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He dedicated his life, night and day, to the building of Torah in America and by leadership of an organization called Chinuch Atzmai, Independent Torah Education, in Israel as well. (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. His goal had never been to save himself, and with his arrival, he immediately sprang into action. Slutzk was one of the few yeshivos that didnt endure exile during World War I, and continued to function in its original location under trying conditions of war and the subsequent Bolshevik Revolution and Civil War. Every passing day is an irrevocable loss to the success of the campaign.. Who are you to speak in the presence of gedolei hador? Rav Chaim Ozer retorted, Der yungerman darf men tzu heren vail der nexter dor vet zein oif zein pleitzis we must pay attention to what this young man has to say, because the next generation will rest on his shoulders!, This point is further reinforced by a story shared by Rav Aharon Lopiansky. He probably couldnt. 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. (Nearly a century later, these two illustrious families came together once again when Rav Moshe Mordechais great-grandson, Rav Yosef Chevroni current rosh yeshivah of Chevron-Slabodka married Sarah Bakst, a great-granddaughter of Rav Archik. Rav Shach would return home for the Yamim Tovim.) It is being maintained largely through the efforts of a limited number of people. The Lomza rosh yeshivah, Rav Yechiel Mordechai Gordon, was stranded in the US during the war, and he was hired to serve as rosh kollel. He was only 14 years old, but that didnt stop him from being outspoken in shiur, challenging the rosh yeshivah, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein. Rav Aharon Kotler, the founding Rosh Yeshiva of Beis Medrash Gavoha in Lakewood, was a trailblazer of Torah Jewry after WWII. During the course of his 11 months in the United States, Rav Aharon visited locations from Boston to Atlanta, New York to Nebraska. R' Aharon Kotler very nearly got on a train to leave yeshiva and study mathematics in Moscow, and his sister spent the rest of her life regretting that he didn't do so; I thus find it unlikely that he would solve a Communist's challenge to solve a calculus problem. We went to see Secretary Morgenthau in order to get permission to transfer these funds. 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. 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. Years later he heard that this child had somehow ended up in America and opened a yeshivah. This made Beth Medrash Govoha a bridge of sorts, where the yeshivah tradition of Eastern Europe was handed over to a new generation of leaders and Torah scholars. The towns rav, Rav Chaim Shimon Herensohn, recalled that his father and predecessor had invited Slabodka to establish the branch there upon its founding in 1897. 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. In Krinik, Rav Aharon joined a seasoned group of older students, but had no difficulty keeping up and even standing out with his quick mind and impressive diligence. When Rav Aharon told Reb Shraga Feivel of his plan to open the yeshivah in Lakewood, without hesitating, Reb Shraga chose some of the Mesivtas best including Rav Elya Svei, Rav Yisrael Kanarek, and Rav Yaakov Weisberg and sent them to Rav Aharon. However, he hired the cab driver with one condition: The cab driver had to pick up anyone on the road that was also travelling there. You will live for many years in Eretz Yisrael; HaKadosh Baruch Hu will yet help you, and in Eretz Yisrael you will come up with great chiddushei Torah., After hearing such things from the Chofetz Chaim, Rav Isser Zalman declared, I wouldnt stay here for all the money in the world! Other supporters of note were Mrs. Necha Golding and her husband Sam, who hosted Rav Aharon in their New York home. (This proverbial rite of passage was adapted by many roshei yeshivah, Rav Aharon among them. 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. In the shiur it was just like Lakewood; there was basically nothing external. Senior activists advised Rav Aharon that this plan was a fools errand. Sensing the danger which was to confront the yeshivos under a potential Soviet dominion, he called upon all of the yeshivos to flee posthaste to Vilna. True, his shiur consisted of cool logical analysis, but when he spoke, it was a fiery volcano. He didnt have to think over what he was saying, and what he wanted to say now. Why do you write such nonsense? Yet Rav Aharon still felt that his innumerable accomplishments didnt suffice. By the end of 1907, construction was completed, and Congregation Sons of Israel opened. Rabbi Kotler played a crucial role in the shaping of the aredi world view in the twentieth century. 