Rabbi Yaakov Meshulam Zalman Kruger, the head of the Kehillat Chaim community in Jerusalem’s Kiryat Mattersdorf neighborhood, died overnight at the age of 95. The announcement described his passing as coming after a long life and said he was a respected and beloved figure in the area.
Kruger led his synagogue and community for decades at 18 Panim Meirot Street, on the corner of Sorotzkin Street. Residents of the neighborhood regularly gathered to hear his classes and seek his guidance, according to the report.
He was the son of Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Kruger, who served as chief rabbi of Brussels in Belgium and was among the leading figures of the Rabbinical Association in the United States. He is survived by a “blessed generation of upright descendants,” including his son Rabbi Akiva Kruger, a prominent Montreal businessman and community activist and one of the notable Belz Hasidim there, who works extensively for Torah and charity institutions in Israel and the diaspora.
The funeral was scheduled to leave at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night, after Parashat Chukat, from his synagogue on Panim Meirot Street in Jerusalem and proceed to Har HaMenuchot for burial.
