But in Kiryat Sefer: The director of the kindergarten and kindergarten network died of cardiac arrest at the age of 60

January 10, 2025   

Baruch Dayan, the truth teller: At the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, the educationist Rabbi Shmuel Binyamin Moshe Tolenfeld, z"l, director of the Netivot HaTorah kindergarten and Torah study network in Modi'in Illit, passed away this morning at the age of 60, after collapsing last night (Friday night) from cardiac arrest. Prayers were offered for his recovery throughout the night and morning, but to the heartbreak of his family and acquaintances, he passed away. Last night, he arrived to help his son organize a "Shalom Zachary" for the birth of his grandson, who was born yesterday, when he suddenly collapsed after a cardiac event. The Simchat Hashalom Zachary will be held on Shabbat, and the covenant will be held on the day the family members rise from "Sheva". The deceased z"l was born in Argentina on the 24th of Iyar 5724 to his father, Rabbi Yitzhak Aryeh Tolenfeld, z"l, and his mother, Mrs. Yocheved, may God have mercy on him. In his youth, he studied at the Hebron Yeshiva. When he reached his prime, he married his wife, Martha Batya, daughter of the rabbi Rabbi Yehoshua Sheklar, zt"l, author of "Yalkut Mishrasim" on the Shas. After his marriage, he served as a teacher in Haidar in Tifrach, and then at the Talmud Torah "Lekhak Tov" in Bnei Brak. He then moved to live in Kiryat Sefer, where he was one of the first residents. He founded and managed the network of kindergartens and Torah Talmuds "Netivot HaTorah", in which thousands of children study. His brother, the contractor Rabbi Aharon Dov Tolenfeld z"l, a real estate developer from Petach Tikva, passed away in the month of Nissan 5778 after a heart attack at the age of 55. The deceased left behind his wife and 11 children, three of whom he has not yet had the privilege of leading to the huppah. His brother is the rabbi Rabbi Yosef Noah Tolenfeld, rabbi of the yeshivot-Pardes Katz community in Bnei Brak.