Community Magazine May 2012

Remembering a Sadik, rabbi chaimpinchas scheinberg z.s.l. recalling his legacy and involvement in the sephardic community by: DaVE GoRDoN F or close to a century, the indefatigable Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg z.s.l. , held many positions, serving his nation as a posek (halachic authority), a community leader, and a founder of yeshivot . He worked tirelessly on behalf of numerous causes and in various different capacities, most notably as Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshivat Derech Chaim in Brooklyn and later of Yeshivat Torah Ohr in Jerusalem. Born in Poland, Rav Scheinberg was raised in America, moving to the Kiryat Mattersdorf section of Jerusalem in 1965. He died in Jerusalem on March 20 th , 2012, at the age of 101. FrompolAnD to the neWWorlD Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg was born in 1910 to a struggling Jewish family in Poland. His father had left for America before the birth of his son in order to avoid conscription into the Polish army, hoping to find work and send money back to his wife and two young boys in Europe. Unfortunately, employers at that time were loathe to give their workers off on weekends, making it all but impossible for observant Jews to keep a job. Mr. Scheinberg was thus forced to hop from job to job, as each employer let him go when he refused to work on Shabbat. Broke and desperate, he found himself sleeping on the side of a road for months. The family’s situation further deteriorated with the outbreak of World War I, which disrupted international communication, and Mr. Scheinberg lost touch with his family back in Poland. But a year after the war ended, in 1919, he managed to open a tailor shop with the meager wages he had earned, and soon thereafter he was able to afford to bring the entire Scheinberg family to New York. Young Chaim Pinchas began attending public school, but was soon moved to Rabbi Jacob Joseph School, where he stayed until 36 Community magazine