Tzvi Hirsch Ferber

Tzvi Hirsch was born to his parents Shimon Yehuda Leib (died March 9, 1906[1]) and Chana Devorah (died December 29, 1911[1]) Farber (note the spelling[2]) in Slabodka/Kovno[1] in about 1878.[2] He married Fraida the daughter of Tzvi Yosef Goldberg (died June 6, 1923), great granddaughter of Rabbi Zev Wolf Lipkin, the Av Beth Din of Goldingen and Telz (the Ben Aryeh, author of glosses on the Talmud & Rishonim; died May 18, 1858) and great niece of Rav Yisrael Salanter Lipkin (died Feb 2, 1883; Father of the Musar Movement).[1]

The name Tzvi Hirsch is a bilingual tautological name in Yiddish.[3]^:138 It means literally "deer-deer" and is traceable back to the Hebrew word צבי tsvi "deer" and the German word Hirsch "deer".[3]^:138

In July 1913, he accepted a call to become Rabbi of the West End Talmud Torah Synagogue in Soho, London, a disorganised community of working-class Jewish immigrants of Eastern European origin. In a short span of time, Rabbi Ferber successfully centralised the unorganised Jewish activities and religious life of the community into one institution.

Active in communal affairs, Rabbi Ferber established the Chesed V’emeth Burial Society in 1915. He helped found the London yeshiva and was for many years the honorary secretary of the London "Vaad Harabonim" (rabbinical council) and chairman of the Association of London Rabbis ("Hisachdus Harabonim"). A member of its World Rabbinical council, Rabbi Ferber gave valuable assistance to the Agudas Yisroel movement. He closely collaborated with Rabbi Dr M Jung and Rabbi Dr V Schonfeld in Shechita and other communal issues. He was a friend of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, Chief Rabbi of Palestine, from the time that the latter was Rabbi of Machzike Hadath in London.

Rabbi Ferber was hugely admired and venerated by his congregants and colleagues worldwide. Indeed, when he left his seat, everyone stood up and bowed towards him as a sign of respect. He was described as a “man of saintliness and gentleness, loved and admired by all who came into contact with him”. One of the most riveting Jewish orators of his day, he preached his sermons in Yiddish, and could bring his congregation to tears of nostalgia, or “get everyone laughing within the space of two sentences".

Rabbi Ferber was rabbi of Soho for 42 years, from 1913 until his retirement in 1955. He died in 1966 in London, survived by his son Rabbi Jacob Ferber and four older daughters.

The eldest daughter Hoda Malka (Eda) married the teacher, editor and poet Chaim Lewis. Eda was an early female marriage counsellor in post war London. Chaim Lewis published the prize winning memoir 'A Soho Address' (Gollancz, 1965) and several books of poetry and was editor of The Jewish Review periodical in South Africa.

The second daughter Feiga Leah (Fanny) was married to Rabbi Moshe (Morris) Davidson, Rabbi of the South West London United synagogue, who obtained his smicha from Rav Elya Lopian at Etz Chaim yeshiva, London.

The third daughter Anne took care of her father in his later years.

The fourth daughter Liba (Lilly) married Rabbi Shlomo Pesach Toperoff, who first served as rabbi of Sunderland and then as Rabbi of Newcastle upon Tyne. He authored of many prolific works including Lev Avot, Echod Mi Yodea, Eternal Life a handbook for the mourner, and The Animal Kingdom in Jewish Thought.

In the world of Torah, Rabbi Ferber was renowned as an outstanding scholar and sage. A prolific author, he produced 22 acclaimed works of Torah scholarship, perhaps the largest ever output by a Rabbi in England. He was also a frequent contributor to numerous Hebrew journals and an avid reader in the Hebrew collections of the British Library. Taking advantage of his location in the West End, he visited the Oriental Reading Room of the British Museum every day.

• Jewish Chronicle archival material
• Short obituary in HaPardes, Rabbinic journal (page 38, Hebrew)
• Rebi Eliezer Gordon, page 176