Pinhas Zaltzman
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Public and communal activities
On his mother's side, Rabbi Zaltzman descends from a distinguished rabbinic lineage – his maternal grandfather served as a rabbi in Chișinău before immigrating to the Land of Israel in 1920. His father's family is of Polish-Jewish origin.[6]
He was born in Tel Aviv to Rabbi Shimon Yosef Zaltzman, Deputy Director-General of Chinuch Atzmai and Chairman of the Horev school network, and to Bracha Malka Rabinowitz, daughter of Rabbi Levi Rabinowitz, author of the Ma’adanei HaShulchan series. He is also a grandson of Rabbi Gamliel Rabinowitz, who served as head of the Chișinău Yeshiva.[7]
Rabbi Zaltzman studied at the Karlin Yeshiva, the Tchebin Yeshiva, and the Tifrach Yeshiva. He later continued his Torah studies at the Kollel of Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, with whom he studied chavrusa for several years. Subsequently, he studied for three years in a Kollel for rabbinic studies while serving as the rabbi of the town of Oranit, where he also established a mikveh.[8]
He later joined the "Halichot Olam" Kollel led by Rabbi Ratzon Arusi in Kiryat Ono, specializing in the Magen HaElef judicial track, and received rabbinical court certification under Rabbi Arusi's supervision. He also studied under Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth and was a close disciple and attendant of his grandfather, Rabbi Rabinowitz.[8]
Rabbi Zaltzman is a close disciple of Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Stern and serves as a rabbinical judge on his rabbinical court, as well as on the European Rabbinical Court headed by Rabbi Yosef Hanoch Brodbecker. This court provides rabbinic and halachic services to Jewish communities across Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics.[8]
During the establishment of Ramat Beit Shemesh, when Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer opposed the creation of Haredi neighborhoods,[9] Rabbi Zaltzman worked together with Rabbis Chaim Nachum Freiman and Nissen Zweibel to promote their development.[10] Their efforts led to the construction of several neighborhoods comprising hundreds of housing units designated for the Haredi community.[11][12]
Later, during the founding of Elad, he participated in the campaign to establish the city, working in cooperation with Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Grossman, then chairman of the Menucha VeNachala association,[13] and contributed to the development of several neighborhoods.[14]
He subsequently promoted the "Or Sameach" project in Modi’in Illit,[15][16] encompassing 560 dunams, and served as a co-owner of Neot HaPisga, a company that built approximately 1,000 housing units in Modi’in Illit.[17][18]
Rabbi Zaltzman currently serves as chairman of Urbanitop, a real estate firm active in dozens of projects across Israel, including in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Rehovot, Rishon LeZion, and Modi’in Illit.[19][20][15]