Yitzhak Avigdor Orenstein

Orenstein was born in Jerusalem as a descendant of the Rivlin family,{{Cite web |title=אוצר החכמה |url=https://tablet.otzar.org/#/book/146990/p/-1/t/1/fs/0/start/0/end/0/c |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=tablet.otzar.org}} to Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Orenstein and Shoshana Raizel, daughter of Shmuel Zuckerman. As a child, he studied at various Yeshivas across Jerusalem, such as {{Ill|Yeshiva Torat Emet|he|ישיבת תורת אמת (חב"ד)}}, run by the local Chabad chapter, being one of the first members of the school prior to its closure during the outbreak of World War I.{{Cite web |title=Yitzhak-Avigdor Orenstein |url=https://www.izkor.gov.il/%D7%99%D7%A6%D7%97%D7%A7-%D7%90%D7%91%D7%99%D7%92%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A8%20%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%A0%D7%A9%D7%98%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9F/en_03aa4b1f87a40a29db06e88b0c99cbdd |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=www.izkor.gov.il}}

During the war, when the Yishuv in Jerusalem was stricken with various epidemics and food insecurity, he took part in missions on behalf of the needy and worked with the Committee for Aid to the Jews of Jerusalem. Using his Ottoman citizenship, he helped hide Jewish migrants of the Old Yishuv from the authorities by moving them out of the city and into the country for protection from conscription into the Ottoman army.{{Sfn|אבן-אור|1968|p=21}} In 1915, he married to Mushka Liba,{{Cite book |last=Tidhar |first=David |url=https://tidhar.tourolib.org/tidhar/view/10/3516 |title=Encyclopedia of the Founders and Builders of Israel |year=1946 |volume=X |pages=3516 |language=he |author-link=Tidhar, David |access-date=2024-01-03}} daughter of Rabbi Ashker Yitzhak Weidman and Bluma Slonim, a fellow Ottoman Jew. She was a 5th generation descendant of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Zoref. On her mother's side, she was a descendant of Dovber Schneuri.{{Cite web |title=מושקה ליבה אורנשטיין ז"ל |url=https://www.gal-ed.co.il/jerusalem-lezichram/info/n_show.aspx?id=36662 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174357/http://www.gal-ed.co.il/jerusalem-lezichram/info/n_show.aspx?id=36662 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=gal-ed.co.il |language=he}}

In 1919, Orenstein began publishing {{Ill|HaDvir|he|הדביר (כתב עת)}}, a monthly magazine for the subjects of Torah and Eretz Yisroel, discussing literary topics as well as public affairs concerns.{{Cite book |last=בן מנחם |first=נפתלי |title=עיתונות התנועה בארץ ישראל, בתוך ספר הציונות הדתית |volume=I |pages=494 |language=he}} In 1925, he and his wife were founding members of the {{Ill|Neve Yaakov colony|he|נווה יעקב (מושבה)}}, which he again fled to during the 1929 pogroms. In 1929, he met with the Reichin Rebbe, who offered him a secretarial position in Riga, which he declined due to his declining interest in Europe.{{Sfn|אבן-אור|1968|p=34}}

In 1930, he was appointed by the Chief Rabbinate to the position of Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Places. He served in the position until the {{Ill|The Battle for the Jewish Quarter|lt=fall of the Jewish Quarter in the War for Independence|he|הקרב על הרובע היהודי בירושלים}}. Concurrently, he became a member of Colel Chabad, and helped aid poor Jewish families in Israel, eventually becoming a director of the organization.{{Cite web |last=זיגמן |first=תמר |date=2017-05-09 |title=תיעוד נדיר של רב הכותל הראשון ורעייתו, שנפלו ברובע היהודי במלחמת השחרור |url=https://blog.nli.org.il/ornstein/ |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=הספרנים |language=he-IL}} In 1940, he moved with his family to the Old CIty, where he and his wife took a more active role in the philanthropy of the city.

In 1945, he founded Midrash Shmuel Yeshiva, named after Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn; the president of the yeshiva was Rabbi Yosef Yitzhak Schneersohn. Orenstein served as the Rosh Yeshiva and on the board with {{Ill|Alexander Yudasin|he|אלכסנדר יודאסין}} until its closure in 1948.

File:Kever harav orenshtain.jpg]]

During the Arab siege of the Old City during the 1948 Palestine war, Orenstein was responsible for the administrative affairs of all the residents of the Jewish Quarter. He and his wife worked devotedly to the safekeeping of the neighborhood. They were killed by artillery fire in the invasion and were put in a mass grave in the quarter. When the news of his death was received, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi set a telegram to David Ben-Gurion statying, "A great minister has fallen today in Israel." He and his wife were survived by two daughters and four sons, all whom took a role in the Israeli War of Independence.{{Cite book |last=לירון |first=אהרון |title=ירושלים העתיקה במצור ובקרב |pages=391 |language=he |trans-title=Ancient Jerusalem in Siege and Battle}}

In 1967, both Orenstein and his wife were transferred to the Mount of Olives Cemetery for a proper burial, and his name was engraved in the {{Ill|Memorial for the Defenders of the Old City of Jerusalem|simple}} on Mount Herzl.

• {{Cite book |last=אבן-אור |first=שמואל |title=יומן הכותל המערבי |publisher=בית אורנשטין |year=1968 |location=Jerusalem |pages= |language=he |trans-title=Western Wall Journal}}

{{S-start}}

{{Succession box

| title = Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Places

| years = 1930–1948

| before = None (position established)

| after = {{ill|Yosef Moshe Shechter|he|יוסף משה שכטר}}

}}

{{S-end}}

{{Authority control|qid=Q6261986}}

Category:1893 births

Category:1948 deaths

Category:Jews from the Ottoman Empire

Category:Politicians from Jerusalem

Category:Hasidic rabbis in Mandatory Palestine

Category:Clergy from Jerusalem

Category:Deaths from explosion

Category:Israeli military personnel killed in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War