This man is legally blind and hardly has any money to his name. The energy he exuded, the pathos of his speech, and the glow of his face made it a surreal experience. Following a brief imprisonment by the Soviets, Rav Isser Zalman himself joined the yeshivah in Kletzk and resumed his former post as rosh yeshivah. It is well-known for quite a while that yeshivos are engaging in decentralized fundraising based on their individual needs. At that time Vaad Hatzalah had one million dollars ready for transfer, to be used as barter for Jewish captives who were held in the claws of the accursed German murderers. A Yid fun Amerike, the man mumbled to himself. In order to generate publicity that would enhance fundraising prospects, Rav Aharon conceived the idea of a grand opening ceremony. He understood that the future of the Torah world lay in the United States. He was exhausted, and told his Rebbetzin that he wanted to rest a while before leaving. In order to evade conscription, Rav Moshe obtained papers that named Shneur Zalman the only son of the Kotler family, thus exempting him from the draconian Czarist decree. Therefore, we ask Hakodosh Baruch Hu that you should be zocheh to be matzliach and constantly continue your efforts. The Royalty of Torah - Hamodia.com A year later Rav Aharon complained that the system had failed to balance the yeshivahs budget and noted in a letter that his monthly bread budget amounted to $300. This put them into a precarious situation, as seminaries of religious instruction were viewed by the atheist communist authorities as hotbeds of counterrevolutionary activity and ran the risk of being forcibly shut or even of arrest and deportation. Prior to Bunims appeal at the dinner he read a newspaper ad for dogs winter coats. Rav Aharon traveled by boat on his first trip there in 1945. Most important was a partnership initiated with Mr. Irving Bunim, who was to emerge as Rav Aharons closest confidante for the next three decades. Rav Aharon himself was personally involved in commissioning the sefer Torah; he hired a resident of Kletzk, a reliable sofer named Yechezkel Peikuss, to write the Sefer Torah, which was completed in time for the Chofetz Chaims second yahrtzeit in 1935. Mike rushed straight to the home of Rav Gedaliah Schorr and together they ran to consult with Rav Shlomo Heiman, who instructed them to draft a new visa application immediately. His face was beet-red with excitement and exertion. In Lakewood, Torah iz di beste sechoirah is not a lullaby to put a child to sleep. This second group included people like Irving Bunim and his son Amos, Stephen Klein, Samuel Feuerstein and his son Moses, Mike Tress, Rabbi Moshe Sherer, Marvin Schick, Zev Wolfson, Rabbi Henoch Cohen, Julius Klugman, Ernst Bodenheimer and others. Avodah and gemils chasadim are important pillars of Jewish life, said Rav Aharon, citing Pirkei Avos. He acquiesced and blessed him to become a talmid chacham. How ridiculous!! On Erev Rosh Hashanah 1937 Rav Aharon wrote to Mr. Cohen: With a deep sense of gratitude, I recall your love of Torah and generosity, and without taking into account your own dire straits, you donated a number of times more than you were able to. In a fiery mussar shmuess (see Mishnas Rav Aharon 3:250), he thundered that "hakoras hatov is the basis of serving Hashem." In life, he never forgot a favor from Jew or . The Alter, in his genius, was likely testing their resolve. [4], In 1943, Kotler founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, with 15 students. rav aharon kotler's sistersour milk bread recipes no yeastsour milk bread recipes no yeast My Blog rav aharon kotler's sister For the remainder of the war, Rav Aharon along with Rav Avraham Kalmanowitz and his close confidante Irving Bunim would lobby diplomats, legislators and anyone who would listen in the corridors of power in Washington to assist in various rescue schemes. When they felt themselves beginning to suffocate, one of them told Rav Aharon they couldnt remain any longer. Rav Aharon Kotler zt"l (1892-1962) was one of the predominant Torah leaders of his time, in pre-war Europe as the rosh yeshiva of Kletsk, Poland, as the leader of the Vaad Hatzolah during the Second World War, and as the founder and rosh yeshiva of Bais Medrash Govoah in Lakewood, New Jersey. His