Vince McMahon Jr. of World Wrestling Entertainment announced his retirement last week. This came a month after he resigned as the organization’s chairman and CEO, following allegations that he had paid millions of dollars in hush money to female WWE employees with whom he had sexual encounters. The Jewish connection to wrestling, and specifically to the WWE, goes back to the early 1950’s through the unlikely path of a Jewish boy from Vienna. Rafael Halperin was a student of the famous rabbinical scholar Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, known as the Chazon Ish. Halperin moved with his family from Vienna to Palestine in 1933, where he began pursuing athletic endeavors including weight lifting and body building. He then opened a gym, which eventually led to a chain of health clubs (The Samson Institute for men and The Venus Salon for women) and he organized the first Mr. Israel contest, which he won. He later became a professional wrestler in the United States, working with Vince McMahon Sr.’s Capitol Wrestling (the precursor to WWE), where he competed under the names “Mr. Israel” and “The Rasslin’ Rabbi,” at one point winning 159 consecutive bouts. Halperin returned to Israel where he further popularized the sport. Halperin’s last professional match was in 1973 against Abu Antar, the “Jordanian Tiger,” at a sold out match at Tel Aviv’s Yad Eliyahu Arena. What else did Rafael Halperin do in his life besides professional wrestling?

Israel Wrestler Rafael Halperin from Dan Hadani Collection, The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection, The National Library of Israel is licensed under CC BY 4.0