Shmuel Ehrenfeld (, 1891–1980), known as the Mattersdorfer Rav, was a pre-eminent Orthodox Judaism Jews rabbi in pre-war Austria and a respected Torah leader and community builder in post-war America. He established Yeshivas Ch'san Sofer in New York City and taught thousands of students who went on to become leaders of American Torah Jewry.[Cohen, Yitzchok. The Mattersdorfer Rav. Hamodia Magazine, 28 May 2009, pp. 6-8.] He also founded the neighborhood of Kiryat Mattersdorf in Jerusalem, where his son and grandson became prominent Torah educators.[ He was the great-great-grandson of the Moses Sofer through the Chasam Sofer's daughter Hindel, who married Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Ehrenfeld.]
Family background
Shmuel Ehrenfeld was born and raised in Mattersburg, Austria. His parents were Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, rav of Mattersdorf, and Rebbetzin Gittel Krauss.[Freund, Rabbi Tuvia. "Torah, Kedushah and Chessed: The life and legacy of the Chasam Sofer, zy"a". Hamodia, 18 October 2012, pp. C2–6.]
In addition to founding the Sofer-Ehrenfeld family line, the Chasam Sofer set the precedent for his family members to serve as rav of the Austrian town of Mattersdorf and head the yeshiva there. Mattersdorf had a Jewish presence going back to the eleventh century. The Chasam Sofer became rav of the town in 1798. When he left to become rav of Bratislava in 1807, he was succeeded in Mattersdorf by his uncle, Rabbi Bunim Eger (brother of Rabbi Akiva Eger), and then by his son, Rabbi Shimon Sofer (the Michtav Sofer). When Rabbi Shimon Sofer left to become rav in Kraków, the Chasam Sofer's eldest grandson, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld (the Chasan Sofer (, an acronym for חידושי תורה נכד סופר, Chidushei Torah Neched Sofer, "Torah Insights of the Grandson of Sofer"), became rav of Mattersdorf. After Rabbi Shmuel's death on 4 August 1883 (1 Av, 5643), he was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld (the Maaneh Simcha). When the latter died on 18 July 1926 (7 Av, 5686),
Young Shmuel was an erudite scholar. He received semicha from Rabbi Meir Arik and Rabbi Yosef Engel at the age of 19. Two years later, when his father fell ill, Shmuel ran the Mattersdorf yeshiva in his place.
He married his first cousin, Rochel Ehrenfeld, daughter of his uncle, Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Ehrenfeld. They had two sons, Simcha Bunim and Akiva, and five daughters.
Community leader
Ehrenfeld assumed the leadership of the Mattersdorf community after his father's death in 1926. His opinions and halakha rulings were widely respected, and he also served as president of the Siebengemeinden ( Sheva Kehillos, or Seven Communities) of Burgenland. He also had frequent dealings with government officials. He was instrumental in changing public policy to exempt Jewish students from studying in public schools and to have religious rather than secular teachers teach secular subjects in Torah schools. He also lobbied for Jewish soldiers to be granted leave on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. For his accomplishments, he was awarded a gold medal from the Austrian government.
His leadership of the community ended abruptly in 1938 with the Anschluss.
Rav in America
Ehrenfeld's first priority was the re-establishment of the Mattersdorf yeshiva in America. Two months after his arrival, he opened Yeshivas Ch'san Sofer on the Lower East Side.
Ehrenfeld also served as Rav in three Lower East Side synagogues, Anshei Marmarosh, Chevrah Eitz Chaim, and the Stropkover Chevrah,
He was known for his tremendous scholarship and scrupulous honesty. His son, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, recalled that before his future father-in-law visited his father to speak about the proposed shidduch with his daughter, he saw his father remove from his expansive library every volume that had his son's name written inside. The Rav explained that it was customary for visiting Torah scholars to browse through their host's bookshelves, and he did not want to impress his visitor with anything that did not belong to him personally.
During his lifetime, Ehrenfeld reprinted all the sefarim written by his grandfather, the Chasan Sofer, as well as the sefarim of his father, the Maaneh Simcha, to which he appended his own commentary. He also authored his own work, Shem Mishmuel.
Founding Kiryat Mattersdorf
Ehrenfeld founded the Torah community of Kiryat Mattersdorf in northern Jerusalem in memory of the Siebengemeinden (Seven Communities) of Burgenland which were destroyed in the The Holocaust, Mattersdorf being one of them.[
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Among the institutions which Ehrenfeld founded were Talmud Torah Maaneh Simcha; Yeshiva Maaneh Simcha; two synagogues named Heichal Shmuel, one for nusach Ashkenaz and one for nusach Sefard; and the Neveh Simcha nursing home, named after his father.["Harav Akiva Ehrenfeld, zt"l". Hamodia Israel News, 23 August 2012, p. A14.]
Ehrenfeld also established the first Talmud Torah in Petah Tikva, also named Chasan Sofer, in 1954.[
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Death and burial
Ehrenfeld died on the second day of Shavuot, 22 May 1980, after reading Megillas Rus (the Book of Ruth, which is traditionally read in synagogues on Shavuot morning). His funeral began in Yeshivas Ch'san Sofer in Boro Park on 23 May, accompanied by eulogies from some of the great Torah leaders of the generation, including Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky, the Satmar Rebbe, and Rabbi Shneur Kotler. His casket was then flown to London, where his students in England paid their respects, and proceeded to Israel, where he was eulogized by Rabbi Shmuel Wosner, Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss, Rabbi Ephraim Fishel Klein, and his grandson, Rabbi Yitzchok Yechiel Ehrenfeld. He was buried on Har HaMenuchot near the grave of the Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach.
His son, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, succeeded him as Mattersdorfer Rav until his own death on 15 May 2018.