son is the great posek, Rav Dovid Cohen, rav of Gvul Yaavetz in Brooklyn. The travails of the months Rav Aharon spent on the road are evident in letters he wrote during this time. He saw in the case of the Gaon a genuine Divine revelation. [3] By the time of his death in 1962, the yeshiva had grown to 250 students. Along with another young activist named Moshe Berger, the duo spent the entire night drafting a new dossier, after which Mike got on a 5:00 a.m. train to Washington and managed to find a sympathetic State Department official to send an authorization letter to the US Embassy in Moscow. Though hed been released, the intrusion left Rav Aharon with a feeling of uncertainty regarding the future, as well as a sense of urgency. Rav Aharon also managed to include an orphan girl who lived with them named Grunia Winograd on the visa registering her as an adopted daughter. There will never be another like her.. They claimed it would cause collateral damage to an already frosty relationship between Chinuch Atzmai and the Israeli government, which was vying for the same funding for its own educational and cultural institutions. Away from his illustrious father-in-law, Rav Aharon was now on his own. Rav Aharon, however, had no qualms about taking blunt political positions, even if it meant alienating donors who were Mizrachi supporters. Reb Aharon founded a yeshivah in Lakewood, New Jersey. Several months before the last Hungarian yeshivos were shuttered, following Pesach of 1943 Beth Medrash Govoha opened its doors in Lakewood with 14 students. One of the Torah giants of prewar Europe, Rav Mottel Pogromansky, once asked someone to call Rav Aharon on his behalf. Der Rebbe hot gegeiben ah brachah Say Amen, the Rebbe gave you a brachah!. In recognition of his status, as well as the fact that he was an orphan, Rav Aharon was provided by the Katzovisheh Shul with a significantly larger stipend than others. Reminiscing in Pinkas Slutzk, Rabbi Moshe Yissachar Goldberg, later a rav in New Orleans, described the painful scene: That winter day when the yeshivah was exiled from Slutzk to Kletzk is well preserved in my memory. But what can I do? Their chosen location was White Plains, New York, an outer suburb of New York in Westchester. Another was in New York, and they were his students in the art of activism, initiative, responsibility, and leadership. But above all, he argued, there are plenty of people who go to college and so few people who go to yeshivah. Rav Shneur Zalman, the third son of Rav Moshe Pines, was born during the reign of Czar Nicholas I, when the dreaded Cantonist laws were in effect. No such thing. In 1896 his wife Sarah Pesha passed away and he was left to raise his children alone. In his memoirs, visa resident David Lewis (later a leader in the Canadian Bund) described how soon after the onset of Shabbos, local youths would paste their leaflets to the door of the main shul in town, knowing that they couldnt be removed by the Shabbos-observant attendees. The Torah Fire of Rav Aharon Kotler zt"l - Yated.com He probably couldnt. Kotler died at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City on November 29, 1962. Initially named Emergency Committee for War-Torn Yeshivos, it was headed by Rav Chaim Ozers talmid in America, Rav Eliezer Silver. The Alter cared for the neophyte as he would his own child, hosting him at his apartment adjacent to the yeshivah for Shabbos and Yom Yov meals alongside some of his closest older students. It was therefore decided to split the yeshivah. The rosh yeshivah was alone, separated from his students albeit not for lack of trying to bring them to safety. It is being maintained largely through the efforts of a limited number of people. By MIRIAM GOTTLIEB Change, especially drastic change . My grandfather used to come for mini-vacations sometimes. On December 7, 1941, at the funeral of Rav Dovid Leibowitz, Rav Aharon spotted Mr. Cohen out of the corner of his eye and once again thanked him profusely for his selfless act. You may leave now, he said, but well be keeping a close eye on you and your group.. Perhaps Rav Aharons boldest project was undertaken in the last decade of his life, when he initiated the founding of Chinuch Atzmai in 1953. But mere ceremony was a foreign concept to Rav Aharon. Hashem gave you