Meyer Waxman

Meyer Waxman (Yiddish: מאיר וואַכסמאַן‎; 1887 – March 7, 1969) was an Imperial Russian-born American rabbi, historian, and scholar. He best known for his six-volume work A History of Jewish Literature, published in 1960.

Rabbi Dr.
Meyer Waxman
Personal
Born1887 (1887)
Slutsk, Minsk Governorate, Russian Empire
DiedMarch 7, 1969(1969-03-07) (aged 81–82)
Miami Beach, Florida, United States
ReligionJudaism
Spouse
Sarah Allen
​
(m. 1913)​
Alma materNew York University
Columbia University
OrganisationHebrew Theological College
SemikhahJewish Theological Seminary

Biography

Waxman was born in Slutsk, and received a traditional education at Hasidic yeshivas there and in Mir.[1] He emigrated to the United States in 1905 and studied at New York University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he was ordained as a rabbi in 1913, and Columbia University, where he received a doctorate in philosophy in 1916.[2] He served for some years in rabbinical posts in Sioux City and in Albany, before returning to New York to become founder and principal of the Mizrachi Teachers Seminary (1917–21).[2] From 1920 to 1924, he served as Executive Director of the Mizrachi Zionist organization.[3]

In 1924 he joined the faculty of the Hebrew Theological College in Chicago, where he served as professor of Hebrew literature and philosophy until his retirement in 1955, also teaching at the College of Jewish Studies in Chicago.[3] After his retirement, he left for Israel to serve as Visiting Professor at Bar-Ilan University. He then moved to New York where he continued his literary and scholarly activities until his death. He died in March 1969 while vacationing in Miami Beach, Florida.[4]

Work

Waxman is best known for his six-volume magnum opus A History of Jewish Literature (1960). The work contains a history of Jewish literature from the close of the Bible to the 1950s. The purpose of this history was "to make accessible to the large lay intelligent public the results of Jewish scholarship and research in the various branches of Jewish literature, carried on during the last century; to coördinate and correlate the scattered facts and the numerous data, so as to present a complete picture of the productivity of the Jewish genius during the ages."[5]

Waxman also published hundreds of articles in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English. Many of his articles were collected in volumes of essays, Ketavim Nivḥarim (2 vols., 1943–44), Galut u-Ge'ullah (1952), and Moreh ha-Dorot (1963). He wrote studies on the history of Jewish philosophy, including The Philosophy of Don Hasdai Crescas (c. 1920) and a translation, with introduction, of Moses Hess' Rome and Jerusalem (1945).

References
  1. Meyer Waxman at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. Halkin, Abraham S. (1969). "Meyer Waxman (1884-1969)". Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research. American Academy for Jewish Research. 37: xxxv–xxxvii. JSTOR 3622520.
  3. Siegel, Seymour (2007). "Waxman, Meyer". In Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. ISBN 978-0-02-866097-4.
  4. "Services Held for Dr. Meyer Waxman, Professor Emeritus of Jewish Literature". JTA Daily News Bulletin. Vol. 36, no. 47. New York: Jewish Telegraphic Agency. March 10, 1969. p. 4.
  5. Waxman, Meyer (1960). A History of Jewish Literature. History of Jewish literature from the close of the Bible to our own days. Vol. 1. New York: Thomas Yoseloff. p. v. ISBN 9780498086403.
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