Binyamin Shlomo Hamburger

File:המבורגר הרב בנימין שלמה.jpg

Binyamin Shlomo Hamburger ({{langx|he|בנימין שלמה המבורגר}}{{rlm}}) is a rabbi and author who is regarded as an expert on the subject of minhag Ashkenaz, the customs of German and Western European Jews, and their history. Born in Basel, Switzerland, to German parents, he currently lives in Bnei Brak, Israel.{{cite news|url=http://veryold.moreshesashkenaz.org/Files/The_New_Yekkes,_Interview,_Mishpacha,_17_Shevat_5766.pdf |title=The New Yekkes |author=Revier, Chaim |newspaper=Mishpacha | format=PDF|date=2006-02-15 | pages=26–30}}

Having originally been educated in Eastern European Jewish and Hasidic institutions, he came to explore his family's heritage after learning more about the traditions observed by his ancestor, Moses Sofer (1762–1839), the rabbinical authority better known as the "Chatam Sofer" after his writings. He commenced his research in the 1970s, and in the late 1980s founded the research institute מכון מורשת אשכנז (Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz, Center of Ashkenaz Heritage) to further these studies. A number of communities affiliated with the Institute, in Israel and the United States, now follow the Ashkenaz custom.

He is best known for a five-volume series of books titled שרשי מנהג אשכנז (Shorshei Minhag Ashkenaz, The Roots of Ashkenaz Custom) and an introductory volume on the importance of adhering to the Ashkenaz custom.{{cite book | author=Hamburger BS | title=[Rabbinic authorities on the observance of the Ashkenaz custom] גדולי הדורות על משמר מנהג אשכנז | language=Hebrew | location=Bnei Berak | publisher=מכון מורשת אשכנז | year=1994 | oclc=233096174 | url=https://tablet.otzar.org/he/book/book.php?book=143213}} An English synopsis of the work appeared in 2010.{{cite book | author=Minhag Ashkenaz Sources and Roots |title=Shorshei Minhag Ashkenaz. Minhag Ashkenaz Sources and Roots: Synopsis of Volumes I-IV |publisher=Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz |location=Nanuet, NY |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-58330-329-0}}

He is also the author of the 1989 book משיחי השקר ומתנגדיהם (Meshichei Ha-Sheker U-Mitnagdeihem, False Messiahs and their Detractors), a historical work detailing many of the people who claimed to be the Jewish messiah, as well as a multi-volume work on the Yeshiva in Furth.{{cite news|title=Ashkenaz: The world that is |author=Tannenbaum, Avi |newspaper=Yated Ne'eman | url=http://veryold.moreshesashkenaz.org/Files/Ashkenaz_The_World_that_Is.pdf | pages=110 | date=2011-02-11}} A second edition of משיחי השקר ומתנגדיהם was published in 2009; in the foreword Hamburger records the negative reception (including book burning) of the work by some groups when it first appeared.{{cite book | author=Hamburger BS | title=משיחי השקר ומתנגדיהם | edition=2nd | publisher=Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz | location=Bnei Berak | year=2009 | url=https://www.moreshesashkenaz.org/en/other-publications/3-false-messiahs | oclc=713945810}}