these abilities, he is the one who gave you the power to be successful. For two months the bochurim subsisted on sweetened water and black bread, with their diet supplemented on Shabbos when the townspeople hosted them for meals. I could not break out of what sounded to me like a harangue against secular study. Rav Aharon Kotler was one of the very few Torah giants who contributed mightily to the transformation of the face of American Jewry in the middle of the twentieth century from one of Torah ignorance and mourning over the Holocaust to significant progress in Torah knowledge and partial recovery from the tragedy of the Holocaust. Rav Aharon understood that any attempts to rescue the yeshivah students and Torah scholars in Nazi-occupied Lithuania was now an exercise in futility. Tell him, perhaps he is afraid of losing his post; he should be mindful that the life of one single Jew is valued higher than his entire prominent position., Morgenthau indignantly replied, What did he say?, Afraid of embarrassing him, I generally conveyed there comes a time in a Jews life the Rebbi cut me off and said, Nein nein Bunim, zugt em vus ich hub gizugt tell him what I said!, When he heard the translation, Morgenthau put his head down for a long time. Many of the more than 100 shuls in Minsk belonged to the various workers guilds common to urban life at the turn of the century. To that end, the American Hebrew Theological University was chartered in 1946 and was set to open in Brooklyn with the endorsement and involvement of prominent roshei yeshivah as a way of contending with the college issue. Senior yeshivos like Mir and Slabodka had alumni networks that greatly assisted with this process. He studied in the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania under Nosson Tzvi Finkel, and Moshe Mordechai Epstein.Subsequently, he joined his father-in-law, Isser Zalman Meltzer, to run the . Rav Yaakov, who wasnt prone to hyperbole, later recalled his mothers reaction upon meeting his friend: Who is this boy? His nusach for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur became popular as well. This soon escalated into an organized resistance to the mussar movement known as the Pulmus Hamussar. Ultimately, the Alter departed from his yeshivah and established Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael. When Rav Aharon got on the line, the caller respectfully referred to him as Kletzker rosh yeshivah. Rav Mottel exclaimed, Kletzker rosh yeshivah? Herbert Tenzer at the December 1945 Vaad Hatzalah Dinner. Rabbi Yaakov Tcherbochovsky, husband of Rav Aharons sister Devorah, served on the yeshivahs hanhalah as well. Minsks spirit of Toras chesed was a tradition from the citys great rabbinic leaders of the 18th century: Rav Leib Baal Hatosafos, his grandson Rav Aryeh Leib Gunzburg, the Shaagas Aryeh; and Rav Yechiel Halpern, the Seder Hadoros. Israeli Agudah politician Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz once asked a man whose lifestyle seemed different from Rav Aharons ideals why he was a donor to Beth Medrash Govoha. Two decades after Rav Isser Zalman spoke out on his behalf, Rav Moshe Mordechai finally had an opportunity to repay him by arranging the shidduch between Chana Perel and Rav Aharon. Rav Aharon Kotlers sister Malka was relentless in trying to convince him to leave Slabodka, enroll in university, and join the modern world. MYTH BUSTED: Reb Shlomo Carlebach Was Never Kicked Out Of BMG [WATCH While initially his focus was providing them with kosher food and religious articles, he soon realized that would not suffice and contacted the Vaad Hatzalah for help. At the time of his arrival, the United States was considered a Torah wilderness-meaning that there were few yeshivot (learning centers) and only a . Rav Moshe Leibel was a Gerrer chassid who survived the war in the occupied town of Aix-Les-Bains in Southern France where he posed as a doctor while serving as a mohel for the local population. Dividing into three factions, the largest went to Salock in northern Lithuania, together with Rav Aharon himself. Yekusiel, zing. When he returned and found him gone, he hastened to Mir with the intention of bringing back his treasured student. Like most devout Jews in visa, Rav Shneur Zalman struggled to protect his children from the