Yaakov Ben Zion Mendelson

Yaakov Ben Zion Mendelson

Rabbi Yaakov Ben Zion HaCohen Mendelsohn (Hebrew: יעקב בן ציון הכהן מענדעלסאן‎) (October 12, 1875 – August 5, 1941) was a renowned Orthodox communal rabbi, Talmudist, Halachist, rabbinical author and scholar.

Rabbi Mendelson was born Yaakov Ben Zion Morein in 1875, in Kreitzburg, part of the Vitebsk district of what was then Russia, to his parents Menachem and Beila Rochel Morein. After receiving rigorous Talmudic education, he was drafted into the Russian Army. He deserted, changing his surname to Mendelson ("Mendel's son," with Mendel being the Yiddish equivalent of his father's name, Menachem).

Rabbi Mendelson emigrated to London, England. At age 22, Rabbi Mendelson found a position as the Rabbi/Dayan of Leeds (and of the ‘Chevras Torah’ shul therein), and sent for his cousin, Feiga, who was betrothed to him. They married in Leeds. In 1905, he took a new position as rabbi of Gateshead, and later, as rabbi of Glasgow.

Rabbi Mendelson relocated to the USA in 1915, and in 1919 took up the Rabbinical position of the Brisk d’Lita shul in Newark, New Jersey. In 1921 he was appointed as the rabbi of Newark, with primary jurisdiction over matters of Shechita and Kashrus. Rabbi Mendelson was then the Rabbi of Adas Yisroel in the city, before founding his own shul, Congregation Beis Hamedrash Hagadol, in Newark in 1934. It was commonly known as the Bergen Street Shul.

Distinguished for his scholarship and devotion to the Jewish community, Rabbi Mendelson was appointed vice-president of the Assembly of Orthodox Rabbis of the USA and Canada. Rabbi Mendelson died in 1941, leaving a widow, five sons, four daughters and twelve grandchildren. Another son, Shmuel Dov, died in a scalding accident in Gateshead in 1905.