Rabbi Shafran Remembered for his Commitment and Determination

December 21, 2016 William Linker

Rabbi Simcha Shafran, spiritual leader of the now-defunct Adath Yeshurun Synagogue in Randallstown for 55 years, died yesterday, Dec. 20, from a brain tumor. He was 91.

Hundreds of family members, colleagues, friends and admirers packed into the main chapel at Sol Levinson & Bros. funeral home today to pay their respects to Rabbi Shafran, who served as Adath Yeshurun’s spiritual leader from 1952 to the congregation’s closing in 2007. He also served as the mazkir, or recorder, for the Baltimore Bais Din, or rabbinical court, for many years.

“He was determined,” Rabbi Shafran’s son, Rabbi Avi Shafran, said in a eulogy about his father. “Determination describes his whole life. We will all miss you terribly, but we will cherish our memories.”

Born in the Polish town of Ruzhan, Rabbi Simcha Shafran grew up in a climate of poverty and anti-Semitism, according to “Fire Ice Air: A Polish Jew’s Memoir of Yeshiva, Siberia, America” (Hashgacha Press), a 2012 biography written by Rabbi Avi Shafran about his father.

In the fall of 1939, Rabbi Simcha Shafran watched as his hometown was burned to the ground after Nazi invasion of Poland. He narrowly escaped death by what he described as “one of God’s miracles.”

During the war, Rabbi Shafran studied at a yeshiva in the Lithuanian capital of Vilna, but was eventually exiled with his rebbe and classmates to a Soviet labor camp in Siberia. The isolation and desolation of Siberia brought on its own challenges in observing and practicing Judaism but as “Fire Ice Air” details, Rabbi Shafran stayed the course and celebrated holidays and prayed daily.

After the war, Rabbi Shafran went to the German town of Salzheim to study at a yeshiva there. In June of 1947, he immigrated to United States and relocated in Baltimore, where his wife’s family lived.

Rabbi Shafran began serving in the pulpit at Adath Yeshurun in 1952 at its Pimlico Road location in Northwest Baltimore. He was the synagogue’s first full-time rabbi, and Rabbi Shafran also taught Torah and Jewish studies at the Talmudical Academy of Baltimore

At the start of Rabbi Shafran’s tenure at Adath Yeshurun, the synagogue was largely comprised of elderly congregants, according to “Fire Ice Air.” He spent most weeknights at English language classes designed for European immigrants. In addition, the rabbi and his first wife, Pauline, worked together on weekly sermons, in both Yiddish and English.

In “Fire Ice Air,” he described their dynamic as “truly a team,” as his wife also helped conduct a Shabbat program for children complete with stories, music and food. The synagogue moved to Randallstown in 1968 and remained there until closing nearly four decades later.

Alan Friedenberg, a Randallstown native now living in Ginot Shomron, Israel, grew up attending Adath Yeshurun with his late father, Joseph.

“People were inspired by him,” Alan Friedenberg said of Rabbi Shafran. “He would change lightbulbs in the chandeliers, he helped put the top on the sukkah. [Being the rabbi at Adath Yeshurun] was his life. It was more important to him than any regular day job.”

Rabbi Shafran is survived by his children, Rochel (Mayer) Zoberman, Rabbi Avi (Gita) Shafran and Rabbi Noach (Shalvah) Shafran; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his first wife, Pauline Shafran (nee Kahn), and his second wife, Ethel (nee Mendlowitz).

Contributions in his memory may be sent to Simchas Esther, 424 Yeshiva Lane, Baltimore, Md. 21208, or Hatzalah of Baltimore, c/o Heyman, 4014 Fallstaff Rd., Baltimore, Md. 21215

Shiva will be held at the Shafran residence at 422 Yeshiva Lane on the Ner Israel Rabbinical College campus in Pikesville.

William Linker is a Jmore editorial staff intern.