Pinchas Paul Biberfeld (; 31 October 1915 – 23 January 1999) was a

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 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Childhood

Rabbi Pinchas Paul Biberfeld was born on October 31, 1915, in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. His father, Dr. Chaim Eduard Biberfeld (1864–1939), a famous rabbi and physician, was a co-founder of the Israelitische Krankenheim (Jewish hospital) in

Life

Biberfeld completed his rabbinical studies at the

Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary The Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary (officially in until 1880, thereafter ''Rabbiner-Seminar zu Berlin''; in , ''Bet ha-midrash le-Rabanim be-Berlin'') was founded in Berlin on 22 October 1873 by Rabbi Dr. Israel Hildesheimer for the training of ...

(Rabbiner Seminar für das Orthodoxe Judenthum) in

where he received his

smicha ''Semikhah'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 CE. Si ...

from Dr. Jechiel Weinberg. After his family was forced to leave

in 1939 Biberfeld immigrated to

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

via

Triest Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the regional decentralization entity of Trieste. Trieste is located at the head ...

and

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. In the same year his father died after a longstanding illness. In Palestine he continued his studies at the

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

s of

Kol Torah Kol Torah is a yeshiva in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem. History Yeshivas Kol Torah was founded in 1939 by Yechiel Michel Schlesinger (1898–1948), born in Hamburg, Germany and Boruch Kunstadt, a dayan from Fulda, Germany. It w ...

and

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, before marrying the daughter of Zvi Aryeh Twersky, Rebbe of Zlatipol-Chortkov. In the 1950s Rabbi Biberfeld founded the still functioning

Kollel A kollel (also kolel) (, , , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced Torah study, study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features Shiur (Torah), shiurim (lectures) and ...

Zlatipol- Chortkov in

Tel-Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, where he served as Rosh-Kollel for 30 years. Moreover he was a publisher of the rabbinic journal "Hane'eman", printing

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

of distinguished rabbinical scholars and his own novel insights. Rabbi Biberfeld also edited the Hebrew edition of his father's classical manual about the laws of the Sabbath ("Die Sabbath Vorschriften") under the Hebrew title "Menucho Nechauno", which has been reprinted several times. In 1984 Rabbi Biberfeld succeeded Rabbi Hans Isaak Grünewald in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

.''American Jewish Year Book 1984'' During the ten years as Chief Rabbi of

(Oberrabbiner der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde München) he influenced Jewish life in

profoundly, especially by redefining the rabbi's role as the foremost authority within the community. After a sudden deterioration of his health in 1998, he spent his last months with his son, Rabbi Chaim Michoel (Michael) Biberfeld - Rabbi of South Tottenham

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 ...

as well as rabbi of the Chortkov Hassidic synagogue in Stamford Hill, London - where he died on January 23, 1999. He is buried at the Jewish cemetery on the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...

Publications

A short list of Rabbi Biberfeld's writings in German: * Es führt ein mühsamer Weg ans Licht, Jüdische Zeitung, April 6, 1987 * Altes und neues Wunder, Jüdische Zeitung, April 1, 1988 * Eine Nacht, die anders ist, Jüdische Zeitung, April 9, 1990 * Die zehn Plagen, Münchner Jüdische Gemeindezeitung, Heft 22, March 29, 1993

Sources

References

Archive of Jewish culture and history, Chaim Frank, Munich

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biberfeld, Pinchas Paul 1915 births 1999 deaths 20th-century German rabbis Chief rabbis of populated places Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine German Hasidic rabbis Hasidic rabbis in Europe Israeli Hasidic rabbis Jewish biblical scholars Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary alumni Descendants of the Baal Shem Tov 20th-century Jewish biblical scholars Clergy from Munich 20th-century Israeli rabbis Members of Aliyah Bet