winds of change sweeping Eastern European Jewish youth. Sensing the detrimental effect a steady correspondence with his sister might have on his potential growth, the Alter initiated a dramatic step. Aharon Kotler. The Torah world watched as its emerging leader proceeded to build one of the greatest yeshivos of the era. Following the shiur, a review was conducted by a gifted student named Pesach Horowitz and later by Shmuel Maslow, the latter of whom it was said would repeat the entire shiur without adding a single explanatory word or comment. Rav Aharon chose Kletzk partly as a result of its proximity to the new border, but there was a historical impetus as well. Rav Mendel Krawiec, later rosh yeshivah of RJJ, recalled arriving for his entrance exam in Rav Aharons home in Kletzk: The three-room apartment was sparsely furnished and was packed with yeshivah students who had come for their daily meal. This time, he planned to ask the little genius such a hard mathematical klutz kasha that he would gape in confusion. He managed to view even his beloved yeshivah, which carried his hope and vision for the future of American Jewry, through the pure prism of his priorities in building Torah worldwide at any given moment. He had recently met withAgudath Harabonim emissary Dr. Samuel Schmidt in Yanova, Lithuania, wherehis yeshivah had relocated. He encouraged him to forge ahead with the plan. But Rav Aharon trusted the young activist who regularly drove him around and helped obtain appointments with donors. He and his family were martyred during the Holocaust. Their operatives held show trials and published newspapers exposing yeshivah students and teachers as counterrevolutionaries who were systematically poisoning the masses. Yankele Ochsenkrug, the proprietor said. I know you do a lot, but Im begging you to do even more considering the circumstances. Goldstein now turned his attention to building the shul and he began to fundraise. In an article about the early history of Lakewood, BMG archivist Rabbi Moshe Rockove pointed out the irony that one who fought to end slavery in the South would seemingly pursue segregation in his own backyard by drawing a Jewish Mason-Dixon line in his own town.. The early years of the yeshivah witnessed an interesting blend. There is no doubt that even the greatest rabbanim and lomdim of New York will be amazed when they will have the zechus to get to know the gaon, Rav Aharon Kotler, the Kletzker Rosh Yeshivah, who is great not only in his Torah learning, but also in worldly knowledge.. Rav Aharon Kotler was a man with a fiery passion for Torah and a deep love for his students. [3] At first, he settled in New York City's Upper West Side, and in 1949, he moved to the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. Rav Aharon successfully crossed the border into Poland and attempted to reestablish the yeshivah less than 40 miles away in Kletzk. The Vaad HaYeshivos decided to honor its founder with the writing of a sefer Torah in his memory, with the proceeds going toward the support of its affiliate institutions. The kallahs brother, Rav Tzvi Yehuda Meltzer, recalled that Rav Aharon delivered a brilliant Torah discourse, followed by a breathtaking display by his close friend Rav Avraham Elya Kaplan, who repeated the pilpul flawlessly with brilliant rhymes and a melodious tune. Instead, he wanted to ensure that the shul was built away from the towns hotels, because he believed that a visible Jewish presence would diminish their value. This would be especially true regarding European Jewry. For all of his intensive immersion in Torah study, including giving shiurim, and the burden of sustaining the yeshiva, especially after the Great Depression of 1929, Rav Aharon never lost sight. Do we know anything else about the calculus problem solved by Rabbi It was a desperate time for Jewry in general, but most certainly for the outnumbered and outgunned Orthodox Jewish community.. But when you got to know him on a more private level, you could talk to him about. In the postwar period, Rav Aharon would be universally recognized as an Agudas Yisrael leader in the United States, and more surprisingly, even in Israel. In Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, Rav Aharon found his kindred spirit, someone who possessed the fire