Yaakov Koppel Altenkunshtadt

Rabbi Yaakov Koppel Altenkunshtadt (1765 – 1837), also known as Reb Koppel Charif, a honorific originating from his "sharp" (Hebrew: חריף) intellect, was one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of Hungary in the first half of the nineteenth century. A peer of Moses Sofer of Pressburg, Koppel Charif presided over what was at one time the largest and most prestigious yeshiva in Hungary.

Early years
He was born in 1765 within the city of Altenkunstadt, at the time located within the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg in the Holy Roman Empire. Yaakov was the son of the scholar Tzvi Hirsh Altenkunshtadt.

In 1781 he went to study under Yechezkel Landau of Prague, author of Noda biYehudah. During his time in Fiurda, his parents passed away.

He lived in Prague from 1783 to 1786. In 1786 he became engaged to Raizel Pessels, the daughter of the scholar and merchant Avrohom Pessels of Shtampfen, Hungary. They were married in 1788.

He studied in Stampfen for a few months, before becoming the rabbi in Karlburg in 1789. In 1791, he became rabbi of Verbau, Hungary.

Altenkunshtadt was rabbi of Verbau for 45 years. His yeshiva usually held around 150 students at a time.

He died on 19 December 1837.