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. Please send me the ten dollars this year by mail., This is a fairly accurate picture of Orthodox Jewish life in the 1950s. This statement is perhaps the best summation of Rav Aharons greatness. He related the story about a poshute Yid who set aside a kopek from his earnings for hachzakas Torah. He decided to consult with Rav Aharon who told him, Bshum oifen nisht! They werent religious Jews. 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. Bunim arrived at Rav Aharons house to find him running a fever. Along with the influx of revelers came the need for local services and businesses. Last year you gave me ten dollars. And of course we have the regular expenses of feeding the yeshivah. He stayed by his friend, Rabbi Kudensky of 6 Rutger Street in Manhattan. With the founding of Slutzk Yeshiva in 1897, the Alter dispatched Rav Isser Zalman to be its rosh yeshivah, leaving Rav Moshe Mordechai the sole rosh yeshivah of Slabodka. When the offensive began, the victories came slowly. Prior to his passing, Reb Shraga Feivel Frank requested of his wife to ensure that their four daughters all married young men who were fully engaged in a life of Torah. A third group of older bochurim went to Duksht. The activities of the Vaad did not cease with the end of the war, because there were still Jews in Europe who desperately needed help. Together with Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, he was involved in the founding of Torah Umesorah in 1944 and served as chairman of its rabbinical administrative board. Rav Ruderman remained bothered by this for quite some time. In the 1890s, the Hafetz Hayim had published an entire book to deter Jews from jour He earns a mere $12 a week as a peddler, and hes donating his entire weekly salary to the yeshivah.. Yekusiel, sing.. He told my father that he hoped to eventually have over a hundred students. In addition to sacrificing Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, who was one of his roshei yeshivah in Slabodka, the Alter sent 14 of his finest students to Slutzk. Goldstein now turned his attention to building the shul and he began to fundraise. The Alter then reconsidered Rav Archiks appointment, and instead hired the Frank son-in-law Rav Moshe Mordechai as the second rosh yeshivah. Examinees would know the test went well if they were invited into his home for tea and cookies afterward. Eventually, Rav Aharon discovered that his mail was being censored and became extremely upset, and decided to leave the yeshivah. Rabbi Aaron Twerski relates a story told to him by a fellow talmid, Rav Yekusiel Bittersfeld, who served as Rav Aharons attendent one year at the Agudah convention: We were sitting at the seudah with Rav Mendel Zaks, when Rav Aharon turned to me and said, Yekusiel, sing a zemer. Rav Mendel replied, Zemiros werent sung at the table of my father-in-law (the Chofetz Chaim). Without missing a beat, Rav Aharon said, Mistameh hut er nit gekent. Following Pesach of 1906, Rav Aharon arrived in Slabodka together with RavYaakov. He arrived on September 10th, 1935 having left Europe from Cherbourg, France aboard the Majestic. His dual places of residence serve as a metaphor for this delicate attempt at equilibrium in his twin goals. He examined the two boys with his piercing eyes. Yet his sense of responsibility for the wider yeshivah world was astonishingly broad. 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. He derided the value of secular knowledge by minimizing its achievement. The Torah world watched as its emerging leader proceeded to build one of the greatest yeshivos of the era. 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. Wait until all of the bochurim return, he told them, and perhaps there will be some space for you., Dejected, they exited the room. After that, he would put down the phone, and continued discussing the shiur, as if there was no interruption, as if he had never stopped. Rav Aharon Kotler, ZTL FIRST TRIP TO AMERICA Rav Aharon came to the United States in 1935 to raise funds for the Yeshiva. 