He remained at his post as mashgiach of Kletzk through the onset of the Second World War, until he and his family were martyred along with most of the yeshivah students. By 2019 the yeshiva had grown into the largest institution of its kind in America with 6,715 students, 2,748 regular and 3,967 in Kollel status. We went to see Secretary Morgenthau in order to get permission to transfer these funds. Who was the brave one? The granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, died on Thursday at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, according to a spokesperson for the Kennedy family. Rav Aharon immediately proved his leadership abilities. When Yeshivah Knesses Beis Yitzchak opened in Slabodka in 1898, Rav Zalman Sender was among those invited to become its rosh yeshivah (and according to one source, even spent a few days there). 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. 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. 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. The offer was tempting, considering his low salary at the Agudah. 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. Hefkervelt : Rebbitzen Rischel Kotler A"H a biography - Blogger During one bein hazmanim intersession, Rav Aharon had the opportunity to speak in learning with Rav Meir Simchah of Dvinsk (the Ohr Sameach), who was taken with Rav Aharon and implored his teachers, Take care of young Aharon, he has potential to emerge as a Rabbi Akiva Eiger of the generation.. February 2, 1892 / the fourth of Shevat 5652. Perhaps Rav Aharons boldest project was undertaken in the last decade of his life, when he initiated the founding of Chinuch Atzmai in 1953. In addition to their regular shiurim, Rav Isser Zalman and Rav Aharon delivered halachah shiurim in hilchos Gittin and Choshen Mishpat to enhance the talmidims understanding of the relevant sugyos they were studying. He then asked Rav Aharon to locate five different passages in Talmud Yerushalmi and Rav Aharon knew them all, earning the right to be Rav Katzs guest. He studied in the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania under Though his pleas generally didnt find a receptive audience, he and other rescue activists did manage to find an ally in the form of Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. Irving Bunim shared Rav Aharons role in awakening a sleeping giant in his memoirs: I recall when our great rebbe called on Secretary Henry Morgenthau. During the week he resided in an apartment on 47th Street and 15th Avenue in Boro Park, his center of operations managing, leading, setting policy and fundraising in his capacities as the head of Agudas Yisrael, Chinuch Atzmai, Torah Umesorah, and other communal organizations. 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 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. We must immediately send out letters requesting all rabbanim and local activists to assist with organizing the campaign. They decided to form a kollel, where they could sequester themselves from the modern currents of America and swim in the sea of Torah and mussar as they had in Europe. There is a need for effective teachers and for the right kind of rabbis and Lakewood will produce these too. When he arrived in the United States in April of 1941, while the fire of Nazism was raging in Europe, he addressed an audience, For myself, I wouldnt have come. 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. (Rav Shneurs full name was actually Yosef Chaim Shneur. Still short of $10,000, he personally borrowed the funds. He served, along with Rav Shimon Shkop and Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, as one of the triumvirate of the Vaad Hapoel (executive board), which is quite astounding considering his relative age. 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 chassan is in the far left and is flanked by his grandfather Rav Leizer Yudel Finkel. Aharon Kotler. This man is legally blind and hardly has any money to his name. A few minutes later the Rebbetzin entered the bedroom only to find the Rosh Yeshivah sitting on his bed. Everyone knew that Arke Sislovitcher was artfully entitled by the lomdishe world with the words tzaneh malei safra a basket full of seforim. And an oker harim vetachnan zeh bazeh one who uproots mountains and grinds them one against the other.. But mere ceremony was a foreign concept to Rav Aharon. Im convinced that Chinuch Atzmai is more important than my own yeshivah.. The wedding was celebrated on 8 Adar, 1914 in Slutzk. Rav Chatzkels daughter, Rebbetzin Zlata Ginsburg, recalled the exuberance of the Kletzk townspeople when they learned of this exciting development. 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 had an acute awareness of the Soviets and their methods. The world will yet survive without another one. But thankfully, he likewise inherited his fathers sharp mind and endless capacity to absorb knowledge, though it was his legendary diligence an unusual intensity and zeal that caused him to stand out among his peers. He considered the Vilna Gaon, an eighteenth century Torah genius of exceptional greatness, one of his spiritual mentors. Rav Aharon traveled by boat on his first trip there in 1945. Though the Lithuanian government was well aware that the Red Army tended to stay and even expand in any territory under their control, they conceded to the demands of the Soviets. With the onset of the worldwide financial crisis and the Great Depression in 1929, the yeshivos found themselves in ever more dire financial straits. 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. Rav Isser Zalman conveyed the Frank familys position to the Alter of Slabodka, emphasizing the pain this was causing his mother-in-law, the elderly widow. He answered that Rav Aharons personal magnetism was what drew him in, but even more so, he was impressed that Rav Aharon spoke with such enthusiasm and persuasiveness while maintaining his integrity, something he rarely encountered among other rabbis who solicited him. Rav Kalman recalls that Rav Aharon entered the apartment and immediately made a beeline for his bookshelf and pulled out a Gemara. One of the rebbeim alongside Rav Aharon was his close friend Rav Elazar Shach, who had married a niece of Rav Isser Zalman. True, there remain new fields to conquer, new struggles to overcome. The donations are larger and the cause remains on their minds as a result as well.. It was a bustling marketplace of Torah. He and his family were martyred during the Holocaust. If one is able to accomplish this much, he must do even more. All other creatures cannot fly. 