A Life of Torah & Leadership

הרב משה הלפרן Rabbi Moshe Halpern

Rosh Beit MidrashEducatorMentor

Twelve years at the helm of the Rabbinerseminar zu Berlin, decades of partnership with Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu zt"l, and a lifetime devoted to building a new generation of European rabbinic leadership.

Explore Shiurim → His Story

12 Years in Berlin

100+ Rabbis Ordained

3 Continents Served

∞ Hours of Torah

Rabbi Moshe Halpern with talmidim and colleagues

A Brief Introduction

A teacher whose Torah crossed continents.

From the chambers of the London Beth Din, through the rebuilding of rabbinic training in post-war Berlin, to a new chapter in New York — the Rav's life has been one continuous shiur.

Rabbi Moshe Halpern served for twelve years as Rosh Beit Midrash of the historic Rabbinerseminar zu Berlin, where he guided a generation of Orthodox rabbis serving communities across Germany — many of them returning sons of the former Soviet Union finding their way home to Yiddishkeit.

Before Berlin, he stood beside Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu zt"l at the London Beth Din, a partnership that would shape his approach to halacha, leadership, and the art of teaching Torah to those who hunger for it.

Read the full biography

Torah learning is by no means a dry subject devoid of excitement. This must be taught to the children at a young age so that their enthusiasm for learning will last them for a life time.

— Rabbi Moishe Halpern · On Parashas Vayikra, 2015 Read the original on rabbinerseminar.de →

Featured Shiurim

Recent teachings, freshly recorded.

A small selection from a much larger library — a starting point for new listeners and a return for old talmidim.

Parsha•42 min

The Patient Soil — A Reading of Parshas Bereishis

On the hidden architecture of the first week and what it asks of us in our own beginnings.

Draft · Spring 5786 Watch

Halacha•58 min

Hilchos Shabbos in the Modern Home

Practical guidance drawn from years of teshuvos written for European communities navigating contemporary questions.

Draft · Series I Watch

Chassidus•36 min

The Bochur Who Found His Way Home

A ma'amar on teshuva, told through the lens of the talmidim who came to Berlin from very far away.

Draft · Mo'adim Watch

Browse the Full Library →

A Mentorship That Built Generations

Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu zt"l & the Rav.

For nearly two decades, the Dayan and the Rav stood together at semicha ceremonies, jointly conferring authority on rabbis who would lead communities from Hamburg to Munich, Frankfurt to Vienna.

Their partnership at the Rabbinerseminar zu Berlin restored a chain of transmission that had been broken for seventy years. It was, in the words of one talmid, “a quiet revolution conducted in suits and seforim.”

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A Home Open to All

The Halpern table never had an empty seat.

Students, travelers, ba'alei teshuva, and complete strangers all found their place. Some stayed for a Shabbos meal. Others stayed for years.

The Rav and Rebbetzin Hadassa — known to all as Dassy — built more than an institution; they built a household whose hospitality became part of the curriculum. Many of the rabbis ordained under his hand learned how to be a Rav by watching him be a husband, a father, and a host.

About the Rebbetzin

From the Rav's Pen

An Insight into Parashas Vayikra

Why does the Torah obscure G-d's identity in the opening verse of Vayikra? The Rav's reading turns the question into a teaching about how children should be introduced to learning — through wonder, not through facts.

Read the Full Dvar Torah → Published April 2015 · rabbinerseminar.de

Sefarim & Publications

Works in print.

A library of seforim, kuntreisim, and articles — collected here for the first time.

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Sefarim list pending — to be confirmed with the family. Cover images will replace these placeholder cards.

הרב משה הלפרן Rabbi Moshe Halpern

A teacher whose Torah crossed continents.

Recent teachings, freshly recorded.

The Patient Soil — A Reading of Parshas Bereishis

Hilchos Shabbos in the Modern Home

The Bochur Who Found His Way Home

Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu zt"l & the Rav.

The Halpern table never had an empty seat.

An Insight into Parashas Vayikra

Works in print.

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