Yoel Halpern

Rabbi Yoel Halpern (1904-1983) was the Rabbi of Jaslow Poland prior to the Holocaust[1]. After the Holocaust, he was one of the Rabbis of Bergen-Belsen and of the British Occupation Zone in Germany[1]. After emigrating to the United States he was a Rabbi in Brooklyn New York.[1]

Rabbi

Yoel Halpern
Hebrew: הרב יואל הלפרן‎
Rabbi Yoel Halpern
TitleRabbi of Jasło
Personal
Born1904
Krakow Poland
Died1983
ReligionJudaism
DenominationOrthodox
OtherRabbi of Bergen-Belsen and the British Occupation Zone of Germany
SemichaRabbi Shmuel Engel

Biography

Rabbi Yoel Halpern was born in Krakow Poland in 1904.[2] His father Rabbi Mattisyahu Chaim was the Rabbi of Dobczyce.[1]

Rabbi Halpern received his rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Shmuel Engel of Radomshile.[1][2]

Rabbi of Jaslow

When he became of age, Rabbi Halpern married Dina, the daughter of Rabbi Elimelech Rubin who was the Rabbi of Jaslow. After marriage, Rabbi Halpern founded a yeshiva and a bais yaakov in Jaslow. Subsequently, Rabbi Halpern was appointed Rabbi of Jaslow.[1]

During the Holocaust

When World War II began, Rabbi Halpern attempted to flee the Nazis but he was arrested by the Russians while crossing the border. When he was released from prison, he moved to Bukhara where he was a spiritual advisor to his fellow refugees.[1]

Leadership Roles In Germany

Rabbi of Bergen-Belsen and of the British Occupation Zone in Germany
Rabbis in Bergen-Belsen: (Left-Right) Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Olewski, Rabbi Yoel Halpern, Rabbi Chaim Meisels

After World War II ended, Rabbi Halpern moved to Bergen-Belsen, where was appointed as Rabbi. He officiated over 1,800 weddings of holocaust survivors[1] and circumcised more than 1,500 boys[1]. He was also very active in permitting hundreds of agunot to remarry.[1][2]

Leader of the “Vaad Harabanim of the British Zone"

Rabbi Halpern was the founder and leader of the “Vaad Harabanim (council of Rabbis) of the British Zone”.[3] The Vaad consisnted of many notable Rabbis in the British zone, including Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Lubinsky (Hannover), Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft (Hannover), Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Zalmanowitz (Bergen-Belsen) and Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Olewski (Celle).[3] On several occasions the Vaad formed a bais din in Hannover and in other smaller communities in the zone.[3]

In the United States

In 1949, the British occupation of North-West Germany ended and the British Chief Rabbi's Religious Emergency Council and it's appointees were required to wrap up their operations in Germany. Rabbi Halpern then emigrated to the United States. He settled in Brownsville and where he was the Rabbi of a synagogue.[1][2]

Rabbi Halpern died on September 6, 1983.[1]

Family

Rabbi Halper’ns wife Dina and their children were not able to escape when the nazis invaded Poland and were murdered in the holocaust.[1]

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References
  1. Albert Shmuel, Hamodia Vol. XXII No.1059 May 8 2019.
  2. Toldos Anshe Shem (New York, 1950).
  3. Migdal Dovid (lelov) 2019 Edition, Toldos Hamo"l,.
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