Nosson Scherman

Nosson Scherman (נתן שרמן) born 1935, Newark, New Jersey) is an American Haredi rabbi best known as the general editor of ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications.

Biography

Scherman began his studies in public school and went to Yeshiva Torah Vodaas as a dormitory student at the age of about 10. Afterwards, he studied in Beth Medrash Elyon in Spring Valley, New York. He later was a rebbi for about eight years at Torah VoDaas of Flatbush, later known as Yeshiva Torah Temimah. Afterwards, he was a principal at Yeshiva Karlin Stolin of Boro Park for six years.^[1]

During his tenure as principal, he was recommended to Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, director of a high-end graphics studio in New York^[2] named ArtScroll Studios,^[3] as someone who could write copy, and they collaborated on a few projects^[1] of brochures and journals.^[3]

In late 1975,^[3] a close friend of Zlotowitz, Rabbi Meir Fogel, died in his sleep, prompting Zlotowitz to want to do something to honor his memory. As Purim was a few months away, he decided to write an English translation and commentary on the Book of Esther, and asked Scherman to write the introduction. The book was completed in honor of the shloshim (the 30-day commemoration of a death)^[3] and sold out its first edition of 20,000 copies within two months.^[3][4] With the encouragement of Rabbi Moses Feinstein, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky, and other Gedolei Yisrael, the two continued producing commentaries, beginning with a translation and commentary on the rest of the Five Megillot (Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations and Ruth),^[5] and went on to publish translations and commentaries on the Torah, Prophets, Talmud, Passover Haggadah, siddurs and machzors. The name ArtScroll was chosen for the publishing company to emphasize the visual appeal of the books.^[6]

In its first 25 years, ArtScroll produced more than 700 books, including novels, history books, children's books and secular textbooks,^[2] and is now one of the largest publishers of Jewish books in the United States.^[7]

Selected bibliography

Zlotowitz and Scherman are the general editors of ArtScroll's Talmud, Stone Chumash, Tanakh, Siddur, and Machzor series. They co-authored Megillas Esther: Illustrated Youth Edition (1988), a pocket-size Mincha/Maariv prayerbook (1991), and Selichos: First Night (1992).^[8] They have also produced a host of titles on which Scherman is author and Zlotowitz is editor.

Scherman contributed translations and commentaries for ArtScroll's Stone Chumash, the ArtScroll Siddurim and Machzorim, and the Stone Tanach. He served as general editor of the 73-volume translation Schottenstein edition of the Talmud from 1990 until 2005.

Scherman attributes his strong English language skills to the stronger general-studies departments that yeshivos had when he was a student, and his correspondence with two out-of-town high school classmates, Mendel Weinbach and Nisson Wolpin. He has said: "During the summers we used to write letters. Does anyone correspond today? We wrote to each other – that helped. We tried to outdo each other; we were big-shot teenagers. The only way to learn how to write is to write."^[1]

References