Partners in rescue: Rav Aharon with Rav Eliezer Silver and Rav Avraham Kalmanowitz, who tirelessly led the Vaad Hatzalah rescue attempts during the war years. That piqued Rav Mordechai Shapiros interest. Almost as quickly as hed been interrupted, Rav Leizer shot back, Du ploiderst vi a shaigetz! Sighet native David Weiss (Halivni) survived the war and arrived in America as an orphan, where he became a student of Rav Yitzchok Hutner at Chaim Berlin. The curse mandated that Kennedy should never see joy from his descendants. 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. He considered the Vilna Gaon, an eighteenth century Torah genius of exceptional greatness, one of his spiritual mentors. It was a bustling marketplace of Torah. This cousin joined a group that was leaving for Israel with the Jewish Agency, and was r"l lost to Yiddishkeit." He then related the following story. It was a short winter day, and as sunset approached there was still no resolution to the contentious issue under discussion. Rav Shaul Kagan, founder of the Pittsburgh Kollel, wrote that an older Kletzk student described how Rav Aharon once insisted on delivering the daily shiur despite a high fever. By 1915, a secular Yiddish school was dedicated in town, and within four years the cheder was shuttered. When Rav Aharon visited America in 1935, he observed with sorrow that Baltimore was the only city outside of New York that contained a proper Jewish Day School. Following the passing of Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer in the fall of 1953, Rav Aharon actually succeeded his father-in-law as rosh yeshivah of Etz Chaim in Yerushalayim. On March 8, 1940, he wrote: I have just returned from Yanova where the Kletzker Yeshivah is now located. [Likewise,] if a Jew puts in effort and is successful, he knows that he cannot take credit for himself, he cannot show off. Rav Aharon believed that the appropriate form of activism was for the American Jewish community to aim its frustration directly at elected officials, and that success was more likely through quiet diplomacy conducted behind closed doors. Bunim arrived at Rav Aharons house to find him running a fever. Now that you are with him, fulfill the final law of shlichim, and go to him and tell him, Rebbi I have fulfilled your bidding. He told them unapologetically, Our task is to cause Torah to flourish, and Rav Aharon cannot be rebbi for students of a lower caliber. (Photo from the 1947 Torah Umesorah convention in Cleveland). He was introduced to admirers who would become his loyal supporters. Just weeks after Rav Aharon was born, a small township in central New Jersey received its charter. The chassan is in the far left and is flanked by his grandfather Rav Leizer Yudel Finkel. It was around the turn of the century that Jews began to arrive in Lakewood to fill these needs. Leadership meant responsibility, responsibility always translated into activism, and activism invariably took the form of launching initiatives, motivating others, and getting the job done. I cant refuse a bona fide talmid chacham!. The lack of recruiters meant that few Americans came to Kletzk. Those are my commentaries on the Talmud, he explained. The Torah Fire of Rav Aharon Kotler zt"l - Yated.com Hashem gave you these abilities, he is the one who gave you the power to be successful. His approach to learning was creative and vital. But Rav Aharon trusted the young activist who regularly drove him around and helped obtain appointments with donors. Last Friday marked the 54th yahrzeit of Rabbi Aaron Kotler, a leading Rosh Yeshiva in pre-WWII Europe who formed Lakewood's Beth Medrash Govoha in 1943. They obviously spoke Hebrew and, at least then, scarcely understood any Yiddish. A neighborhood group organized a petition against the sale, citing potential noise issues in the quiet neighborhood. During this trip, Rav Aharon spent a significant amount of time in Baltimore. In 1904 the small Jewish community in Lakewood organized when Mr. Charles (Betzalel) Goldstein, an immigrant from Russia who had studied under Rav Leizer Gordon in Telz (Betzalel Day School in Lakewood carried his name), appealed to local residents to open a permanent minyan. He was orphaned at the age of 10 and adopted by his uncle, Rabbi Yitzchak Pinnes, a Dayan in Minsk. Rav Reuven decided to ensure that Arke would be protected by bringing him to Slabodka where the great educator, the Alter of Slabodka, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, could take him under his wing. Another member of the Yad Hachazakah, Rabbi David Rackman, who would later become a rav and businessman in Albany, described