Yochanan Sofer

He died on February 22, 2016. Streets in Jerusalem were closed as thousands attended the funeral procession. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin mourned him stating he was

Upon the initiative of the Rebbe, the Erlau community took an active part in the launch of the HaMevaser newspaper in late 2008, which is owned and run by Rabbi Meir Porush.

Sofer married Miriam Pall (d. 1999), daughter of Rabbi Yaakov Pall, a descendant of the Chasam Sofer's sister, in Erlau. Their first three sons were born in Erlau; they had seven sons in total:

The Rebbe also had a strong connection to the Jewish community of Hebron, which he visited every year on the Ten Days of Repentance. After prayers at the Tomb of Machpela, he would hold a "chocolate tish" in which he would bless each child and distribute chocolate to them. He also came out publicly against the Hebron Protocol of 1997 which divided the city into H1 and H2. The Jewish community of Hebron quoted him as stating, that if not for the existence of the Jewish community of Hebron, regular visits to the Tomb of Machpela would not be possible.

In 1961, Sofer constructed a new building in the empty lot adjacent to the yeshiva. It was named Ohel Shimon-Erlau after his grandfather, Rabbi Shimon Sofer. This new campus includes a beth midrash, which serves until today as the main synagogue and study hall for the yeshiva gedola, a smaller study hall for the yeshiva ketana, dormitory, classrooms, library, kitchen and offices. In addition, Sofer opened the Institute for Research of the Teachings of the Chasam Sofer. This Institute researches and deciphers handwritten documents of the Chasam Sofer, his pupils and descendants. It has brought to light and printed hundreds of sefarim and distributed them worldwide.

In 1953 Sofer founded the Erlau yeshiva and community in the Katamon neighbourhood of south-central Jerusalem, starting with the purchase of a few rooms in the building of the former Syrian Consulate on Yotam Street. The yeshiva was named the "High Yeshiva of Rabbi Akiva Eiger" after the father-in-law of the Chasam Sofer. Later this yeshiva expanded to the whole building, where Sofer founded a dormitory and orphanage for Holocaust survivors and students from needy families. According to the Jerusalem Post, "He never moved from the non-haredi neighborhood, unlike other hassidic leaders who once lived in the area but who moved to haredi neighborhoods elsewhere in Jerusalem."

Due to the Communist grip on Hungary and oppression of Judaism there, Sofer assisted his students and members of his community to escape Hungary. In 1950, after the last Jew had left Erlau, Sofer immigrated to Israel together with his yeshiva. For a short period of time, the yeshiva merged with the Pressburg Yeshiva in Jerusalem, which was headed by Rabbi Akiva Sofer (known as the Daas Sofer), a great-grandson of the Chasam Sofer. Rabbi Yochanan served there as a maggid shiur.

Before 1948, the rabbinical authorities of the Sofer family and their disciples strongly opposed the various forms of modern Zionism. They did not approve of the formation of a Jewish state nor the use of Hebrew for mundane purposes. Their firm belief was that the Mashiach must arrive prior to the liberation of the Holy Land and that the Hebrew language was designated solely for the use of Torah study and prayer. Once Israel declared independence in 1948, their approach remained the same, though the circumstances changed.

In 1947, Rabbi Yochanan re-established the yeshiva in Eger with a small group of boys and adolescents (mostly orphans). He married and was appointed rabbi of the fledgling Orthodox Jewish community there.

While his father and grandfather were murdered at Auschwitz, the young Yochanan survived the war in the "Glass House" in Budapest and returned to Eger to lead the survivors, who constituted barely a minyan. In 1946 he was asked to serve as rosh yeshiva of the year-old Yeshivas Chasam Sofer, the only yeshiva in Hungary at that time, which had been established by Rabbi Shmuel Binyanim Frey for 30 orphaned young men in Budapest. The first rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Eliyahu Katz, son of the Nitra Rav, had returned to his community in Nitra, Slovakia, and the directors sought a descendant of the Chasam Sofer as their next rosh yeshiva. Sofer was willing to lead the yeshiva, but unwilling to leave his community in Eger. The directors next approached Rabbi Moshe Stern, the Debrecener Rav, another descendant of the Chasam Sofer, but he was also unwilling to abandon his community. The yeshiva directors came up with the solution of appointing both rabbis as rosh yeshiva, with Sofer serving as rosh yeshiva in the first part of the week (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) and Stern serving for the second half of the week, and serving their respective communities the rest of the time. Sofer slept in the dormitory with the students and refused to accept a salary. He continued in this arrangement for a year and a half, after which he opened a yeshiva in Eger. After the Budapest yeshiva closed, the rest of the students moved to Eger.

Rabbi Shimon led the Jewish community in Eger for some 64 years. He and his community were deported to Auschwitz by the Nazis in 1944. Soon thereafter, at the age of 94, Rabbi Shimon was murdered by the Nazis together with his son, Rabbi Moses Sofer, and many others from the city of Eger.

Yochanan Sofer (January 1, 1923 – February 22, 2016) was the Rebbe of the Erlau dynasty, which though not the largest in the number of its adherents is still a significant movement within Haredi Judaism. He was born in Eger (German: Erlau), Hungary, where his father and grandfather served as Grand Rabbis. After surviving the Holocaust, he continued their legacy by founding a yeshiva and a movement in their name, first in Hungary and then a few years later in Jerusalem.

Yochanan Sofer was born to Rabbi Moses Sofer in the town of Eger in 1923. He received his rabbinical education from his father. He studied at the yeshiva of Rabbi Yosef Asher Pollack (1888–1944) (author of Shearis Yosef Usher) in the neighbouring town of Verpelét. He also studied for three years at the yeshiva of Rabbi Chaim Aharon David Deutsch (1898–1944) (author of Tvuas Goren) in Balassagyarmat.

In 1881, Rabbi Shimon was appointed rabbi of the Hungarian city of Erlau (Eger). There he founded a large yeshiva, attended by elite Torah scholars from throughout Hungary. This yeshiva became a foundation of the Erlau dynasty, a branch and direct link to the philosophy and teachings of Rabbi Shimon's grandfather, the Chasam Sofer.

The Chasam Sofer was succeeded as the rabbi of Pressburg by his son, Rabbi Samuel Benjamin Sofer (1815 – 1872), known as the Ksav Sofer. The Ksav Sofer had 10 children — 6 sons and 4 daughters. One of the sons, Rabbi Shimon Sofer, was born in 1850.

Sofer was a great-great-grandson of Rabbi Moses Sofer (1762–1839), known as the Chasam Sofer. The Chasam Sofer was the Rav of Pressburg (present-day Bratislava) and the leading rabbinical figure of Orthodox Judaism in the Austrian Empire, as well as one of the greatest Talmudic scholars of his time.