Rabbi Cemach HoffenbergRead More →
1863 – 1938
Born: Lithuania
Served: Ados Israel
Cemach Hoffenberg was born in Lithuania in 1863, son of Pesah and Zippa Hoffenberg. He came to the U.S. in 1897, after his ordination. He served for a short time in Springfield, and then was called to Hartford in 1899 to become the rabbi of Ados Israel Synagogue which he served for 39 years.
Rabbi Hoffenberg was a renowned scholar, an authority on the Talmud commentaries and the codes. Before his death he had completed a manuscript, “Commentary on the Talmud”. He was a board member of all the Jewish charitable and educational institutions of Hartford and a charter board member of Mt. Sinai Hospital.
Hoffenberg died on Nov. 28, 1938, and was survived by his widow, Kayle Fishel Hoffenberg; his sons, Atty. Joseph (in the state attorney general’s office), Samuel, Abraham, and Gabriel; and his daughters, Mrs. Max Hollinger (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Mrs. Meyer Goldsmith ( New Britain), and Mrs. Alvin Fien ( Watkins Glen, N.Y.). His widow, Kayle Fishel Hoffenberg, who was active in religious and charitable organizations, died on Feb. 26, 1954 at the age of 80. His first wife, Sarah Zivia Schine Hoffenberg, died in 1896.