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Avraham Eliezer Alperstein | |
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 Rabbi Avraham Eliezer Alperstein | |
| Born | c. 1853 Kobrin, Grodno Province, Belarus |
| Died | January 28, 1917(1917-01-28) (aged 64) New York City, United States |
Avraham Eliezer Alperstein[1](c. 1853 – January 28, 1917) was anOrthodoxRabbi,Rosh Yeshiva,publisher, communal leader and exceptional Talmudic scholar. He published the first ever section ofTalmud in the United States.
Studying under theRidbaz and theBeis HaLevi in his youth and then inVilna andKovno, Rabbi Alperstein obtained an extraordinary knowledge of both theTalmud Bavli and theTalmud Yerushalmi. He receivedSemicha from Rabbi Mordechai Meltzer (Rabbi ofLida), and Rabbi Aryeh Leib Shachnovitz (Rabbi ofBielsk).
Upon gaining semicha, Rabbi Alperstein briefly served as rabbi of theKamenitzerShul in Vilna before becoming Rabbi of nearbyNovhorod-Siverskyi. A few years later he accepted a position as Rabbi of the Zevach Tzedek shul in the vibrant Jewish community ofSlabodka.
Rabbi Alperstein immigrated to the United States in 1881, becoming Rabbi of Khal Adath Jeshurun in New York. In 1884, he went toChicago to take another rabbinic pulpit, serving there for 15 years as Rabbi of various shuls including Congregation Oheb Shalom Bnai Marienpol, Anshei Kovno, and theSuvalker Shul. While in the city, he published his commentary toTractate Bikkurim of the Jerusalem Talmud. The work boasted two notable approbations, one from theBeis HaLevi ofBrisk and the other from RabbiJacob Joseph of New York. Moving in 1899 toSt. Paul, Rabbi Alperstein returned to New York in 1901 to become Rabbi of the Yagustava shul on Rutgers Street.
Upon his return to New York, Rabbi Alperstein[2] was delighted to learn that his colleagues Rabbis Moshe Matlin and Yehuda David Bernstein had opened a Lithuanian-styleyeshiva named in honour of the distinguished RabbiYitzchak Elchanan Spektor of Kovno. Desiring to assist the yeshiva, Rabbi Alperstein's abilities as a dynamic public speaker inYiddish proved useful as he campaigned throughout theShteiblach of theLower East Side for funds forRIETS.
In 1903, when RIETS felt it had outgrown its premises at the Kalvarier shul, Rabbi Alperstein arranged for the yeshiva to transfer to his own Yagustava shul. By 1905, the year he became Rabbi at Congregation Mishkon Yisroel, approximately 100 students were engaged in Torah study in RIETS, under the tutelage of several rabbis including Rabbi Alperstein.
Rabbi Alperstein is widely recognized as the first Rosh Yeshiva of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS)[3], which became a part of Yeshiva University. Multiple sources confirm that he held this distinction, helping to establish the institution's educational and spiritual foundations.
Rabbi Alperstein was highly active in the areas ofKashrut and Jewish education. He was one of the founders of theAgudath Harabbonim, serving as its vice-president and directing the New York branch. He died on January 28, 1917, and was buried in Mount Judah Cemetery, New York. His wife, Bertha, founded the 'Beth Abraham Home for the Incurably Sick' in the Bronx in his memory, which today is theBeth Abraham Hospital[4], part of theMontefiore Medical Center.
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