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. Fourteen-year-old Rav Aharon, however, noticed something amiss. When word spread about the yeshivahs impending arrival, many of the local residents were suspicious or even dismayed. Rav Isser Zalman believed the ploy was permitted, because he could retain that height by wearing the slats for the rest of his life. He earns a mere $12 a week as a peddler, and hes donating his entire weekly salary to the yeshivah.. Hashem grants a person the zechus to be able to accomplish, and he has special abilities; he witnessed a special Hashgachah Min Hashamayim to be successful, because now it is possible to achieve success. I fully believe that whatever comes out of the Chofetz Chaims mouth is prophecy. Ultimately, Rav Aharon's students opened day schools, yeshivos and kollelim around the world. Last year you gave me ten dollars. Rav Aharon Kotler zt"l - The 5 Towns Jewish Times Therefore, we ask Hakodosh Baruch Hu that you should be zocheh to be matzliach and constantly continue your efforts. Can you imagine, he said, his voice choked with emotion, what our downtrodden brothers in the (DP) camps think of such absurd luxury when they are still struggling to pull together all the broken pieces of their shattered lives? The silence from the audience rang louder than any verbal response. In order to generate publicity that would enhance fundraising prospects, Rav Aharon conceived the idea of a grand opening ceremony. Chassidic lore has it that Slutzk was condemned after the town mistreated the Baal Shem Tov.). She could be regularly heard reminding Rav Aharon to take a break to eat, so hed have strength to learn and engage in his endless activities on behalf of the klal. Rav Aharon was proud of his wifes comprehensive knowledge of Tanach and would often pose an intricate question to her, smiling when she provided not just one, but two satisfactory answers. From year to year he grew in his brilliance, and now he is among the giants of the generation. Bunim suggested Lakewood, New Jersey, since it was out of town but not too far from New York. It is my responsibility and yours to save them. Seventeen months earlier, we had left our parents and families; now we were to lose our spiritual father as well. He was exhausted, and told his Rebbetzin that he wanted to rest a while before leaving. 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. Rav Aharon, however, had no qualms about taking blunt political positions, even if it meant alienating donors who were Mizrachi supporters. The yeshivah was in the process of welcoming a new rosh yeshivah, Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz, whose shiurim would dominate the Lithuanian Torah landscape for the next 35 years. 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. The administrator of Kletzk, Rav Shimon Goder, who would later serve as administrator in Torah Vodaath, had arrived in America three months prior and now joined Rav Aharon during his fundraising appeals. The following day saw the Alters return. Rav Aharon Kotler, ZTL FIRST TRIP TO AMERICA Rav Aharon came to the United States in 1935 to raise funds for the Yeshiva. It was a short winter day, and as sunset approached there was still no resolution to the contentious issue under discussion. Remembering Rabbi Aaron Kotler and the Yeshiva of Kletzk He didnt have to think over what he was saying, and what he wanted to say now. Several visiting European roshei yeshivah spent Shabbos in Lakewood, including Rav Elchonon Wasserman, Rav Shimon Shkop, and Rav Pesach Pruskin. It seems like a supernatural act. He choked up, and remained crying at the podium for ten minutes without saying a word. Years later in Baltimore, a former student at Knesses Beis Yitzchak, Mr. Harry Wolpert, described the scene: When Rav Leizer saw that hundreds of yeshivah students had arrived, he skipped the formalities and immediately launched into a shiurwith his trademark intensity. 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. ISBN9781510770232. I was four or five or six years old. Jewish Action | A publication of the Orthodox Union A floundering Polish economy, devaluation of the Polish zloty and the yeshivahs growing debt meant that Rav Aharon would need to follow the path of other roshei yeshivah and travel abroad to raise funds. The principal of the Kovno Gymnasium found out that among the bochurim there was an illui a wunderkind. As is traditional in chassidic circles, the Gerrer Rebbe offered the little boy an apple, which he declined saying he wasnt hungry. Rav Moshe Zevulan Margolies (Ramaz) would spend the winter months in Lakewood during his later years. German Jews arrived in the 19th century and built institutions of chesed, Jewish hospitals, philanthropic organizations such as the Joint but abandoned traditional Jewish observance. 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. 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. Mrs. Golding also founded the yeshivahs sisterhood, galvanizing local women to support young men dedicated to Torah learning. During the week, the longtime mashgiach Rav Nosson Wachtfogel ran the yeshivah. Father often used to challenge balabatim, Rav Aharons daughter Rebbetzin Sarah Schwartzman told Professor William Helmreich. The Torah Fire of Rav Aharon Kotler zt"l - Yated.com He continued as if he had never stopped. It was around the turn of the century that Jews began to arrive in Lakewood to fill these needs. After the war, he walked to Bratislava with an older cousin. Such was an encounter withRav Aharon Kotler. His dual places of residence serve as a metaphor for this delicate attempt at equilibrium in his twin goals. With penetrating vision and powerful determination, he inspired a Torah revolution on three continents but thats just part of the story. He agreed to sell his property at a discounted price. [3] He was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Shneur Kotler, as rosh yeshiva. Due to Rav Aharon Kotler's influence, Rav Mendel was appointed rosh yeshivah of RJJ on the Lower East Side in 1948. Fearful of these. Rav Aharons shiurim gained renown during the Kletzk era, and he came to be known as a great charif, a sharp and incisive thinker. 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. He watched as those around him strayed from the faith their families had maintained for generations. Must leave Moscow within 24 hours. If I knew how to type, I would do it myself for Rav Aharon! he told them. In this capacity he maintained a very active correspondence with the two tireless administrators of the Vaad HaYeshivos in Vilna Rav Yosef Shub and Rav Aharon Berek.
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