Shlomo Wahrman

Shlomo Wahrman (Hebrew: הרב שלמה הלוי וואהרמאן) was the Principal of the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County and a Torah Scholar of high esteem. As an eyewitness to Kristallnacht and a Torah luminary with an all encompassing knowledge of the breadth and depth of Torah scholarship, he made a tremendous impression on the hundreds of students whom he taught over his thirty years as a Rebbe and Rosh Yeshiva at HANC.

Leipzig (1927-1939)

Rav Shlomo Wahrman was born and grew up in Leipzig, Germany. In 1939, at the age of twelve, he and his Polish-born parents and his siblings received American visas and found peace and a life of relative safety away from the clutches of the Nazi regime.

In Lest We Forget: Growing up in Nazi Leipzig 1933-1939, published in 1991 by ArtScroll Mesorah Publications, Rav Wahrman shares an account of life in Leipzig in the 1930s, portraying the impact of Nazi policies on a thriving Jewish community that peaked at 18,000 in 1935 before declining to around 6,000 in 1939, when Rav Wahrman left the city for New York.

Rav Wahrman concludes his book with the following words:

“All these events have delivered a powerful message to me. Any Jewish city anywhere could potentially suffer Leipzig’s fate, chas v’shalom. There is no safety and security for us in galus, even in a democracy. The German Weimar Republic was a democracy, yet it could not prevent the emergence of a Hitler. When the anti-Semites so decreed, Leipzig, a city of 18,000 Jews, became Judenrein.”^[1]

Cincinatti (1940-1955)

Soon after arriving in New York, Rav Wahrman moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he grew close to the legendary Rav Leizer Silver zt”l, who he considered his rebbi muvhak. Due to Rabbi Silver’s insistence and encouragement, Rabbi Wahrman honed his writing skills and recorded his copious chidushei Torah.^[1] He writes in the short biography he published on Rabbi Silver:

I remember at times he screamed at me for lack of understanding-however, even then I sensed his great love and concern for me and not the slightest hint of hatred. Rabbi Silver was a man whose very essence was giving to others-his ahavas yisroel (love for his fellow Jew) knew no bounds…he saw every Jew as an extension of himself.^[2]

New York (1955-2013)

He later moved east and became a well recognized mechanech, educator, advisor, talmid chochom and mechaber seforim. He served as rosh yeshiva of Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC) and authored over a dozen books.^[1]

The SHOA Foundation interviewed Rabbi and Mrs. Wahrman in 1997 about their experiences in Germany before, and during, WWII.^[3]

Books

In addition to numerous articles printed under a pseudonym in various Torah journals, Rabbi Wahrman authored a series called She'erit Yosef of in depth analyses of topics.

• She'erit Yosef vol. 1 (New York, 1977)
• She'erit Yosef vol. 2 (New York, 1981)
• Orot HaPesach (New York, 1982)
• She'erit Yosef vol. 3 (New York, 1984)
• Orot Yimei HaRachamamim (New York, 1984)
• Orot HaShabbat (New York, 1986)
• She'erit Yosef vol. 4 (New York, 1987)
• She'erit Yosef vol. 5 (New York, 1989)
• She'erit Yosef vol. 6 - Orot Chag HaSukkot (New York, 1990)
• Lest We Forget: Growing Up in Nazi Leipzig, 1933-1939 (May 1991)
• She'erit Yosef vol. 7 (New York, 1995)
• Before the Storm : Memories of a Lost World (2002)
• Kol Avinoam (New York, 2011)

Torah Journals

For decades, Rabbi Wahrman was a regular contributor to Torah journals such as Ohr HaMizrach, HaMaor, HaPardes, and HaDarom.^[4]

Personal Library

Rabbi Wahrman's first floor of the house was lined with bookshelves, all packed to the brim. No shelves were double booked, indicating that the books were always in constant use. He had the habit of writing his name neatly on every book, all 1500 of them. The library lacked political or regional boundaries, such that one could find a Likutei Sichos of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, A Yabia Omer of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the Teshuvot of Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch of the Edah Charedit all on the same shelf. The bedrooms were not spared from books either, as each bedroom had floor to ceiling bookshelves. There was also portrait of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, facing a row of books containing Vayoel Moshe of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum.^[5]

Additional Links

• Words of Appreciation by Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman
• YUTorah Lecture
• Yeshiva World News Obituary
• Matzav.com Obituary

References

1. 1 2 3 ralph. "Rav Shlomo Wahrman zt"l | Matzav.com". matzav.com. Retrieved 2016-10-31. 
2. ↑ "ShtetLinks: Obeliai Silver Page". kehilalinks.jewishgen.org. Retrieved 2016-11-02. 
3. ↑ "USC Shoah Foundation Institute testimony of Solomon Wahrman - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. Retrieved 2016-11-01. 
4. ↑ Query Otzar HaChochmah for exact references, as the list numbers over a hundred publications.
5. ↑ Mizrahi, Israel (2013-09-17). "Musings of a Jewish Bookseller: Recent Aquisition: The library of Rabbi Shlomo Wahrman A"H". Musings of a Jewish Bookseller. Retrieved 2016-10-31.