Lerner, Ḥayyim Ẓevi ben Todros
LERNER, ḤAYYIM ẒEVI BEN TODROS
LERNER, ḤAYYIM ẒEVI BEN TODROS (1815–1889), Hebrew grammarian and pedagogue. Born in Dubno (Volhynia), he was the pupil of the noted scholar Ze'ev Wolf Adelsohn, under whose influence he studied both Hebrew and secular subjects. He worked as a private Hebrew tutor and became a teacher at the Jewish government school in Berdichev, in 1849, and in 1851, a teacher of Hebrew language and grammar at the government rabbinical seminary in Zhitomir. He was very successful in the latter and held the post until the closing of the institute by governmental decree in 1873.
Lerner's most important work is his Hebrew grammar, Moreh ha-Lashon ("Teacher of the Language," 1859) which is based on the principles laid down by his teacher, S. *Pinsker. In Lerner's lifetime, the book appeared in seven editions; these he annotated and supplemented from the fourth edition onward (1879), notably with a supplement of practical exercises. After his death, the book was also printed with the supplement Yalkut Ḥazal (18938), which includes explanations of difficult Bible passages and their commentaries. Moreh ha-Lashon, published in 13 editions (190913), was the first of its kind that laid down rules for teaching children the essentials of Hebrew grammar. Lerner also wrote Dikduk Leshon Aramit (1875), and Toledot ha-Dikduk (1876), a short history of Hebrew grammar and grammarians up to the 19th century. He also translated into Hebrew S.D. Luzzatto's Italian work on the Aramaic in the Babylonian Talmud, under the title Dikduk Leshon Talmud Bavli (1880). The last years of his life Lerner spent in poverty in Zhitomir, supported by his former pupils. He left in manuscript a research work on talmudic texts, Arba Middot, and a rich collection of his correspondence with leading Jewish scholars of his time.
bibliography:
N. Sokolow (ed.), Sefer Zikkaron le-Soferei Yisrael… (1889), 65–66; Ha-Meliẓ, 29 (1889), nos. 76, 79; Skomorovsky, in: H. Lerner, Moreh ha-Lashon (189810), iii–v (introd.); Kol Kitvei A.U. Kovner (1947), 23–30; A.J. Paperna, Kol ha-Ketavim (1952), 197–204.
[Yehuda Slutsky]