Zuta, Ḥayyim Aryeh

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ZUTA, ḤAYYIM ARYEH

ZUTA, ḤAYYIM ARYEH (1868–1939), pioneer of Hebrew education in Ereẓ Israel. Born in Kovno, Lithuania, he was one of the first Hebrew teachers in Russia to employ the Ivrit be-Ivrit ("Hebrew in Hebrew") system. In 1903 he went to Ereẓ Israel, where he taught in various educational institutions (mainly in Jerusalem) and was a founder of the modern Hebrew school system in the country.

He published articles on Hebrew education and schools and wrote a number of textbooks and stories. His book Dark-hei ha-Limmud shel ha-Tanakh ("Teaching the Bible," 2 vols., 1935–37) is a major work of Hebrew didactics. Be-Reshit Darki ("The Beginning of My Way," 1934) are memoirs of his career as a teacher. His short stories were collected in Kitvei Ḥayyim Aryeh Zuta, 3 vols. (1931).

bibliography:

I. Epstein, in: KS, 12 (1935/36), 290–2; Tidhar, 3 (1949), 1279–80; Rabbi Binyamin, Keneset Ḥakhamim (1960), 194–5.

[Gedalyah Elkoshi]