Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on June 27, 2017

ArtScroll made it possible for anyone to study Talmud on his or her own, said Samuel C. Heilman, who specializes in Jewish studies as a distinguished professor of sociology at the City University of New York.

The elegant ArtScroll siddur, or prayer book, used for daily Sabbath and holiday prayers is so sought after that more than a million copies have been printed. It is used even by some synagogues in the more liberal Conservative Jewish movement.

ArtScrolls sales have been helped by the striking growth of the Orthodox movement; 10 percent of American Jews identify themselves as Orthodox, according to a Pew Research Center study in 2015, but 27 percent of children under 18 are Orthodox, foreshadowing a mushrooming share of the Jewish population in years to come.

Rather than assume that every Jew knows the sometimes arcane procedures and rationales for prayer, the siddur lays them out in clear contemporary English and features explanatory footnotes, in the way that an annotated edition of Joyces Ulysses might ease that novels reading.

For example, the siddur tells those unfamiliar with the central Amidah prayer to take three steps backward, then three steps forward at the start, and urges a worshiper to pray loudly enough to hear himself but not so loudly that its recitation is audible to others.

J. Philip Rosen, a lawyer whose donation financed the siddurs 1992 edition, said Rabbi Zlotowitz, concerned about making books very user-friendly, agreed to make the type large enough for those with diminishing eyesight, like Mr. Rosens father.

I dont think theres an organization other than Chabad or Birthright Israel that has helped bring people closer to Judaism, Mr. Rosen said of ArtScroll.

Rabbi Zlotowitz, ArtScrolls president, ran the business with his partners of 41 years, Rabbi Nosson Scherman, who has served as general editor, and Rabbi Sheah Brander, its graphics expert. Both are continuing with the company. Rabbi Zlotowitz wrote or edited 15 of the companys 2,000 titles himself, including a six-volume anthology of commentary on Genesis.

Meir Zlotowitz, a soft-spoken man with a flowing white beard, was born in New York City on July 13, 1943, the youngest child of Aaron and Fruma Zlotowitz, immigrants from Lithuania. The father was a ritual circumciser and slaughterer with an almost thorough recall of the Talmud. Rabbi Zlotowitz told friends that he never woke up without hearing the singsong melody of his father studying.

He attended two yeshivas, Rabbi Jacob Joseph School and, for post-high school, Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem, both on the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the time. The latter was led by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, who was regarded as his generations leading authority on Jewish law. Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem conferred Meir Zlotowitzs rabbinical ordination.

Talented in art and design, Rabbi Zlotowitz took courses in graphics at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and began doing calligraphy for wedding contracts (kesuvos) and honorary scrolls in a Manhattan studio, then set up a print shop on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn that added invitations and brochures to its products.

In 1975, a close friend died childless and, to offer him a legacy, Rabbi Zlotowitz published a translation of Esther accompanied by commentary, with Rabbi Scherman serving as a writer and editor.

It sold 20,000 copies, Rabbi Scherman said in an interview, and Rabbi Zlotowitz, encouraged by the response from leading rabbis, wound down the invitation business and from then on devoted himself to publishing religious works.

In addition to his son Gedaliah, he is survived by his wife, Rochel; their three other sons, Ira, Boruch and Chaim; their daughters, Estie Dicker, Faigie Perlowitz, Devorah Morgenstern and Tzivi Munk; and more than 50 grandchildren.

Read the rest here:

Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, Who Made Jewish Prayer Books Clear to All, Dies at 73 - New York Times

Category: Talmud
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