Medical Halakhah.

Various studies on Medical Halakhah from our recent acquisition in Jewish medicine. Some works are general and some are quite specific. There is clearly no consensus on the correct transliteration of the work Halakhah. As opposed to another imminent post that will offer books with more patient oriented texts this selection is primarily of interest to Rabbis, medical professionals and scholars. Quantities vary. All can be ordered through the hollanderbooks website. A full list of our holdings in the area of Jewish Medicine you can find the list here.

Abraham, Abraham S. Comprehensive Guide to Medical Halachah. An Updated and Expanded Edition of  "Medical Halachah for Everyone. A comprehensive guide to Jewish medical law in sickness and health." Jerusalem/ New York, Feldheim Publishers, 1990. ISBN: 0-87306-529-8. Octavo in edgeworn, 248 pp., glossary, index, abbreviations in the Hebrew references, Hebrew bibliography, yellowed paper. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in English with Hebrew.  (82518)     $15.00

Bleich, J. David. Bioethical Dilemmas: A Jewish Perspective. Hoboken, NJ, KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1998. ISBN: 0-88125-473-8. Octavo in dust jacket, xiv, 375 pp., index of Biblical and Talmudic Sources, general index. Hardbound. Very Good.  (82500)      $27.50

Bleich, J. David. Judaism and Healing: Halakhic Perspectives. New York, Ktav Publishing House, Inc., Yeshiva University Press, 1981. ISBN: 0-87068-891-X. Octavo, paper covers, xiv, 199 pp., bibliography, indexes. Softbound. Very Good.  (64113)      $7.95

Bleich, J. David. Time of Death in Jewish Law. New York, Z. Berman Publishing Co., 1991. Octavo in dust jacket, 178, 90 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. With a Hebrew language section at the rear reproducing much of the English text, but not all. (82752)     $24.00

Eidensohn, Daniel, compiled by. Yad Moshe: Index to the Igros Moshe of Rav Moshe Feinstein ZTL. Brooklyn, New York, The compiler, 1987. Quarto, paper covers, 102 pp. Softbound. Very Good.  (82596)     $30.00

Feinstein, Moshe. Responsa of Rav Moshe Feinstein: Translation and  by Moshe Dovid Tendler. Volume 1: Care of the Critically Ill. Hoboken, New Jersey, KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1996.. ISBN: 0-88125-444-4. Octavo, glossy paper covered boards, viii, 213 pp., with the original Hebrew texts. Hardbound. Very Good.  (82499)     $79.95

Feldman, Emanuel and Wolowelsky, Joel B. Jewish Law and the New Reproductive Technologies. Hoboken, New Jersey, Ktav Publishing House, Inc., 1997. ISBN: 0-88125-586-6. Octavo in dust jacket, viii, 186 pp., notes. Hardbound. Very Good. Introduction by the editors. Articles are "Rabbinic Conception of Conception: An Exercise in Fertility," Edward Reichman, "Generation, Gestation and Judaism," Azriel Rosenfeld, "In Vitro Fertilization: Questions of Maternal Identity and Conversion," J. David Bleich, "Ovum Donations: A Rabbinic Conceptual Model of Modernity," Ezra Bick, "Maternal Identity Revisited," J. David Bleich, "Male Fertility: Halakhic Issues in Investigation and Management," Yoel Jacobovits, "Sperm Banking in Anticipation of Infertility," J. David Bleich, "Halakhic Approaches to the Resolution of Disputes Concerning the Disposition of Preembyros," Yitzchok A. Breitowitz. (82759)     $4.95

Freudenthal, Gad, edited and with an introduction by. AIDS in Jewish Thought and Law. Hoboken, NJ, KTAV Publishing House, Inc,, 1998. ISBN: 0-88125-610-2. Octavo, glossy paper covered boards, lxvi, 175 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Articles are "Only a Moral Revolution Can Contain This Scourge," Lord Immanuel Jakobovits, "Memorandum on AIDS," Jakobovits, "Halachic Perspectives on AIDS," Jakobovits, "AIDS: A Traditional Response," Barry Freundel, "AIDS: A Jewish View," Fred Rosner, "AIDS: Jewish Perspectives," Abraham Steinberg, "The Problem of AIDS in a Jewish Perspective," David Novak, "An Analysis of Some Social Issues Related to HIV from the Perspective of Jewish Law and Values," Benjamin Freedman, "Compulsory Testing and Treatment for Aids," Shlomo Deichowsky, "Brit Milah and the Specter of AIDS," Alfred S. Cohen, "Response to AIDS by the Jewish Community," Fred Rosner, "Reform Responsa on AIDS," "Statements on AIDS by Jewish Organizations in the United States." (82513)     $15.00

Halperin, M., edited by. Asya: ma'amarim, tamtsiyot u-sekirot be-inyene halakhah u-refu'ah. Hoveret Mem"bet-Mem"Gimel, Nisan 747 (April 1987), (Kerakh Yud"Alef Hoveret Bet-Gimel)/ Assia: Original Articles, Abstracts and reports on Matters of Halachah and Medicine, No. 42-43, Nissan 5747 (April 1987) (Vol. 11, No. 2-3). Jerusalem, The Dr. Falk Schlesinger Institute for Medical-Halachic Research at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, 1987. Octavo, black cloth with gold lettering, 160 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (82728)     $22.50

Herring, Basil F. Jewish Ethics and Halakhah for Our Time: Sources and Commentary. Volume II. Hoboken, New Jersey, Ktav Publishing House, Inc., Yeshiva University Press, 1989. Octavo, glossy paper covered boards, xxiv, 279 Softbound. Very Good.  (82504)  A third of the volume is devoted to Biomedical ethics.   $27.50

Jakobovits, Immanuel. Dear Chief Rabbi: From the Correspondence of Chief Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits on Matters of Jewish Law, Ethics and Contemporary Issues 1980-1990. Hoboken, New Jersey, Ktav Publishing House, Inc., 1995. ISBN: 0-88125-471-1. Octavo in dust jacket, xviii, 298 pp., glossary, index. Hardbound. Very Good. Edited by Jeffrey M. Cohen. (18456)     $20.00

