Abraham Solomon Halkin (, 1904 – March 9, 1990) was a Jewish history professor who was the brother of

Simon Halkin Simon Halkin (Hebrew: שמעון הלקין) was a Jewish poet, novelist, teacher, and translator. He died in 1987. Biography Simon Halkin, the brother of Abraham Halkin, was born in Dovsk near Rogachev (now in Belarus), then in the Russian ...

and cousin of

Shmuel Halkin Shmuel Zalmanovich Halkin ( yi, שמואל האַלקין; be, Самуіл Залманавіч Галкін, ''Samuil Zalmanavič Halkin''; ; December 5, 1897 – September 21, 1960), also known as Samuil Galkin, was a Jews, Jewish poet of the ...

Biography

Halkin was born in 1904 in the Russian Empire, the younger brother of

. He is also the cousin of

. In 1914, at the age of 11, Halkin immigrated to the United States from his native Russia. He would go on to receive his

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

, master's and doctoral degrees from Columbia University. Halkin began teaching at the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studie ...

in 1930. From 1938 to 1970 he also served as professor of Hebrew at

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

. He would serve as professor emeritus at the seminary after retiring in 1977. That same year he made

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

to Israel. Halkin was known to be one of the few familiar with an Apologetic Letter of

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

Jedaia ha - Penini. He also was a noted scholar of Shmuel Yosef Agnon's writing, having taught it in his lectures. Halkin died on March 9, 1990, in Jerusalem, Israel at 86 years of age from pneumonia, survived by his son and daughter. His son Hillel Halkin, would go on to serve as a prominent Hebrew writer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halkin, Abraham 1904 births 1990 deaths Jewish historians Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Columbia University alumni Jewish Theological Seminary of America faculty City College of New York faculty American emigrants to Israel Deaths from pneumonia in Israel