Rabbi Yaakov Koppel Altenkunshtadt (1765 â 1837), also known as Reb Koppel Charif, ("sharp" (Hebrew: ÃÂèÃÂã) was one of the leadingàOrthodoxàrabbisàof Hungaryàin the first half of the nineteenth century. A peer of Moses Sofer of Pressburg, Koppel Charif presided over the largest and most prestigious yeshiva in Hungary.
He was born inÃÂ 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 died.
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 in modern-day Slovakia.
Altenkunshtadt was rabbi of Verbau for 45 years. His yeshiva usually held around 150 students at a time.
He died on 19 December 1837.