Yishaq Epstein

Yishaq Epstein (יצחק אפשטיין), also known as Ishac and Isaac Epstein (Lyuban, Belarus 7 December 1862– Jerusalem 26 February 1943) was a linguist and educator known for his text “The Hidden Question” which focuses on relations between Zionists and Arab Palestinians. He is also known among the figures in the revival of the Hebrew language as father of the modern Hebrew school in Palestine^[1] and for his pioneering "natural method".^[2] He was brother of the writer Zalman Epstein.

Biography[edit]

Yishaq Epstein moved to Rosh Pina in Palestine/Eretz Israel in 1886.^[3] He participated in the acquisition of Palestinian land within a land organization headed by the German Zionist Arthur Ruppin. He was present at the time of the forced departure of 600 Druze inhabitants from the Palestinian village of Metula in 1908^[4].

The “Hidden Question”[edit]

The lecture of this text was delivered at the Seventh Zionist Congress in Basel 1905. Yishaq Epstein declares : "We have overlooked so long in our lovely country: there exists an entire people who have held it for centuries and to whom it would never occur to leave"^[5] · .^[6]

Hebrew schools in Palestine[edit]

Exceptionally as principal of the Hebrew school in Rosh Pinna Epstein attempted to encourage also Arab children from neighbouring Al-Jauna to enroll, though only four did so.^[7]

References[edit]

^ School & Society - Volume 34 -James McKeen Cattell, Will Carson Ryan, Raymond Walters · 1931 Page 294 Dr. Isaac Epstein , one of the greatest Hebrew educators , and educators , and so - called " father " of the modern Hebrew school in Pales- tine , tells us in a most charming way about his first steps in creating the Hebrew elementary ...
^ Memories of Two Generations: A Yiddish Life in Russia and Texas Alexander Z. Gurwitz, Bryan Edward Stone · 2016 p 390 "Its first principal was D. B. Lichtenhartz, who had previously been superintendant of a Hebrew school in New Orleans. ... sometimes known as the “natural” method, pioneered in Palestine by the linguist Ishac (Isaac) Epstein (1862–1943)."
^ Dowty (2001). ""'A Question That Outweighs All Others': Yitzhak Epstein and Zionist Recognition of the Arab Issue."". JSTOR 30245563. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ Herzl, Theodor; Charbit, Denis (2004). Altneuland: nouveau pays ancien (in French). éditions de l’éclat. ISBN 978-2-84162-093-7. Retrieved 2024-01-15., p.112
^ https://balfourproject.org/bp/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Yitzhak-Epstein.pdf
^ Gil Gertel, “The Zionist educator we should have listened to”, +972 Magazine, April 2, 2016, https://972mag.com/the-zionist-educator-we-should-have-listened-to/118345/
^ Educating Palestine Yoni Furas · 2020 " In his capacity as school principal in Rosh-Pina, for example, Epstein attempted to welcome Arab students from neighbouring ..."

Bibliography[edit]

Alan Dowty , “"A Question That Outweighs All Others": Yitzhak Epstein and Zionist Recognition of the Arab Issue”, Israel Studies, volume 6, issue 1, 2001
Gil Gertel, “The Zionist educator we should have listened to”, +972 Magazine, April 2, 2016, https://972mag.com/the-zionist-educator-we-should-have-listened-to/118345/
Nathan Weinstock, 1891-1907 : le mouvement sioniste découvre l’existence des Arabes de Palestine. Paris, Honoré Champion, 2016 ; propose une traduction, accompagnée d’une introduction et d’un commentaire du texte « Une question occultée » d’Yitzhaq Epstein (1907), [ https://www.cairn.info/revue-archives-de-sciences-sociales-des-religions-2018-4-page-385.htm, review by Alina Schlaepfer]
Aline Schlaepfer, « Nathan Weinstock, 1891-1907 : le mouvement sioniste découvre l’existence des Arabes de Palestine », Archives de sciences sociales des religions [En ligne], 184 | octobre-décembre 2018, mis en ligne le 01 décembre 2018, consulté le 10 décembre 2023. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/assr/45272
Yosef Gorni, Zionism and the Arabs, 1882 –1948: A Study of Ideology (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987), pp. 42 –51
Adam Shatz (ed.), Prophets Outcast: A Century of Dissident Jewish Writing about Zionism and Israel (New York: Nation Books, 2004), pp.35–52.

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[1] School & Society - Volume 34 -James McKeen Cattell, Will Carson Ryan, Raymond Walters · 1931 Page 294 Dr. Isaac Epstein , one of the greatest Hebrew educators , and educators , and so - called " father " of the modern Hebrew school in Pales- tine , tells us in a most charming way about his first steps in creating the Hebrew elementary ...

[2] Memories of Two Generations: A Yiddish Life in Russia and Texas Alexander Z. Gurwitz, Bryan Edward Stone · 2016 p 390 "Its first principal was D. B. Lichtenhartz, who had previously been superintendant of a Hebrew school in New Orleans. ... sometimes known as the “natural” method, pioneered in Palestine by the linguist Ishac (Isaac) Epstein (1862–1943)."

[3] Dowty (2001). ""'A Question That Outweighs All Others': Yitzhak Epstein and Zionist Recognition of the Arab Issue."". JSTOR 30245563. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[Charbit-4] Herzl, Theodor; Charbit, Denis (2004). Altneuland: nouveau pays ancien (in French). éditions de l’éclat. ISBN 978-2-84162-093-7. Retrieved 2024-01-15., p.112

[5] ttps://balfourproject.org/bp/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Yitzhak-Epstein.pdf

[6] Gil Gertel, “The Zionist educator we should have listened to”, +972 Magazine, April 2, 2016, https://972mag.com/the-zionist-educator-we-should-have-listened-to/118345/

[7] Educating Palestine Yoni Furas · 2020 " In his capacity as school principal in Rosh-Pina, for example, Epstein attempted to welcome Arab students from neighbouring ..."

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