Shmuel Berenbaum

Rabbi
Shmuel Berenbaum
Berenbaum in 2007
Personal life
BornShmuel Berenbaum
March 13, 1920
Knyszyn, Poland
DiedJanuary 6, 2008 (age 87)
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Children11
EducationBaranowicze yeshiva, Belarus
Mir yeshiva, Belarus
Religious life
ReligionJudaism
DenominationOrthodox
Jewish leader
PredecessorAvraham Kalmanowitz
SuccessorOsher Kalmanowitz[1]
PositionRosh yeshiva
YeshivaMir yeshiva, New York

Shmuel Berenbaum (March 13, 1920 – January 6, 2008) was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York.

Biography

He was born in Knyszyn, Poland and studied at Ohel Torah Yeshiva in Baranowicze, led by Elchonon Wasserman.[2] He later studied in the Mir Yeshiva located in the town of Mir, later in Belarus.[3] At the onset of World War II, he traveled with the rest of the Mir Yeshiva to Vilna, where they remained for three weeks awaiting visas to travel abroad. After receiving destination visas to Curaçao in the Caribbean, they were given travel visas by the Japanese Consul in Kovno, Lithuania , Chiune Sugihara. The yeshiva moved to Kobe, Japan, where they remained for 7 months before being settled by the Japanese Government in Shanghai, China.

Following the war Berenbaum traveled with the remnants of the Mir Yeshiva to the United States and settled in Brooklyn, New York. He married the eldest daughter of the Mir rosh yeshiva, Avraham Kalmanowitz.[4][5]

After his father-in-law died in 1964 he became the rosh yeshiva of the Mirrer Yeshiva together with his brother-in-law Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz.[6][7]

Death

Berenbaum's grave, 2011, with visitation stones

Berenbaum died on January 6, 2008 (28 Tevet 5768) at his home in Brooklyn from medical complications due to stomach cancer, aged 87. His funeral, held on January 7 at the Mir yeshiva,[8] was attended by tens of thousands of mourners.[1] His body was flown to Israel for burial in the Sanhedria Cemetery in Jerusalem.

References

  1. 1 2 "Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum, leader of N.Y. yeshiva, dies at 87". Haaretz. Associated Press. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  2. ↑ Safier, Dovi (June 15, 2021). "The Eternal Flame: The Life, Travels & Martyrdom of Rav Elchonon Wasserman".
  3. ↑ "Hamodia". January 10, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Rabbi Avrohom Kalmanowitz z"l". Tzemachdovid.org. Archived from the original on February 5, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  5. ↑ Birnbaum, Avrohom. "The Story of How Rav Avrohom Kalmanowitz zt"l Helped Save Egyptian and Syrian Jewry – Part II". Yated Ne'eman. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Today's Yahrtzeits & History - 28 Teves". matzav.com. January 14, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Yahrzeits: 29 Tevet". yeshshem.com. 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Boruch Dayan Emmes: Maran Hagon Rav Shmuel Berenbaum Zatzal". Yeshiva World News. January 6, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2010.