Meir Zlotowitz

Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz (13 July 1943 – 24 June 2017) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, author and founder of ArtScroll Publications.

Early life A native of Brooklyn, Meir attended Yeshivas Rabbi Jacob Joseph (RJJ) on the Lower East Side of New York. He went on to attend Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem and was a student of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, became director of a high-end graphics studio in New York. The firm, named ArtScroll Studios, invitations, awards and ketubahs.

In late 1975, he wrote an English translation and commentary on the Book of Esther in memory of a young married friend, a rebbe in Yeshiva Torah Emes who died childless, and asked Scherman to write the introduction. The manuscript was completed in honor of the shloshim (the 30-day commemoration of a death) and "was published in February 1976, just in time to market it for Purim that year." With the encouragement of Rabbi Moses Feinstein, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky and other Rabbis considered Gedolei Yisrael or eminent rabbis, the two continued producing commentaries, beginning with a translation and commentary on the rest of the Five Megillot (Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations and Ruth), and went on to publish translations and commentaries on the Torah, Prophets, Talmud, Passover Haggadah, siddurs and machzors. By 1990 ArtScroll had produced more than 700 books, including novels, history books, children's books and secular textbooks, ArtScroll's fundraising arm.

Family With his first wife, Miriam, Zlotowitz had two daughters and one son; Estie Dicker, Mrs. Faigie Perlowitz, and Gedalia. With his second wife, Rochel Zlotowitz, Zlotowitz had three sons and two daughters; Ira, Boruch, Chaim, Mrs. Devorah Morgenstern, and Mrs. Tzivi Munk.

Ira is founder and president of Eastern Union Funding, a commercial real estate mortgage brokerage in New York City.

Chaim is a real estate attorney based in New York.

His older brother Bernard (1925–2015) was a leading rabbi in the Reform Jewish movement in the US and had originally attended Yeshiva Torah Vodaas. Their father, Aron Zlotowitz, led Congregation Etz Chaim, a Brooklyn congregation, for 60 years.

Selected bibliography Until the death of Meir, Zlotowitz and Scherman were the general editors of ArtScroll's Talmud, Chumash, Tanakh, Siddur and Machzor series. They co-authored Megillas Esther: Illustrated Youth Edition (1988), a pocket-size Mincha/Maariv prayerbook (1991), and Selichos: First Night (1992). Esther: The Megillah: A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources, 1976 Eichah (Lamentations): A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources, 1976 Koheles (Ecclesiastes): A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources, 1976 Ruth: A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources, 1976 Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs): A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources, 1976 Yonah (Jonah): A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic sources, 1978 Chanukah: Its history, observance and significance (co-author: Rabbi Hersh Goldwurm), 1981 Succos: Its significance, laws and prayers: A presentation anthologized from Talmudic and Midrashic sources, 1982 Shema Yisrael: A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources, 1982 Pirkei Avos, 1984 Bereishis: A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources (2-volume set), 1986

A biography, authored by Rabbi Yisroel Besser (Montreal), was written by the time of the first Yartzeit.

Gedaliah Zlotowitz

Rabbi Gedaliah Zlotowitz is Rabbi Meir's oldest son and successor.

Arscroll's Titles by Rabbi Gedaliah Zlotowitz had nine entries as of August 2024.