Rabbi Yisroel Halperin, 66, OBM

Rabbi Yisroel Halperin, a longtime devoted Shliach in Herzliya, Israel for decades, passed away on Thursday, 5 Elul, 5782.

He was 66 and recently battled a terrible illness.

He leaves behind his family members, members of his community and his many close friends, who are pained and shocked by his passing.

Rabbi Yisroel Halperin was the Rebbe’s Shliach and Rabbi of the Chabad community in the city of Herzliya and a central figure among Chabad Chassidim in Israel.

He was born on 15 Nissan 1955 in the city of Netanya, to an Orthodox Jewish Israeli family. He began his military service in the IDF Air Force and continued to climb the ranks.

He became close to Chabad Chassidus in his youth, and even before his marriage, he served as the first and only Shliach in his hometown of Netanya. After his marriage to his wife Esther, they lived in Kfar Chabad, where he studied in the kollel of the Tomchei Temimim Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad, under the direction of Rabbi Avraham Zvi Cohen, who became a close mentor to him. At the Rebbe’s instruction he remained in the kollel for several years, where he studied rabbinical instruction, and received his Semicha from Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi.

During the time that he lived in Kfar Chabad, he was a key activist in the Tzeirei Agudas Chabad organization. As part of his activities in the organization, according to the Rebbe’s instruction, he organized the Lag BaOmer celebrations in over sixty locations throughout the country.

On 25 Menachem Av, 1977 he was involved in a car accident, in which two women, the daughter of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu Shneur and Rabbi Halperin’s sister Yosefa, were tragically killed. Rabbi Halperin and his wife were seriously injured, in a way that affected their entire lives.

In the early 1980’s, he began his Shlichus in the city of Herzliya on behalf of Tzach. Later that year he moved to live in the city of Herzliya, where he remained a devoted Shliach until his passing.

Upon his arrival, he was appointed as the Rabbi at the central synagogue in the city’s Neve Amal neighborhood.

During his years on Shlichus, he established a network of institutions in the city. These include a flourishing Chabad community of about 150 families and six Chabad synagogues. Over ten additional Chabad Centers throughout Herzliya are managed under him, led by dedicated Shluchim.

In 2010 he received the title of “Dearest of the City” in a festive ceremony at the Beit Rishonim museum in Herzliya. He was also very active in the Shleimus Haaretz campaign.

The Levaya will leave this evening (Thursday) at 21:00 from his home, 53 Ahad Ha’am St. Herzliya towards the old cemetery in Herzliya.

Baruch Dayan Ha’emes.