Ephraim Carlebach (March 12, 1879 in
Lübeck
Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...
– 1936 in
Ramat Gan
Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...
,
British Mandate of Palestine), was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
-born
Orthodox 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 ...
.
Biography
Carlebach belonged to a well-known German rabbi family. His father Salomon Carlebach (1845–1919) was rabbi in Lübeck. He had seven brothers and four sisters. He attended the Katharineum school in Lübeck, where he befriended his schoolmate
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
, as the latter recalled.
Four of his brothers were rabbis as well. They were Emanuel Carlebach (1874-1927),
Joseph Carlebach (1883–1942), David Carlebach (1885–1913) and
Hartwig Naftali Carlebach (1889–1967).
[Sabine Niemann (ed.): ''Die Carlebachs, eine Rabbinerfamilie aus Deutschland'', Ephraim-Carlebach-Stiftung (ed.). Dölling und Galitz. Hamburg 1995, ] Carlebach is most known for his work in founding
Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...
schools in Germany, notably
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
, from 1900. He was a leading figure in the construction of the and the
synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
''Etz Chaim''.
In 1924, he was appointed the chief Orthodox Rabbi of Leipzig. In 1935, Carlebach moved to the
British Mandate of Palestine where he died in 1936. His son
Esriel Carlebach was the founder and first editor of the newspaper
Maariv
''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''.
The service will often begin with two ...
. His nephew
Shlomo Carlebach
Shlomo Carlebach (; January 14, 1925 – October 20, 1994), known as Reb Shlomo to his followers, was an American rabbi and musician nicknamed "the Singing Rabbi".
Although his roots lay in traditional Orthodox yeshivot, he branched out to c ...
was known as "The Singing Rabbi".
References
Ephraim
Ephraim (; , in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath, as well as the adopted son of his biological grandfather Jacob, making him the progenitor of the Tribe of Ephrai ...
Chief rabbis of populated places
Rabbis in Mandatory Palestine
German Orthodox rabbis
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine
Aliyah
Clergy from Lübeck
20th-century German rabbis
1879 births
1936 deaths
Clergy from Leipzig
Immigrants of the Fifth Aliyah
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