About Nosson Scherman
Born 1935. Nosson Scherman is an American rabbi, known for ArtScroll.
Rabbi Nosson Scherman (, born 1935, Newark, New Jersey) is an American Haredi rabbi best known as the general editor of ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications. He is widely considered to be the father of modern-day English Torah literature.
Early life Scherman was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, where his parents ran a small grocery store. Rabbi Gordon influenced many of the 200 boys in his afternoon Talmud Torah to enroll in yeshiva, including young Nosson Scherman, named ArtScroll Studios, of brochures and journals. Zlotowitz wrote an English translation and commentary on the Book of Esther in memory of a friend, and asked Scherman to write the introduction. The book sold out its first edition of 20,000 copies within two months. 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.
In its first 25 years, ArtScroll produced more than 700 books, including novels, history books, children's books and secular textbooks,
Selected bibliography Zlotowitz and Scherman are the general editors of ArtScroll's Talmud, Stone 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). They have also produced a host of titles on which Scherman is author and Zlotowitz is editor.
Scherman contributed translations and commentaries for ArtScroll's Stone Chumash, the ArtScroll Siddurim and Machzorim, and the Stone Tanakh. He served as general editor of the 73-volume translation Schottenstein edition of the Talmud from 1990 until 2005.
Scherman attributes his strong English language skills to the stronger general-studies departments that yeshivas had when he was a student, and his correspondence with two out-of-town high school classmates, Mendel Weinbach and Nisson Wolpin. He has said: "During the summers we used to write letters. Does anyone correspond today? We wrote to each other – that helped. We tried to outdo each other; we were big-shot teenagers. The only way to learn how to write is to write."
He was the editor, beginning in 1970, of Olomeinu and editor/co-author of some Best of Olomeinu reprints.
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Important facts
People in Nosson Scherman's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Nosson Scherman's
Frequently asked questions
Who is Nosson Scherman?
U.S. Orthodox rabbi
When was Nosson Scherman born?
Nosson Scherman was born in 1935 in Newark.
What is Nosson Scherman's occupation?
Nosson Scherman is a rabbi.
What is Nosson Scherman known for?
Nosson Scherman is known for ArtScroll.
What nationality is Nosson Scherman?
Nosson Scherman is American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Nosson Scherman. https://biography.guide/nosson-scherman/
MLA: "Nosson Scherman." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/nosson-scherman/.
Chicago: "Nosson Scherman." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/nosson-scherman/.
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