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. Once again, the growing yeshivah of Kletzk was left in the able hands of Rav Aharon. One group was in Lakewood and included many students who would emerge as leading roshei yeshivah and builders of Torah. A handful of these improvised yeshivos became formal institutions and gained some renown, such as the famous Blumkas Kloiz and a yeshivah run by Rav Shlomo Goloventzitz, which served as a feeder for Slabodka. Mr. Wolfson had just turned 25 when he approached Rav Aharon with a bold plan to petition Secretary of State John Foster Dulles via important US Senators, to recommend that Chinuch Atzmai be a recipient of counterpart funds that were being distributed by the US Government at the time. In 1896 his wife Sarah Pesha passed away and he was left to raise his children alone. Colleges and Universities by Universities, by Level and Attendance Status, Fall 2018", "11 things to know about Lakewood amid fraud sweep", "New Jersey Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather", "Lakewood's Orthodox population keeps growing. Ads in the Poltava based Hamodia wished mazel tov to Rav Aharon and Chana Perel Meltzer upon their marriage. For the decade between 1925-35, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein served as mashgiach, and he was succeeded by Rav Yosef Leib Nenedik, who like his predecessor was a mussar product of the great Kelm Talmud Torah. When word spread about the yeshivahs impending arrival, many of the local residents were suspicious or even dismayed. 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. America. Yet, as is evident from a speech he delivered at a family simchah of Mr. Wolfsons just weeks before his passing, Rav Aharon, in his wisdom, saw his young charges potential to make a continuing and unprecedented impact and encouraged him to do even more: The plan was, G-d forbid, for a totally different type of education to take hold (in Israel), which would undermine the very existence of a life according to Torah values. Rav Aharon Kotlers sister Malka was relentless in trying to convince him to leave Slabodka, enroll in university, and join the modern world. Rav Boruch Ber wouldnt hear of it. Upon arrival in Moscow, Rav Aharon went to the American embassy to receive his travel papers, only to discover that a bureaucratic foul-up had occurred, and the visas had not yet arrived. Rav Aharon addressed the crowd and then Rav Dachowitz announced that for $12, one could cover the expenses of a student for a month. By 1924 the desperate financial straits of the yeshivos in the region led to the founding of one of the most unique organizations in the annals of the yeshivah world: the Vaad HaYeshivos. (While its unclear what became of his son Moshe, thankfully, his younger daughter Devorah was spared from this plague.). Der Rebbe hot gegeiben ah brachah Say Amen, the Rebbe gave you a brachah!. 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. They were concerned that love of Zion and Jerusalem would compete for adherents among Jewish youth, and that the latter love would take the place of the former.. He acquiesced and blessed him to become a talmid chacham. One of Rav Aharons maxims was One should imagine that his entire spiritual standing is literally dependent on how he utilizes the present moment, for the time that comes afterwards is a completely different entity., He wrote, The great benefit that a Yeshiva brings to Klal Yisrael, accrues to the entire nation, even to those who have distanced themselves from the Torahs ways. Rabbi Nathan Baruch contends that Rav Aharon felt that a public forum was not the proper venue to highlight the plight of the Jews, because he believed the nations of the world reveled in the tragedies befalling the Jewish People. Rav Isser Zalman immigrated to Eretz Yisrael in 1925 and obtained a certificate on behalf of one of his talmidim in the yeshivah who wanted to go as well. The letter described how the yeshivah-farm could also open a cannery that would produce Kosher for Pesach products and serve as a summer camp as well, and ended on a note of optimism: The average worker on the Torah Farm Industrial Project would find more leisure time which may be devoted to the study of Torah, since he need not travel to or from work. There is a need for effective teachers and for the right kind of rabbis and Lakewood will produce these too. Back then, it was known simply as the Lakewood Yeshivah, and Rav Aharons leadership role was far from a given. It didnt take long for Arke Sislovitzer to be noticed. During Rav Aharons years at Knesses Yisrael, it was commonplace for elite students to go listen to Rav Boruch Ber Leibowitzs shiurim at the rival yeshivah of Knesses Beis Yitzchak. When he stepped off the platform in midtown Manhattan on that fine spring day, few knew that the Torah landscape of America was about to be transformed forever. He suggested they postpone the trip but Rav Aharon refused, saying, There are lives at stake and we are going!, Bunim drafted a memorandum on the train, and Rav Aharon reviewed it at the home of their Washington host, Rav Yehoshua Klavan. Suffice it to say that Rav Aharon believed that the very future of Torah education in Israel was at stake and devoted all his energies to the establishment of an entirely new educational infrastructure from scratch. Rav Aharon and Rav Shlomo Heiman in Camp Mesivta.Following Rav Shlomos sudden passing in 1944, Rav Aharon volunteered to fill in and