Elchanan Halpern (December 26, 1921 – February 18, 2015) was the

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

of the

Golders Green Golders Green is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet in north London, northwest of Charing Cross. It began as a medieval small suburban linear settlement near a farm and public grazing area green, and dates to the early 19th century. It ...

neighbourhood of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and President of the

Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations is an umbrella organisation of Haredi Jewish communities in London, and has an estimated membership of over 6,000. It was founded in 1926, with the stated mission "to protect traditional Judaism", and ha ...

. He was also known as the

Av Beit Din The ''av beit din'' (), abbreviated ( ''avad''), was the second-highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period and served as an assistant to the nasi. The av beit din was known as the "Master of the Court;" he was consid ...

of Radomishl after the town of his maternal grandfather, Rabbi ,

Rav ''Rav'' (or ''Rab'', Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah or is a Jewish spiritual guide or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (in the Talmud) states (1:6) that: The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi ...

of Radomishl. He was born in

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

, Czechoslovakia. Both of his parents were descendants of Rabbi

Chaim Halberstam Chaim Halberstam of Sanz (1793–1876) (), known as the ''Divrei Chaim'' after the title of his writings, was the rabbi of Sanz (), and the founding rebbe of the Sanz dynasty of Hasidic Judaism. Life Halberstam was a pupil of Rabbi Sho ...

. In his youth, he studied several years under his grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Engel, until the death of the latter, who was formally eulogised by Halpern, then aged 13. At age 14, Halpern corresponded with Rabbi

Joseph Rosen Joseph Rosen (, ''Yosef Rosin''; 1858 – 5 March 1936) known as the Rogatchover Gaon (Genius of Rogachev) and Tzofnath Paneach (Decipherer of Secrets—the title of his main work), was an Ashkenazi rabbi and one of the most prominent talmu ...

.See After his marriage, he settled in London. At the time of Halpern's death, He was considered one of the most senior rabbis in the world. He left behind over 1,400 direct descendants, including grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. His five sons and four sons-in-law all hold important rabbinic positions.

References

1921 births 2015 deaths Clergy from Košice Czechoslovak Jews People from Golders Green Rabbis from London {{Judaism-bio-stub