Gurion Hyman
Encyclopedia
Gurion Joseph Hyman – Canadian Jewish Anthropologist, Linguist, Pharmacist, Composer, Artist, and Translator. Primary contributions have been (a) liturgical compositions for the Passover Haggadah and Sabbath prayer service, (b) translations into English as well as the setting to music of several internationally acclaimed Yiddish poets, (c) an (ongoing) project to write an etymological dictionary of Yiddish, and (d) proprietor of the second branch of Hyman's Book and Art Shoppe
.
, Ontario
, Canada
, and lived above his parents’ bookstore on Spadina Avenue
, Hyman's Book and Art Shoppe
, until marrying Ruth Alice Warner in 1952. The son of prominent Jewish community activists, Ben Zion Hyman
and Fannie Konstantynowski (a descendant of Rabbi Shabbatai ha-Kohen
), Gurion Hyman graduated from the Pharmacy
program at the University of Toronto
in 1946. During his early years, Gurion Hyman was exposed to multiple languages and developed fluency or significant proficiency in English, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and Polish. At the same time, he received formal piano training.
in the Cedarvale/Forest Hill area of Toronto.
In 1962, the couple sold the bookstore and Hyman returned to the University of Toronto to pursue a career in Linguistic
Anthropology
. His primary area of scholarship was the reconstruction of Proto-Semitic, with particular emphasis on demonstrating the relationship between Hebrew and Aramaic using Noam Chomsky
's deep structures theory.
In 1973, Hyman resumed his career as a dispensing pharmacist, working until 1990 at The Sheppard Pharmacy (owner: Sidney Brown). Sheppard Pharmacy was located at Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue in Toronto's North York borough, and through most of the 1980s had the largest volume of senior citizen prescriptions in Canada. Hyman's role was to facilitate communication with the large and linguistically diverse client base of this pharmacy.
During this entire period, Hyman pursued an avocation
as a composer, primarily of liturgical music, and by 1975 had completed his major work, a complete musical score for the Haggadah of Pesach
(Passover), which was eventually published in 1999. A second major liturgical work based on the Sabbath prayer service is due for publication in 2009.
In the 1990s, Hyman began working on compositions (and in some cases translations) of the poetry of Yiddish and Hebrew writers. Prominent among those has been Peretz Miransky, Simche Simchovitch, Avraham Sutskever, and Natan Alterman. Two collections have been published to date (see below), and the music has been featured in a number of venues, primarily performed by the Toronto-based Klezmer
/Yiddish band De Shpeelers. More recently, Hyman has begun working with Spanish poetry and translating Yiddish poetry to Spanish. He has also completed several translations of Sherlock Holmes into Yiddish.
Roots and cognates, where applicable (in planning is a similar section for Proto-Semitic roots) (c) A definitional section of Yiddish-English correspondence.
Presently completed are words starting with 'aleph-bais', also prelimina ry work on words starting with 'aleph-yod', as well as some with 'shin-aleph'.
Hyman, Gurion. "Fruit from a Songtree." Toronto: 1990. Music based on the poems of Peretz Miransky (selected from the collections "Shures Shire," "Nit Derzogt," and "Canadish").
Hyman, Gurion. "Sing them to Your Children: New Melodies for the Passover Hagaddah and related texts." Toronto: 1999.
Hyman, Gurion. Memorial to Peretz Miransky. August, 1993. http://ftp.wayne.edu/ibiblio-academic/languages/yiddish/mendele/vol3.072
Hyman, Gurion. Semantics of O'GUL & HOIL. Mendele: August, 1993. http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele/vol3.075
Hyman's Book and Art Shoppe
Hyman's Book and Art Shoppe, 1926 - 1971, was widely known in the Jewish community as Hyman's Bookstore. It was an important part of the early history of Spadina Avenue in Toronto, as well as the early Jewish community of Toronto. The store was founded in 1926 by Ben Zion Hyman and his wife Fannie...
.
Early life
Gurion Joseph Hyman was born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and lived above his parents’ bookstore on Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods....
, Hyman's Book and Art Shoppe
Hyman's Book and Art Shoppe
Hyman's Book and Art Shoppe, 1926 - 1971, was widely known in the Jewish community as Hyman's Bookstore. It was an important part of the early history of Spadina Avenue in Toronto, as well as the early Jewish community of Toronto. The store was founded in 1926 by Ben Zion Hyman and his wife Fannie...
, until marrying Ruth Alice Warner in 1952. The son of prominent Jewish community activists, Ben Zion Hyman
Ben Zion Hyman
Ben Zion Hyman was a Canadian Jewish bookseller. Originally from Mazyr in what is now Belarus, Hyman graduated from the Odessa Polytechnical Institute. After coming to Canada , he graduated in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto...
and Fannie Konstantynowski (a descendant of Rabbi Shabbatai ha-Kohen
Shabbatai ha-Kohen
Shabbatai ben Meir ha-Kohen was a noted 17th Century talmudist and halakhist. He became known as the Shakh, which is an abbreviation of his most important work, Siftei Kohen , and his rulings were considered authoritative by later halakhists.- Biography :Shabbatai ha-Kohen was born either in ...
), Gurion Hyman graduated from the Pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
program at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
in 1946. During his early years, Gurion Hyman was exposed to multiple languages and developed fluency or significant proficiency in English, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and Polish. At the same time, he received formal piano training.
Career highlights
After graduating in Pharmacy, Hyman worked for a time as a dispensing pharmacist, most notably at Halpren Drugs on Spadina Avenue in Toronto. In 1952, Hyman, along with his wife, Ruth, opened a branch of the family bookstore business on Eglinton AvenueEglinton Avenue
Eglinton Avenue, originally known as the Richview Sideroad within Etobicoke, is an east-west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Within Toronto, Eglinton Avenue is the only road which crosses through all six former boroughs...
in the Cedarvale/Forest Hill area of Toronto.
In 1962, the couple sold the bookstore and Hyman returned to the University of Toronto to pursue a career in Linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
. His primary area of scholarship was the reconstruction of Proto-Semitic, with particular emphasis on demonstrating the relationship between Hebrew and Aramaic using Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
's deep structures theory.
In 1973, Hyman resumed his career as a dispensing pharmacist, working until 1990 at The Sheppard Pharmacy (owner: Sidney Brown). Sheppard Pharmacy was located at Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue in Toronto's North York borough, and through most of the 1980s had the largest volume of senior citizen prescriptions in Canada. Hyman's role was to facilitate communication with the large and linguistically diverse client base of this pharmacy.
During this entire period, Hyman pursued an avocation
Avocation
An avocation is an activity that one engages in as a hobby outside one's main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside of their workplaces were their true passions in life...
as a composer, primarily of liturgical music, and by 1975 had completed his major work, a complete musical score for the Haggadah of Pesach
Haggadah of Pesach
The Haggadah is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. Reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the Scriptural commandment to each Jew to "tell your son" of the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus in the Torah...
(Passover), which was eventually published in 1999. A second major liturgical work based on the Sabbath prayer service is due for publication in 2009.
In the 1990s, Hyman began working on compositions (and in some cases translations) of the poetry of Yiddish and Hebrew writers. Prominent among those has been Peretz Miransky, Simche Simchovitch, Avraham Sutskever, and Natan Alterman. Two collections have been published to date (see below), and the music has been featured in a number of venues, primarily performed by the Toronto-based Klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
/Yiddish band De Shpeelers. More recently, Hyman has begun working with Spanish poetry and translating Yiddish poetry to Spanish. He has also completed several translations of Sherlock Holmes into Yiddish.
Etymological Dictionary of Yiddish
An ongoing project is to produce an Etymological Dictionary of the Yiddish Language using multiple resources to 'best estimate' origin of word (Germanic, Semitic, Slavic, other). An intensive study of the 'word' in the original language is made. After compiling 'all' information available, the material is separated into three sections (a) Dictionary Entry with evolutionary path (b) Cross-referenced to Dictionary of Indo-EuropeanIndo-European
Indo-European may refer to:* Indo-European languages** Aryan race, a 19th century and early 20th century term for those peoples who are the native speakers of Indo-European languages...
Roots and cognates, where applicable (in planning is a similar section for Proto-Semitic roots) (c) A definitional section of Yiddish-English correspondence.
Presently completed are words starting with 'aleph-bais', also prelimina ry work on words starting with 'aleph-yod', as well as some with 'shin-aleph'.
Samples of Work
Hyman, Gurion. "Songs of Joy and Consolation." Toronto: 1988. Music and translation based on the poetry of Simcha Simchovitch.Hyman, Gurion. "Fruit from a Songtree." Toronto: 1990. Music based on the poems of Peretz Miransky (selected from the collections "Shures Shire," "Nit Derzogt," and "Canadish").
Hyman, Gurion. "Sing them to Your Children: New Melodies for the Passover Hagaddah and related texts." Toronto: 1999.
Hyman, Gurion. Memorial to Peretz Miransky. August, 1993. http://ftp.wayne.edu/ibiblio-academic/languages/yiddish/mendele/vol3.072
Hyman, Gurion. Semantics of O'GUL & HOIL. Mendele: August, 1993. http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele/vol3.075