
Ẓevi Scharfstein (צבי שרפשטיין; 1884-1972), born in Dunaivtsi in the Podolia region of Ukraine, was a prolific Hebrew-language educator, writer, and publishing entrepreneur. He was educated as a child by private tutors and strongly influenced by the Haskalah movement. 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 pogroms in the region followed by the onset of World War Ⅰ, 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." Once in the US, he quickly founded a monthly magazine for children, Shaḥarut (Youth). Published by the Bureau of Jewish Education in New York City, Shaḥaruts original mission was to teach Jewish topics and Hebrew language. After the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the periodical shifted to short stories and articles about Jewish life in British Mandate Palestine. Scharfstein also joined Samson Benderly's Bureau of Jewish Education. 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. Scharfstein founding of the Shilo publishing house made him "a teacher of teachers" in the Jewish Diaspora. His only official academic degree was an honorary Doctor of Hebrew Letters, awarded by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Ultimately, he authored 423 works in 698 publications during his career.
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Contributed by:
Aharon N. Varady (digital imaging and document preparation), Ẓevi Scharfstein (translation)
שילה סדור תפלה לשבת וליום טוב Shilo Prayer Book for Junior Congregations (1966) is an abridged, bilingual Hebrew-English siddur by Ẓevi Scharfstein (1884-1972). The siddur for Jewish youth congregations is adapted from תפלתינו: סדור לכל השנה Tefilaténu: Siddur l’Khol ha-Shanah (1932), reprinted numerous times, albeit with line numbers and without an English translation. Here, Scharfstein’s translation accompanies the Hebrew and forgoes the line numbers. It is the only edition of a siddur from Shilo Publishing House containing an English translation.
Contributed by:
Aharon N. Varady (digital imaging and document preparation), Ẓevi Scharfstein (translation)
ִתְּפִלָּתֵינוּ: סִדּוּר לְכׇל הַשָּׁנָה Tefilaténu: Siddur l’Khol haShanah (1932) a/k/a סִדּוּר שִׁילֹֹה is an everyday (kol-bo) nusaḥ Ashkenaz siddur by Ẓevi Scharfstein (1884-1972). The siddur has been reprinted many times over the last century and is ubiquitous in Hebrew Day Schools in the United States as a child’s first siddur. Unlike any others to our knowledge, it contains line numbers — a pedagogical feature for classroom use. That is contains no accompanying translation may be considered a feature, rather than a problem, for educators who intend their students to become more familiar with the source liturgy than any one possible translation.