Wolff, Rabbi Ephraim — "the Rebbe's deputy in the Holy Land"

וואלף - אפרים

Rabbi Ephraim Wolff — "the Rebbe's deputy in the Holy Land"

Rabbi Ephraim Wolff (21 Av 5680 / 1920 – 26 Shevat 5763 / 2003) was born in Nuremberg, Germany, into a family that had been close to the Chabad Rebbeim since the Rebbe Rashab stayed at his uncle's home in Würzburg in 1907. After studying in Heide, Belgium, and in the Telshe yeshiva, where he joined the small circle learning Chassidus under Rabbi Shmuel Levitin, he spent Tishrei 5699 (1938) with the Previous Rebbe in Otwock, and with his blessing emigrated to Eretz Yisrael shortly before the Second World War, continuing his studies at Yeshivas Toras Emes in Jerusalem. He married in 1942, served in the Haganah in 1948, and in 1949 was asked to serve as administrator of the new Tomchei Temimim yeshiva in Lod; at the Previous Rebbe's instruction he remained at its helm, with its branches in Kfar Chabad, Nachalas Har Chabad and elsewhere, for more than half a century.

In the early 1960s, after the passing of Rabbi Eliezer Karasik and Rabbi Pinchas Althaus, he was asked to head Agudas Chassidei Chabad in Eretz Yisrael. For decades he was the address through which the Rebbe's directives reached Chabad institutions throughout the country and reports reached the Rebbe; from the 1960s he sent the Rebbe a daily report and received his responses through the Rebbe's secretary, Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov. He became known, unofficially, as "the Rebbe's deputy in the Holy Land." His work extended to opening yeshivos and kollelim, the vocational school in Kfar Chabad, absorbing immigrants, the Chabad neighborhoods in Lod, Kiryat Malachi and Tzfas, and the Rebbe's campaigns. A modest man who shunned publicity, he kept fixed times for Torah study throughout his life.

Correspondence with the Rebbe

Much of the Rebbe's communication with Rabbi Wolff passed through his daily reports and the Rebbe's secretariat. The letters tagged to him on this site discuss chinuch and teaching Chassidus to all communities (IK 939); visits to Chabad settlements, youth and institutions in Eretz Yisrael, and the Rebbe's thanks for them (IK 3904, 3954); arranging Torah and secular studies and preparing students (IK 6943); travel guidelines for avrechim and community members (IK 8845); and travel advice (IK 1336). Letters to him in his capacity as head of Agudas Chabad and of the Lod yeshiva may also appear under those institutions' pages.

See also: Land of Israel – Kfar Chabad; Education – Yeshiva students; Leadership – Leading and organizing communal work; Agudas Chassidei Chabad in the Holy Land.

Shiurim in this topic

939. Upshernish, Chinuch, and Teaching Chassidus to All Communities אפשערעניש, חינוך, ולימוד חסידות לכל הקהילות

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1336. Travel Advice and Blessings for Ephraim Wolf עצה לנסיעה וברכות לאפרים וואלף

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3904. Visiting Chabad Settlements, Youth, and Institutions ביקור במושבות חב"ד, הנוער, והמוסדות

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3954. Thanks for Visiting Chabad Institutions and Settlements in Israel תודה על הביקור במוסדות חב"ד ובמושבות בישראל

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6943. Arranging Torah Study, Secular Studies, and Student Preparation סידור לימוד תורה, לימודי חול, והכנת תלמידים

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8845. Travel Guidelines for Avrechim and Community Members הוראות נסיעה לאברכים ולחברי הקהילה

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