SHLOYME EPSHTEYN

SHLOYME EPSHTEYN (b. October 2, 1866)

            He was born in Ponevezh (Panevėžys), Lithuania, into a rabbinical family.  He studied in yeshivas and secular subject matter on his own.  He lived in Warsaw 1881-1882.  He was a private Hebrew teacher.  In 1884 he made aliya to the land of Israel.  He had a small shop in Jerusalem in which he sold religious texts and newspapers.  This influenced him toward writing, initially in Hebrew and later also in Yiddish.  In 1887 he debuted in print in Hatsfira (The siren) in Warsaw with a reportage piece about Lag Baomer in Jerusalem.  Later, using the pen name Sh”Ep, he published in: Hamelits (The advocate) in Odessa; and Hatoran (The duty officer) in New York.  In Yiddish he published articles in Der erets-yisroel yud (The land of Israel Jew) in Jerusalem, which appeared as a supplement to Hatsvi (The gazelle) (May-July 18, 1890).  Over the years 1893-1898, he lived in New York.  He was a community leader and worked on behalf of Israel in Brooklyn.  He published the Erets-yisroel-karte (Land of Israel map) and published articles, under the pen name Sh”Ep, in: Idishe gazetn (Jewish gazette), Yidishes tageblat (Jewish daily newspaper), among others, in New York.  Further information remains unknown.

Sources: Ben-Tsien Ayzenshtadt, Dor rabanav vesofrav (A generations of rabbis and authors) (New York, 1905), p. 55; A. R. Malachi, in Tsukunft (New York) (July 1928); Malachi, in Fraye arbeter-shtime (New York) (April 25, 1966); M. Unger, in Zamlbukh lekoved dem tsveyhundert un fuftsikstn yoyvl fun der yidisher prese, 1686-1936 (Anthology in honor of the 250^th jubilee of the Yiddish press, 1686-1936), ed. Dr. Y. Shatski (New York, 1937), pp. 136-37.

Khayim Leyb Fuks