Pinkhos Churgin (Hebrew: פנחס חורגין; 1894–1957) was an Israeli scholar, educator, and religious Zionist leader who served as the first President of Bar-Ilan University.
Biography
Churgin was born in Pohost, Belorussia (a shtetl near Pinsk), and immigrated with his parents to Palestine in 1907, settling in Jerusalem. In 1910 he was sent to study at the Volozhin Yeshiva in Lithuania, returning to Palestine in 1912. During World War I, he went to the United States in 1915, where he taught Hebrew. He studied as an undergraduate at Clark College and later earned a Ph.D. in Semitics at Yale University under the renowned scholar Charles C. Torrey. His 1927 dissertation, Targum Jonathan to the Prophets, became a classic work and was reprinted in the 1980s.
Academic and Leadership Career
Churgin was instrumental in the development of Yeshiva University in New York City. He began teaching at its Teachers' Institute in 1920 and was appointed dean of the Institute in 1924, a position he held for over three decades. In 1949, he was named president of the Mizrachi Organization of America. He moved to Israel in 1955 to serve as the first President of Bar-Ilan University, a role he held until his death in 1957. He was succeeded by Joseph H. Lookstein.
Legacy
Churgin is remembered as a foundational figure in integrating traditional Jewish scholarship with modern academic study. His work on the Targumim (Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible) remains influential. A memorial chair in Jewish history at Yeshiva University bears his name.