Koenigsberg, Mordechai. Halachah & Medicine Today: Selections from Halakhah ve-Refuah. Expects Discuss the Application of Halachah to Contemporary Medical Practice. Jerusalem, Feldheim Publishers and Regensberg Institute Machon Ha-Rav Hershler, Institute for the Advanced Study of Halachah and Medical Problems, 1997. ISBN: 0873067967. Octavo in dust jacket, xii, 261 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Edited by Rabbi Moshe Hershler. Introduction by Oscar A. Novick. Foreword by Eliyahu Rafael Heischerik. Preface by the editor. Articles are "May actions not directly associated with the saving of life be performed on Shabbat on behalf of the critically ill?" R. Ovadia Yosef, "The observant physician and Shabbat," Moshe Feinstein, "The concept of danger to life as it pertains to Shabbat and to fasting on Yom Kippur," Shabtai Avraham Rappaport, "Are Shabbat restrictions set aside to save a fetus?" Moshe Hershler, "Regarding a physician traveling to a sick person on Shabbat," Yehoshua Neuwirth, "Accompanying a patient to the hospital on Shabbat," Chaim Porush, "Treatment of a non-Shabbat observer on Shabbat," Ovadia Yosef and Moshe Feinstein, "Performing Shabbat-prohibited acts by means of a non-Jew," Yehoshua Neuwirth, "On a physician's obligation to consider the patient's own assessment of the seriousness of his illness on Shabbat," Isaac Silberstein, "The patient's feelings as a basis for halachic decisions on Shabbat," Dov Ehrlich, "Taking bloom and giving injections on Shabbat," Aaron Buchman, "Blood tests on Shabbat for neonatal jaundice," Eliezer Judah Waldenberg, "Attaching medical equiptment to patients on Shabbat," Levi Yitzchak Halperin, "Non-permanent writing on Shabbat," Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss, Shlomo Zlaman Auerbach & Levi Yitzchak Halpern, "Issues regarding the use of a microphone and a tape recorded on Shabbat," Chaim David Regensberg, "Use of a voice-controlled diagnostic computer on Shabbat," Zeev Low, "On the use of fax machines on Shabbat and Yom Tov in hospitals," Zeev Low, "Halachic problems in diagnosing and preventing infection on Shabbat," Meir Isaacson, "Medicines and remedies on Shabbat," Moshe Hershler, "A guide to treating eye disorders on Shabbat," Eliezer Judah Waldenberg, Moshe Hershler, and Elchanan Yedvab, "Medical therapy on Yom Tov," Benjamin Hirschman, "Therapeutic measurements on Shabbat," Moshe Hershler, "Brushing teeth on Shabbat," Chaim David Regensberg, "Bathing and swimming for paralyzed patients on Shabbat," Joshua Moshe Aronson, "Use of an electric blanket for the sick on Shabbat," Chaim David Regensberg, "Using modern cooking facilities on Shabbat," Yisrael Rosen, "Use of an electric oven for cooking and baking on Yom Tov," Zeev Low, "Use of automatic electric doors on Shabbat," Levi Yitzchak Halperin, "Scheduling an operation within three days of Shabbat," Menachem Mendel Schneerson, "Compensation for medical treatment on Shabbat," Chaim Porush, "Choosing between an observant and a non-observant physician," Moshe Feinstein, "The obligation to save life," Moshe Hershler, "Halachic issues regarding the treatment of kidney failure," Moshe Meiselman, "The Jewish attitude to the deaf," Yitzchak Shapiro, "Moral problems in the treatment of the elderly," Arnold J. Rosen, "Surrogate motherhood," Eliyahu Refael Heisherik. (82755)     $60.00

Levin, Faitel. Halacha, Medical Science and Technology: Perspectives on Contemporary Halacha Issues. New York, Maznaim Publishing Corporation, 1987. Octavo in dust jacket, x, 210 pp. Hardbound. Very Good.  (82776)     $19.95

Roodyn, Paltiel, translated and arranged by. Pathways in Medicine: A Journal of Topics in Medicine in the Spirit of Halacha and Jewish Thought. Netanya, Israel, Kiryat Sanz, Laniado Hospital, 1995. ISBN: 1-56871-060-7. Octavo, glossy paper covered boards, 167 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Preface by Rabbi Meier S. Eisemann. Articles are "The World is Built on Torah Righteousness," Y. Halberstam, "The Torah of Lovingkindness," Halberstam, "Principles of Administration of the Hospital," Halberstam, "The Practice of Medicine Fulfils Hashem's Wishes," Eliyohu Shmuel Schmerler, "Washing a Patient with Hot Waters on the Sabbath," Halberstam, "The Jewish Meaning of Life," Asher Weiss, "Use of Disposable Diapers and Adhesive Plasters on the Sabbath," Chayim Pinchus Scheinberg, "Laniado Hospital as a Torah Institution," Moshe Feinstein, "Five Medical Topics," Feinstein, "Use of a Digital Contact Thermometer on the Sabbath," Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg," "'Family Planning' according to Jewish Law," Yaakov Landau, "Psychiatry and Religion," Shlomo Wolbe, "Can an Ambulance Return to Its Station on the Sabbath," Israel Zalmanowitz, "The Gynaecological Examination," Shmuel Ha-Levi Wosner, "Inducing Birth for the Sake of Convenience," Menashe Klein, "Taking Medicine on the Sabbath," Chayim David Leifer, "Heart Transplants," Shmuel HaLevi Wosner," "Abortion for an Expectant Mother with German Measles," Meir Bransdorfer, "The Test-Tube and the 'Recipient Mother," Moshe Sternbuch, "Is a Particular Doctor Decreed to Cure a Patient?" Yitchak Zilberstein, "'Why Did You Save My Father's Life?" Yitzchak Zilberstein, "Operating on a Critically Ill Mother to Save a Fetus," Zilberstein, "Violating the Sabbath for One Who Has Deliberately Endangered His Life," Gabriel Zinner, "Abortion in the First Forty Days," Aharon Wieder, "Treating a Patient on Yom Kippur," Shmuel Baruch Werner, "Treatment of Non-Jewish Patients," Moshe Sternbuch, "Jewish Medical Care in Tiberias 1892-1896," Yisoel Freidin, "The Hospital Founded by Rabbu Akiva Eger," Meyer Wunder. (82754)      $15.00

Rosner, Fred, edited by. Medicine and Jewish Law Volume I. Northvale, New Jersey, Jason Aronson, 1993. ISBN: 1-56821-028-0. Octavo, paper covers, xiv, 202 pp., index. Softbound. Very Good.  (59414)      $2.95

Rosner, Fred, edited by. Medicine and Jewish Law Volume II. Northvale, New Jersey, Jason Aronson, 1993. ISBN: 0-87668-574-2. Octavo, paper covers, xiv, 169 pp., index. Softbound. Very Good.  (10102)     $3.95

Rosner, Fred & Tendler, Moshe D. Practical Medical Halachah. Northvale, New Jersey, Jason Aronson, Inc, 1997. ISBN: 0-7657-9990-1. Octavo, paper covers, 188 pp., Listing of Medical Responsa of Rav Moshe Feinstein in His Iggrot Moshe, Bibliography of Medical Halachic Books in English, Glossary of Hebrew Terms and Phrases. Softbound. Very Good.  (15581)     $3.95

Sokol, Binyomin. A Physician's Hospital Manual: Hilchot Shabbat. Chicago, Illinois, Medical Halakha and Jewish Bioethics, Mount Sinai Hospital and Medical Center, 1986. Octavo in dust jacket, vii, 307 pp., footnotes, glossary. Hardbound. Very Good.  (82821)     $24.00

Spero, Moshe Halevi. Judaism and Psychology: Halakhic Perspectives. New York, Ktav Publishing House, Inc., Yeshiva University Press, 1980. ISBN: 0-87068-703-4. Octavo in dust jacket, xvi, 275 pp., notes, glossary of Hebrew terms, index. Hardbound. Very Good.  (37100)     $15.00

Steinberg, Avraham, edited by. European Colloquium on Medical Ethics: Jewish Perspectives. Jerusalem, The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1989. ISBN: 965-223-711-6. Small octavo, paper covers, 223 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Articles are "The role of choice in mental health and illness," Albert J. Solnit, "Ethical dilemmas in psychiatry," Avraham Steinberg, "Truth and untruth in medical research," Shimon Glick, "Motivation in science," David W. Weiss, "Communication between the physician, the patient and his family," Morris B. Abram, "Communication between the physician and medical staff and the patient and family," Ygal B. Shafran, "The physician's response to terminally ill patients," Jochanan Benbassat, "The Jewish attitude to the dying patient," Immanuel Jakobovits, "Ethical dilemmas in artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization," Elliot E. Philipp, "Artificial insemination and genetic engineering," J. David Bleich. (82767)      $19.95

Steinberg, Avraham, compiled and edited by. Entsiklopedyah hilkhatit refu'it: ha-rofe, ha-holeh veha-refu'ah be-aspaklaryat ha-halakhah u-mahshevet Yisra'el: kolel kol ha-yeda be-khol nos´e ve-inyan bi-tehum ha-refu'ah veha-halakhah min ha-Mikra ve-sifrut Hazal ve-ad la-poskim vela-hokrim be-yamenu be-tosefet havharot, hearot ve-he'arot mi-tehume ha-mada, ha-refu'ah, ha-filosofyah, ha-etikah veha-mishpat/ Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics. In Six Volumes. Jerusalem, Mekhon Shlezinger le-heker ha-refu'ah al pi ha-Torah le-yad ha-Merkaz ha-refu'i Sha'are tsedek, 1988. Octavos, silver paper covered boards with various colors of lettering on the boards varying by from volume to volume, 316, 24 + 317-740 + xxv pp., 706 columns two to the page, 707-872 pp. + xlvi pp., 642 columns two to the page, 643-812 pp. + xxii pp., 642 columns two to the page, 643-710 pp. + xix, 694 columns two to the page, 695-756 pp., notes and indexes in each volume/ In a red paper covered slip-case. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (82520)      $125.00

Ha-Refu'ah le-or ha-halakhah: mehkarim u-verurim be-nos'im shonim ba-refu'ah she-nidonu be-Talmud Bavli vi-Yerushalmi, be-midreshe Hazal, be-sifre ha-sh. u-t. shel rabotenu ha-rishonim veha-aharonim. Shevuot u-tefilot ha-rofim. Kerakh Sheni. Jerusalem, Makhon le-heker ha-refu'ah ba-halakhah, 1983. Octavo, blue cloth with gold lettering, 130, 55 pp., notes. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (82530)     $25.00

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Moses Maimonides Medical Writing and works on Maimonidean Medicine.

           Moses Maimonides was one of the major figures in the field of Arab and Jewish medieval medicine. Despite uncertainty about the nature of his medical training in the historical record it is clear that by the time he had arrived in Egypt he had as thorough a training as was available at the time. He appears to have had an eidetic memory. In Egypt his knowledge of halakhah was such that he quickly rose to the position of an unassailable poskin. David Maimonides had been the breadwinner of the extended family. He was a trader in rare gems and when he was lost at sea his stock in trade was lost with him. After the death of his father and shortly afterwards the death of his brother as sea Moses was forced from the simpler path that his life might have taken and became a professional physician. His fame grew over time and he became the physician to the court of Saladin. He acted as Saladin's personal physician, but was also the physician to all of Saladin's family and harem as well as the high officials of state. Such was the weight laid upon him by his medical practice that between the court and the public Moses worked from early morning until as late as two hours after sunset seeing patients. His communal service to the Jewish community was performed only on Shabbat and was as exhausting as his regimen as a healer.
           Moses Maimonides best know works during the medieval period were his own Medical aphorisms and his anthology of extracts from Galen. His Treatise on Poisins was also respected and reprinted several times in the era printed era. His greatest significance comes from his role as a transmitter across the divide from the ancient world to the emerging Arab and subsequently European scholarly world and in his role as the ideal of the model physician. He was an advocate in his time of what we might characterize as holistic, patient centered care (as well as his advocacy of what we now call, "well care," rehabilitative medicine and occupational medicine).
           We were recently able to get from amoung a large trove of books on Jewish medicine copies of all of the volumes of Maimonides Medical Writings. The set, edited primarily by Fred Rosner, made all of Maimonides known medical works in English translation. We have a limited number of complete sets. This set includes the works mentioned above as well as The Three Treatises on Health, Commentary on the Aphorims of Hippocrates, the Treatise on Asthma, as well as the Glossary of Drug Names, which was though to be lost until a manuscript was located in the early twentieth century. All of these volumes are available as part of the full set or individually. Because of short quantities, the fifth volume, The Art of Cure. Extracts from Galen, is available only as part of a complete set. Includes in this post we also offer two other titles by Fred Rosner on Maimonides. Further posts on Jewish medicine are forthcoming shortly (after 2/10/2017).


Maimonides, Moses. Maimonides' Medical Writings. Seven Volume Set.  1.  Treatises on Poisons, Hemorrhoids, Cohabitation. 2.  Maimonides' Commentary on the Aphorims of Hippocrates. 3.  The Medical Aphorisms of Moses Maimonides'. 4. Moses Maimonides' Three Treatises on Health. 5.  The Art of Cure. Extracts from Galen. 6. Moses Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma.  7.  Moses Maimonides' Glossary of Drug Names. Haifa, The Maimonides Research Institute, 1984-1992. Octavos in dust jacket, vi, 185 pp., index + xviii, 218 pp., bibliography, index + xxviii, 486 pp., bibliography by Jacob I. Deinstag, notes, index + xvi, 256 pp., bibliography by Jacob I. Dienstag, index + viii, 206 pp., bibliography prepared by Jacob I. Dienstag, index + x, 176 pp., bibliography prepared by Jacob I. Dienstag, index + xxxii, 394 pp., bibliography by Jacob I. Deinstag, Arabic terms by Joseph Dana, indexes. Hardbound. Very Good. Translated from Arabi Manuscripts and Annotated by Uriel S. Barzel. "A Word from the Dean," by Yehuda Assaf. Preface by Fred Rosner. (82764)     $300.00

