Pinchus Feldman

Who is Pinchus Feldman?

Rabbi Pinchus Feldman OAM is the and first Chabad shaliach of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement in New South Wales, Australia.

Feldman, a Kohen, was born in 1945, the son of Rabbi and Rebbetzin Menachem Mendel Feldman, the longtime rabbi of Congregation Shearis Yisroel, Baltimore. In 1964, at the age of 19, he became the first shliach sent by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson to New South Wales, Australia, where he married Pnina Gutnick, the daughter of Rabbi Chaim Gutnick. He is the brother-in-law of commodities magnate Joseph Gutnick.

In 1968, Rabbi Schneerson encouraged him to accept the leadership of Yeshiva Centre and to receive rabbinic ordination from many Rabbis. The level of ordination he received was smicha yadin yadin, the highest form of ordination.

According to academic Avrum Erlich, Feldman established a minor dynasty in Australia as Schneerson’s original emissary to Sydney, Australia.

In 1995, Feldman received the Community service award from Premier John Fahey, for outstanding community services.