Shimon Sharvit

Shimon Sharvit was born in 1939 in Tafilalt

Sharvit was born in 1939 in the Tafilalt region of Morocco to Eliyahu and Aliza Sharvit. In 1948 he immigrated to Israel with his parents and seven siblings, and the family settled in Ramla. His parents wanted him to become a religious functionary, but he wished to be a teacher and moved to the Netiv Meir Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

He then trained at a teachers' seminar of the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem and earned a Qualified Teacher diploma. During his army service in Nahal he guided youth at Bnei Akiva in Kfar Hasidim and taught at the religious youth village there. He married Hanna Amoyal, and they have 3 children.

He began studying Hebrew, Semitic languages and Bible at Bar-Ilan University in 1963. A scholarship took him to England, where he studied general linguistics at the University of London and examined manuscripts in British libraries. After his doctorate he did postdoctoral work in Boston, including studies at Harvard University.

He became a full professor at Bar-Ilan in 1993 and later retired as professor emeritus. He also taught at Beit Berl College, where he headed the Hebrew department, and lectured as a guest at Tel Aviv University, Brandeis University and colleges in Boston and London. His research covers the language of the sages, tractate Avot, prayer language and medieval vocalization systems.

He is a full member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language and serves as rector of Ashkelon Academic College. In 2011 colleagues and students published a jubilee volume in his honor.