Rav Elimelech Wasserman, Son-In-Law Of Rav Asher Freund, Murdered In Terrorist Attack

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — One of the three Israelis murdered in the terrorist shooting attack at Givat Shaul was Rabbi Elimelech Wasserman, a 73-year-old Dayan on the Rabbinical Court in Ashdod and the son-in-law of Rav Asher Freund zts’l, the founder of the Yad Ezra organization.

Rabbi Wasserman, a scion of the Belz and Premishlan chasidic dynasties, studied in Saret-Vizhnitz institutions in Haifa in his youth. Later he completed his Dayanus studies at Harry Fischel Institute in Jerusalem, where he was ordained by Rabbi Yosef Cohen and later by the Chief Rabbinate.

By request of the Belzer Rebbe he was appointed in 2016 as a Dayan in the Jerusalem Beis Din. Rabbi Wasserman was renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of Shas and Poskim and the entire Torah. He was also known for his benevolence, righteousness and humility, as he helped many people secretly and fled from honor.

Rabbi Wasserman was on his way to the Ashdod Beis Din Thursday morning and was sitting and learning when he was cruelly murdered in cold blood by the ruthless terrorists

Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, the president of the Supreme Rabbinical Court, eulogized Rabbi Elimelech, stating that he was a “Talmid Chacham and a unique character who continued even after pension to work in the Beis Din and assist in resolving disputes. The rabbinical courts will miss his illustrious presence which provided so much good and loving kindness.”

Rabbi Freund’s levaya will depart at 1:30 PM from his father-in-law Rav Asher Freund’s home on Don Yosef Nasi and will pass the Belz Beis Midrash on its way to Har Hamenuchos.

Another Dayan from Beersheva, Rabbi Avidan Spanier, was seriously injured in the terrorist attack, his name is Avidan Moshe Ben Mina Rivka.

Two other people were murdered in the terrorist attack, Mrs. Esther Ifergan (67), the principal of the Beis Yaakov- Benot Hadassah in Beit Shemesh, and Livia Dickman, a 24-year-old resident of Har Nof.