Pinchas Hirschsprung

Rabbi Pinchas Hirschsprung (1912-1998 [ [http://www.chevrahlomdeimishnah.org/Yartzeit-details.asp?hMonth=Teves&Day=27 Chevrah Lomdei Mishnah Closed ] ] ) was a Polish rabbi.

Life

He was born to Rabbi Chaim Hirschsprung in the city of Dukla in 1912. He first learned with his grandfather Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Zehmin (who was also the teacher of the Rebbe of Klausenburg, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam) and later became the prime student of Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin. Rabbi Shapiro said about him that already as a youth he knew 2,200 talmudic folios by heart [ Wolpo, SB. Shemen Sasson MeChavreicha.Cholon (1995) pg.173-178 ] .After he reached the age of bar-mitzvah, he wrote his first book of Torah novellaeClarifyme|date=August 2008, "Pri Pinchas" and then went on to write another book "Ohel Torah" soon after. After Rabbi Shapiro passed away in 1933, Rabbi Hirschsprung would test prospective students for admitance to the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva. During World War II, he escaped to Kobe, Japan via Lithuania and then traveled on to Shanghai [ Wolpo, SB. Shemen Sasson MeChavreicha.Cholon (1995) pg.173-178 ] . In 1941, he reached Canada on the last boat to leave before the attack on Pearl Harbor. [cite book |title=The Gate of Heaven: The Story of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim of Montreal, 1846-1996 |last=Shuchat |first=Wilfred |year=2000 |month=October |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=0773520899 |pages=156-157 ]

Rabbinate

Rabbi Hirschsprung was the prime student of Rabbi Meir Shapiro (who headed the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva). He served as the chief Rabbi of Montreal from 1969 [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20060427030621/http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=7872 Canadian Jewish News ] ] until his passing on January 25, 1998.

References