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[[Image:Ozar Yisroel title.png|thumb|200px|Title page from ''Ozar Yisroel'' (1951), by '''Julius (Judah David) Eisenstein'''.]]
'''Julius (Judah David) Eisenstein''' ([[November 12]], [[1854]]–[[May 17]], [[1956]]) ([[Hebrew]]: '''יהודה דוד אייזענשטיין''') was a Russian-American writer born in [[Międzyrzecz]], government of [[Siedlec]], [[Russian Poland]]. While in Poland, he was educated in [[Talmud]] by his grandfather, Azriel Zelig. Julius emigrated in 1872 to the [[United States]] at the age of 17, settled in [[New York City|New York]], and married the following year. He became a successful businessman, but lost much of his fortune in a failed effort to establish an aggricultural colony for Jewish immigrants in [[New Jersey]].
Eisenstein was a lover of the [[Hebrew language]], and established America's first society for the Hebrew language, called ''Shocharei Sfat Ever''. He was also the first to translate into [[Hebrew]] and [[Yiddish]] the [[Constitution of the United States]] (New York, 1891). Other early writings of his are ''Ma'amare Biḳḳoret,'' ib. 1897, and ''The Classified Psalter'' (Pesuḳe de-Zimrah), Hebrew text with a new translation (1899). He also made an attempt to translate and explain a modified text of the ''[[Shulḥan 'Aruk]]''.
Eisenstein took a prominent part in the controversy concerning the Kolel Ameriḳa, a society for the collection of funds for the poor [[Jews of Palestine]], and was one of the leaders in the movement to arrange that the money contributed in the United States should go primarily to former residents of America. In ''Ha-Modia'la-Ḥadashim'' (New York) for 1901 he published, under the title ''Le-Ḳorot Gole Russiya be-Ameriḳa,'' a sketch of the history of Russo-Jewish emigration to America. His ''History of the First Russo-American Jewish Congregation'' appeared in No. 9 of the ''Publications of the Am. Jew. Hist. Soc.,'' 1901.
== Primary Works ==
Julius Eisenstein contributed more than 150 entries to the 1901–1906 [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=102&letter=E Jewish Encyclopedia], from which the above biography was taken, and he authored thousands of articles in newspapers, journals, encyclopedias, and anthologies. His memoirs are contained in a 1929 volume called ''Otzar Zikhronotai'' (אוצר זיכרונותי). Others of his works, most of which can be downloaded at [http://www.hebrewbooks.org/ HebrewBooks.org] are as follows:
* ''Ozar Perushim we-Ziyurim'' (1920) (אוצר פירושים וציורים להגדה של פסח), an illustrated [[Passover haggadah]]
* ''Ozar Dinim u-Minhagim'' (1938) (אוצר דינים ומנהגים), a digest of Jewish laws ([[halachah]]) and customs ([[minhaggim]])
* ''Ozar D'rushim Nibharim'' (1918) (אוצר דרושים נבחרים), an anthology of [[midrashic]] literature
* ''Ozar Maamare Hazal'' (1947) (אוצר מאמרי חז"ל), a [[Concordance (publishing)|concordance]] of [[rabbinical]] quotations, sayings, and phrases
* ''Ozar Ma'amare Tanakh'' (1947) (אוצר מאמרי התנ"ך), a [[concordance]] of words, phrases, and idioms in the [[Tanakh]]
* ''Ozar Masa'oth'' (1926) (אוצר מסעות), an [[anthology]] of itineraries by Jewish travelers to [[Palestine]], [[Syria]], [[Egypt]], and other countries
* ''Ozar Midrashim'' (1915) (אוצר מדרשים), a library of 200 [[minor midrashim]]
* ''Ozar Wikuhim'' (1928) (אוצר ויכוחים), a collection of [[polemic]]s and disputations
* ''Ozar Yisrael'' (principal editor, 1906–1913, 10 volumes) (אנציקלופדיה אוצר ישראל), an encyclopedia concerning all matters of [[Jews]] and [[Judaism]]. It has the distinction of being the first comprehensive (not exclusively on Jewish topics) [[encyclopedia]] in the [[Hebrew language]]. Eisenstein undertook this work in response to perceived limitations of the [[English language]] Jewish Encyclopedia (Levy 2002).
For obvious reasons, he was known by many colleagues as "Ba'al ha-Otzarot" ("Master of the Ozars"). Although Eisenstein was a scholar of extraordinarily broad learning, his political views were marked by hostility toward [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] and [[Conservative Judaism]] (Sherman, 1996).
