Samuel Halphon

Not much is known about the early years of Rabbi Samuel Halphon, who was born in the Russian Empire and studied in Metz (France) at the Alliance Israélite Universelle’s École Rabbinique. In 1904, Halphon moved to Argentina to support the Jewish Colonization Association (JCA) initiatives as a religious leader and educator. By 1906, he was established as the rabbi of Congregación Israelita in Buenos Aires. He took an active role in work to support Jewish immigrants, to fight sex-trafficking in the Jewish immigrant community, and to support women’s rights as a member of the anti-trafficking organization Ezras Noschim. Halphon was a founder of Soprotimis (Society for the Protection of Jewish Immigrants) and an adviser to the Sociedad de Damas Israelitas. On behalf of AIU and JCA, he organized the first census of Argentinian Jews (1909) and spearheaded Jewish educational initiatives throughout the provinces. In 1927, while serving as the chief rabbi of the Jewish congregation and JCA colonies in Argentina, Halphon was designated an Officer of the French Legion of Honor.