and urge to change the trajectory of Yiddishkeit in the country. Clearly, one who accepts the responsibility of the nations leadership overcomes challenges beyond his nature., Rav Aharon (seated, far right) at a siyum in Kletzk. Do not accept it; for neither artist nor camera can capture the fire in his eyes, the radiance on his face, the exhilaration of his presence. In 1941 Rav Aharon Kotler arrived in America and expressed his desire to open a yeshivah based upon the structure and values of his yeshivah in Kletzk. The setting and language may have been different, but he would bring the same fire and uncompromising vision to the task. Photos: BMG Archives, Agudah Archives, DMS Yeshiva Archives, Wolfson Family, Hoberman Family, Kamenetsky Family, National Library of Israel, US Dept of State, Prof. Chaim I. Waxman, YIVO, Torah Umesorah Archives, Chinuch Atzmai Archives, Perr Family, Golding Family, Bunim Family, TAJ Art and Judaica, Feivel Schneider, A child is playing outside a shul. He watched as those around him strayed from the faith their families had maintained for generations. There were threethat led Klal Yisrael the Chofetz Chaim,. We must immediately send out letters requesting all rabbanim and local activists to assist with organizing the campaign. The nucleus of the venture included Rav Mordechai Yoffe, Rav Hershel Genauer, Rav Shmuel Shechter, Rav Nosson Wachtfogel, Rav Yitzchok Hoffman, Rav Zeidel Leshinsky, Rav Osher Katz, Rav Simcha Zissel Levovitz, Rav Shachne Zohn, Rav Pesach Cohen, Rav Yisroel Bergstein, Rav Menachem Moore, Rav Hirsch Kaplan, Rav Dovid Hershowitz and others. He agreed to sell his property at a discounted price. For more than two hours he stood and spoke with his usual fire and passion, occasionally pausing as he coughed up blood. After losing a child in infancy, Rebbetzin Chana Perel gave birth to their son Chaim Shneur in 1918, followed by a daughter Sarah in 1921. Rav Aharon returned home prior to Elul of 1936 with a feeling of satisfaction, knowing he had saved the yeshivah in Kletzk from potential closure and could pay up its debts. Pacing up and down in the little room, he quickly supplied the answers. One shoved Reb Berel to the side while the other grabbed the typewriter and a pile of papers. Rav Aharon told me of their experience and emotions in leaving Kletzk. Right to Left: R. Shneur Kotler (unidentified), R. Aharon Cohen, R. Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, R. Aharon Kotler (holding the cup), and R. Yitzchok Chevroni, Reb Dov Wolowitz recalls driving Rav Aharon to a Moetzes meeting on the Lower East Side. [9] Along with Rabbi Eliezer Silver , Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz and others, he worked day and night, using both private and government channels to try and save lives. His relative and close friend from Slabodka, Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman, rosh yeshivah of Ner Yisrael, arranged a number of appointments for Rav Aharon. When they arrived at the Kotler home, the Rebbetzin told them that the Rosh Yeshivah would be arriving late from a trip to Chicago, but if they wished, they could wait. Upon their arrival at the train station in Baranovich, reports trickled in that a refugee crisis was brewing in Vilna, with overcrowding and food shortages. Fifty years later, almost to the day, at Mr. Wolfsons levayah, the rosh yeshivah Rav Malkiel Kotler, declared, The relationship between my grandfather and Reb Zev was that of a father to his son. May Hashem consider it a great tzedakah.. Most of the students left until just a small group remained. He mentioned that when Torah Vodaath couldnt afford to pay its teachers, Mr. Herskowitz conducted an appeal at his daughters wedding. This theme was sustained by Rav Moshe Shapiro, who extolled Mr. Wolfson as the fulfillment of Rav Aharons tireless bidding: Rav Aharon passed away 50 years ago, but his precognition endowed him with the faith that Reb Zev would bring blessing to the Jewish People. After one Shabbos afternoon where they were interrupted several times by gawkers, one student (currently a rosh yeshivah) started flailing his arms like an animal in a zoo until it dawned on the onlookers that perhaps it was inappropriate to be staring as such.
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