Rabbi Uri Lupolianski, who built Yad Sarah into Israel’s largest volunteer network and later served as Jerusalem’s first ultra-Orthodox mayor, died just after midnight Thursday in the capital. He was 74. His family was at his bedside when he passed away.
Yad Sarah said the organization is grieving the loss of the man who conceived its model of nationwide medical-equipment lending and spent five decades expanding it into a central pillar of Israel’s health-support infrastructure. Leaders described the moment as one of profound sadness for thousands of volunteers and for the many Israelis who relied on services he created.
Lupolianski was born in Haifa on Aug. 29, 1951, the 27th of Av in the Hebrew calendar, to Rabbi Yaakov and Malka. He studied in the HaNegev and Torah Ohr yeshivot (Jewish learning institutions) and became active early on in programs supporting immigrant children. He later volunteered as an IDF paramedic.
After marrying his wife Michal, the couple settled first in Safed before moving to Jerusalem, where in 1976 they set up what became the world’s first medical equipment lending center. That small initiative grew rapidly and eventually formed the core of Yad Sarah, which today includes 127 branches and some 7,500 volunteers.
His leadership shaped a wide range of additional services, from transportation assistance to specialized care programs for seniors and homebound individuals. He was widely viewed as a driving force behind a series of social and healthcare innovations that changed how Israelis received support outside institutional settings. In 1994, he accepted the Israel Prize on behalf of the organization. He also received the Kaplan Prize for Efficiency, the Knesset Speaker’s Award, and the President’s Volunteer Prize.
Lupolianski entered municipal politics in 1989, winning a seat on the Jerusalem City Council as a representative of Degel HaTorah, the Lithuanian Haredi faction later folded into United Torah Judaism. Over the next decade, he became a familiar fixture in city leadership, serving in senior roles at City Hall and positioning himself as a consensus-oriented ultra-Orthodox figure in a municipality defined by religious-secular tension. In 2003, he was elected mayor—Jerusalem’s first Haredi mayor—leading the city through years marked by rapid demographic change, contentious planning debates, and persistent friction over the public character of the capital. He served one term, from 2003 to 2008, and did not seek a second.
His later public life was complicated by his involvement in the Holyland affair, a sweeping corruption case linked to a major real estate development in Jerusalem that prosecutors and courts described as a landmark bribery scandal. Lupolianski was among a group of officials and business figures convicted in 2014 for accepting bribes connected to the project. The court found that the money he received was directed to Yad Sarah rather than for personal enrichment, while also concluding that the payments were intended to strengthen his influence and standing. He was initially sentenced to prison, but the Supreme Court later reduced the punishment to six months of community service, citing significant medical complications. He continued to be associated with Yad Sarah in the years that followed.
Philip Bendheim, a Yad Sarah board member and longtime friend, said, “Rabbi Uri dedicated his entire life to giving and helping people across Israel. His vision for Yad Sarah has driven the organization for 50 years, and so we will honor his memory by continuing his truly exceptional work. He will be deeply missed by all that knew him.”