Sarah Horowitz-Sternfeld (1838-1937), of Chęciny,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, was a prominent religious personality in the Hasidic community in pre-war era. Horowitz-Sternfeld was associated with the Chentshin-Ozharov, an amalgamation of the Chentshin and Ozharov dynasties, and was known as the Chentshiner Rebbetzin. According to scholars of Hasidic history, it is clear that Horowitz-Sternfeld was revered by Hasidic Jews of Poland for her spiritual position and she had adopted the custom typically associated of Hasidic leaders (the ''

rebbe A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritua ...

'' or ''

tzaddik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

'') to receive petitions for blessings. The exact degree of her status in the Hasidic is contested, with some authors portraying Horowitz-Sternfeld as a "woman rebbe" (''froi rebbe''). In 1937, American Jewish coverage of the death of Sarah Horowitz-Sternfeld was described as the death of "the world's only woman Chassidic rabbi". Sarah Horowitz-Sternfeld was the daughter of Rabbi Joshua Heschel Frankel-Teonim and wife of Rabbi Chaim Shmuel Horowitz-Sternfeld of Chentshin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horowitz-Sternfeld, Sarah 1838 births 1937 deaths

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