say his shiur during the week. He locked his arm with Rav Aharons arm and they walked through the door together. There was also a family connection as Rav Isser Zalmans ancestors had previously been rabbanim of the town. The name Pines was derived from the words, al pines by a miracle, marking a miraculous salvation that took place generations prior. The mutual respect between the two was immeasurable. (This building still stands and is fully functional today known as the old shul. The congregation eventually built a newer location on the corner of 6th and Madison.). Its hard to conceive of such a thing now, when the names of Rav Aharon, Rav Moshe, and Rav Yaakov are uttered with such awe, but I was once in a car with the three gedolim en route to a wealthy individuals home to fundraise for Chinuch Atzmai. He agreed to the proposal to join the White Plains Kollel, subject to three stipulations: The yeshivah would be located out of town, he would retain complete control of spiritual matters, and hed devote the bulk of his time toward rescue efforts as long as the war continued. He said how, after he asked Rav Moshe Mordechai to serve as shadchan, a fleeting look crossed Rav Moshe Mordechais face and he realized that Rav Moshe Mordechai, who also had a daughter of marriageable age, had likely set his eye on him as well. 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 . His schedule included delivering a daily blatt shiur and the semichah shiur, where he readied scores of budding scholars for the rabbinate. During the first World War he fled eastward, eventually making his way toward the land of Israel where he settled in Yerushalayim until his passing in 1923. Contrast that with the current era. Even while seeing success at Slabodka, there were constant pressures from family members as well as the Jewish street to conform to the pressures of modernity. Rav Aharon told me of their experience and emotions in leaving Kletzk. About Rebbetzin Sara Pesha Schwartzman. Initial quarters were located on top of a Chinese laundry on Fourth Street, and the annual rent was $105. In Lakewood, however, he began delivering them on a regular basis. Kotler died at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City on November 29, 1962. "Look at the things that have happened. His son is the great posek, Rav Dovid Cohen, rav of Gvul Yaavetz in Brooklyn. Oftentimes it wasnt limited to mere abandonment of religion; it was openly hostile toward mitzvah observance. Following Rav Reuven Grozovskys incapacitation in 1952, Rav Aharon assumed the role of chairman of the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah of Agudath Yisrael of America. Nothing could stand in the way of Rav Aharons lifelong pursuit of truth. All were driven to action by Rav Aharons charisma and his passion for his many causes. A few minutes later, they were offically welcomed into the yeshivah. Just weeks after Rav Aharon was born, a small township in central New Jersey received its charter. Rav Aharon at a town meeting in Kletzk (second row, third from left). After a certain point, the Alter no longer worried about Rav Aharon being influenced negatively and set out on another mission: to prepare Rav Aharon to be a Torah leader. Reb Shraga Feivel left instructions that no hespedim be delivered at his funeral. Most of his students did not manage to escape and were murdered by the Nazis. Another day school, a yeshivah gedolah, kollelim that dotted the fruited plains. Somewhere on the towering dais sat a senior student of Rav Aharons from the early days of Beth Medrash Govoha. 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. Aharon Kotler (1891 - November 29, 1962) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania, and later the United States, where he founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. [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. Donate. We live in an age when the amenities of Torah life, institutions and community are taken for granted. On October 10, the Lithuanian government signed a mutual assistance treaty with the Soviets, in which Vilna and its environs would be returned to the country in exchange for Soviet military bases on its territory. Rav Aharon Kotler and the Cab There is a famous story of Rav Aharon Kotler zt"l wherein he hired a cab driver to take him somewhere. [3], After World War I, the yeshivah moved from Slutsk to Kletsk in Belarus. His nusach for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur became popular as well. We can find another maggid shiur, but someone who can build a Bais Yaakov? Modern machinery and long winter evenings are also conducive in affording more leisure time. pros using evnroll putters, illawarra junior rugby league draw 2021,

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