SLOTKI, ISRAEL WOLF

SLOTKI, ISRAEL WOLF (1884–1973), scholar and educator. He was born in Jerusalem and went to England in 1906, living first in London and later in Manchester. There he served as principal of the Talmud Torah school (1911–50) and later as director of Jewish education for Manchester (1946–50). He organized the first conference of religious Zionists in England (1918) and was secretary of the Mizrachi Center of the United Kingdom (1926–28). His publications include studies of ancient Hebrew poetry, annotated translations of 16 tractates of the Talmud (Soncino Press), commentaries and introductions to three books of the Bible, books on local Jewish history, and many contributions to scholarly periodicals. His son, judah jacob slotki (1903–1988), also born in Jerusalem, arrived in England as a boy. He was superintendent of Jewish education in Manchester (1942–46), director of Jewish education in Leeds (1946–55), and from 1955 director of the Central Board of Hebrew Education in Manchester. In 1956 he established the S.H. Steinhart Training College for Hebrew teachers. From 1959 he was a vice president of the British Mizrachi Federation. He published translations of part of the Midrash Rabbah (Soncino Press) and of five books of the Bible, works for Jewish children, and a biography of Manasseh Ben Israel. His edited edition of The Babylonian Talmud was published in 1990.

[Godfrey Edmond Silverman]