Maimonides, Moses. Maimonides' Medical Writings 1.  Treatises on Poisons, Hemorrhoids, Cohabitation. Haifa, The Maimonides Research Institute, 1984 [1988]. Second Printing. Octavo in dust jacket, vi, 185 pp., index. Hardbound. Very Good. Translated and annotated by Fred Rosner. "A Word from the Dean," by Yehuda Assaf. Preface by Fred Rosner. (82763)     $35.00

Maimonides, Moses. Maimonides' Medical Writings 2.  Maimonides' Commentary on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates. Haifa, The Maimonides Research Institute, 1987. Octavo in edgeworn dust jacket, xviii, 218 pp., bibliography, index. Hardbound. Very Good. Translated and annotated by Fred Rosner. "A Word from the Dean," by Yehuda Assaf. Preface by Fred Rosner. Foreword by J.O. Leibowitz.. (82761)      $35.00

Maimonides, Moses. Maimonides' Medical Writings 3.  The Medical Aphorisms of Moses Maimonides'. Haifa, The Maimonides Research Institute, 1989. Octavo in dust jacket, xxviii, 486 pp., bibliography by Jacob I. Deinstag, notes, index. Hardbound. Very Good. Translated and annotated by Fred Rosner. "A Word from the Dean," by Yehuda Assaf. Preface by Fred Rosner. (82762)     $50.00

Maimonides, Moses. Maimonides' Medical Writings 4. Moses Maimonides' Three Treatises on Health. Haifa, The Maimonides Research Institute, 1990. Octavo in dust jacket, xvi, 256 pp., bibliography by Jacob I. Dienstag, index. Hardbound. Very Good. Translated and annotated by Fred Rosner. "A Word from the Dean," by Yehuda Assaf. Preface by Fred Rosner. Foreword by Samuel S. Kottek. Includes the works Treatise on the Regimen of Health, Treatise on the Causes of Symptoms and Laws of Human Temperaments. (79937)      $35.00

Maimonides, Moses. Maimonides' Medical Writings 6. Moses Maimonides' Treatise on Asthma. Haifa, The Maimonides Research Institute, 1994. Octavo in dust jacket, x, 176 pp., bibliography prepared by Jacob I. Dienstag, index. Hardbound. Very Good. Translated and annotated by Fred Rosner. "A Word from the Dean," by Yehuda Assaf. Preface by Fred Rosner. (82765)     $18.00

Maimonides, Moses. Maimonides' Medical Writings 7.  Moses Maimonides' Glossary of Drug Names. Haifa, The Maimonides Research Institute, 1995. Octavo in dust jacket, xxxii, 394 pp., bibliography by Jacob I. Deinstag, Arabic terms by Joseph Dana, indexes. Hardbound. Very Good. Translated and annotated from Max Meyerhof's French Edition by Fred Rosner. "A Word from the Dean," by Yehuda Assaf. Preface by Fred Rosner. (82766)     $95.00

Rosner, Fred. Medical Encyclopedia of Moses Maimonides. Northvale, New Jersey, Jason Aronson, Inc., 1998. ISBN: 0-7657-5997-7. Octavo, glossy printed paper covered boards, xxiv, 261 pp., index. Hardbound. Very Good.  (15587)     $19.95

Rosner, Fred. The Medical Legacy of Moses Maimonides. Hoboken, NJ, KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1998. ISBN: 0-88125-573-4. Octavo, glossy paper covered covers, xii, 308 pp., bibliography, index. Hardbound. Very Good.  (82503)     $30.00

My introductory comments are derived from my readings from works by Harry Friedenwald, David Kraemer and Fred Rosner none of whom are responsible for any errors on my part.

End

Item number 80,000.

Let's start at the end. Like most people I have a weakness for big round numbers. After many years of cataloging I recently reached the item number 80000. The book is a recent academic book in English. My price is a fraction of the retail price and if you want another copy you can probably find a copy on Amazon (evil made manifest, may God take them) or on some other website that Amazon controls or has not yet bought solely to present a case that they don't completely control every aspect of the book trade. At this point in my career I'm easing my way out of the business of selling English language books (and other fool's errands), but in addition to a weakness for big round numbers I also have a weakness for really good books and I do actually care about what's in them.

And so, I bring you lucky number 80000:

Harshav, Benjamin. Three Thousand Years of Hebrew Versification: Essays in Comparative Prosody. New Haven, Conn., Yale University Press, 2014. First Edition. ISBN: 978-0-300-14487-1. Octavo, printed paper covered boards, xxii, 352 pp., A List of Spanish Hebrew Meters, notes, Publications by Benjamin Harshav (Formerly Hrushovski) on Prosody and Related Fields, Index of Persons, Index of Topics in Prosody and Literature, Index of Hebrew Versification and Yiddish Poetry. Hardbound. Very Good.  (80000)       $20.00

