking leave" (plural form: ''haftarot'' or ''haftoros''), is a series of selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' ("Prophets") of the ...
, and the works of
Nachmanides Moses ben Nachman ( ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ramban (; ) and by the contemporary nickname Bonastruc ça Porta (; l ...
," as well as a widely used
Siddur A siddur ( ''sīddūr'', ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ''tef ...
for children and Hebrew-English and English-Hebrew dictionaries. Scharfstein's educational materials, textbooks writing, and curriculum development emphasized stories, pictures, and formats that modeled and extolled a lifestyle that was both Jewish and American. His textbooks featured stories about American Jewish children enjoying American life within the context of Jewish perspectives and values. He also penned biographic sketches and profiles of American Jews to illuminate how they could become both emblematically American and Jewish figures. Together with his son, Ben-Ami Scharfstein, he authored the first Hebrew textbook for blind English-speaking readers with the Jewish Braille Institute. Ben-Ami went on to teach philosophy at
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
. Scharfstein was awarded the 1954 Louis Lamed Foundation annual prize for Hebrew literature, citing his autobiography "''Haya Aviv Ba-Aretz''" (It was Spring in the Land).


Bibliography

*''Sifurei ha-Torah le-yeladim'' (Torah Stories for Children) (1921) *''Shaʻar ha-lashon'' (The Gateway of Language) (1927) *''Shaʻar ha-tefilah'' (The Gateway of Prayer) (1929) *''Shaʻar la-sifruth'' (The Gateway to Literature) (1947) *''Shaʻar ha-lashon'' revised edition (The Gateway of Language) (1947) *''Hebrew self-taught'' (with Ben-Ami Scharfstein) (1950) *''Let's talk Hebrew, a beginner's book for parents and children'' (with Siegmund Forst) (1951) *''Haya Aviv Ba'Aretz'' (It was Spring in the Land) (היה אביב בארץ) (1952) *''Arbaʻim Shanah ba'Ameriḳa'' (Forty Years in America) (ארבעים שנה באמריקה) (1955) *''English-Hebrew dictionary'' (with Rose Scharfstein) (1957) *''Great Hebrew Educators'' (גדולי חינון בעמנו) (1964) *''Darkhei limud leshonenu'' (My Paths to Learning Our Language) (דרכי למוד לשוננו) (1965)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scharfstein, Zevi 1884 births 1972 deaths Hebraists Modern Hebrew writers Lexicographers Jewish printing and publishing 20th-century educational theorists American educational theorists 20th-century lexicographers People from Dunaivtsi Jewish writers from the Russian Empire Russian emigrants to the United States Jewish educators Jewish education in the United States American people of Russian-Jewish descent