In Memoriam
Dr. Rivka Maoz, Z"L
Dear colleagues,
We are sad to announce the passing of our friend and colleague Dr. Rivka Maoz, who passed away earlier this week. Her funeral was held in Jerusalem on December 19, 2023.
Please see below a message from Dr. Adina Abadi. We send our deepest condolences to Rivka's family and friends-- יהי זכרה ברוך.
Esther Raizen
Dear NAPH members,
My friend and colleague Dr. Rivka Maoz passed away on Monday, 18.12.23. For many years she participated in NAPH conferences and lectured in the sections of literature.
She taught Hebrew literature at the International School of the Hebrew University, lecturing in Hebrew and also in English. She invited Israeli authors to lecture to the students, among them A.B. Yehoshua, Amos Oz, and Aharon Appelfeld.
Since she immigrated from Bulgaria, after living there in a Ghetto, she devoted to the holocaust the first chapter in a text book for students. Many members of NAPH heard her lectures. Z”L
Adina Abadi
Professor Tris Coffin, Z''L
Colleagues,
It is with great sorrow that I write to let you know that Tris Coffin, Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Michigan and the life partner of our friend and colleague Edna Amir Coffin, passed away on September 3. We send our deepest condolences to Edna and her family.
Professor Uzi Shavit, 1936-2023, Z''L
Uzi, Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Literature at Tel Aviv University, was a prolific scholar of Hebrew poetry since the Enlightenment period, and, for over three decades, the chief editor and CEO of the Hakibbutz Hameuchad publishing house (since 2001—Hakibbutz Hameuchad-Sifriyat Poalim). He was a dynamic, joyful presence at our annual conferences, and will be greatly missed.
His funeral will be held today (Wednesday, March 1) in Kibbutz Sdot Yam.
We send our condolences to Uzi’s family, colleagues, and friends.
Professor Uzzi Ornan
Our colleague and friend Professor Uzzi Ornan passed away on November 3, 2022.
Born in Jerusalem in 1923, Uzzi was an active member of the Irgun and was arrested by the British in 1944. In 1947, while imprisoned in Kenia, he wrote the book דקדוק הפה והאוזן: ספר לימוד לדובר עברית, which he wrote while instructing fellow prisoners in Hebrew grammar. The book was later used in Hebrew grammar instruction in Israel, and was re-published a number of times, most recently in in 2016.
Uzzi, a prominent and prolific Hebrew linguist, received his PhD in Hebrew Linguistics in 1964 from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he taught until 1987. He then joined the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, where he served as professor of natural languages computing in The Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science. In 1979 he was elected member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language. A standard for romanization of Hebrew that he had developed, ISO 259-3, which grew out of his research on a phonemic Hebrew script, was adopted by the International Organization for Standardization.
A political and social activist, Uzzi was a member of the Canaanite movement, founder of the League Against Religious Coercion, and member of the "I am Israeli" movement.
His colleague, Professor Irad Yavneh, on the occasion of the 2016 publication of דקדוק הפה והאוזן, described Uzzi in the following words (https://www.cs.technion.ac.il/news/2022/1341/): “Uzi, it has to be said, is a man of contrasts... He is a secretive man who never loses a drop and is also like a spring that grows stronger. He is firm in his opinions but will never impose them on anyone. He is strong and gentle, a scientist and a revolutionary, a thinker and a poet… he is definitely one of the giants of the generation before us, of whom there are few like him - too few."
Uzzi donated his body to science. A ceremony honoring him was held on November 6 at the Tel Regev Cemetery.
The NAPH family sends its deepest condolences to Professor Michal Ornan-Ephratt and to the extended family.
יהי זכרו ברוך.
Nancy Ezer, Z”L
(Message sent to our membership on February 3, 2022, following the passing of Nancy Ezer on January 31, 2022)
חברים,
אני כותבת, בצער רב, לחלוק איתכם את הידיעה על פטירתה של חברתנו היקרה ננסי עזר, שהלכה לעולמה בניו יורק בראשית השבוע.
ננסי נולדה בעיראק ועלתה ארצה ב-1951. לאחר לימודי התואר הראשון באוניברסיטת תל אביב, השלימה תארים מתקדמים באוניברסיטת קליפורניה בלוס אנג'לס (דוקטור לפילוסופיה ב-1987), ובה פיתחה קריירה מסועפת כחוקרת, מבקרת ספרות, ומרצה בכירה בתחומי הלשון והספרות העברית. מחקריה עסקו בסופרים כא.ב. יהושע, יעקב שבתאי, חיים באר, יצחק בן נר, יהושע קנז, דוד גרוסמן, יובל שמעוני, רינה לי, לאה עיני, אשכול נבו, ואחרים, ובהם העלתה קווים למרכיבי זהות, אידיאולוגיה, היסטוריוגרפיה ופוליטיקה בפרוזה העברית.
בשנות האלפיים פיתחה ננסי ספר אלקטרוני אינטראקטיבי להוראת הלשון העברית הנתמך בקבצי קול, ואותם העמידה, בהסכמת האוניברסיטה, לרשותם של מוסדות ברחבי ארצות הברית. לב חקק, עמיתה של ננסי ב- UCLA ועורך הדור, השנתון העברי של אמריקה, זוכר את אותה כמי ש"הצטיינה בעדינותה, בחריצותה, באהבתה להוראה ולכתיבה.” “היא הייתה עמיתה למופת." כותב הוא. "אהבתה ללשון העברית ולסטודנטים הייתה עצומה. אני זוכר אותה בשעות הקבלה הרבות שלה, תמיד מוקפת סטודנטים בהם החדירה את האהבה ללשון העברית."
במשך השנים שירתה ננסי במסירות כחברה בוועדת המשנה לענייני ספרות עברית של ועידות נא"ף, בוועדת המערכת של Hebrew Higher Education, ומאז 2007 כעורכת מדור סקירת הספרים של העיתון. עורכת העיתון, ניצה קרון, כותבת: "היא עבדה ללא לאות, גם כאשר מדור הסקירות של Hebrew Studies עבר לרשותו של Hebrew Higher Education והתרחב באופן ניכר. תמיד אפשר היה לסמוך עליה שלא תניח עד שיימצא סוקר לספר חדש שיצא, וזאת תודות לרשת ההכרויות האקדמית המסועפת שהקימה ונחישותה למלא את תפקידה בכתב העת על הצד היותר טוב. גם בחילופי המיילים המקצועיים בינינו ניתן היה לחוש באישיותה החמה והעדינה. היא תחסר לי מאוד כקולגה, כשותפה לעשייה וכאדם."
אכן, ננסי תחסר לנו מאוד. אנו שולחים את תנחומינו לבני משפחתה, לחבריה, ולתלמידיה. יהי זכרה ברוך, ויהי פועלה למופת לנו ולבאים אחרינו.
Rina Donchin, Z''L
Our friend and colleague Rina Donchin passed away on July 4, 2021 and was laid to rest in Tampa, Florida.
Born in Tel Aviv in 1935, Rina taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, where she oversaw the teaching of Modern Hebrew, and later served as a professor of Hebrew in the Department of World Languages at the University of South Florida. One of the founding members of NAPH, Rina brought to the NAPH annual meeting in Chicago in 1985 the idea of publishing a bulletin that would focus on methodology and promote innovative ideas and approaches to teaching. In 1986, the bulletin which was first called Kol Hamorim, started appearing under the name Bulletin of Higher Education. In her 2013 reflection on the history of the bulletin (Hebrew Higher Education 15), Edna Amir Coffin attributes to Rina both the founding of the bulletin and the expansion of its content to encompass the interests of researchers and teaching-material developers as well as those of Hebrew instructors. Rina edited the bulletin until 1997.
Rina was an active member of Congregation Kol Ami in Tampa and a long-time volunteer with the Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival.
May her memory be of blessing.
Emanuel Donchin, Z''L
(October 2018)
We are sad to announce that Professor Emanuel Donchin, Z''L, of the University of Southern Florida, passed away on October 10. Emanuel, a professor of psychology and pioneer in the field of brain electrophysiology, was the husband of Rina Donchin, longtime NAPH member and founding Editor of the Bulletin of Hebrew Higher Education (the precursor of our pedagogy journal Hebrew Higher Education). Emanuel was instrumental in helping Rina publish the journal; with Rina, he attended many of our conferences and will be fondly remembered as a technology maven always happy to lend a hand, and a lively presence in our discussions.
We express our deepest condolences to the Donchin family.
Ayala Dvoretzky Z"L
The Modern Hebrew Program and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University announce with great sadness the passing of Ayala Dvoretzky, a beloved teacher, colleague and friend. Ms. Dvoretzky was the Coordinator of the Modern Hebrew Program at Yale University until her retirement in 2016. She has taught Hebrew at Yale for thirty-one years and was the recipient of the 1993 Yale College Excellence in Teaching Prize.
Since her arrival at Yale in 1985, she has developed and taught a variety of courses, including the entire sequence of elementary to advanced Modern Hebrew. In response to the needs of the developing Hebrew Program, she has created courses in Israeli literature, film, culture, gender and identity. She has also been extensively involved in teaching Directed Reading courses.
She was a pioneer in using popular music as a pedagogical tool for in-class cultural exposure, and the incorporation of media and film in language instruction.
Ms. Dvoretzky was an active member of the Yale community and contributed regularly to pedagogical events on campus, as well as community-wide activities. She was a long time member and great supporter of NAPH and regularly attended and participated in the annual conference and other professional meetings.
Her funeral service was held on Monday, January 8 at King David Memorial Gardens, 7482 Lee Hwy, Falls Church, VA.
Condolences can be sent to:
Dr. Israel Dvoretzky
39 Gate Way Hamden CT 06518
Donations may be made to support a student prize in Ayala’s honor to Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale. Please write "The Ayala Dvoretzky Memorial Fund" in the memo line, or in the comment field for online donations.
Our deepest condolences to the Dvoretzky family.
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2018/01/22/hebrew-lecture-dies-at-72/
Yael Levi-Hazan Z"L
The NAPH family is saddened to hear about the untimely death of our member Yael Levi-Hazan and extend our sincere condolences to her loving family and many colleagues and students at Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
Prof. Chaim Cohen Z"L
It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of our esteemed member, Prof. Chaim Cohen of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Prof. Cohen, a world-renowned biblical linguist, was a valued member of NAPH for many years and the chair of NAPH Bible committee for the past two years. He will be sorely missed.
Prof. Alan Mintz Z"L
We are saddened by the sudden passing of our esteemed colleague, Prof. Alan Mintz. We wish to extend our deepest condolences to his family. He will be sorely missed.