Yosef Shenberger

He was involved in the restoration of many ancient ruins and religious sites, including the Kfar Bar'am synagogue, Western Wall Plaza[2][3] and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

Yosef Shenberger was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Yehuda, a member of the Orthodox Jewish community founded by Samson Raphael Hirsch.

In the 1940s, he designed the dormitory of the Mekor Haim yeshiva,[4] and an industrial complex in Tel Arza on behalf of PAGI [he] (not to be confused with Poalei Agudat Yisrael – PAI) a Haredi workers' organisation.

At a press conference together with Zev Vilnay that announced the initiative, Shenberger said that he had previously renovated a dilapidated sebil that had been established by Suleiman the Magnificent on Mount Zion.

Deriving inspiration from ancient ruins in Dura-Europos and Kfar Bar'am, he articulated his preference for adding stained glass and other decorative elements to synagogues, in contrast to others who saw these things as distractions for worshipers.

Among them were his mentor Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik, Dov Berish Weidenfeld, Bezalel Zolty [he] and Sholom Noach Berezovsky.

As an example of this fealty, when Shenberger wanted to design the Grodno yeshiva as an octagon because the building was situated on a street not in alignment with the direction of prayer to Jerusalem, he first asked Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman whether this was allowed.

From his restorative work carried out at heritage sites all over Israel, including the Kfar Bar'am synagogue, he noted the ancient builders' usage of decorative elements and local materials, such as mosaics, and integrated some of these ideas into his own plans.

[16][17] In 1964, Shenberger's expertise was sought at the Safed cemetery, where the chevra kadisha (burial society) members were having a difficult time reaching the new section due to the sloping terrain.