“Fibonacci Quarterly”, an American magazine devoted to mathematics features listed on its front page the name of Dov Yarden as one of its principal contributors
Yarden is a noted Israeli mathematician. for thirteen years (1946-1959) he edited a mathematical quarterly in Israel. He is also the author of three original treatises: Recurring Sequences (1958); Tetrahidron 63) and Construction with the Bi-Ruler and Double Ruler (1964).
The reticent and soft spoken scholar however, is primarily known as a fine Hebrew lexicographer and a brilliant student and interpreter of medieval Hebrew poetry.
Indeed the Hebrew language and Hebrew literature are his first love. Mathematics, in which field he also has so ably distinguished himself, ranks second.
Born in White Russia, Dov spoke Hebrew at the age of seven. He studied at the Yeshivas of Kamenitz and Kobrin and from 1929 to 1934 attended the Takhmoni Rabbinical Seminary in Warsaw.
In 1936 he settled in Palestine. At the Hebrew University in Jerusalem he studied Hebrew language and literature, Bible and mathematics. He pursued his studies under most adverse financial circumstance of many were the days when he literally starved.
After the completion of his studies, Yarden was associated with a variety of scholarly projects. He helped Professor Tur Sinai complete and prepare for print the remaining volumes of Ben Yehuda’s great dictionary of the Hebrew language. He was also engaged in research for the Historical Dictionary of Hebrew which is now being prepared by the Hebrew Language Academy and helped in the compilation of other dictionaries and handbooks.
He contributed to scholarly journals and in 1954 published his first book, Midrash Lashon which deals with Hebrew phrases and expressions.
Three years later there appeared his much praised edition of the poetry of Immanuel of Rome.
Immanuel ben Solomon of Rome was one of the great Hebrew poets of the Middle Ages. In addition to poetry a large part of which he collected his his Mahberet, he also wrote commentaries on many books of the Bible. Despite Rabbi Yosef Karo’s objection to Immanuel’s poetry because it included erotic stories, the Mahbarot were widely read and copied. Immanuel’s language is a blend of Biblical, Talmudic and medieval Hebrew and his poetry abounds in brilliant juxtapositions of Biblical an Talmudic quotes.
In his admirable edition of the Mahberot, Yarden has provided the reader with explanations, has traced all phrases and expressions to their source and has succeeded in shedding new light on obscure passages and verses.
Soon after completing his work on Immanuel, Yarden threw himself into another major project: to prepare a new edition of the poems of Samuel HaNagid.
Samuel HaNagid is probably one of the most colorful personalities in Jewish history. He was a statesman, community leader and scholar. He served as Vizier to the Berber Kings of Malaga, administered their territories and led their armies into battle. He was also the author of a work on the Talmud, a Hebrew grammarian, and the first Hebrew poet on Spanish soil. He used his high position and riches to ameliorate the position of fellow-Jews in many lands and to advance Jewish learning.
In his poems, he sings praises to the L-rd, pour forth his love for Zion, tells of his life and family, of his work at court and of his battles in war.
During the last hundred years, several editions of Samuel’s poetry were published. Yarden’s which appeared last year is the most elaborate. In this work, too, he has provide the reader with explanations and source references and was able to clarify passages misunderstood heretofore. Yarden contends that scholars failed to understand some of Samuel’s verse, because the poet had attached to many a work a meaning different from that generally accepted. It was therefore one of Yarden’s major talks in preparing the edition, to establish Samuel’s ‘vocabulary’
More recently Yarden published Sefune Shira , a collection of medieval poems he found in manuscripts.
Hebrew is Yarden’s first love in more than one sense. He is a zealous guardian of the purity and traditional character of the language. He cautions against the “Hebrew of the street” which is not always grammatically correct and many times deviates from the traditional patters of the language. He enjoin people to take care in accentuating properly each word. His own Hebrew is of course all elegance and without blemish. To hear him talk in private, is tantamount to listening to a lecture in the correct use of the language.
The Jewish Press, Friday October 20,1967