Ben-Zion Bokser

Ben-Zion Bokser

Ben Zion-Bokser was born in Lubomi, Poland, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 13 in 1920. Bokser heard Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook speak in New York in 1924 and became an avid student and great proponent of his teachings. Bokser attended City College of New York (BA, 1928) and Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary (Yeshiva University), followed by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (ordained, 1931) and Columbia University (PhD, 1935). He taught for many years as an Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Queens College, City University of New York. His first pulpit was Congregation Beth Israel in Vancouver. He served as the rabbi of Forest Hills Jewish Center in Queens, New York starting in 1933 and remained in that position for the balance of his career, more than fifty years. He served a two-year period as a United States Army chaplain during World War Two, stationed at Camp Miles Standish in Massachusetts. During WWII, he organized aid for Jewish soldiers. Bokser was an advocate of social justice, taking a position in favor of the construction of a housing project for the poor in the middle class community of Forest Hills. He fought against the death penalty in NY state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben-Zion_Bokser

אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (אשכנז)‏ | Adōn Olam, translated by Ben Zion Bokser (1957)

Contributed on: כ״ח באדר ה׳תשפ״א (2021-03-12) by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Ben-Zion Bokser | ❧

The cosmological piyyut, Adon Olam, in its Ashkenazi variation in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .

ברייתא דרבי ישמעאל | The Baraita of Rebbi Yishma’el: thirteen principles of halakhic exegesis, translated by Ben-Zion Bokser

Contributed on: ג׳ בתמוז ה׳תש״פ (2020-06-25) by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Ben-Zion Bokser | Yishmael ben Elisha | ❧

The thirteen exegetical rules by which halakhot from the Torah may be derived, according to Rebbi Yishmael, included with the preliminary prayers before the Psukei d’Zimrah/Zemirot of Shaḥarit. . . .

המחזור לראש השנה ויום כּיפּור (אשכנז)‏ | Ha-Maḥzor for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, translated and arranged by Rabbi Ben-Zion Bokser (1959)

Contributed on: כ״ד באלול ה׳תשע״ז (2017-09-15) by Aharon N. Varady (digital imaging and document preparation) | Ben-Zion Bokser | ❧

A prayer book ( maḥzor ) for the Jewish penitential holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, translated and arranged by Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser (1907-1984). . . .

הַסִּדוּר (אשכנז)‏ | HaSiddur, a bilingual Hebrew-English prayerbook translated and arranged by Rabbi Ben-Zion Bokser (1957)

Contributed on: ל׳ בשבט ה׳תשע״ז (2017-02-26) by Aharon N. Varady (digital imaging and document preparation) | Ben-Zion Bokser | Hebrew Publishing Company | ❧

Ben Zion Bokser’s popular mid-20th century modern prayerbook for Conservative American Jewry. . . .

יִגְדַּל (אשכנז)‏ | Yigdal, by Daniel ben Yehudah (rhyming translation by Ben Zion Bokser, 1957)

Contributed on: כ״ח באדר ה׳תשפ״א (2021-03-12) by Aharon N. Varady (transcription) | Ben-Zion Bokser | Daniel ben Yehudah Dayyan | ❧

The philosophical-creed-as-piyyut, Yigdal, in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .