Shmuel Ehrenfeld
Encyclopedia
Shmuel Ehrenfeld (1891–1980), known as the Mattersdorfer Rav, was a pre-eminent Orthodox
Jewish
rabbi
in pre-war Austria
and a respected Rav and community builder in post-war America. He established Yeshivas Chasan Sofer in New York
and taught thousands of students who went on to become leaders of American Torah Jewry. He also founded the neighborhood of Kiryat Mattersdorf
in Jerusalem, Israel
, where his son, grandson and great-grandchildren are prominent Torah educators. He was the great-great-grandson of the Chasam Sofer
through the Chasam Sofer's daughter Hindel, who married Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Ehrenfeld.
, Austria. His parents were Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, Rav of Mattersdorf, and Rebbetzin Gittel Krauss. His paternal grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld (the Chasan Sofer), was the eldest grandson of the Chasam Sofer.
In addition to founding the Sofer-Ehrenfeld family line, the Chasam Sofer set the precedent for his family members to serve as Rav of the Austrian town of Mattersdorf and head the yeshiva
there. Mattersdorf had a Jewish presence going back to the eleventh century. The Chasam Sofer became Rav of the town in 1798. When he left to become Rav of Pressburg
in 1807, he was succeeded in Mattersdorf by his uncle, Rabbi Bunim Eger (brother of Rabbi Akiva Eger
), and then by his son, Rabbi Shimon Sofer (the Michtav Sofer). When Rabbi Shimon Sofer left to become Rav in Kraków
, the Chasam Sofer's eldest grandson, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld (the Chasan Sofer , became Rav of Mattersdorf. After Rabbi Shmuel's death on 4 August 1883 (1 Av
5643), he was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld (the Maaneh Simcha). When the latter died on 18 July 1926 (7 Av 5686), he was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld.
Young Shmuel was an erudite scholar. He received rabbinic ordination
from Rabbi Meir Arik
and Rabbi Yosef Engel at the age of 19. Two years later, when his father fell ill, Shmuel ran the Mattersdorf yeshiva in his place.
He married his first cousin, Rochel Ehrenfeld, daughter of his uncle, Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Ehrenfeld. They had two sons, Simcha Bunim and Akiva, and five daughters.
rulings were widely respected, and he also served as president of the Siebengemeinden
(Sheva Kehillos, or Seven Communities) of Burgenland
. He also had frequent dealings with government officials. He was instrumental in changing public policy to exempt Jewish students from studying in public schools and to have religious rather than secular teachers teach secular subjects in Torah schools. He also lobbied for Jewish soldiers to be granted leave on Shabbat
and Yom Tov. For his accomplishments, he was awarded a gold medal from the Austrian government.
His leadership of the community ended abruptly in 1938 with the Anschluss
. On Saturday
, 12 March 1938, German soldiers raided the Mattersdorf synagogue
during services
and ripped the prayer shawls
off the worshippers. Commandant Koch warned the Rav that unless all 4,000 Jews in the district left immediately, they would all be killed. After making many efforts to help relocate community members to safer shores, the Rav escaped with his family to America, where he arrived on 13 September 1938.
. The yeshiva later moved to Boro Park
, where it currently enrolls over 400 students in kindergarten through twelfth grade and operates a Head Start Program and rabbinical seminary
. Rabbi Ehrenfeld appointed his new son-in-law, Rabbi Shmuel Binyomin Fisher, as yeshiva administrator in 1942. Another son-in-law, Rabbi Binyomin Paler
, became a maggid shiur
and eventually rosh yeshiva in the yeshiva, until he left to form his own yeshiva in 1965.
Rabbi Ehrenfeld also served as Rav in three Lower East Side synagogues: Anshei Marmarosh, Chevrah Eitz Chaim, and the Stropkover Chevrah, and was active in campaigns to strengthen Shabbat
observance and family purity
.
He was known for his tremendous scholarship and scrupulous honesty. His son, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, recalled that before his future father-in-law visited Rabbi Ehrenfeld to speak about the proposed shidduch
with his daughter, Rabbi Simcha Bunim saw his father remove from his expansive library every volume that had his son's name written inside. The Rav explained that it was customary for visiting Torah scholars to browse through their host's bookshelves, and he did not want to impress his visitor with anything that did not belong to him personally.
During his lifetime, Rabbi Ehrenfeld reprinted all the sefarim written by his grandfather, the Chasan Sofer, as well as the sefarim of his father, the Maaneh Simcha, to which he appended his own commentary. He also authored his own work, Shem Mishmuel.
in northern Jerusalem in memory of the Siebengemeinden
(Seven Communities) of Burgenland
which were destroyed in the Holocaust
, Mattersdorf being one of them. His son, Rabbi Akiva Ehrenfeld, acted as his representative in supervising the construction and sale of apartments, but declined to serve as the new neighborhood's Rav. Instead, Rabbi Akiva became president of the Chasan Sofer Institutions in Israel while Rabbi Akiva's only son, Rabbi Yitzchok Yechiel Ehrenfeld, became Rav of Kiryat Mattersdorf.
Other institutions which Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld founded in the new neighborhood were the main synagogue, Heichal Shmuel, named after his grandfather, and the Neveh Simcha nursing home
, named after his father. The outermost street in the neighborhood is named Maaneh Simcha after his father's Torah work.
Rabbi Ehrenfeld also established a Yeshivas Chasan Sofer school in Petah Tikva
.
, 22 May 1980, after reading Megillas Rus
(the Book of Ruth, which is traditionally read in synagogues on Shavuot morning). His funeral began in Yeshivas Chasan Sofer in Boro Park on 23 May, accompanied by eulogies from some of the great Torah leaders of the generation, including Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky
, the Satmar Rebbe
, and Rabbi Shneur Kotler
. His casket was then flown to London, where his students in England paid their respects, and proceeded to Israel, where he was eulogized by Rabbi Shmuel Wosner
, Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss
, Rabbi Ephraim Fishel Klein, and his grandson, Rabbi Yitzchok Yechiel Ehrenfeld. He was buried on Har HaMenuchot
right next to the grave of the Belzer
Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach
.
His son, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, succeeded him as Mattersdorfer Rav in New York.
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...
Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
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...
in pre-war Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and a respected Rav and community builder in post-war America. He established Yeshivas Chasan Sofer in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and taught thousands of students who went on to become leaders of American Torah Jewry. He also founded the neighborhood of Kiryat Mattersdorf
Kiryat Mattersdorf
Kiryat Mattersdorf is a Haredi neighborbood in Jerusalem, Israel. It is located on the northern edge of the mountain plateau on which central Jerusalem lies. It is named after Mattersburg , a town in Austria with a long Jewish history. It borders Unsdorf and Romema...
in Jerusalem, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, where his son, grandson and great-grandchildren are prominent Torah educators. He was the great-great-grandson of the Chasam Sofer
Moses Sofer
Moses Schreiber, known to his own community and Jewish posterity as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work Chasam Sofer, , , was one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the nineteenth century...
through the Chasam Sofer's daughter Hindel, who married Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Ehrenfeld.
Family background
Shmuel Ehrenfeld was born and raised in MattersdorfMattersburg
Mattersburg is a town in Burgenland, Austria. It is the administrative center of the District of Mattersburg and home to a Bundesliga football team, SV Mattersburg.- Location :...
, Austria. His parents were Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, Rav of Mattersdorf, and Rebbetzin Gittel Krauss. His paternal grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld (the Chasan Sofer), was the eldest grandson of the Chasam Sofer.
In addition to founding the Sofer-Ehrenfeld family line, the Chasam Sofer set the precedent for his family members to serve as Rav of the Austrian town of Mattersdorf and head the yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
there. Mattersdorf had a Jewish presence going back to the eleventh century. The Chasam Sofer became Rav of the town in 1798. When he left to become Rav of Pressburg
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
in 1807, he was succeeded in Mattersdorf by his uncle, Rabbi Bunim Eger (brother of Rabbi Akiva Eger
Akiva Eger
Rabbi Akiva Eger, or Akiva Güns, , was an outstanding Talmudic scholar, influential halakhic decisor and foremost leader of European Jewry during the early 19th century....
), and then by his son, Rabbi Shimon Sofer (the Michtav Sofer). When Rabbi Shimon Sofer left to become Rav in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, the Chasam Sofer's eldest grandson, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld (the Chasan Sofer , became Rav of Mattersdorf. After Rabbi Shmuel's death on 4 August 1883 (1 Av
Av
Av is the eleventh month of the civil year and the fifth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. The name is Babylonian in origin and appeared in the Talmud around the 3rd century. This is the only month which is not named in the Bible. It is a summer month of 30 days...
