Kiryat Mattersdorf
Encyclopedia
Kiryat Mattersdorf is a Haredi
neighborbood in Jerusalem, Israel
. It is located on the northern edge of the mountain plateau on which central Jerusalem lies. It is named after Mattersburg
(formerly Mattersdorf), a town in Austria
with a long Jewish history. It borders Unsdorf and Romema. The main thoroughfare is Panim Meirot Street.
A lesser known name for the neighborhood is Kiryat Sheva Kehillos, in memory of the Siebengemeinden
(Seven Communities) of Burgenland
which were destroyed in the Holocaust, Mattersdorf being one of them.
, whose ancestors had served as Rav of the Austrian town of Mattersdorf for centuries, starting with his great-great-grandfather, the Chasam Sofer
, in 1798. When the community was evicted from Austria by the Nazis
in 1938, the Mattersdorfer Rav re-established his yeshiva in New York. In 1959, he sent one of his sons, Rabbi Akiva Ehrenfeld, to supervise the construction and selling of apartments in the new neighborhood of Mattersdorf. Today Rabbi Akiva's son, Rabbi Yitzchok Yechiel Ehrenfeld, holds the position of Rav of Kiryat Mattersdorf.
The main synagogue
, Heichal Shmuel, was named after Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld's grandfather. The outermost street of the neighborhood, Maaneh Simcha, was named after Rabbi Shmuel's father, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, as was Neveh Simcha, the nursing home
serving the Haredi public of northern Jerusalem.
The first apartments were ready for occupancy in May 1965. The first occupants included Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg
and his wife Bessie; his son Rabbi Simcha Scheinberg and his family; his daughter Rebbetzin Fruma Rochel Altusky and her family; and more than 20 students from Rabbi Chaim Scheinberg's yeshiva, Torah Ore. Rabbi Akiva Ehrenfeld was the one who encouraged Rabbi Scheinberg to relocate his yeshiva to Jerusalem from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
, offering attractive terms for apartments and land for the yeshiva.
from the United States
and United Kingdom
.
Notable rabbis who live in Kiryat Mattersdorf include Shlomo Lorincz
, Zelig Pliskin
, Moshe Sacks, Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg
, Yaakov Eliezer Schwartzman
, Menachem Mendel Taub
, Mendel Weinbach
, Chaim Brovender
, and Uri Zohar
. Rabbi Simcha Wasserman
was a long-time resident.
The neighborhood enjoys a continuing relationship with the government of Austria, which has provided financial support for a kindergarten and the Neve Simcha nursing home.
School for Girls.
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
neighborbood in Jerusalem, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. It is located on the northern edge of the mountain plateau on which central Jerusalem lies. It is named after Mattersburg
Mattersburg
Mattersburg is a town in Burgenland, Austria. It is the administrative center of the District of Mattersburg and home to a Bundesliga football team, SV Mattersburg.- Location :...
(formerly Mattersdorf), a town in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
with a long Jewish history. It borders Unsdorf and Romema. The main thoroughfare is Panim Meirot Street.
A lesser known name for the neighborhood is Kiryat Sheva Kehillos, in memory of the Siebengemeinden
Siebengemeinden
The Siebengemeinden were 7 Jewish communities located in Eisenstadt and its surrounding area. The groups are known as Sheva Kehillot in Hebrew....
(Seven Communities) of Burgenland
Burgenland
Burgenland is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities. It is 166 km long from north to south but much narrower from west to east...
which were destroyed in the Holocaust, Mattersdorf being one of them.
History
Kiryat Mattersdorf was founded in 1959 by the Mattersdorfer Rav, Rabbi Shmuel EhrenfeldShmuel Ehrenfeld
Shmuel Ehrenfeld , known as the Mattersdorfer Rav, was a pre-eminent Orthodox Jewish rabbi in pre-war Austria and a respected Rav and community builder in post-war America. He established Yeshivas Chasan Sofer in New York and taught thousands of students who went on to become leaders of American...
, whose ancestors had served as Rav of the Austrian town of Mattersdorf for centuries, starting with his great-great-grandfather, the Chasam Sofer
Moses Sofer
Moses Schreiber, known to his own community and Jewish posterity as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work Chasam Sofer, , , was one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the nineteenth century...
, in 1798. When the community was evicted from Austria by the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
in 1938, the Mattersdorfer Rav re-established his yeshiva in New York. In 1959, he sent one of his sons, Rabbi Akiva Ehrenfeld, to supervise the construction and selling of apartments in the new neighborhood of Mattersdorf. Today Rabbi Akiva's son, Rabbi Yitzchok Yechiel Ehrenfeld, holds the position of Rav of Kiryat Mattersdorf.