             Benjamin Harshav, z"l, was born Binyamin Hrushovski in Vilna in 1928. As he described it the family lived above the publishing house B. Kletskin. He learned Hebrew and Yiddish in that great city. He parents were both educators at the Sofye Gurevich Secular Yiddish School. His mother took over the school from Gurevich herself. Moyshe Kulbak was a teacher in the school. He was friends with the young Weinreichs who lived next door to Zalman Reisen. His parents were friends with Sutzkever, Manger and Grade who all spent time together. Max Weinreich had young Binyomin in his sights as a future Yiddishist from birth and had fate not destroyed the Vilna Jewish community Harshav certainly would have been a leader of it in his generation.
           The family survived the Holocaust by fleeing to the east with great incident and arrived through great good fortune. It was there that they remained through the war. He studies Mathematics and Physics at Orenberg State University. After the war they made their way to the DP camps in Germany. Before leaving Germany for Mandate Palestine on the last illegal Zionist vessel Harshav published his first book of poetry in Yiddish, Shtoybn (Munich, Merkaz "Deror" in Daytshland, 1948). In the newly independent state of Israel he became on the the many fresh faces thrown into uniform.
         I don't know much about how Harshav transitioned into Israeli society and how he went from Mathematics and Physics to Yiddish literature. At that time he became associated with a number of younger poets who would go on the very successful careers, among them Yehuda Amichai and Dalia Ravikovitsh.
         His first published academic article "On free rhythms in modern Yiddish poetry," appeared in the first volume of The Field of Yiddish, in 1954. In 1960 a book on Hebrew literature of his was published and he participated in a book of translations of Aaron Glantz-Leyeles into Hebrew together with Dov Sadan and Shimshon Meltzer. Although Harshav continued to publish poems in Yiddish and Hebrew (under pseudonyms) his primary work became the study and translation of Yiddish into Hebrew. He edited one of the great anthologies of Yiddish literature in any language, A Shpigl oyf a Shteyn Antologye. Poezye fun tsvelf farshinitene yiddishe shraybers in Ratn-Farband, together with Chone Shmeruk, Sutzkever and Mendel Piekarz.
        In 1967 he founded Department of Poetics and Comparative Literature at Tel Aviv University. One of his first projects at Tel Aviv University was the founding on the journal "Ha-Sifrut."It was immediately a central journal for literary studies in Israel. The journal ran until Harshav left Israel for the US in 1986.
        His first book published in English, Structuralist Poetics in Israel, a collaboration with Ziva Ben-Porat, was published in 1974. In 1979 Harshav established the academic journal "Poetics Today," in order to serve his interest in theories of versification. (The festschrift in honor of Harshav was published three issues of the still running journal in 2001).
        Barbara Harshav, a historian and translator began working with Yad Vashem between 1978 and 1986. She came from a typical American Jewish background of her time and became multi-lingual through talent rather than environment. In 1986, together with her husband (and with additional assistance from Kathryn Hellerstein), they did the translations for the massive bilingual Yiddish-English anthology American Yiddish Poetry. That year both took posts on the faculty at Yale University and moved to the United States. They worked on many translations into English including the work of Yehuda Amichai, Avraham Sutzkever, Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Menke Katz. On his own Benjamin Harshav completed translations of Marc Chagall and of vital significance, Herman Kruk's The Last Days of Jerusalem of Lithuania: Chronicles from the Vilna Ghetto and the Camps, 1939-1944.  
        After her return to the US Barbara Harshav became a very successful translator into English of texts from French, German, Hebrew and Yiddish on her own.
        On his own Benjamin Harshav continued to write Yiddish poetry, publishing a new collection in Take oyf tshikayes: geklibene lider in 1993/4. He continued to publish translations into Hebrew from Yiddish. Among the writers he worked on are Jacob Glatstein and Glantz-Leyeless. In the field of Hebrew literature he continued to write about specific authors like Avot Yeshurin and Uri Tsvi Grinberg. He continued his work on Hebrew versification. This brings us back to Three Thousand Years of Hebrew Versification: Essays in Comparative Prosody, item number 80000. Seen in the grand sweep of his career this volume seems to be an attempt to gather and offer up the best version of a life's work in literary theory. The volume is the last one published by Harshav.
       To see a nearly three hour oral history conversation recorded with Benjamin Harshav by the National Yiddish Book Center take a look here. The full video is in Yiddish but there are some highlights which have been captioned in English.

       Below are a few more Harshav items available from my stock:

Harshav, Benjamin. Language in Time of Revolution. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993. ISBN: 0-520-07958-2. Octavo in dust jacket, xii, 234 pp., references, index. Hardbound. Very Good.  (12774)      $8.95

Hrushovski, Benjamin, edited by. Ha-Sifrut Riv'on La-MadaHa-Sifrut 1-25, 27/ Hasifrut: Quarterly for the Study of Literature. Vol. I,No. 1, Spring 1968 - No. 25 (VII/2), October 1977; No. 27 (VIII/1), December1978. Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv University, 1968-1978. Royal octavos, paper covers (with wear to the head of the spine of the second issue only), viii, 237, ix-xv, fold-out b/w photo + 249-454 pp. + 455-778 pp. + 264 pp. + 265-448 pp. + 449-696 pp. + 697-888 pp. + 186, viii pp. 187-364, xiv pp. + 365-622, xii pp. + 191, xi pp.  + 399, xii-xix pp. + 400-578, xx-xxx pp. + 579-770, xxxi-xlii  + 161, xi pp. + 238, xii pp. + 160 pp. + 176, vi pp. + 155, ix pp. + 170, iv pp. + 163, ix pp. ... + 164, vi pp. Some covers soiled.  Softbound. Very Good-. In Hebrew. At Vol. IV, No. 1, January 1973 the title changes to Ha-Sifrut Riv'on La-Mada Ha-Sifrut: Teoriyahm - Poetikah - Sifrut Ivrit - Sifrut Kelalit/ Ha-Sifrut - Literature: Theory - Poetics - Hebrew and Comparative Literature. At September 1974 (V, 1) 17 the Hebrew title changes to Ha-Sifrut: Ketav-Et Le-Mada Ha-Sifrut.  At the April 1976 22 issue Itamar Even-Zohar becomes the editor. 150, xii pp., fold-out chart + 170, iv pp. There are three double issues, thus twenty-three separate issues. The periodical ran until 1986 and concluded with issue 35/36. (63117)      $400.00

Harshav, Benjamin. Marc Chagall and His Times: a Documentary Narrative. Stanford, California, Stanford University Press, 2004. ISBN: 0-8047-4213-8. Royal octavo in dust jacket, frontispiece photo, xxii, 1026 pp., b/w photos and reproductions, notes, index of names, index of works of art by Marc Chagall mentioned in the text, index of letters and documents,  Hardbound. Very Good. Translations from Russian, Yiddish, French, German and Hebrew by Benjamin and Barbara Harshav (56631)      $6.95

Harshav, Benjamin. The Meaning of Yiddish. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1990. ISBN: 0-520-05947-6. Octavo in dust jacket, xx, 206 pp., index. Hardbound. Very Good.  (9358)      $7.95

Harshav, Benjamin. Ritmus ha-rahavut: halakhah u-ma'aseh be-shirato ha-ekspresyonistit shel Uri Tsevi Grinberg/ The Theory and Practice of Rhythm in the Expressionist Poetry of U.Z. Greenberg. Tel Aviv, Ha-Kibuts ha-me'uhad, 1978. Duodecimo, paper covers in shelfworn dust jacket, 88 pp. Softbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. Literature, Meaning and Culture 8: Publications of The Porter Institute for Poetics  Semiotics, Tel Aviv University in collaboration with Siman Kri'a and Ha-Sifrut/ Literature. (72985)      $15.00

Harshav, Benjamin. Shirat ha-yahid be-Nyu-York: deyukna'ut shel arba'ah meshorere Yidish u-mivhar shirehem be-targum Ivri/ Yiddish Poets in New York. Selected Writings: Volume V. Jerusalem & Tel Aviv, Karmel and ha-Makhon ha-Yisre'eli le-poetikah ve-semyotikah a. sh. Porter, Universit`at Tel-Aviv, 2002. Octavo, paper covers with flaps, 228 pp., b/w photos. Softbound. Very Good. Yiddish poetry translated into Hebrew. In Hebrew. OCLC Number: 51529552. (68451)      $20.00

Harshav, Benjamin and Barbara, edited by. American Yiddish Poetry. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1986. First Edition. ISBN: 0-520-04842-3. Royal octavo in dust jacket, xxvi, 814 pp., b/w illustrations, glossary. Hardbound. Very Good. In Yiddish and English on facing pages (32120)     $50.00

Harshav, Benjamin, with documents translated by Harshav by various authors. The Moscow Yiddish Theater: Art on Stage in the Time of Revolution. New Haven, Conn., Yale University Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-300-11513-0. Royal octavo in dust jacket, b/w frontispiece illustration, xiv, 199 pp., color illustrations, notes, glossary of names, bibliography, illustration credits. Hardbound. Very Good. This collection includes translations of many previously un-translated articles as well as many articles that were never publicly available before the end of the Soviet Union. (62195)      $4.95

END

Daniel Persky: Slave to the Hebrew Language. The Forgotten Men: American Hebreaism, Part Two.