5643), he was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld (the Maaneh Simcha). When the latter died on 18 July 1926 (7 Av 5686), he was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld.
Young Shmuel was an erudite scholar. He received rabbinic ordination
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
from Rabbi Meir Arik
Meir Arik
Rabbi Meir Arik is a famous Galician Torah scholar.Rabbi Arik was so highly respected by the leading Rabbis of his generation, that following the death of Rabbi Schwadron, the Belzer Rov directed all halachik questions to Rabbi Arik in his place.He was the posek of the Galician town Buchach Rabbi...
and Rabbi Yosef Engel at the age of 19. Two years later, when his father fell ill, Shmuel ran the Mattersdorf yeshiva in his place.
He married his first cousin, Rochel Ehrenfeld, daughter of his uncle, Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Ehrenfeld. They had two sons, Simcha Bunim and Akiva, and five daughters.
Community leader
Rabbi Ehrenfeld assumed the leadership of the Mattersdorf community after his father's death in 1926. His opinions and halakhicHalakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
rulings were widely respected, and he also served as president of the Siebengemeinden
Siebengemeinden
The Siebengemeinden were 7 Jewish communities located in Eisenstadt and its surrounding area. The groups are known as Sheva Kehillot in Hebrew....
(Sheva Kehillos, or Seven Communities) of Burgenland
Burgenland
Burgenland is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities. It is 166 km long from north to south but much narrower from west to east...
. He also had frequent dealings with government officials. He was instrumental in changing public policy to exempt Jewish students from studying in public schools and to have religious rather than secular teachers teach secular subjects in Torah schools. He also lobbied for Jewish soldiers to be granted leave on Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and Yom Tov. For his accomplishments, he was awarded a gold medal from the Austrian government.
His leadership of the community ended abruptly in 1938 with the Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
. On Saturday
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
, 12 March 1938, German soldiers raided the Mattersdorf synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
during services
Jewish services
Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
and ripped the prayer shawls
Tallit
A tallit pl. tallitot is a Jewish prayer shawl. The tallit is worn over the outer clothes during the morning prayers on weekdays, Shabbat and holidays...
off the worshippers. Commandant Koch warned the Rav that unless all 4,000 Jews in the district left immediately, they would all be killed. After making many efforts to help relocate community members to safer shores, the Rav escaped with his family to America, where he arrived on 13 September 1938.
Rav in America
Rabbi Ehrenfeld's first priority was the re-establishment of the Mattersdorf yeshiva in America. Two months after his arrival, he opened Yeshivas Chasan Sofer on the Lower East SideLower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
. The yeshiva later moved to 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....
, where it currently enrolls over 400 students in kindergarten through twelfth grade and operates a Head Start Program and rabbinical seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
. Rabbi Ehrenfeld appointed his new son-in-law, Rabbi Shmuel Binyomin Fisher, as yeshiva administrator in 1942. Another son-in-law, Rabbi Binyomin Paler
Binyomin Paler
Rabbi Binyomin Paler was a Haredi rosh yeshiva and Talmudist who is regarded as one of those who brought the Brisk yeshivas and methods from Europe to the United States....
, became a maggid shiur
Maggid shiur
The term Maggid Shiur literarly translates from Hebrew to mean "sayer of Shiur".This term is used to refer to the Rabbi that lectures in a Yeshiva or Kollel.A Maggid Shiur is generally a Rabbi who lectures on advanced and in-depth Talmudic studies....
and eventually rosh yeshiva in the yeshiva, until he left to form his own yeshiva in 1965.
Rabbi Ehrenfeld also served as Rav in three Lower East Side synagogues: Anshei Marmarosh, Chevrah Eitz Chaim, and the Stropkover Chevrah, and was active in campaigns to strengthen Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
observance and family purity
Niddah
Niddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
.
He was known for his tremendous scholarship and scrupulous honesty. His son, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, recalled that before his future father-in-law visited Rabbi Ehrenfeld to speak about the proposed shidduch
Shidduch
The Shidduch is a system of matchmaking in which Jewish singles are introduced to one another in Orthodox Jewish communities for the purpose of marriage....
with his daughter, Rabbi Simcha Bunim saw his father remove from his expansive library every volume that had his son's name written inside. The Rav explained that it was customary for visiting Torah scholars to browse through their host's bookshelves, and he did not want to impress his visitor with anything that did not belong to him personally.