the joy exuded by the Ridbaz when he entered the beis medrash: He would stand in the doorway virtually unseen and simply listen. The emergence of an experienced administrator for the kollel, helped it gain both legitimacy and financial backing for its initial months. Rav Aharon in conversation with Rav Elchonon Wasserman and Rav Moshe Blau at the 3rd Knessiah Gedolah in Marienbad in 1937. I cannot even describe the bitterness and pain we felt upon my departure. Zeirei Agudath Israel leader Mike Tress was sitting at his Shabbos table in Williamsburg on Friday night when his doorbell rang. The outbreak of World War II in Europe sent dozens of North American yeshivah students fleeing back home. He was orphaned at the age of 10 and adopted by his uncle, Yitzchak Pines, a rabbinic judge in Minsk. During this time Rav Aharon also traveled often to Kovno, where the foreign embassies were located, to seek a way out for his yeshivah, suspecting that the Lithuanian haven wouldnt last for long. Rav Aharon arrived in Indianapolis and proposed joining Rav Shmuel Isaac Katz, the local rav, for Shabbos, but the latter (who was clearly unaware of Rav Aharons stature) demurred, proposing that Rav Aharon stay at the local community hekdesh (guest hostel), where meshulachim were generally housed. He chose Lakewood, New Jersey, as the site for his new Yeshiva in America, because its location, far from the distractions of New York City, would enable his students to concentrate on their studies. The smaller Yeshivos followed the lead of the larger Yeshivos, and either escaped with them to Japan and China, or were arrested by the communists and sent to Siberia or Kazakhstan. Supposedly Rav Aharon Kotler had asked Joe Kennedy for assistance in obtaining certificates for European Jews, and to help lobby the president to work on to save the Jews. As is traditional in chassidic circles, the Gerrer Rebbe offered the little boy an apple, which he declined saying he wasnt hungry. When the Alter acceded to the Ridbazs request and established a yeshivah in Slutzk, it was at great personal cost to his own yeshivah. This former Union army veteran whose obituary claims that he had done more to benefit Lakewood than any other man was not, in fact, interested in nurturing religious life. Rav Aharon emphasized that while Rav Yitzchak Meir was his brother-in-law, he was submitting his candidacy strictly based on his merits. Rav Chatzkels daughter, Rebbetzin Zlata Ginsburg, recalled the exuberance of the Kletzk townspeople when they learned of this exciting development. Already in a tenuous situation due to the chaotic war conditions, yeshivah institutions now faced an existential crisis due to the Soviet threat and the death of their patron and undisputed leader. Look no further than the recent display of kavod haTorah that took place at the Adirei HaTorah event at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, where a phalanx of modern-day Zevuluns packed the rafters for a chance to pay tribute to the thousands of Yissachars on tiers below them who were the evenings guests of honor. Businesses were nationalized, expressions of nationalism were banned, and religious institutions and their leaders were targeted. His face was beet-red with excitement and exertion. After a few minutes, Rav Aharon proclaimed, You must open a yeshivah and send all the bills to my home address!. Interestingly enough, though quite a few other postwar yeshivos proudly carried the names of their European antecedents, Rav Aharon never attempted to incorporate Kletzk into the name of the Lakewood yeshivah. This noble endeavor created a framework for laborers and merchants to benefit from a Torah environment, replete with batei medrash and shiurim in every locale. On Friday afternoon Rebbetzin Chana Perel Kotler advised a group of yeshivah students to wire Rav Aharon and inquire whether to pursue the original plan due to the changing circumstances on the ground. America, Rav Mordechai Shapiro answered. 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 . In Poland, when there were many yeshivos, people would say, if you would like an approach full of life (lebedeigkeit) then go to Kletzk. None waiting. Rav Hutner saw great potential in the young genius and pleaded with him to devote himself exclusively to Torah study. Rav Aharons shiurim gained renown during the Kletzk era, and he came to be known as a great charif, a sharp and incisive thinker. 