Zalman Nechemia Goldberg


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Zalman Nechemia Goldberg (Hebrew: זלמן נחמיה גולדברג; 28 January 1931 – 20 August 2020) was an Ashkenazi rabbi, posek (decider on points of religious law), and rosh yeshiva (dean) in Israel. He was a son-in-law of Shlomo Zalman Auerbach.[citation needed]

Rabbi

Zalman Nechemia Goldberg

Goldberg in 2011

Personal
Born28 January 1931

Minsk, Soviet Union

Died20 August 2020 (aged 89)

Jerusalem

ReligionJudaism
DenominationOrthodox Judaism
OccupationRabbi
PositionRosh yeshiva
YeshivaSadigura
PositionAv Bet Din
OrganisationJerusalem Rabbinical High Court

Goldberg was an authority on halakha (Jewish law) and the Av Bet Din (Chief Justice) of the Rabbinical High Court in Jerusalem, where he made rulings on the issues of gittin (divorce) decrees, ketubot (marriage contracts), artificial insemination, and the commandment of living in the Land of Israel. He co-authored the Jewish prenuptial agreement sponsored by the Rabbinical Council of America together with Mordechai Willig.[1]

Goldberg was the rosh yeshiva of both the Sadigura Hasidic yeshiva and the Jerusalem College of Technology (Machon Lev), and headed the Institute for the Higher Study of Halacha (Machon Iyun Ha'Halacha) in Jerusalem. He lectured extensively at Chabad's Yeshivat Torat Emet of Jerusalem on matters of Jewish law.[citation needed]

Goldberg was also well known for his semicha (rabbinic ordination) exams, which were often taken as an alternative to those offered by the Israeli Rabbinate.[2]

Goldberg became the editor-in-chief of Encyclopedia Talmudit in 2008.[3]

In November 2009, he wrote an endorsement for The King's Torah, a controversial book by Yitzhak Shapira.[4] He later rescinded it, saying that the book includes statements that "have no place in human intelligence."[5]

Goldberg died on 20 August 2020 at Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem, a week after collapsing in his home and was buried in Mount of Olives cemetery.[6]