summa cum laude in 1950; at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he received the Hebrew Literature Prize, Homiletics Prize, Bible Prize, the M.H.L. degree, and rabbinic ordination in 1954; and at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1965.
Unlike his fellow Jewish American novelists, to whom scholarship in Judaica has been of peripheral interest, Potok stands in the European tradition of Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Loeb Peretz, and Chaim Nachman Bialick, pursuing a Judaic professional role in conjunction with that of the creative artist. Following service as a U.S. Army chaplain in Korea with a front-line medical battalion and a combat engineer battalion in 1955-1957, Potok married Adena Sarah Mosevitzky and began a distinguished teaching and publication career in Jewish studies. He taught at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles (1957-1959); served as scholar in residence at Har Zion Temple in Philadelphia (1959-1963); and taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary Teacher's Institute (1963-1964). His publishing career has included positions as editor of Conservative Judaism (1964-1965) and associate editor for the Jewish Publication Society in 1965 and special projects editor since 1974. In his role as special projects editor for the Jewish Publication Society, he has collaborated with other scholars and rabbis to prepare the new authorized translation of The Torah (1962), The Prophets (1978), and The Writings (1982).
This is a free page. This page contains 190 words. This
biography contains 8,421 words (approx. 28 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Biography with our Chaim Potok Access Pass.
