When Dr. Halbertsam died unexpectedly on November 18, 1936, at the age of 52, a huge crowd of mourners, priests of various denominations, and representatives of secular power paid tribute to a man who “was endowed with excellent secular and Jewish knowledge, had the most remarkable qualities of character, won recognition for his simplicity and straightforwardness, nobility, and friendship. In all his kindness and devotion to the Jewish community, he saw no other goal than to encourage Jews to be actively Jewish, promoting Jewish faith, and Jewish pride. He himself had been a Zionist from his early youth and had served exemplarily as a member of the board of the Jewish People’s Association of Zion and as chairman of the Techelet Lavan Scout Parents’ Association.”
The community began to search for a new rabbi, but the young scholarship holders, whose studies at the rabbinical school in Breslau were paid for by the Jewish community, did not want to go to Most.
After a rather complicated struggle, Rabbi Halberstam's widow received a widow's pension and alimony for her son Jindřich, just in time for them both to flee the Nazis to Prague.
Rabbi Halberstam (standing, with his head covered) on a family vacation at the seaside. Halberstam family archive