Zelig Sharfstein Rabbi to Hasidics – Authority on Jewish Law Widely Consulted

ROSELAWN, OH — Rabbi Zelig Sharfstein, chief rabbi of the Vaad Hoier of Cincinnati and an international authority on Jewish law, died Feb. 11 of a heart ailment at Regency Hospital in University Heights. The Roselawn resident was 79.

Rabbi Sharfstein was a member of the executive committee of the Chabad- Lubavitch Rabbis, one of the largest Hasidic movements in Orthodox Judaism. Renowned for his knowledge and wisdom, he was sought out by Chabad emissaries from around the world for his expertise in Jewish law. He spent hours each day responding to questions.

“Everyone that has called from all over the world and former students have reiterated one main aspect of his personality that they cherished and that was his ability to explain to them whatever questions they had with expertise but at the same time with an unbelievable humbleness,” said his wife, Reba Sharfstein. “They remember his soft voice (and) the kindness that he showed by taking time to answer or discuss even what they considered to be minute questions.”

Rabbi Sharfstein was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1928 to Avrahom Zev Sharfstein, a Latvian immigrant who served as the unofficial rabbi for New York City’s first Lubavitch synagogue, and Esther Rutman Sharfstein, a Polish immigrant.

Rabbi Sharfstein received his rabbinic ordination in 1952 and taught in the Lubavitch schools in Bridgeport, Conn., and Pittsburgh. In 1954 he was selected by Eliezer Silver, chief rabbi of Cincinnati at the time, to teach Judaic studies at Cincinnati Hebrew Day School. “Those who were fortunate enough to have him as a teacher still remember classes with him 50 years later,” said his wife. He later was promoted to principal of the school. He became chief rabbi of the Vaad Hoier – the agency responsible for kosher dietary laws in the city – upon Silver’s death in 1968.

Rabbi Sharfstein was close to his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, his wife said. “They would speak to him really about everything. From the very young to the marrieds – and even the great-grandchildren who were old enough – enjoyed him also.”

In addition to his wife, survivors include two sons, Rabbi Avram Zev Sharfstein and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Sharfstein, both of Brooklyn, N.Y.; two daughters, Shifra Landa of St. Louis and Esther Gudnick of Sydney, Australia; a brother, Rabbi Mottel Sharfstein of Brooklyn; and more than 40 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Services have been held. Burial was at Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, N.Y.

Memorial gifts are suggested to Cincinnati Hebrew Day School, 2222 Losantiville Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45237.