Shmuel Ehrenfeld

Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld
Mattersdorfer Rav
Gravestone in Har HaMenuchot cemetery of Jerusalem
Personal details
Birth name	Shmuel Ehrenfeld
Born	1891 Mattersdorf, Austria
Died	1980 New York City
Buried	Jerusalem, Israel
Nationality	Austrian
Denomination	Haredi
Parents	Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld Gittel Krauss
Spouse	Rochel Ehrenfeld
Children	Simcha Bunim Akiva Sarah 4 other daughters
Semicha	Rabbi Meir Arik and Rabbi Yosef Engel

Shmuel Ehrenfeld (Yiddish: שמואל עהרענפעלד‎, 1891–1980), known as the Mattersdorfer Rav, was a pre-eminent Orthodox Jewish rabbi in pre-war Austria and a respected Torah leader and community builder in post-war America. He established Yeshivas Chasan Sofer in New York City and taught thousands of students who went on to become leaders of American Torah Jewry. He also founded the neighborhood of Kiryat Mattersdorf in Jerusalem, Israel, where his son and grandson became prominent Torah educators. He was the great-great-grandson of the Chasam Sofer through the Chasam Sofer's daughter Hindel, who married Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Ehrenfeld.

Shmuel Ehrenfeld was born and raised in Mattersdorf, Austria. His parents were Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, rav of Mattersdorf, and Rebbetzin Gittel Krauss. His paternal grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld (1835–1883), known as the Chasan Sofer, was one of the oldest grandsons of the Chasam Sofer.

In addition to founding the Sofer-Ehrenfeld family line, the Chasam Sofer set the precedent for his family members to serve as rav of the Austrian town of Mattersdorf and head the yeshiva there. Mattersdorf had a Jewish presence going back to the eleventh century. The Chasam Sofer became rav of the town in 1798. When he left to become rav of Pressburg in 1807, he was succeeded in Mattersdorf by his uncle, Rabbi Bunim Eger (brother of Rabbi Akiva Eger), and then by his son, Rabbi Shimon Sofer (the Michtav Sofer). When Rabbi Shimon Sofer left to become rav in Kraków, the Chasam Sofer's eldest grandson, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld (the Chasan Sofer (Hebrew: חתן סופר‎‎, an acronym for חידושי תורה נכד סופר, Chidushei Torah Neched Sofer, "Torah Insights of the Grandson of Sofer"), became rav of Mattersdorf. After Rabbi Shmuel's death on 4 August 1883 (1 Av, 5643), he was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld (the Maaneh Simcha). When the latter died on 18 July 1926 (7 Av, 5686), he was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld.