Other names Rabbi Sharfman Name Solomon Sharfman Occupation Rabbi | Religion Orthodox Judaism Resting place Mount of Olives Spouse(s) Libby Ossip | |
Born November 1, 1915 ( 1915-11-01 ) Treblinka, Poland Children Label Sharfman
Debbi Diament
Rochelle Kohn
Lea Hain
Riki Koenigsberg Parent(s) Label and Fanny Sharfman Died December 4, 2004, Jerusalem, Israel | ||
Employer Young Israel of Flatbush | ||
Solomon Sharfman was a rabbi of Orthodox Jewry who built the Flatbush Modern Orthodox Jewish community in the mid-1900s, while sowing the seeds of American Jewry for generations to come.
Contents
Life
Solomon Joseph Sharfman was born on November 1, 1915, in Treblinka, Poland; his family came to the United States a number of years later. For over forty years, from 1938 to 1984, Sharfman was the rabbi of Young Israel of Flatbush, the pulpit from which he led American Jewry. For two years, from 1956 to 1958, he served as president of the Rabbinical Council of America, and from 1969 to 1971, he was president of the Synagogue Council of America.
Rabbi Sharfman maintained a relationship with rabbinic luminaries of the era, such as Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Rabbi Moshe Feinstein.
His writings are included in a number of compilations of rabbinic literature ("Homer LeDerush") of the National Council of Young Israel. He died in his sleep on December 19, 2004.
Legacy
His son, Rabbi Label Sharfman, founded and heads the Bnot Torah Seminary in the Sanhedria Murchevet neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israel, otherwise known as "Sharfman's". Notable grandchildren include Rabbi Eliakim Koenigsberg, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshivat R' Yitzchak Elchanan (RIETS). A sister of Rabbi Koenigsberg is married to Rabbi Meir Orlian, who is the rabbi and Dayan of a synagogue in Yad Binyamin and teaches in Yeshivat Shaalvim and Kerem BeYavneh.
Overall, Rabbi Sharfman's descendants number over a hundred grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
In 1989, Rabbi Sharfman founded JustOneLife, an organization that provides professional counseling and financial assistance, enabling and empowering mothers to choose to continue their pregnancies to term. Twenty-five years later, the organization is still in operation.