Naftoli Carlebach (1916–2005) was an Orthodox Jewish

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

 rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 and accountant.

Early life

Carlebach was born in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 to Rabbi Moshe Carlebach, a son of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, the av beit din (head of the rabbinical court) of Lübeck

Lübeck

The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...

, Germany. His maternal grandfather was Rabbi Yosef Cohen, the av beit din of Eschwege

Eschwege

Eschwege , the district seat of the Werra-Meißner-Kreis, is a town in northeastern Hesse, Germany.- Location :The town lies on a broad plain tract of the river Werra at the foot of the Leuchtberg northwest of the Schlierbachswald and east of the Hoher Meißner...

, Germany.
In 1933, at age 16, his parents sent him to study Torah

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

 at the Telz Yeshiva in Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

, where he forged a relationship with Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch, brother of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch

Avraham Yitzchak Bloch

Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch was the Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of the Telz Yeshiva in Lithuania, and one of the greatest pre-Holocaust Rabbinic figures....

. Subsequently, he transferred to Yeshivas Mir

Mir yeshiva (Poland)

The Mir yeshiva , commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, was a Haredi yeshiva located in the town of Mir, Russian Empire...

, where he developed a special connection to Rabbi Yeruchom Levovitz, the mashgiach

Mashgiach ruchani

Mashgiach ruchani or mashgiach for short, means a spiritual supervisor or guide. It is a title which usually refers to a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.The position of mashgiach ruchani arose with the...

 there, prior to the latter's death.

Move to America

In 1938, Carlebach was ordained as a rabbi by the heads of the Telz and Mir yeshivas. He also received rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Simcha Zelig, the posek

Posek

Posek is the term in Jewish law for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive or in those situations where no halakhic precedent exists....

 of Brest, Belarus

Brest, Belarus

Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...

. In the year preceding World War II, he narrowly escaped the horrors of the Holocaust

The Holocaust

The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...

 through the aid of Rabbi Naftoli Neuberger

Herman N. Neuberger

Hermann Naftali Neuberger was an Orthodox rabbi and leader. He was the brother of Albert Neuberger CBE FRS FRCP.- Younger years :...

, the principal of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, who sent him an entry visa. There Carlebach wed his wife, Gittel Gutman, who had also come from Germany. Following his wedding, Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...

 of Ner Israel, encouraged Rabbi Carlebach to accept the rabbinate at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

Chambersburg is a borough in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is miles north of Maryland and the Mason-Dixon line and southwest of Harrisburg in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley. Chambersburg is the county seat of Franklin County...

.

Two years later, they moved to Detroit, where he worked in Jewish education, teaching at the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah

Yeshiva Beth Yehudah

Yeshiva Beth Yehudah is a Jewish day school consisting of two campuses at Southfield and Oak Park, Michigan, which serves boys and girls from pre-kindergarten to grade 12 . The school's curriculum is a blend of traditional and progressive, secular studies and religious studies, in Hebrew and...

 and in the rabbinate. He was instrumental in bringing out key rabbinic personnel to Detroit, such as Rabbi Leib Bakst. He once had the privilege of hosting Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, rosh yeshivas Mir in Poland and Jerusalem

Mir yeshiva (Jerusalem)

The Mir yeshiva , known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, is an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. With 6,000 students, it is the largest yeshiva in Israel. Many of the students are from the United States and Canada. It is also believed to be the largest yeshiva in the world...

. Here, Carlebach studied with his childhood friend Rabbi Leib Bakst, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Detroit. Other study partners included the late Rabbi Simcha Wasserman

Simcha Wasserman

Simcha Wasserman served as Dean of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah in Detroit in the 1940s, founded Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon in California in the 1950s, and later founded Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon in Jerusalem. He was the son of Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, and was married to Rachel Fiege , the daughter of Meyer Abovitz...

, the son of Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman

Elchonon Wasserman

Elchonon Wasserman was a prominent rabbi and rosh yeshiva in pre-World War II Europe. He was one of the Chofetz Chaim's closest disciples and a noted Torah scholar.-Biography:...

. Finally, Rabbi Carlebach forfeited his positions in Detroit in deference to his older uncle and instead worked as an accountant in Boro Park

Borough Park, Brooklyn

Borough Park , is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City in the United States....

, Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, establishing the "Mir Minyan" there (located in Yeshivas Be'er Shmuel on 12th Ave.).

He made aliyah

Aliyah

Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...

 to Israel in 1979 and spent time learning Torah in Yeshivas Mir, Yeshivas Kamenitz and near his home until his death. Rabbi Aryeh Finkel

Aryeh Finkel

Aryeh Finkel is a Haredi rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Brachfeld branch of the Mir yeshiva. Before assuming his post at the new yeshiva branch in 2005, he served as the mashgiach at the Mir in Jerusalem for many decades.-Biography:...

, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir in Brachfeld

Modi'in Illit

Modi'in Illit is a Haredi Israeli settlement and a city in the West Bank, situated midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Modi'in Illit was granted city status by the Israeli government in 2008. It is located six kilometres northeast of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut and is often referred to as Kiryat...

, Rabbi Yitzchok Ezrachi

Yitzchok Ezrachi

Rabbi Yitzchok Ezrachi is a Rosh Yeshiva at the Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Rabbi Ezrachi is a son-in-law of Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz, also a former Rosh Yeshiva in Mir...

, a son-in-law of Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz, and others eulogized.

Carlebach was survived by his wife; his sons Rabbi Moshe Carlebach of Jerusalem (father of the author of the critically acclaimed "Chavatzeles HaSharon"), Rabbi Doniel Yeruchom of Brooklyn, Rabbi Binyomin Carlebach of Jerusalem (a rosh yeshiva of Mir there and son-in-law of Rabbi Binyomin Beinush Finkel

Binyomin Beinush Finkel

Rabbi Binyomin Beinush Finkel, , was the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir in Jerusalem.He was born in Mir, Belarus, where his father Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel was the rosh yeshiva of the Mir yeshiva. Rabbi Finkel acquired most of his Torah knowledge during his studies at the yeshiva...

), and Rabbi Shlomo Ze'ev Carlebach; his daughter, the wife of Rabbi Gedaliah Finkel

Gedaliah Finkel

Rabbi Gedaliah Finkel is a lecturer in Yeshivas Mir in Jerusalem, Israel.Rabbi Finkel, the younger brother of Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, was born and raised in Chicago and as a youngster learned in Skokie yeshiva...

 of Jerusalem; grandsons and great- grandsons. One grandson, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Carlebach, authored a critical analysis of the Vilna Gaon

Vilna Gaon

Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman Kramer, known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna and simply by his Hebrew acronym Gra or Elijah Ben Solomon, , was a Talmudist, halachist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of non-hasidic Jewry of the past few centuries...

's mathematical work.