Rabbi Simcha Elberg (known as שמחה עלבערג in Hebrew) (1915–1995) was a renowned

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic scholar and the chairman on the executive board of the

Union of Orthodox Rabbis The Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada (UOR), often called by its Hebrew name, Agudath Harabonim or (in Ashkenazi Hebrew) Agudas Harabonim ("union of rabbis"), was established in 1901 in the United States and is the oldest ...

for 25 years. He was also on the executive committee of

Agudath Israel of America Agudath Israel of America (; also called the Agudah) is an American organization that represents Haredi Judaism, Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to meet the needs of the Har ...

Biography

Rabbi Elberg was born in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and ordained as a Rabbi in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

by Rabbi Menachem Ziemba. He studied at Warsaw's Emek Halacha Yeshiva, where his main teacher was Rabbi Natan Spigelglas. He edited the yeshivah's journal, as a means to combat Haskalah, or Enlightenment. He went to the Montreaux yeshivah between 1935 and 1936 and then moved to Paris as a correspondent for the orthodox press. He enrolled at the Sorbonne, but in 1939 returned to Warsaw for his sister's wedding, which coincided with the invasion by the Nazis. Rabbi Elberg was able to flee, making his way through Poland, then Lithuania and then to Russia. From Vladivostok he sailed to Japan and then to Shanghai, where he arrived in September 1941 with the Mir Yeshiva. His parents, brother, sisters and his teacher Rabbi Natan Spigelglas were all sent to Treblinka where they were murdered. Rabbi Menachem Ziemba was killed in the Warsaw Ghetto. In Shanghai, he married Miriam Slutsker whose father, Rabbi Yehuda Selig Slutsker settled with his wife Dina in Harbin, Manchuria, China, after World War I. The Elbergs returned to Paris after the war, and Simcha defended a dissertation regarding slavery among Jews in ancient times at the Sorbonne. He came to New York in 1947 and served as editor of ''HaPardes'', a journal of Talmudic academics. He was fundamental on certifying Coca-Cola for Passover.

Works

In addition to editing the monthly HaPardes journal, Rabbi Elberg authored several books on his own:
"Varshah shel ma'lah"
detailing pre-World War II Warsaw (Published in Bene Barak, 1969), וורשא של מעלה
"Imrei Simcha"
detailing Jewish philosophy (New York, 1989), אמרי שמחה
"Minchas Bikkurim"
Talmudic novallae (Warsaw, 1939), מנחת ביכורים
Jubilee book celebrating the fifty year anniversary of HaPardes
ספר היובל הפרדס
"Shalmei Simcha"
(5 volumes), שלמי שמחה Much of the archives of HaPardes (הפרדס) has been preserved o
Hebrewbooks.org

Notes and references

External links

Simcha Elberg on WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elberg, Simcha 1915 births 1995 deaths American Haredi rabbis 20th-century American rabbis Burials at Har HaMenuchot