During his lifetime, Rabbi Ehrenfeld reprinted all the sefarim written by his grandfather, the Chasan Sofer, as well as the sefarim of his father, the Maaneh Simcha, to which he appended his own commentary. He also authored his own work, Shem Mishmuel.
Founding Kiryat Mattersdorf
In 1959 he founded the Torah community of Kiryat MattersdorfKiryat Mattersdorf
Kiryat Mattersdorf is a Haredi neighborbood in Jerusalem, Israel. It is located on the northern edge of the mountain plateau on which central Jerusalem lies. It is named after Mattersburg , a town in Austria with a long Jewish history. It borders Unsdorf and Romema...
in northern Jerusalem in memory of the Siebengemeinden
Siebengemeinden
The Siebengemeinden were 7 Jewish communities located in Eisenstadt and its surrounding area. The groups are known as Sheva Kehillot in Hebrew....
(Seven Communities) of Burgenland
Burgenland
Burgenland is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities. It is 166 km long from north to south but much narrower from west to east...
which were destroyed in 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...
, Mattersdorf being one of them. His son, Rabbi Akiva Ehrenfeld, acted as his representative in supervising the construction and sale of apartments, but declined to serve as the new neighborhood's Rav. Instead, Rabbi Akiva became president of the Chasan Sofer Institutions in Israel while Rabbi Akiva's only son, Rabbi Yitzchok Yechiel Ehrenfeld, became Rav of Kiryat Mattersdorf.
Other institutions which Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld founded in the new neighborhood were the main synagogue, Heichal Shmuel, named after his grandfather, and the Neveh Simcha nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
, named after his father. The outermost street in the neighborhood is named Maaneh Simcha after his father's Torah work.
Rabbi Ehrenfeld also established a Yeshivas Chasan Sofer school in Petah Tikva
Petah Tikva
Petah Tikva known as Em HaMoshavot , is a city in the Center District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv.According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2009, the city's population stood at 209,600. The population density is approximately...
.
Death and burial
Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld died on the second day of ShavuotShavuot
The festival of is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan ....
, 22 May 1980, after reading Megillas Rus
Book of Ruth
The Book of Ruth is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh, or Old Testament. In the Jewish canon the Book of Ruth is included in the third division, or the Writings . In the Christian canon the Book of Ruth is placed between Judges and 1 Samuel...
(the Book of Ruth, which is traditionally read in synagogues on Shavuot morning). His funeral began in Yeshivas Chasan Sofer in Boro Park on 23 May, accompanied by eulogies from some of the great Torah leaders of the generation, including Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky
Yaakov Kamenetsky
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky , was a prominent rosh yeshiva, posek and Talmudist in the post-World War II American Jewish community....
, the Satmar Rebbe
Joel Teitelbaum
Joel Teitelbaum, known as Reb Yoelish or the Satmar Rav , was a prominent Hungarian Hasidic rebbe and Talmudic scholar. He was probably the best known Haredi opponent of all forms of modern political Zionism...
, and Rabbi Shneur Kotler
Shneur Kotler
Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey from 1962 to 1982. During his tenure, he developed the Lithuanian-style, Haredi but non-Hasidic yeshiva into the largest post-graduate Torah institution in the world...
. His casket was then flown to London, where his students in England paid their respects, and proceeded to Israel, where he was eulogized by Rabbi Shmuel Wosner
Shmuel Wosner
Rabbi Shmuel Wosner is a Haredi rabbi and posek living in Bnei Brak, Israel....
, Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss
Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss
Dayan Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss , also known as the Minchas Yitzchak, was a prominent Dayan, Halachic authority and Talmudic scholar...
, Rabbi Ephraim Fishel Klein, and his grandson, Rabbi Yitzchok Yechiel Ehrenfeld. He was buried on Har HaMenuchot
Har HaMenuchot
Har HaMenuchot is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel. It is located at the western edge of the city adjacent to the neighborhood of Givat Shaul, with commanding views of Mevaseret Zion to the north, Motza to the west, and Har Nof to the south.-History:...
right next to the grave of the Belzer
Belz (Hasidic dynasty)
Belz is a Hasidic dynasty named for the town of Belz in Western Ukraine, near the Polish border. The town has existed since at least the 10th century, with the Jewish community being established during the 14th century. The town became home to Hasidic Judaism in the early 19th century...
Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach
Aharon Rokeach
Aharon Rokeach was the fourth Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He led the movement from 1926 until his death in 1957....
.
His son, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, succeeded him as Mattersdorfer Rav in New York.