==References==
*{{cite book
| last = Sherman
| first = Moshe D.
| title = Orthodox Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook
| publisher = Greenwood Press
| date = 1996
| location = Westport, CT
| pages = 58–59}}
*{{cite conference
| first = David B.
| last = Levy
| title = The making of the Encyclopaedia Judaica and the Jewish Encyclopedia
| booktitle = Proceedings of the 37th Annual Convention of the Association of Jewish Libraries
| date =2002
| location = Denver, CO
| url = http://www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/publications/proceedings/proceedings2002/levy.pdf
| accessdate = Dec. 4, 2006}}
*{{JewishEncyclopedia}}
'''Julius (Judah David) Eisenstein''' ([[November 12]], [[1854]]–[[May 17]], [[1956]]) ([[Hebrew]]: '''יהודה דוד אייזענשטיין''') was a Russian-American writer born in [[Międzyrzecz]], government of [[Siedlec]], [[Russian Poland]]. While in Poland, he was educated in [[Talmud]] by his grandfather, Azriel Zelig. Julius emigrated in 1872 to the [[United States]] at the age of 17, settled in [[New York City|New York]], and married the following year. He became a successful businessman, but lost much of his fortune in a failed effort to establish an aggricultural colony for Jewish immigrants in [[New Jersey]].
Eisenstein was a lover of the [[Hebrew language]], and established America's first society for the Hebrew language, called ''Shocharei Sfat Ever''. He was also the first to translate into [[Hebrew]] and [[Yiddish]] the [[Constitution of the United States]] (New York, 1891). Other early writings of his are ''Ma'amare Biḳḳoret,'' ib. 1897, and ''The Classified Psalter'' (Pesuḳe de-Zimrah), Hebrew text with a new translation (1899). He also made an attempt to translate and explain a modified text of the ''[[Shulḥan 'Aruk]]''.
Eisenstein took a prominent part in the controversy concerning the Kolel Ameriḳa, a society for the collection of funds for the poor [[Jews of Palestine]], and was one of the leaders in the movement to arrange that the money contributed in the United States should go primarily to former residents of America. In ''Ha-Modia'la-Ḥadashim'' (New York) for 1901 he published, under the title ''Le-Ḳorot Gole Russiya be-Ameriḳa,'' a sketch of the history of Russo-Jewish emigration to America. His ''History of the First Russo-American Jewish Congregation'' appeared in No. 9 of the ''Publications of the Am. Jew. Hist. Soc.,'' 1901.
== Primary Works ==
Julius Eisenstein contributed more than 150 entries to the 1901–1906 [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=102&letter=E Jewish Encyclopedia], from which the above biography was taken, and he authored thousands of articles in newspapers, journals, encyclopedias, and anthologies. His memoirs are contained in a 1929 volume called ''Otzar Zikhronotai'' (אוצר זיכרונותי). Others of his works, most of which can be downloaded at [http://www.hebrewbooks.org/ HebrewBooks.org] are as follows:
* ''Ozar Perushim we-Ziyurim'' (1920) (אוצר פירושים וציורים להגדה של פסח), an illustrated [[Passover haggadah]]
* ''Ozar Dinim u-Minhagim'' (1938) (אוצר דינים ומנהגים), a digest of Jewish laws ([[halachah]]) and customs ([[minhaggim]])
* ''Ozar D'rushim Nibharim'' (1918) (אוצר דרושים נבחרים), an anthology of [[midrashic]] literature
* ''Ozar Maamare Hazal'' (1947) (אוצר מאמרי חז"ל), a [[Concordance (publishing)|concordance]] of [[rabbinical]] quotations, sayings, and phrases
* ''Ozar Ma'amare Tanakh'' (1947) (אוצר מאמרי התנ"ך), a [[concordance]] of words, phrases, and idioms in the [[Tanakh]]
* ''Ozar Masa'oth'' (1926) (אוצר מסעות), an [[anthology]] of itineraries by Jewish travelers to [[Palestine]], [[Syria]], [[Egypt]], and other countries
* ''Ozar Midrashim'' (1915) (אוצר מדרשים), a library of 200 [[minor midrashim]]
* ''Ozar Wikuhim'' (1928) (אוצר ויכוחים), a collection of [[polemic]]s and disputations
* ''Ozar Yisrael'' (principal editor, 1906–1913, 10 volumes) (אנציקלופדיה אוצר ישראל), an encyclopedia concerning all matters of [[Jews]] and [[Judaism]]. It has the distinction of being the first comprehensive (not exclusively on Jewish topics) [[encyclopedia]] in the [[Hebrew language]]. Eisenstein undertook this work in response to perceived limitations of the [[English language]] Jewish Encyclopedia (Levy 2002).
For obvious reasons, he was known by many colleagues as "Ba'al ha-Otzarot" ("Master of the Ozars"). Although Eisenstein was a scholar of extraordinarily broad learning, his political views were marked by hostility toward [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] and [[Conservative Judaism]] (Sherman, 1996).
==References==
*{{cite book
| last = Sherman
| first = Moshe D.
| title = Orthodox Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook
| publisher = Greenwood Press
| date = 1996
| location = Westport, CT
| pages = 58–59}}
*{{cite conference
| first = David B.
| last = Levy
| title = The making of the Encyclopaedia Judaica and the Jewish Encyclopedia
| booktitle = Proceedings of the 37th Annual Convention of the Association of Jewish Libraries
| date =2002
| location = Denver, CO
| url = http://www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/publications/proceedings/proceedings2002/levy.pdf
| accessdate = Dec. 4, 2006}}
*{{JewishEncyclopedia}}