Mordechai Auerbach

Rabbi Mordechai Auerbach was a veteran Tel Aviv rabbi and halachic authority, best known as a son of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, one of the leading Jewish legal scholars of the twentieth century. Born in 1942 (3 Adar 5702) in Jerusalem's Shaarei Chesed neighborhood to Rabbi Shlomo Zalman and Rebbetzin Chaya Rivka Auerbach, he grew up in a home steeped in Torah scholarship. His grandfather was Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Leib Auerbach, rosh yeshiva of Shaar Hashamayim. As a young man he studied at the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak under Rabbi Baruch Dov Povarsky.

After marrying Gittel, daughter of Rabbi Aharon Lemberger and a granddaughter of the Kopitchinitzer Rebbe, he settled in Tel Aviv. With the guidance of the Rebbes of the Ruzhin dynasty he was appointed rabbi of Kehillas Abir Yaakov, the Sadigura Hasidic congregation in Tel Aviv, after the Abir Yaakov Rebbe died without children. He held that post for decades. His beis medrash on Olifant (Eliphant) Street became a well-known address for chasidim, other observant Jews, and many baalei teshuvah. He was widely remembered for a personal approach: rather than expecting one identical path, he gave individual guidance while remaining firmly committed to Jewish law.

Alongside the kehillah he served as Rosh Yeshivas Halichos Shlomo in Tel Aviv and as nasi (president) of Israel's National Center for Taharas HaMishpacha, supporting mikvaos across the country. He also served as nasi of educational institutions including the Ohel Rivka Seminary and the Chochmas Shlomo cheder in Jerusalem. He delivered daily shiurim, received visitors for halachic questions and personal counsel, and maintained a close relationship with Maale Eliyahu Yeshiva in Tel Aviv, attending its annual first Selichot service. His final public visit there came about two weeks before his death, when he travelled despite ill health to speak before Selichot.

In mid-September 2026 he was hospitalized at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv with severe pneumonia after a period of weakness. His condition deteriorated and he was moved to intensive care. Communal tefillos were held for Mordechai ben Chaya Rivka, including gatherings at his father's grave. He died on Saturday evening, 19 September 2026, aged 84. The levaya left from Abir Yaakov on Olifant Street in Tel Aviv and continued to Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem for burial. He is survived by his wife, children including Rabbi Aharon Auerbach and Rabbi Chaim Leib Auerbach, grandchildren, and a large extended Auerbach rabbinic family.