Edward Horowitz

Edward Horowitz (1904-1986) was a linguist, a scholar of Hebrew, and a Jewish-American teacher. He is best known for his classic and influential book on the history of the Hebrew language, How the Hebrew Language Grew (1960).

Biography

Horowitz was born in 1904 in Manhattan, New York, to an Orthodox Judaism family. His parents emigrated from Hungary in the late nineteenth century, and the family owned a successful matzah factory, "Horowitz Margaretten", founded by Horowitz's grandfather, Jacob Horowitz, in 1884.

In the summer of 1925, twenty-one year old Horowitz traveled to British Mandate of Palestine to study in the newly-founded Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He studied under Jewish mysticism scholar Gershom Scholem, History of Literature Joseph Klausner, and Talmud scholar Moshe Zvi Segal. In New York, he studied at Columbia University and New York University, and was ordained as a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He recieved his PhD in Religious Education in 1946. Horowitz subsequently taught at New York University and Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University. For over twenty five years, Horowitz was the chairman the Hebrew Department at Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn) in New York, and served as the president of the American Association of Teachers of Hebrew.

Horowitz published two volumes of Hebrew short stories for students, Sippurim Kalim (1942) and Sippurim LaTalmid (1968). His major work, How the Hebrew Language Grew, traces the origins and charectaristics of the Hebrew language. The book became a classic text for the study of Hebrew in universities around the world. Horowitz also published two books on lingustics for a popular audience - Word Detective, and Words Come in Families.

Horowitz moved to Israel in 1967, and settled in Jerusalem. He was a regular contributor to the Jerusalem Post, and hosted a language and lingustics show on Kol Israel radio. Horowitz died in 1986, and was buried near Beit Shemesh.

Personal Life

Horowitz was married to Silvia (née Solomon; died in 2006), and they had four children. His son is Rabbi Professor Carmi Horowitz, a scholar of Jewish Intellectual history. His grandson, Ariel Horowitz, is a novelist.

References

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