Pinchas Hirschprung

Pinhas Hirschprung (Hebrew: פנחס הירשפרונג‎; 13 July 1912, Dukla — 25 January 1998, Montreal)[1] was a Galician-born Canadian rabbi, who served as Chief Rabbi of Montreal from 1969 until his death.

Chief Rabbi

Pinhas Hirschprung
Personal
Born(1912-07-13)July 13, 1912
Dukla, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austro-Hungarian Empire
DiedJanuary 25, 1998(1998-01-25) (aged 85)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
ReligionJudaism
Jewish leader
PredecessorSheea Herschorn
SuccessorAvraham David Niznik
PositionChief Rabbi of Montreal
OrganisationVaad Ha‘Ir of Montreal
Began1969 (1969)
EndedJanuary 25, 1998 (1998-01-25)

Biography

Pinhas Hirschprung was born in 1912 to Leah (née Zehmin) and Rabbi Chaim Hirschprung in Dukla, Galicia (now located in Poland). He first studied with his grandfather Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Zehmin, av beit din of Dukla,[2] who was also the mentor of Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, the founding Rebbe of the Klausenburg Hasidic dynasty.[3] He later became a student of Rabbi Meir Shapiro, dean of the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva and founder of the Daf Yomi movement.

Hirschprung purportedly wrote his first sefer, Pri Pinchas, at the age of 13. According to Shapiro, Hirschprung as a youth knew all 2,200 folio pages of the Talmud by heart.[4]

During World War II, Hirschprung escaped to Kobe, Japan via Lithuania and then travelled on to Shanghai. He reached Canada in 1941.[5][6]

Hirschprung served as the chief Rabbi of Montreal from 1969 until his death on 25 January 1998,[7] as well as dean of the yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitch.

Legacy

Rabbi Hirschprung's name and legacy are associated with an Orthodox Jewish girls' school, Beth Jacob d'Rav Hirschprung, located in Montreal, and with an enrolment of nearly 600 students. The school was founded by Rabbi Hirschprung in 1953, and counts as its alumnae many teachers, professionals, and Jewish community leaders the world over.

His wife, Alta Chaya Hirschprung, died on 4 March 2012.[8] They are both buried in the Chesed Shel Emes Cemetery in Montreal.

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References
  1. "Pinchas Hirschprung". Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program. Azrieli Foundation. 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  2. Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred, eds. (2007). "Hirschprung, Pinchas". Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference.
  3. Wolpo, Shalom Dov (1995). Shemen Sasson MeChavreicha (in Hebrew). Holon. pp. 173–178.
  4. Sefer Gedulat Pinḥas (PDF) (in Hebrew). Brooklyn: Mekhon Or Yeḥezkel. 1999. p. 14.
  5. Hirschprung, Pinchas (2016) [1944]. The Vale of Tears. Translated by Felsen, Vivian. Toronto: The Azrieli Foundation. ISBN 978-1-988065-21-2. OCLC 1091197091.
  6. Shuchat, Wilfred (October 2000). The Gate of Heaven: The Story of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim of Montreal, 1846-1996. McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 156–157. ISBN 0-7735-2089-9.
  7. Arnold, Janice. "Bnei Brak rabbi named to new beit din post". The Canadian Jewish News. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  8. "Rebbetzin Hirschsprung, 88 OBM". COLlive.com. 4 March 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
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