The main synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, Heichal Shmuel, was named after Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld's grandfather. The outermost street of the neighborhood, Maaneh Simcha, was named after Rabbi Shmuel's father, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, as was Neveh Simcha, the nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
serving the Haredi public of northern Jerusalem.
The first apartments were ready for occupancy in May 1965. The first occupants included Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg
Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg
Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg is a Polish-born, American-raised Haredi rabbi and rosh yeshiva who, since 1965, makes his home in the Kiryat Mattersdorf neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel. He is the rosh yeshiva of the Torah Ore yeshiva in Kiryat Mattersdorf and Yeshivas Derech Chaim in Brooklyn...
and his wife Bessie; his son Rabbi Simcha Scheinberg and his family; his daughter Rebbetzin Fruma Rochel Altusky and her family; and more than 20 students from Rabbi Chaim Scheinberg's yeshiva, Torah Ore. Rabbi Akiva Ehrenfeld was the one who encouraged Rabbi Scheinberg to relocate his yeshiva to Jerusalem from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst is a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.-Geography:Sometimes erroneously thought to include all or parts of such neighborhoods as Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park, or to be defined by the streets where the concentration of...
, offering attractive terms for apartments and land for the yeshiva.
Resident profile
Today, most of the inhabitants of Kiryat Mattersdorf identify with the Litvish style of Haredi Judaism. Many are olimAliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Notable rabbis who live in Kiryat Mattersdorf include Shlomo Lorincz
Shlomo Lorincz
Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz was a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Agudat Yisrael from 1951 until 1984, and a close confident of many gedolim.-Biography:...
, Zelig Pliskin
Zelig Pliskin
Zelig Pliskin is an Orthodox rabbi, writer, lecturer, and author of more than 20books, including Guard Your tongue, Love Thy Neighbor, Gateway to Happiness, and Building Your Self-Image and the Self-Image of Others....
, Moshe Sacks, Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg
Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg
Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg is a Polish-born, American-raised Haredi rabbi and rosh yeshiva who, since 1965, makes his home in the Kiryat Mattersdorf neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel. He is the rosh yeshiva of the Torah Ore yeshiva in Kiryat Mattersdorf and Yeshivas Derech Chaim in Brooklyn...
, Yaakov Eliezer Schwartzman
Yaakov Eliezer Schwartzman
Yaakov Eliezer Schwartzman is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Lakewood East yeshiva in Ramot, Jerusalem, Israel.He is the son of Rabbi Dov Schwartzman, the eldest grandson of Rabbi Aharon Kotler, the son-in-law of Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, and the great-grandson of Rabbi Isser Zalman...
, Menachem Mendel Taub
Menachem Mendel Taub
Menachem Mendel Taub, known as The Kaliver Rebbe, is a prominent Hasidic rabbi who is the Rebbe of the Kaliver Chassidic movement...
, Mendel Weinbach
Mendel Weinbach
Mendel Weinbach is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and one of the fathers of the modern-day baal teshuva movement in his capacity as co-founder and dean of Ohr Somayach Institutions, a Jerusalem-based educational network for young, non-Hasidic Jewish men...
, Chaim Brovender
Chaim Brovender
Chaim Brovender is an Israeli Modern Orthodox and Religious Zionist rabbi. In October 2000, Brovender was beaten by Palestinian police while head of the Yeshivat Hamivtar yeshiva in the Israeli settlement of Efrat.-WebYeshiva:...
, and Uri Zohar
Uri Zohar
Uri Zohar is a former Israeli film director, actor, and comedian who left the entertainment world to become a rabbi.-Biography:Zohar was born in Tel Aviv in 1934. In 1952, he graduated high school and did his military service in an army entertainment troupe. His first marriage ended in divorce.By...
. Rabbi Simcha Wasserman
Simcha Wasserman
Simcha Wasserman served as Dean of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah in Detroit in the 1940s, founded Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon in California in the 1950s, and later founded Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon in Jerusalem. He was the son of Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, and was married to Rachel Fiege , the daughter of Meyer Abovitz...
was a long-time resident.
The neighborhood enjoys a continuing relationship with the government of Austria, which has provided financial support for a kindergarten and the Neve Simcha nursing home.
Schools
The Torah Ore Yeshiva headed by Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg and the Chasan Sofer network of schools and yeshivas headed by Rabbi Akiva Ehrenfeld are the major institutions for boys and young men in the neighborhood. Girls' schools include Beis Yaakov of Mattersdorf and VizhnitzVizhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)
Vizhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Menachem Mendel Hager. Vizhnitz is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a village in present-day Ukraine.Followers of the rebbes of Vizhnitz are called Vizhnitzer chasidim....
School for Girls.