Herman N. Neuberger
Herman Naftali Neuberger was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi who for over fifty years was the leader of Ner Israel Rabbinical College. He was the brother of the physician Albert Neuberger.
Early years
Born in Hassfurt, northern Bavaria, he was the youngest of three children of Max Neuburger, cloth merchant and businessman, and Bertha Neuberger,When he was eight years old the Neubergers moved to Würzburg. When he was 13, a few weeks after his bar mitzvah, his father died. As a teenager in Würzburg he met Rabbi Shamshon Rafael Weiss, an affluent Torah scholar who became his mentor and encouraged him to attend a larger yeshiva, so he traveled to Poland to learn in the Mir Yeshiva.
By 1938 Anti-Semitism was growing in Europe due to the rise of the Nazis. A relative of his father in New York was able to send him immigration papers to come to the United States. Not wanting to leave others behind, he arranged for papers for some of his close relatives too. His mother and siblings had already escaped. He also helped Rabbi Dovid Kronglass, who would later become the Mashgiach of Ner Israel, escape.
In America
He studied in Baltimore at Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman's yeshiva in a local synagogue, named Ner Israel. By 1941 Neuberger was on the Board, helping with administrative functions and arranging for the construction of a new school building on Garrison Blvd.In 1942 Neuberger married Judy Kramer, Ruderman's sister in-law. They remained married until her death in 1994.