Yoel Halpern
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 | |
| Title | Rabbi of Jasło |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1904 Kraków, Poland |
| Died | 6 September 1983 (aged 78–79) |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Denomination | Orthodox |
| Other | Rabbi of Bergen-Belsen and the British Occupation Zone of Germany |
| Semikhah | Rabbi Shmuel Engel |
Yoel Halpern (1904 – 6 September 1983) was a Polish rabbi. He was the rabbi of Jasło, Poland prior to the Holocaust. After the Holocaust, he was one of the rabbis of Bergen-Belsen and of the British Occupation Zone in Germany. After emigrating to the United States he was a rabbi in Brooklyn, New York.[1]
Jasło
When he came of age, Halpern married Dina, the daughter of rabbi Elimelech Rubin who was the rabbi of Jasło.[3] After marriage, Halpern founded a yeshiva and a bais yaakov in Jasło. Subsequently, Halpern was appointed Rabbi of Jasło.[1]
During the Holocaust
When World War II began, Rabbi Halpern attempted to flee the Nazis but he was arrested by the Russians while crossing the border. When he was released from prison, he moved to Bukhara where he was a spiritual advisor to his fellow refugees.[1]
Leadership roles in Germany
Rabbi of Bergen-Belsen and of the British Occupation Zone in Germany
After World War II ended, Halpern moved to Bergen-Belsen, where was appointed as rabbi.[4][5] He officiated over 1,800 weddings of Holocaust survivors and circumcised more than 1,500 boys. He also permitted hundreds of agunot to remarry.[1][2]
Leader of the "Vaad Harabanim of the British Zone"
Rabbi Halpern was the founder and leader of the "Vaad Harabanim (council of Rabbis) of the British Zone".[6] The Vaad consisted of many notable Rabbis in the British zone, including Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Lubinsky (Hannover), Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft (Hannover), Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Zalmanowitz (Bergen-Belsen), Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Olewski (Celle).,[6] Rabbi Yissocher Berish Rubin (Bergen-Belsen) and Rabbi Yitzchak Glickman (Bergen-Belsen).[7] On several occasions the Vaad formed a bais din in Hannover and in other smaller communities in the zone.[6]