Max D. Raiskin (Hebrew: מרדכי רייסקין, June 3, 1919,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

– December 29, 1978,

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

), was a

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 of ...

, Professor of Hebrew Literature, licensed

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, author of educational textbooks, and the principal and executive director of the

East Side Hebrew Institute The East Side Hebrew Institute was a traditional Jewish day school, in the East Village/Alphabet City area of Manhattan, New York City. It was "once one of the major institutions of the Jewish East Side". History The East Side Hebrew Institute ( ...

Life and work

Max Raiskin was born in

on June 3, 1919 to Louis (Leib) and Anna (Henia) Raiskin, immigrants from Russia. The Middle initial of his name (the letter D) stands for his mother's maiden name, Dubnoff. In December 1947, the principal of the

, David R. Zaslowsky, died, and Raiskin was asked by the board to take over the school. Rabbi Raiskin served as the principal and executive director of the East Side Hebrew Institute for over 25 years, and was a professor of

Hebrew literature Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews. Hebrew literature was pro ...

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

and

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

. Aside from that he was a well-known educator in NYC. His stated goal was to bring Jews closer to Judaism, with the motto that "''Every Jewish child deserves a Jewish education''". He was the firstin the U.S. to initiate and establish a program for preparing mentally challenged and blind children for their Bar Mitzvah. He also established the program for the master's degree in Modern Hebrew Literature at Brooklyn College in the early 1950s. Rabbi Raiskin authored several educational books, edited a multitude of others (uncredited), and was Ktav Publishing's educational advisor. In 1974 Rabbi Raiskin emigrated to Israel with his wife and eight children, where he died in 1978. In 1981, the 6th street Synagogue and community center in New York City, where many of his students were members, was named in his honor "The Rabbi Max D. Raiskin Center". In 1997, one of his former students, actor

Paul Reiser Paul Reiser (; born March 30, 1956) is an American actor, comedian, and television writer. He is known for his roles as Michael Taylor in the 1980s sitcom ''My Two Dads'', Paul Buchman in the NBC sitcom ''Mad About You'', Modell in the 1982 fi ...

, named a Day School after him in Los Angeles, following his educational philosophy.Sylvia J. Danzer, "Rabbi Max D. Raiskin West Valley Hebrew Academy - The Bright Star of the West Coast!", The Jewish Press, Western States Special (Friday, September 19, 1997), page 10.

Bibliography

Books

* ''Sefer Ha'avot I : Haver LaHistoria'' (1954) * ''Torati'' (1956) * ''Chumashi I: Genesis'' (1956) * ''Chumashi I (Color Edition)'' (1956-1957) * ''Chumashi II: With Rashi Readings'' (1959) * ''Sefer Ha'avot I Targilon (Workbook)'' (1960) * ''Sefer Ha'avot II : Toledot Hashvatim'' (1965) * ''Sefer Ha'avot II Workbook'' (1967) * ''Mitzvot and Values'' (1977) * ''Mishnah Tractate Ta'anit with the commentary of Rabbi Ovadya of Bartinura : translated into English, punctuated and annotated'' (1996)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raiskin, Max D. 1919 births Brooklyn College faculty Hunter College faculty American Modern Orthodox rabbis American accountants American emigrants to Israel 1978 deaths 20th-century American rabbis