Harkavy

Russo-Jewish family. It originated, according to a tradition current in the family, with Mordecai Jaffe, author of the "Lebushim." The immediate ancestor was Joseph of Turetz (d. 1778), Turetz being a town near Nowogrudok, in the province of Minsk. The first member of the family to assume the name "Harkavy" was Gershon of Nowogrudok (d. 1824), son of Joseph of Turetz.

Abraham Harkavy:

Son of Jacob Harkavy. See Harkavy, Albert.

A. Ha.Alexander Harkavy:

Russian-American writer and linguist; born at Nowogrudok, Minsk government, May 5, 1863. Alexander was educated privately, and at an early age evinced a predilection for philology. In 1879 he went to Wilna, where he worked in the printing-office of the Romm Bros. In 1882 he went to America, in 1885 to Paris; he subsequently returned to America, and settled in New York, where he now (1903) resides.

It is partly due to Harkavy that Yiddish is now recognized as a language. His Yiddish dictionaries show that its vocabulary is as ample as that of the average modern language, and that, if lacking in technical terms, it is richer in idiomatic and characteristic expressions.

Alexander Harkavy's most important works are: "Complete English-Jewish Dictionary" (1891); "Dictionary of the Yiddish Language: Yiddish-English" (1898); pocket editions of English-Yiddish and Yiddish-English dictionaries; "Amerikanischer Briefsteller" (English and Judæo-German, 1899); "Ollendorf's Method of English: in Yiddish" (1893); "Uchebnik Angliskavo Yazyka" (1892); "Torat Leshon Anglit," an English grammar in Hebrew (1894); "Ha-Yesh Mishpaṭ Lashon li-Sefat Yehudit?" (1896), in which he shows that Yiddish has the essential elements and forms of a living language; "Don Kichot," a Judæo-German translation (1897-98).

Bibliography:

  * E. Harkavy, Dor Yesharim, New York, 1992;
  * Eisenstadt, Ḥakme Yisrael be-Ameriḳa, p. 33;
  * Ha-Leom (Harkavy's autobiography), vol. ii., New York, 1903.



J. D. E.Alexander Süsskind Harkavy:

Scholar and merchant; third son of Gershon Harkavy; born 1785; died 1841. In 1827 he became rabbi of Nowogrudok, which office he retained until his death.

Deborah Romm:

Daughter of Joseph Bezaleel Harkavy, and head of the Hebrew publishing firm of Widow & Brothers Romm, of Wilna.

Elhanan Harkavy:

Eldest son of Gershon Harkavy; died at Jerusalem in 1838. He devoted his life to study, and in his later years settled in Jerusalem. On the tombstone over his grave, on the Mount of Olives, he is designated as "Elhanan Ashkenazi."

Elhanan Harkavy:

Brother of Alexander Harkavy; born at Nowogrudok; author of "Dor Yesharim."

Elijah Harkavy:

Scholar and merchant; died 1827; second son of Gershon Harkavy.

Gershon Harkavy:

Talmudist; son of Moses Solomon Harkavy; born 1823; died 1875.

Gershon Harkavy:

Son of Joseph of Turetz. He was a disciple of Elijah of Wilna. In his declining years he settled in Safed, Palestine, where he founded a Talmudical academy, and maintained it by the proceeds of vineyards bought for the purpose. He had four sons, Elhanan, Elijah, Alexander Süsskind, and Moses Solomon.

Jacob Harkavy:

Son of Elhanan Harkavy; born 1799; died 1894. He was at the head of a Talmudical academy at Jerusalem for forty-three years.

Jacob Harkavy:

Son of Gershon Harkavy; author of a brochure in Russian on Jewish education (Wilna, 1902).

Joseph Bezaleel Harkavy:

Talmudist; son of Elhanan Harkavy; died 1873. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi Samuel Strashun of Wilna.

Joseph Moses Harkavy:

Talmudist; son of Rabbi Alexander Süsskind; born 1812; died 1881.

Moses Solomon Harkavy:

Merchant and philanthropist; fourth son of Gershon Harkavy; born at Nowogrudok 1805; died 1872.

Vladimir (Wolf) Harkavy:

Jurist at Moscow; son of Joseph Bezaleel Harkavy.

Bibliography:

  * E. Harkavy, Dor Yesharim, New York, 1903.



H. R. A. Ha.