Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...
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 ...
Scherman was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, where his parents ran a small grocery store. He attended public school, but in the afternoons joined a
Talmud Torah
Talmud Torah ( he, תלמוד תורה, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary edu ...
started in 1942 by Rabbi Shalom Ber Gordon, a shaliach of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn.Horowitz, Rebbetzin Faigie. "A Nostalic Look at Jewish Newark". '' Hamodia'' Magazine, 28 June 2012, pp. 14– 18. Rabbi Gordon influenced many of the 200 boys in his afternoon Talmud Torah to enroll in
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy a ...
, including young Nosson Scherman, who became a dormitory student at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas at around age 10. Afterwards, he studied in
Beth Medrash Elyon
Beth Medrash Elyon is a four-year, not-for-profit ''yeshiva'' in Monsey, New York. History
Though Beth Medrash Elyon closed in the 1970s due to disagreements among the leaders of the ''yeshiva'', the yeshiva was subsequently reopened. It was head ...
in Spring Valley, New York
Scherman worked as a rabbi (teacher) for about eight years at Torah VoDaas of Flatbush, later known as Yeshiva Torah Temimah. Afterwards he was a principal at Yeshiva Karlin Stolin of Boro Park for six years.
ArtScroll
During his tenure as principal, he was recommended to Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, director of a high-end graphics studio in New York named ArtScroll Studios, as someone who could write copy, and they collaborated on a few projects of brochures and journals.
In late 1975, Zlotowitz wrote an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
translation and commentary on the
Book of Esther
The Book of Esther ( he, מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר, Megillat Esther), also known in Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Jewish '' Tanakh'' (the Hebrew Bible). It is one of the ...
in memory of a friend, and asked Scherman to write the introduction. The book sold out its first edition of 20,000 copies within two months. With the encouragement of Rabbi Moses Feinstein, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky , and other
Gedolei Yisrael
''Gadol'' or ''godol'' (, plural: ''gedolim'' ) (literally "big" or "great" in Hebrew ) is used by religious Jews to refer to the most revered rabbis of the generation.
Usage
The term ''gadol hador'' refers to the "great/est (one of) the generati ...
, the two continued producing commentaries, beginning with a translation and commentary on the rest of the Five Megillot ( Song of Songs,
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly us ...
, Lamentations and Ruth), and went on to publish translations and commentaries on the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...
s, history books, children's books and secular textbooks, and is now one of the largest publishers of Jewish books in the United States.
Selected bibliography
Zlotowitz and Scherman are the general editors of ArtScroll's
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" '' Siddur, and Machzor series. They co-authored ''Megillas Esther: Illustrated Youth Edition'' (1988), a pocket-size Mincha/Maariv prayerbook (1991), and ''Selichos: First Night'' (1992). They have also produced a host of titles on which Scherman is author and Zlotowitz is editor.
Scherman contributed translations and commentaries for ArtScroll's
Stone Chumash
ArtScroll is an imprint of translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish perspective published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd., a publishing company based in Rahway, New Jersey. Rabbi Nosson Scherman is the general editor.
ArtScroll ...
, the ArtScroll Siddurim and Machzorim, and the Stone
Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" '' Schottenstein edition of the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
from 1990 until 2005.
Scherman attributes his strong English language skills to the stronger general-studies departments that yeshivas had when he was a student, and his correspondence with two out-of-town high school classmates, Mendel Weinbach and
Nisson Wolpin
Nisson Wolpin was an Orthodox rabbi and (1932-2017), renowned for being the editor of The Jewish Observer. He also served as the learning director of Camp Munk for many summers.
Early life
Rabbi Wolpin was born in 1932 in Seattle, Washington to ...
. He has said: "During the summers we used to write letters. Does anyone correspond today? We wrote to each other – that helped. We tried to outdo each other; we were big-shot teenagers. The only way to learn how to write is to write." He was also among the contributors to The Jewish Observer.
He was the editor, beginning in 1970, of Olomeinu and editor/co-author of some ''Best of Olomeinu'' reprints.