ADAR, ZVI

ADAR, ZVI (1917–1991), Israel educator. Adar was born in Petaḥ Tikvah and became a teacher at the Bet ha-Kerem teachers' seminary in Jerusalem (1938–53). He subsequently taught at the School of Education at the Hebrew University where he became a professor. He interested himself in the speculative aspects involved with Jewish identity in the past and its meaning in the present, transmitting his thoughts to the younger generation through the medium of education. He wrote extensively, his most important work being Ha-Arakhim ha-Ḥinnukhiyyim shel ha-Tanakh (1954; Humanistic Values in the Bible, 1968). In this work Adar attempted to use literary analysis to reveal the educational values in the biblical narrative. As the Bible was one of the main subjects of instruction in the Israel educational system Adar tried to show how the Bible could be used as a means for character education. He also wrote The Book of Genesis: An Introduction to the Biblical Word (1990). He was one of the editors of the Enẓiklopedyah Ḥinnukhit (1961–69). He also wrote Ha-Mikẓo ot ha-Humanistim ba-Ḥinnukh ha-Tikhon (1969), and on Jewish education in Israel and the U.S. in his book Ha-Ḥinnukh ha-Yehudi be-Yisrael u-ve-Arẓot ha-Berit (1970; Jewish Education in Israel and the United States, 1977). In 1969 he was appointed dean of the faculty of humanities at the Hebrew University.