       

Daniel Persky as portrayed by Saul Raskin

             Memorializing a teacher and a gadfly is a difficult thing to do when the audience you are speaking to never knew the person. For many years Daniel Persky was just a gold-stamped name on the spine of a few slow selling Hebrew books. He only came alive to me in an obituary, a random clipping that I found in another book one day The author was loving but light-hearted. The Persky he knew was a devoted teacher at the Herzliah Hebrew Teachers' College and a bit of an oddball. Persky, he wrote, never bothered to own more than one suit at a time. Persky selected his attire from the finest goods that thrift stores provided. One day the white batting was streaming out of the shoulder pad of one of these fine suits. His eager students apprised him of this sartorial flaw. Persky calmly dipped his fountain pen in ink and blotted the contrast away before preceding on with his lesson. This is the Persky that for many years I thought I knew. .
         Luckily many different voices once rose to speak Persky's deeds. Dwight MacDonald profiled Persky in greater depth for the New Yorker in 1959. MacDonald wrote, "He buys good suits, but after that they're on their own. 'I can't be emptying my pockets all the time just to get a suit pressed,' he [Persky] says." (MacDonald, New Yorker, Nov. 28, 1959, p. 72.) MacDonald saw in Persky a man with little concern for the externals. His challenge was to understand how Persky could flourish outside of any version of a normal life.
         MacDonald, neither Jewish nor a speaker of Hebrew nor even Yiddish, was a left-wing writer and critic. He was the editor of the Partisan Review from 1937 to 1943, a position that put him at the center of New York Jewish intellectual life. By the time he wrote his profile of Persky he must have known him for some time. MacDonald appears to have first come in contact with Persky in Persky's own apartment. Persky serially sublet the majority of his apartment to various leftish tenants. MacDonald was visiting his friends Edith and Noah Greenberg when Persky wandered into one of the Greenbergs lively parties to pose a question relevant to his work on a large Hebrew-English dictionary. What possessed MacDonald to pitch (successfully) Persky as a good profile subject is unknown. Nevertheless, MacDonald's portrayal of Persky was still very much in the mind of many of those who wrote about Persky at the time of and after his death. Eisig Silberschlag even footnotes MacDonald in his entry on Persky for the Encyclopedia Judaica.
           In 1906, at age nineteen, Persky arrived in the US. He immediately sought work as a teacher of Hebrew. He was slowly able to accumulate private students. Some of their parents stepped up to offer financial support to his Hebraist organizing and publishing efforts. Bernard Isaacs, a longtime friend of Persky, was able to see Persky's idiosyncrasies even as he saw past them to appreciate his accomplishments.
           Isaacs founded the United Hebrew Schools of Detroit, Michigan. This was the first community wide entrenchment of the Ivrit be-Ivrit approach in America. The Detroit schools were for both girls and boys which was still a new thing. MacDonald mentions Eliezer Ben Yehuda's Jerusalem school, founded in 1891, where girls were educated. The local Orthodox community in Jerusalem considered his efforts borderline demonic. (MacDonald, 1959, P. 60-61). The first of the Bais Yaakov schools for Orthodox girls opened in Krakow in 1917 only two years before Isaac's United Hebrew Schools opened in Detroit. Isaacs founded the United Hebrew Schools two years before Moshe Feinstein established the Herzliah Hebrew Teachers' College. Persky was the first teacher that Feinstein hired. Persky had long since begun teaching Hebrew language to girls and he continued to do so at Herzlia.
           Isaacs gives a description of Persky's activities in a colloquy that I am guessing could be dated from 1945 or possibly 1961 (as it refers to Persky's 40th anniversary of "service to the Hebrew language and literature.") He described two essential activities that Persky performed outside of his teaching responsibilities. Firstly, "When it comes to his love and devotion to Hebrew authors, Persky knows no discrimination. Both the veteran and newcomer in literature are equally dear to him. He loves the budding author, he hovers over him and commands him to write, like the legendary angel who hovers over the sprouting plant and commands it to grow." (Sefer B. Issacs, P. 64). Isaacs describes Persky as a miniature paper bridge, a smaller version of a piece of architecture of the messianic times, a paper bridge that would carry the Jewish people back to the land of Israel from exile. But Persky's bridge carried two way traffic, "A veritable stream of books flows from his well-stocked room to Israel and a similar stream flows back from Israel to Persky."(Sefer B. Isaacs, P. 65).  "Persky is one of the biggest non-corporate customers of the Cooper Union post office."  (MacDonald, 1959, P. 75).
           MacDonald's picture of Persky's cultural transfer effort focused as much on the physical details - drawers full of used string and unkempt mounds of papers and books - as it did on the success of the mission for which these were only the means. Persky's parents ran a Kosher butcher shop and his technique in book shipping was probably derived from that experience. To my knowledge, the butcher paper and twine shipping technique is still in use at Y.L. Peretz Farlag in Tel Aviv, and despite my amusement seeing the Peretz Farlagers in action I am able to see past that and remember how vital their string-tied bundles are to today's Yiddishist enterprise. MacDonald failed to see a metaphor for sustenance that seems clear to me.
           Persky spent the years 1927-1933 traveling in Mandate Palestine and Eastern and Central Europe. His initial destination was the Fifteenth Zionist Congress in Basel. He traveled from town to town offering free lectures on Hebrew language and literature. Somehow he got by with no real source of income. This way of living never entirely ended for Persky even long after he had come in off the road. He saw some very difficult things in Europe and only avoided violent attack by a group of Nazi's because he happened to be in the bathroom when they attacked the restaurant he was in. He was also attacked by some Jews who mistook him for a Communist organizer. It seems possible that Persky's return to the US was motivated by a sense that America was the only physically safe place for his love of Hebrew though the entry on Persky in the Leksikon Ha-Sifrut Ha-Ivrit Ha-Hadashah suggests otherwise. Perhaps Persky really did return to the US because he felt that American Hebraism was doomed without him. But, things had changed in his absence. Persky's obsessive focus on Hebrew language and literature was no longer in sync with Jewish society even to the extent that it had been between the years 1910 and 1925.Persky was always at the center of American Hebraism. Sadly, after the 1920s the movement itself drifted farther and farther from the center of American life.
           There were quite a few Hebrew language newspapers and periodicals in the US starting in the 1880s. They were edited and produced by the Maskilim who arrived from Eastern Europe in the early part of the great Jewish migration. These publications, varying widely in their merit, flickered into print briefly and were swiftly snuffed out. With the rise of Chaim Bialik and then Yosef Chaim Brenner the younger generation of immigrants, among them Persky and nearly all of the group that I refer to as the American Hebraists, there was a desire to create a literature that reflected the new current that could be found in Ha-Shiloah and other European Hebrew periodicals.
          Along with Reuben Brainin, Persky was active in the Ahiever group. This group, formed in 1910, was involved with Silkiner's publication of Mul ohel Tumura: shiray po'ema (Before Timmura's Tent) and the Brainin edited anthology, Senunit: ḳovets-shirim. (Senunit is one of the Hebrew words for the bird name swallow.) Persky suggested the title for a new periodical that would carry on that work, "Ha-Toren," or "The Mast." He chose the name, "As a sign that our Hebrew ship sails here from beyond the sea." (Mintz, Alan, edited by. Hebrew in America: Perspectives and Prospects, Detroit, 1993, P. 74-75). "Ha-Toren" would become the main American Hebraist journal in the US in the critical period when a successful American Hebraist future seemed genuinely possible. It was the first long running Hebrew language periodical and ran until 1925. Only "Ha-Doar," which Persky later edited and wrote for lasted longer.

