Born in 1928 in New York, New York, Bernard Bernstein is an expert metalsmith specializing in the design and creation of Jewish ceremonial objects known as Judaica. Bernstein studied industrial education, receiving both a BSEd (1957) and MSEd (1960) from the City College of New York before pursuing his MFA in silversmithing and jewelry at the Rochester Institute of Technology (1963). While completing his MFA, Bernstein studied under celebrated silversmith Ludwig Wolpert at the Jewish Museum in New York. Wolpert is often cited as the first silversmith to apply a modernist aesthetic to the fabrication of Judaica, and this innovation was carried on by Bernstein. After completing his MFA, Bernstein returned to CCNY to teach design, woodworking, and metalsmithing until his retirement in 1986. While teaching at CCNY, Bernstein completed a doctorate in education from New York University (1971). After retiring, he continued to teach Judaica silversmithing at the 92nd Street Y in New York. His work has been featured in a number of exhibitions and publications focused on Judaica and is represented within synagogue and museum collections, including the Brooklyn Museum in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bernard Bernstein was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council in 2009.