Rafael Halperin ( he, רפאל הלפרין; 1924 – 20 August 2011) was an Austrian-born Israeli Orthodox rabbi, businessman, athlete, professional wrestler, and bodybuilder.

Biography

Halperin was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to Austrian Jewish parents in 1924. In 1933, at the age of 9, he and his family immigrated to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The Halperin family moved to

Bnei Brak Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an area of 709 hectares (1752 acres, or 2.7 ...

the following year, and Rafael studied in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

as a teenager. He also excelled in several athletic pursuits, including weightlifting and

karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...

. He entered competitions and became the national champion in karate, boxing, and bodybuilding. In 1950, Halperin organized Israel's first "Mr. Israel" bodybuilders competition. He was also a skilled

diamond cutter Diamond cutting is the practice of shaping a diamond from a rough stone into a faceted gem. Cutting diamonds requires specialized knowledge, tools, equipment, and techniques because of its extreme difficulty. The first guild of diamond cutters and ...

Professional wrestling career

Halperin decided that he wanted to open a chain of athletic facilities, so he began wrestling professionally to earn the necessary money. His career took him to the United States, where he was reported to have won 159 consecutive matches. In 1954, Toots Mondt signed him up as a wrestler. In his matches, he wore a blue and white costume emblazoned with the Jewish star. He worked for

Vince McMahon Sr. Vincent James McMahon (July 6, 1914 – May 24, 1984), sometimes referred to as Vince McMahon Sr., was an American professional wrestling promoter. He is best known for running the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, which was later renamed WWWF (Worl ...

Capitol Wrestling Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing ...

. In America he fought as “Mr. Israel” and "The Rasslin’ Rabbi," and won 159 consecutive bouts. He refused to follow the “scripts” used in professional wrestling and declared that he “came to America to wrestle representing the State of Israel and the Jewish people and could not fake or be phony.” He earned the displeasure of some promoters and fellow wrestlers because he treated his matches as legitimate athletic contests rather than a scripted performance. He refused to yield, however, as he felt that he was upholding the dignity of his country. He also wrestled as a

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

(fan favorite), refusing to break any rules, for the same reason. Halperin continued to wrestle in the United States and Canada into the 1960s. During this time, he faced such opponents as

Antonino Rocca Antonino Rocca (born Antonino Biasetton; 13 April 1921 – 15 March 1977) was an Italian Argentine professional wrestler. He tag teamed with partner Miguel Pérez. He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the class ...

while competing for Capitol Wrestling. After Rocca canceled three times, the two finally met at Laurel Gardens in Newark, New Jersey, before 15,000 fans. The match went back and forth but ended in a draw. His top triumphs were over Lu Kim, Lord Carlton, Zebra Kid and Steve Stanlee. He later returned to Israel, where he is credited with popularizing

professional wrestling in Israel Professional wrestling in Israel has been promoted in the country since the 1950s after the nation's establishment. Israeli professional wrestling promotions In the 1950s, Rafael Halperin worked in the United States as a professional wrestler in ...

. His most well known matches in Israel were against Achmad Fuad and the "Jordanian Tiger" Abu Antar. The match with Fuad took place on 18 June 1966 in front of 6,000 fans at the

Bloomfield Stadium Bloomfield Stadium ( he, אצטדיון בלומפילד) is a football stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a capacity of 29,400. It is the home stadium of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv. The stadium also serves the Is ...

and caused the police to use tear gas after a big riot broke out immediately after Fuad attacked the victorious Halperin. Apparently it was a staged act, but Halperin had not informed anyone in advance. The match with Abu Antar took place on September 20, 1973 and was the most successful local wrestling match seen in the country, as the

Yad Eliyahu Arena Menora Mivtachim Arena ( he, היכל מנורה מבטחים; also known as the Yad Eliyahu Arena, ; and formerly known as the Nokia Arena, ) is a large multi-purpose sports indoor arena that is located in southeast Tel Aviv, Israel. The arena is ...

was sold out to witness Halperin defeat the "Jordanian Tiger". This was Halperin's last match and after he retired from professional wrestling, he started to study

and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incor ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Business career

After retiring from wrestling, Halperin fulfilled his dream of opening a chain of gyms. He went on to earn a rabbinical degree and wrote several religious books as well as an encyclopedia and a weight-loss guide. During the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

, he served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

. Halperin also founded a chain of 120 optical centers, selling glasses at affordable prices. In 2008, he and his wife Bertie decided to divide the optical business among their five children. Because of his orthodox Jewish beliefs, he was opposed to businesses operating on ''

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stori ...

''. To combat this "desecration" of the holy day, Halperin led an initiative to create a

credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the ...

containing a

chip Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific genom ...

that renders it inoperable on Saturday. It was also designed not to function in stores known to operate on Shabbat.

Death

Halperin died of cancer on 20 August 2011 at age 87.

Published works

* ''Arena of My Life'' (autobiography) ebrew

References

External links

Wrestling historyWrestling data for 127 matches
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halperin, Rafael 1924 births 2011 deaths Austrian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Austrian Jews Austrian male professional wrestlers Baalei teshuva Israeli businesspeople Israeli company founders Israeli military personnel Israeli Orthodox Jews Israeli professional wrestlers Jewish professional wrestlers 20th-century professional wrestlers