Avrohom Pinter

Avrohom Pinter, also known as Abraham Pinter,[1] Avraham Pinter[2] or Avram Pinter,[3] (1949 – 13 April 2020) was an English rabbi and a leading figure in the Haredi community in Stamford Hill, London.[4][3] He was also a local government politician who served as a Labour councillor on the Hackney Borough Council[5] (Northfield ward, elected 1982 and 1986).[6] He also represented Haredi interests on the London Jewish Forum.[3] In 2014 he was ranked by the Jewish Chronicle as no. 32 on their list of influential British Jews.[3] He was the principal of the Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls' School,[5][7][8] a role in which he received praise and criticism.[9][10]

Pinter, a son of Rabbi Shmuel (Shmelke) Pinter,[11][12] was born in Stamford Hill in 1949.[1] He married Gittel Beck (1947–2014) in 1971 and they had several children together, two of whom, Yisrael and Chaim, became rabbis.[13]

Pinter died in London of COVID-19 on 13 April 2020.[2][14][15] On his death, he was described by the Board of Deputies of British Jews as "a much loved figure across the community, building bridges between different groups of Jews, Government & wider UK society".[16] His friend Maurice Glasman paid tribute to the fact that "Avruham Pinter, for many years, was trusted by the different Chasidic groups and represented them on the Kedassia board, in the Union of Independent Orthodox Congregations and to the outside world." The Hasidic newspaper, Hamodia, said "It is rare in the U.K. for a chassidishe rabbi to be mourned equally by schoolgirls, Rabbanim, the Bishop of London, pillars of the Anglo-Jewish community and the Mayor of London".[17]