Joseph Chaim Sonnenfeld

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Joseph Chaim Sonnenfeld

Joseph Chaim Sonnenfeld (born December 1, 1848 in Verbó, Kingdom of Hungary (now Vrbové , Slovakia ); † February 26, 1932 in Jerusalem , also Zonnenfeld ) was the Grand Rabbi and co-founder of the Edah HaChareidis, an anti-Zionist Jewish community in Charedim that still exists today Jerusalem, during the time of the British Mandate in Palestine . He was originally given the name Chaim only ; the name Joseph was added while suffering from an illness. His father Rabbi Avraham Shlomo Zonnenfeld died when Chaim was five years old.

He was a student of Rabbi Samuel Benjamin Sofer (the Ksav Sofer ), the son of Rabbi Moses Sofer (the Chasam Sofer ). He was also a student of Rabbi Avraham Schag in Kobersdorf (who in turn was a follower of Chasam Sofer). In 1873 he left Kobersdorf and went to Jerusalem.

He became a prominent figure in the old city of Jerusalem, where he served as the right hand man of Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin and supported him in activities within the community, such as the establishment of schools and the Diskin orphanage or the fight against secularism . He refused to meet the German Kaiser Wilhelm II , who was visiting Jerusalem's Old City in 1898, believing the Kaiser was a descendant of the Amalekites (biblical enemies of the Hebrews). Sonnenfeld sent a delegate, Jacob Israël de Haan , a Dutch author who became a Baal Teshuwa (a returnee to Orthodox Judaism ), to Jordan with a peace proposal for King Abdallah ibn Husain I.

Contrary to reports to the contrary, Sonnenfeld had a warm and mutually respectful relationship with Rabbi Abraham Isaak Kook , although both were ardent opponents in many areas. Both traveled to northern Palestine in 1913 to bring non-practicing Jews back to Torah Judaism.

Joseph Sonnenfeld was an anti-Zionist .

literature

  • Shlomo Zalman Sonnenfeld, 1983. Guardian of Jerusalem: The Life and Times of Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (Artscroll History Series) . Adapted from Ha-Ish Al Ha-Homah (3 vols.), By Hillel Danzinger. Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications. ISBN 0-89906-458-2
  • Shlomo Zalman Sonnenfeld, ed. 2002. Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld on the Parashah. Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-723-6

Web links

Commons : Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Elliott Horowitz, Reckless Rites: Purim and the Legacy of Jewish Violence (Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World) , Princeton University Press ISBN 0691138249
  2. ^ David B. Green: This Day in Jewish History 1848: The Man Who Co-founded Jerusalem's anti-Zionist Haredi Movement Is Born . In: Haaretz . December 1, 2016 ( Haaretz.com [accessed July 30, 2018]).
  3. ↑ How Israel Almost Murdered My Great-Great-Grandfather - Tablet Magazine. Retrieved July 30, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Sonnenfeld, Joseph Chaim
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sonnenfeld, Yosef Chaim; Zonnenfeld, Yosef Chaim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grand Rabbi and co-founder of Edah HaChareidis, a Jewish Charedim community in Jerusalem
DATE OF BIRTH December 1, 1848
PLACE OF BIRTH Vrbové , Kingdom of Hungary
DATE OF DEATH February 26, 1932
Place of death Jerusalem