Rafael Halperin (; 1924 – 20 August 2011) was an Austrian-born Israeli Orthodox rabbi, businessman, athlete, professional wrestler, and bodybuilder.

Biography

Halperin was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to Austrian Jewish parents in 1924. In 1933, at the age of 9, he and his family immigrated to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

. The Halperin family moved to

Bnei Brak Bnei Brak ( ) or Bene Beraq, is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an area of 709 hectares (1,752 acre ...

the following year, and Rafael studied in

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 ...

and

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 ...

as a teenager. He also excelled in several athletic pursuits, including weightlifting and

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

. He entered competitions and became the national champion in karate, boxing, and bodybuilding. In 1950, Halperin organized Israel's first "Mr. Israel" bodybuilders competition. He was also a skilled diamond cutter. He was a brother of famed philanthropist Rabbi Nachum Halpern.

Professional wrestling career

Halperin decided that he wanted to open a chain of athletic facilities, so he began wrestling professionally to earn the necessary money. His career took him to the United States, where he was reported to have won 159 consecutive matches. In 1954,

Toots Mondt Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt (January 18, 1894 – June 11, 1976) was an American professional wrestler and promoter who revolutionized the wrestling industry in the early to mid-1920s and co-promoted the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Some ...

signed him up as a wrestler. In his matches, he wore a blue and white costume emblazoned with the

Jewish star The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

. He worked for Vince McMahon Sr.'s

Capitol Wrestling Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...

. In America he fought as “Mr. Israel” and "The Rasslin’ Rabbi," and won 159 consecutive bouts. He refused to follow the “scripts” used in professional wrestling and declared that he “came to America to wrestle representing the State of Israel and the Jewish people and could not fake or be phony.” He earned the displeasure of some promoters and fellow wrestlers because he treated his matches as legitimate athletic contests rather than a scripted performance. He refused to yield, however, as he felt that he was upholding the dignity of his country. He also wrestled as a

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

(fan favorite), refusing to break any rules, for the same reason. Halperin continued to wrestle in the United States and Canada into the 1960s. During this time, he faced such opponents as

Antonino Rocca Antonino Rocca (born Antonino Biasetton; 13 April 1921 – 15 March 1977) was an Italian naturalized Argentinian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He tag teamed with partner Miguel Pérez (wrestler), Miguel Pérez. He was posthumous ...

while competing for Capitol Wrestling. After Rocca canceled three times, the two finally met at Laurel Gardens in Newark, New Jersey, before 15,000 fans. The match went back and forth but ended in a draw. His top triumphs were over Lu Kim, Lord Carlton, Zebra Kid and Steve Stanlee. He later returned to Israel, where he is credited with popularizing professional wrestling in Israel. His most well known matches in Israel were against Achmad Fuad and the "Jordanian Tiger" Abu Antar. The match with Fuad took place on 18 June 1966 in front of 6,000 fans at the

Bloomfield Stadium Bloomfield Stadium () is a football stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a capacity of 29,400. It is the home stadium of Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv. The stadium also serves the Israel national football team for some select home matches ...

and caused the police to use tear gas after a big riot broke out immediately after Fuad attacked the victorious Halperin. Apparently it was a staged act, but Halperin had not informed anyone in advance. The match with Abu Antar took place on September 20, 1973 and was the most successful local wrestling match seen in the country, as the

Yad Eliyahu Arena Yad Eliyahu Arena, , known as the Menora Mivtachim Arena () and formerly as the Nokia Arena () for commercial reasons, is a large multi-purpose sports indoor arena that is located in southeast Tel Aviv, Israel. The arena is primarily used to host ...

was sold out to witness Halperin defeat the "Jordanian Tiger". This was Halperin's last match and after he retired from professional wrestling, he started to study

and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Business career

After retiring from wrestling, Halperin fulfilled his dream of opening a chain of gyms. He went on to earn a rabbinical degree and wrote several religious books as well as an encyclopedia and a weight-loss guide. During the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

, he served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. Halperin also founded a chain of 120 optical centers, selling glasses at affordable prices. In 2008, he and his wife Bertie decided to divide the optical business among their five children. Because of his orthodox Jewish beliefs, he was opposed to businesses operating on ''

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

''. To combat this "desecration" of the holy day, Halperin led an initiative to create a credit card containing a

chip Chip may refer to: Food * Chip (snack), thinly sliced and deep-fried gastro item ** Potato chips (US) or crisp (UK) * Chips (fried potato strips) (UK) or french fries (US) (common as a takeout side) * Game chips, thin chip/French fries * Choco ...

that renders it inoperable on Saturday. It was also designed not to function in stores known to operate on Shabbat.

Death

Halperin died of cancer on 20 August 2011 at age 87.

Published works

* ''Arena of My Life'' (autobiography) ebrew

References

External links

Wrestling historyWrestling data for 127 matches
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halperin, Rafael 1924 births 2011 deaths Austrian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Austrian Jews Austrian male professional wrestlers Baalei teshuva Israeli businesspeople Israeli company founders 20th-century Israeli military personnel Israeli Orthodox Jews Israeli professional wrestlers Jewish professional wrestlers 20th-century male professional wrestlers