           Persky was one of the initial editors of "Ha-Toren," in 1913-1914. At that time it was a monthly. In 1915 "Ha-Toren," was reorganized for the first time and Y.D. Berkowitz became the editor. Under his editorship it became a weekly. Berkovitz was part of a cadre of European Hebraists and Zionists who arrived in the US fleeing from the chaos of the First World War. Berkowitz, of course, was Sholom Aleichem's son-in-law. Also arriving in that immigration with him were Shemarya Levin (and Mintz lists) "David Ben-Gurion, Itzhak Ben-Zvi, Eleizer Ben-Yehuda, Meyer Berlin (Bar-Ilan) and Judah L. Fischman (Maimon,)" (Mintz, 1993, P. 35) as some of the others in the emigre group. At that time the Zionist project in Ottoman Palestine was at a low ebb and it was unclear if Herzl or Ahad Ha'am would prevail in the conflict over the proper direction of Zionism. Persky was less involved in the production of "Ha-Toren," under Berkowitz. With the end of hostilities and the promulgation of the Balfour Declaration that cadre dissipated and leadership of the journal fell to Reuben Brainin. Brainin was at the time a Hebraist though in later years he transformed into a Yiddishist Territorialist and proselytizer for the Soviet Yiddish state in Birobidzhan. Brainin was unable to maintain the journal in the face of rising expenses and falling subscription. Persky was certainly very active in the distribution of the journal.
          The most important contribution that Persky made to "Ha-Toren" after his initial editorial stint was a letter by Persky that appeared in the March-April 1915 issue. Mintz discusses this letter in his contribution to Hebrew in America, "A Sanctuary in the Wilderness: The Beginnings of the Hebrew Movement in America in Hatoren." Persky wrote about his identity as a Hebraist. He states flat-out his alienation from traditional faith and plays at being a sort of simple soul. While Persky may have been a simple soul in his emotional life his dedication to his cause was already exceptional. Mintz explains that for Persky (and I quote here from Mintz at length in hope again for forgiveness for my presumptuousness), "...the struggles of belief belong to an earlier era. But yet the Torah and the commandments were the 'portable sanctuary' that Israel had brought with them into exile and that furnished them with a culture of daily holiness, a culture that was tangible, material, and deeply textured. Denied recourse to this culture by the failure of faith - a condition over which one can have no control - a Jew can make do with abstract talk about the ideals of Judaism (yahadut avirit = luft yiddishkeit), that is, tell the story without performing the practice, or a Jew can turn to the one element of the tradition that has not been invalidated by apostasy: the Hebrew language. The emphasis is on language as a concrete experience in the here and now, an ambient fluid of everyday life. Like the commandments, then, Hebrew enacts the paradox of the holy within the everyday. As the only salvageable component of the tradition, Hebrew becomes invested with all the sanctity and ultimate importance that inhered in the total system of which it was once a part. The Hebrew movement, Persky declares, is 'my Ohel Moed to which I repair to become sanctified and re-purified; it is the synagogue in which I pray.'" (Mintz, 1993, P. 42-43).
          Persky was not an enemy of religious faith. He could take pleasure among those who celebrated the joys of faith. MacDonald quotes Persky to good effect on this: "I had no need to lunch on Simhath Torah. The reason is a simple one. I was treated in every synagogue to goblets of liquor followed by a dessert of cookies and sponge cake. Some treated me to a bit of herring - until I had more than my fill....And if I did meet up with one or two victims of drink, what did they talk and sing about? These drunken Jews, who poured down their throats a dozen portions of hundred-proof stuff, opened their mouths and sang, 'Praises to the Holy One, Blessed by He of the Election of Israel!'" (MacDonald, New Yorker, P. 102). As long as Persky was among Hebrew speakers he was happy.
         With the specific land of Israel potentially optional and religious faith off the table the purpose of American Hebraism was difficult to explain. A few other writers in "Ha-Toren," attempted to explain the mission of the Hebraists in America. Mintz mentions the contributions of Moshe Halevi and Kalman Whiteman to the definitional cause. (Mintz, 1993, P. 52). The approaches of Halevi and Whiteman leaned heavily on a negative definition of American Hebraism. They proposed Hebraism as an antidote to a venality of the crude Yiddishist crowd and the larger crude and anti-spiritual American Nation as a whole. While this logic offered some appeal to Persky it was a logic that would serve the Hebraists poorly in the period after 1920. The Jewish historian M.Z. Frank sub-titled his obituary of Persky, "Hebrew Language Was His Wife." (Frank, M.Z., The National and Jewish post and Opinion, Friday, June 1, 1962). [Mintz has an extended discussion of an erotic emotion and expression particularly in his chapter on Abraham Regelson's Ḥaḳuḳot otiyotayikh: shirim in Sanctuary in the Wilderness: A Critical Introduction to American Hebrew Poetry.] Love offered a more potent sustenance than did angry disdain.
          Persky's letter offered a potential way of being that the American Hebraists could live for rather than against. For some it provided a model for a lifetime (Ephraim Lisitsky, Gabriel Preil and Eisig Silberschlag, for instance). For others the declaration of the state of Israel collapsed that possibility (Israel Efros, Simon Halkin and Abraham Regelson). In his later years Persky may have finally let the disappointment of the decline of the American Hebreaist's project get to him. He was always capable of a snarky remark. However, even from within his "mikdash me'at," the emotional aspect of Whiteman and Halevi's theories began to creep into in his later writings. (Waxman, Meyer, A History of Jewish Literature, Volume IV, Part Two, New York, 1960 [Second Edition], P. 1081).
            Persky was probably more important for his teaching, speaking, editing, advocacy and dissemination of literature than for his own literary contributions. His presence was seemingly everywhere and his column for "Ha-Doar," was sometimes a venue for Hebraist gossip. MacDonald quotes a variety of unnamed colleagues: "He is a fanatic, but a sweet-natured one. Everyone is indulgent toward him, and yet everyone respects him." "He is a kibitzer. At Meetings he stands around and tells everyone else how to do things." "...there is only one Daniel Persky. Un type as the French say,..." and "Persky is boring in a very interesting way." (MacDonald, 1959, P. 84-85).
          Persky's specialty as a writer was the feuilleton. The form was originally a French form, a light essay. It was very popular in Yiddish and early Modern Hebrew literature. Persky was a great practitioner of the form. Meyer Waxman described his work in that area:"The range of his theme is wide, a daily event, a date in the Jewish calendar, the appearance of a book, the celebration of a writer's jubilee or his demise, impressions of travels, and numerous other episodes. The humor is wholesome and much of it consists in puns and manipulations of the language. ... There is little depth in the thoughtful essays, but we meet frequently with a brilliant reflection that makes us pause. Of interest is also the numerous anecdotes relating to the life and activities of many Hebrew writers met by Persky ... he has preserves bits of conversation and bon mots of his chosen heroes." (Waxman, Volume IV, Part Two, P. 1081-1082).
           Among the collections of feuilletons are:

