The Genius Rabbi Yoel Halpern Z”L

One of the rabbis of Bergen-Belsen and a great leader of the survivors – on the anniversary of his passing – 28th of Elul

Two days before Rosh Hashana of 5743 (1982), a great and revered rabbi, one of the greatest leaders of the Jewish People among the Holocaust survivors, passed away. He lost his entire family during the Holocaust and was never able to rebuild a family. On the 28th of Elul, the genius Rabbi Yoel Halpern, ascended to the Yeshiva on High (Heaven) where he surely met with his wife, Rebbetzin Dina, and his three children, may G-d avenge their blood – who were brutally murdered by Nazi predators, and was left alone, alone with his G-d, alone with the sheep of his flock to whom he gave his all.

The genius Rabbi Yoel was born in 5664 (1903-4) in Krakow to Rabbi Matityahu Chaim from the Brezin (Brzeżany in Polish) chassidic dynasty, who was the rabbi of the city of Dobczyce. He served as the assistant to the known genius, Rabbi Shmuel Engel, from whom he received smicha (rabbinic ordination).

Following his marriage to the righteous Rebbetzin Dina, daughter of Rabbi Elimelech Rubin of the Ropshitz chassidic dynasty and the rabbi of Jaslo, he served as the right-hand man to his father-in-law in managing the city’s affairs and served as its de facto rabbi. He was the spirit of life in this city and established cheders (boys’ schools) and the Bais Yaakov (girls’) school there. He also established a yeshiva for excellent students.

Jaslo is sadly not a famous city today, but it previously had an important Jewish community. Jaslo is located in southeastern Poland, and between the two wars, about 1,500 Jews lived there. There was a large and important organization in this city, of chassidim and influential people, which was reflected in the results of the last elections for this municipality, in which the chassidic list won the majority of the Jewish votes. In Elul 5699 (Sept. 1939), the Nazis broke into Jaslo and desecrated it. Shortly thereafter, they set fire to the beit midrash (study hall).

The synagogue in Jaslo (courtesy of Virtual Shtetl)

In Av 5701 (1941), the Jaslo Ghetto was created, and Jews from the surrounding area were also sent to it. About 2,500 Jews lived in the ghetto until it was liquidated in two stages, during the summer of 1942. 200 Jews remained in the city on Nazi orders to take care of Jewish property after the second aktion (roundup) in Av or Elul 5702 (1942), and these too were murdered a few days after the Nazis took advantage of them, may G-d avenge their blood. From this entire city, only twenty Jews remained, those who were in hiding.

The revered rabbi and man of action, Rabbi Yoel, was also “poisoned.” His wife, Dina, and his children, Sarah, Chana, and Chaim, may G-d avenge their blood, were killed in sanctification of G-d’s Name. He himself fled to Russia and was imprisoned there. When he was released from prison, he moved to Bukhara, where he helped war refugees.

According to what is reported in various places from faithful witnesses, he played a large and decisive role in rescuing the Czebiner Rebbe from the Bukhara exile and in his journey to the Land of Israel.

The English Wikipedia quotes reliable historical sources about the scope of the rabbi’s activities:

Rabbi of Bergen-Belsen and of the British Occupation Zone in Germany.

After World War II ended, Halpern moved to Bergen-Belsen, where he was appointed as rabbi. He officiated over 1,800 weddings of Holocaust survivors and circumcised more than 1,500 boys. He also permitted hundreds of agunot to remarry.

After the British left Bergen-Belsen, the activities of the Rabbinical Committee ended and the rabbi emigrated to America, settled in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and served as rabbi there. He later moved to Borough Park and established a “Torah Education Center” there.

He remarried in the United States, but did not have the opportunity to build a new home (i.e. have more children). In the United States, he had the opportunity to study Torah and raise students. He was close to the great men of the generation, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe was very fond of him.

At Ganzach Kiddush Hashem, we commemorate the memory of the great and righteous man, from a lineage of exhalted individuals, who, despite all that he went through, never rested nor stopped from his many deeds on behalf of the Torah and Judaism.

May the memory of Rabbi Yoel ben Rabbi Matityahu Chaim live on in our hearts forever.

Segment about him in the book “Toldot Anshei Shem”

The rabbi in Bergen-Belsen

Document from the websites of the auction houses Kedem and Bidspirit, collection of testimonies from Agunot, from the Rabbinical Council. The document is of great historical importance.