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. So he hired a shadar an official fundraiser, who in the case of Kletzk kept a full 50 percent of all earnings (a typical arrangement at the time). It was named Etz Chaim, presumably as an ode to Rav Isser Zalmans alma mater in Volozhin. In 1933 he traveled to England and Ireland, but it became apparent that the yeshivah was on the brink of financial collapse. The Legacy of Maran Rav Aharon Kotler - Google Books (The religious populace was predominantly non-chassidic, so much so that tradition had it included among what were said to be four exclusively misnagdic towns in the region, nicknamed Karpas: Kossovo, Ruzhinai, Pruzhan and Slutzk. The Va'ad Hatzalah brought Rabbi Kotler out of Nazi controlled Europe, where he had been a highly regarded scholar and the head of the Yeshiva in Kletsk. Rav Aharon Kotler, - The Early Years - The 5 Towns Jewish Times Somewhere on the towering dais sat a senior student of Rav Aharons from the early days of Beth Medrash Govoha. (His son Rav Shneur had already departed for Palestine using a certificate received from his grandfather Rav Isser Zalman.). The Legacy Of Rav Aharon Kotler - The Jewish Press Even as the yeshivahs deficit grew, the mashgiach, Rav Chatzkel Levenstein believed that the yeshivah needed its own building, and a building campaign was initiated. One of the rebbeim alongside Rav Aharon was his close friend Rav Elazar Shach, who had married a niece of Rav Isser Zalman. Rav Noach himself was questioned as to his preference to which he responded softly that had he wanted to stay in Kletzk, he never would have come to Mir. He asked his close confidante, Mr. Stephen Klein, to oversee the organization, and he embarked on a relentless fundraising campaign. Rav Shmaryahu Schulman once related a humorous incident. rav aharon kotler's sister Some 45 of the good bochurim were left behind however to be on the watch as it were and it was only about three weeks ago when the Soviets requisitioned their building where they remained on the mishmar and studied until the last minute. Toward the end of 1943, due to the dawning reality of the scope of the Final Solution, the Vaad expanded its rescue operations beyond yeshivah students and Torah scholars to the general rescue of European Jewry. A few months later, he departed and was replaced by the Chofetz Chaims son-in-law Rav Mendel Zaks, who soon departed after a short time for Montreal, where he reunited with his mother-in-law, who arrived along with her son and a small nucleus of yeshivah students who fortuitously received Canadian visas. Rav Elazar M. Shach related that only one of Rav Aharons friends from Slabodka attended the wedding, which was the norm in those days. Unfortunately, almost all were murdered by the Nazis and their local collaborators. Local families belonging to the shul wouldtake responsibility for feeding the students and provided them with a modest monthly stipend. [5] while the surrounding Lakewood community supports a network of more than 100 other yeshivas[6] and approximately 200 synagogues[7] for an Orthodox population estimated at more than 66,000. The Bund sought to organize the Jewish working class, and to remake Jewish identity as well, with Yiddish culture replacing religious observance. When Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky was encouraged by Rav Aharon to open his yeshivah in Philadelphia, he expressed concern: what kind of chinuch would his children receive in a city that lacked a proper religious educational infrastructure? Did you ever see the Rosh Yeshivahs photograph? The special guest of honor was Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, the former rosh yeshivah, who came all the way from Eretz Yisrael to savor his son-in-laws accomplishments in his stewardship of the yeshivah. In a letter to Rav Chaim Ozer in December 1933, he explained: Time is very limited. He surely noticed the hopelessness exuded by so many after the utter devastation of the Holocaust, and concluded that a singular, unshakeable focus on the future was the only path forward. For more than 20 years prior to his arrival in America, Rav Aharon Kotler was one of the leaders of Torah Jewry in Europe, standing alongside fellow gedolim a generation older than he. Rav Aharons focus on his studies was such that he regularly forgot to eat his meals. -Rav Shaul Kagan. With his arrival in Slabodka, he enjoyed a . Another son, named Boruch Peretz after Rav Isser Zalmans father, also died in infancy. Rabbi Henoch Cohen, who served as Chinuch Atzmais North American director for nearly a half century, related a shocking episode. The interwar years saw steady growth of the Jewish population in Lakewood and its environs, including several Jewish chicken farmers in the 1920s.
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