Rabbi Uri Lipsh, 58, OBM

Rabbi Uri Mordechai Lipsh, a Shliach in Bnei Brak, Israel and veteran educator, passed away on Purim, 5785.

He was 58 and passed away after battling a terrible illness.

Rabbi Uri Mordechai Lipsh was born in Kfar Chabad on the 20th of Elul, 5726 (1966), to Rabbi Elazar Lipsh and Mrs. Rivka Lipsh.

In his childhood, he studied in the local educational institutions in Kfar Chabad and continued his studies at the Yeshiva Ketana in Lod. After three years, he returned to study at the Yeshiva Gedola in Kfar Chabad, near his parents’ home. Later, he went to the central Yeshiva of Tomchei Tmimim in 770 for a year of study, as part of the K’vutzah of 1987.

From a young age, he was a serious and dedicated Chassidic child, learning with great diligence and setting a good example for all those around him.

After seeking the Rebbe’s blessing, he stayed in 770 for an additional three years, during which time he received Semicha from the Yeshiva’s Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Mordechai Mentlik. He then traveled to the Holy Land, where he married Mrs. Sarah Shifra, daughter of Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Shmelke Segal.

Upon the Rebbe’s directive, he settled in Bnei Brak. Alongside his many educational endeavors, he continued his studies in Torah knowledge and rabbinic court positions, earning a high-level Torah education certificate from the Chief Rabbinate and a certification as a “Rabbinic Advocate.”

Even during his time in the Yeshiva Gedola in Kfar Chabad, Rabbi Lipsh founded an Evening Yeshiva for the children of Kfar Chabad. The evening yeshiva was a great success, and every weekday evening, around 120 children would gather at the central synagogue of Kfar Chabad to study for an hour in their free time.

After his marriage, Rabbi Lipsh began working formally in the field of education, becoming an educator at a Talmud Torah in Bnei Brak, a position he held for eight years. Later, he moved to the Talmud Torah Torat Emet in Jerusalem, before serving as a lecturer in Nigleh to grade three students at the Tomchei Tmimim Yeshiva in Kiryat Shmuel. He was also responsible for the Nigleh studies in the Yeshiva and for the reception of new students.

Starting in the 2011-2012 school year, Rabbi Lipsh served as a teacher for seventh grade at the Talmud Torah in Kfar Chabad.

In addition to his educational work with children and teenagers, Rabbi Lipsh regularly gave classes in the evening kollel on Chassidus in Bnei Brak’s Heichal Yud-Beit and classes for women at the Or HaChassidus institute.

He also used his broad knowledge and skills for impromptu conversations with the residents of Bnei Brak, encouraging them to engage with and study Chassidus and its teachings.

Rabbi Lipsh served as the rabbi and Mashpia at the Chabad Synagogue in Kiryat Herzog, Bnei Brak.

He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Sarah Shifra (nee Segal), and children, Mushka Pevzner – Crown Heights, Yocheved Cohen – Bnei Brak, R’ Menachem Mendel Lipsh – Beit Shemesh, R’ Yitzchok Lipsh – Ramot, R’ Yehuda Lipsh, R’ Shalom Dovber Lipsh, Malka Esther Weintraub – Bnei Brak, Meir Shlomo Lipsh, and Shneur Zalman Lipsh.

Baruch Dayan Ha’emes.