     Persky, Daniel. Li-khevod ha-regel: mo'ade Yisra'el bi-kedushatam uve-simhatam. New York, 1946. Octavo, black cloth with gold lettering against red panels with minor soiling at the base of the spine, 328 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (48556)      $30.00

Persky, Daniel. Ivri anokhi (On Hebrew Language, Literature and Culture). Kitve Daniel Persky Kerakh Rishon. New York, 1947. Octavo, brown cloth with gold lettering, 315 pp., index. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (52254)      $25.00

  Persky, Daniel. Mat'amim le-hag: reshimot u-feletonim, bedihot ve-hidudim le-kol mo'ede ha-shanah. New York, Pardes , 1939. Octavo, green cloth with gold lettering, 256 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (10488)      $25.00

  Persky, Daniel. Zemanim Tovim. New York, Hotzaat "Pardes", 1944. Octavo, pinkish cloth with black lettering, 272 pp. Soiling to the rear board. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. Inscribed by the author on the title page. (11281)      $25.00

  Persky, Daniel. Le-Elef Yedidim. New York, Vaad Ha-Yuval, 1935. Octavo, tan cloth spine green cloth covered boards with blue lettering, 96 pp. With a portrait of the author by Saul Raskin. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (32262)       $25.00

                Persky was the house linguist for Camp Massad one of several Hebreaist summer camps that tried to advance the Ivrit be-Ivrit agenda. Summer camp took the children out of their English language environments and immersed them in Hebrew for weeks at a time. I don't know how many years Persky attended the camp, but for a certain number of years he was on hand to provide new words to fill out the lexicon needed for camp life. He created a dictionary for the Camp.

  Persky, Daniel, edited by. The Massad English-Hebrew Dictionary: A Classified Listing of Everyday Words, Cross Indexed/ Milon Shimishi Angli-Ivri le-fi Ha-Inyanim veha-miktso'ot. New York, Camp Massad, 1947. 16mo, brown cloth with gold lettering, xxii, 271 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. In Hebrew and English. Compiled by Shlomo Shulsinger and Hillel Rudavsky. Meant for use at an American Hebrew speaking summer camp. (34206)  $20.00

             The Massad Dictionary was not organized in ABC order. Rather it was organized by subject so that the campers could familiarize themselves with all the vocabulary related to a specific activity.

             Persky was always involved in the children's supplement of "Ha-Doar," where he was the resident vocalizer. He did publish some material for children such as below.

  Persky, Daniel. Tsehok me-Erets Yisrael. Kitve Daniel Persky: Kerakh Sheni/ Israel Laughs. New York, 1950/1. Octavo, grey cloth with gold lettering and illustration in green, 267 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (55021)      $25.00

         Persky was not the most aggressive practitioner of "Amerikaniyut," but he did apparently have at least a minor moment of patriotism when he translated the US Constitution into Hebrew.

   Persky, Daniel, translated into Hebrew by. Hukat Artsot ha-Berit shel Amerikah/ The Constitution of the United States of America. New York, Ha-Histadrut ha-Ivrit ba-Amerikah, 1928. Octavo, stapled paper covers, 14 pp.  Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (78230)      $18.00

             Nowadays when the "Mikdash Me'at" for most people is an iphone or a tablet it comforts me to remember a man who loved words and good company more than data and social media. Daniel Persky offered an individual model for engagement with Jewish culture (whether one is religious or not) that still has something to say to today's American Jews and perhaps even to today's Israelis though few if any of them still are ready to listen.

Bibliography

Brown, Michael Gary. "All, All Alone: The Hebrew Press in America from 1914-1924," in American Jewish Historical Quarterly, Volume LIX, December, 1969, Number 2. Hebrew and Yiddish in America. Waltham, Mass., American Jewish Historical Society, 1969. Edited by Nathan M. Kaganoff. 

Frank, M.Z. "Persky Spurred Re-birth of Hebrew in U.S.: Hebrew Language was His Wife," in The National Jewish Post and Opinion, Friday, June, 1, 1962. Indianapolis, Ind., National Jewish Post, Inc., 1962

MacDonald, Dwight. "The Slave of Hebrew," in The New Yorker, November 28, 1959. New York, The New Yorker, 1959.

Mintz, Alan, edited by. Hebrew in America: Perspectives and Prospects. Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 1993.

Mintz, Alan. Sanctuary in the Wilderness: A Critical Introduction to American Hebrew Poetry. Stanford, California, Stanford University Press, 2012.

Nobel, Morris, editor. Sefer B. Isaacs. New York, Publications Committee, 1977. 

Waxman, Meyer. A History of Jewish Literature. (Five Volumes in Six Parts). New York, Thomas Yoseloff, 1960. Second Edition.

Another good bibliographical reference on Persky can be found in the 

                                          לקסיקון הספרות העברית החדשה 

edited by Yossi Galron at https://library.osu.edu/projects/hebrew-lexicon/01174.php. This entry, largely based on the work of the Israeli bibliographer G. Kressel details Persky's early years, his family, his education, his Zionist activities and his problems with the Russian authorities. It is a good source for some details of Persky's activities between 1927 and 1933. It also lists his publications and notes a variety of Hebrew language sources in him. It also reveals the pseudonyms, D. Daniel and Daniel Ben Rebecca, that he used when he wrote in Yiddish. 

The entry for Persky in the Encyclopedia Judaica is by Eisig Silberschlag and can be found online entire in the entry Persky, Daniel on the Jewish Virtual Library website.