page_title: Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft
section_title: Chief Rabbi of Hannover and Lower Saxony
hierarchical_section_title: Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft / Leadership Roles In Germany / Chief Rabbi of Hannover and Lower Saxony
caption_attribution_description: עברית: הרב שלמה זאב צווייגענהאפט (עומד באמצע עם הכוס) מסדר קידושין בעיר הנובר בשנת 1947
context_page_description: Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft was Rosh Hashochtim of Poland prior to the Holocaust. After the Holocaust, he was Chief Rabbi of Hannover and Lower Saxony. After emigrating to the United States he was a Rav Hamachshir and world-renowned for his expertise in all matters related to shechita and was described as the "foremost authority on shechita".
context_section_description: In the months after the liberation of Bergen Belsen, Jewish survivors slowly began to leave the D.P. Camp and settle in numerous towns and cities throughout the British Zone. When the fledgling community of Jewish survivors in Hannover became large enough to warrant its own Rabbi, Rabbi Zweigenhaft recommended to the British Chief Rabbi's Religious Emergency Council that they should appoint his friend (and future brother-in-law), Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Lubinsky to the position. In January 1946, Rabbi Lubinsky was appointed Chief Rabbi of Hannover. The community continued to grow and additional Rabbinic leadership was required. On a few rare occasions, the Vaad Harabonim of The British Zone convened a Bais Din under the leadership of Rabbi Yoel Halpern, in Hannover, consisting of various members of the Vaad including, Rabbi Lubinsky and Rabbi Yirsoel Moshe Olewski (Chief Rabbi of Celle) and Rabbi Zweigenhaft. However, a more permanent solution was required and the community turned to Rabbi Zweigenhaft to be the second Rabbi of their city.
  In 1949, the British occupation of North-West Germany ended and the British Chief Rabbi's Religious Emergency Council and it's appointees were required to wrap up their operations in Germany. The newly independent Jewish community in Hannover then selected Rabbi Zweigenhaft as the only Rabbi of their city. Thereafter, many smaller Jewish communities throughout Lower Saxony appointed Rabbi Zweigenhaft as their Rabbi as well and he became Chief Rabbi of Hannover and Lower Saxony.
caption: Rabbi Zweigenhaft officiating a wedding in Hannover in 1947