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Rabbi
Shraga Feivel Zimmerman
Rabbi Shraga Feivel Zimmerman
Av Beis Din of Federation of Synagogues
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; January 2020
Preceded by	Yaakov Lichtenstein
Rov of Gateshead
	In office; 2008 – January 2020
Preceded by	Bezalel Rakow
Rov, Khal Bnei Ashkenaz, Monsey
Dayan, Kehal Adass Yeshurun, Washington Heights
	In office; 1996–2001
Personal life
Born	1979 or 1980 (age 44–45); New Jersey
Spouse	Chaya Reena Zimmerman
Alma mater	Mir Yeshiva (Brooklyn)
Religious life
Religion	Judaism
Jewish leader
Disciple of	Shmuel Berenbaum; Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik;

Shraga Feivel Halevy Zimmerman^[1] is the rov and av beis din of the Federation of Synagogues in London. He accepted the position on the 30th of June 2019,^[2] but took office in January 2020. Rabbi Zimmerman succeeded Dayan Lichtenstein as head of the organisation's Shechita.^[3] He took up this appointment following 11+1⁄2 years serving as rabbi and av beis din of the Jewish community in Gateshead, United Kingdom,^[1] where he succeeded Bezalel Rakow,^[4] who died in 2003. Rav Zimmerman has previously served as a dayan for the Kehal Adass Yeshurun kehilloh in Washington Heights,^[5] and later as Rov of Khal Bnei Ashkenaz of Monsey, the Haredi German Ashkenazic community in Monsey, New York.^[6]

Overview

Zimmerman's induction in Gateshead^[7] was attended by several Haredi rabbis in England, including Rabbi Ephraim Padwa of UOHC and Menachem Mendel Schneebalg of Manchester's Machzikei Hadath community. One of the changes he made was to allow the opening of the community's "first kosher restaurant" with the proviso that "to avoid unsupervised interaction between the sexes" there are separate hours for men and women.^[1]

In January 2020 he left his Gateshead position, taking up his appointment as av beis din of the Federation.^[8]

Early life

The New Jersey-born Zimmerman^[1] grew up in Borough Park, Brooklyn. He is an alumnus of the Mirrer yeshiva in Flatbush and Rabbi Dovid Soloveitchik's Brisk yeshiva in Jerusalem^[9] and a close disciple of Rabbis Shmuel Berenbaum and Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik. Prior to that, he studied at Beer Shmuel in Borough Park, a yeshiva that was founded by his grandfather, Rabbi Yosef Yonah Tzvi Horowitz,^[10] rabbi of Unsdorf and Frankfurt and in Letchworth during the war years. He had succeeded Solomon Breuer as Rabbi of K'hal Adath Jeshurun in Frankfurt, Germany, until World War II.^[11] That grandfather had named the yeshiva after an ancestor known as the Be'er Shmuel,^[12] Rav Shmuel Rosenberg of Unsdorf (1842–1919).

Shailatext project

When Zimmerman arrived 2020 to his new post in London, he helped with the Shailatext project, a people-powered technology based process for answering Halachic questions, especially for "those who have not yet found a rabbi."^[11] An interviewer noted in mid-2019 that "Zimmerman estimates that he has answered 200,000 sh’eilos from all over the United Kingdom while in Gateshead — in person, over the phone, and by email and text."^[13]^[14]^[15]

Personal

He is married to Rebbetzin Chaya Reena Zimmerman.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Liphshiz, Cnaan (3 October 2017). "Why Orthodox Jews are flocking to this gritty English town". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
^ "Federation UK on Twitter: "Delighted to announce the appointment of Rav Shraga Feivel Zimmerman as Rov & Av Beis Din #FederationRov. At a l'chaim for our Dayonim, Rabbonim & Trustees, he said: "B"sd I look forward to building upon the achievements of my predecessors ... to continue serving klal Yisroel."". Twitter. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
^ Doreen Wachmann (19 June 2019). "Gateshead Rav in Talks to Head Federation of Synagogues". The Jewish Press.
^ Speker, Faga (15 October 2024). "Gateshead gets its man after five-year search". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
^ "Rav Shraga Feivel Zimmerman Appointed Av Bais Din of London Federation Bais Din, Set to Depart Gateshead". Matzav.com. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
^ "Gateshead Rav Named Head of Federation of Synagogues". The Jewish Press. 4 July 2019.
^ "Hachtara of Rabbi Zimmerman in Gateshead, England". The Yeshiva World. Archived from the original on 19 May 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
^ "Group Splinters Off From London Board for Shechita". The Jewish Press. 8 January 2020.
^ "Rabbi S F Zimmerman". Kehillas Federation. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
^ Yitzchok Frankfurter (14 February 2018). "Drawing the Line". Ami Magazine. No. 355. pp. 80–82.
^ ^a ^b ^c Yonoson Rosenblum (10 July 2019). "Next Stop, London". Mishpacha.
^ "Novellae of the Be'er Shmuel". Virtual Judaica. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
^ 50/day
^ "Ask the Federation - new ShailaText service". Facebook.
^ "Federation Beis Din's Shailatext service". Yalla Magazine. 25 February 2020.

Sources

Preceded by Rabbi Bezalel Rakow	ABD Gateshead 2008-2020	Succeeded by
Preceded by Rabbi Yaakov Lichtenstein	ABD Federation of Synagogues 2020-	Succeeded by incumbent