Unfortunately, the trend toward socialism wasnt limited to labor unions, and ambivalence toward religion soon turned into animosity. The first months of Rav Aharons stay in Slabodka featured successive visits from great rabbinical leaders. (Her younger brother, Isidor Rayner was one of the first Jews elected to the US Senate.) During the week, the longtime mashgiach Rav Nosson Wachtfogel ran the yeshivah. In doing so, he expressed his hope to pay tribute to his illustrious forebear, and to imply that his yeshivah was to be a resurrection of the mother of all yeshivos which had been shuttered several years prior. The studentslistened attentively until the flow was interrupted by a quiet but assertive voice. A talmid of Volozhin, Slabodka and Kelm, Rav Archik served as rabbi of many cities over the course of his long career, including Siemiatycze, Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad), Shadova, Poltava, Suvalk, Lomza, and Shavli, and a few others. This is his story. The rosh yeshivah was alone, separated from his students albeit not for lack of trying to bring them to safety. Along with the influx of revelers came the need for local services and businesses. The following day saw the Alters return. 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. You, Mr. Kaufman, were one of the great supporters of Torah, when you leave This World, that simchah will be given to you.. Rav Aharon knew his background, and even though he wasnt polished, he treated him like a son.. Rav Yaakov Teitelbaum, leader of the Zeirei Agudah in prewar Vienna and later the rav of Adas Yereim in Kew Gardens, told of a rabbinic gathering in Europe attended by Rav Chaim Ozer. Herbert Tenzer at the December 1945 Vaad Hatzalah Dinner. Modern machinery and long winter evenings are also conducive in affording more leisure time. Why do you write such nonsense? Rav Aharon would oftentimes make extended visits to Israel, during which he delivered regular shiurim at Etz Chaim. And of course we have the regular expenses of feeding the yeshivah. Rav Aharon in an animated discussion with Rav Avraham Farbstein while attending the engagement party of of future Mir rosh yeshiva Rav Refoel Shmuelevitz 15 Shvat 1962. On September 10, 1935, Rav Aharon arrived in New York on the RMS Majestic. Among the younger group, there were three younger bochurim [known to be exceptional], they were almost yingerlach (children): The Vishker Illui, Hershke Semiatytcher, and last but not least Arke Sislovitcher. My grandfather used to come for mini-vacations sometimes. 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. It seems that Eisenhower arranged a broadcast warning the Germans of retribution should they go ahead with this plan. Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky stood up, walked over to Rav Mordechai and said, I was the second child., Rav Aharon as a student in Slabodka, seated second from left. Left to right: Irving Bunim, Hon. Arke may have had a shining reputation, but his childhood was marred by tragedy and pain. His flaming blue eyes bore into the souls of all present. Rav Aharon Kotler was a man with a fiery passion for Torah and a deep love for his students. This would be especially true regarding European Jewry. 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 was not until after one oclock in the morning that Rav Aharon returned home. Though he came from an illustrious rabbinic family, Rav Aharon Kotler (1891-1962) was faced with the challenge of being orphaned from both parents as a child. While he reverted back to the prestigious Pines name later on in life, his son Arke would maintain the Kotler surname, and ensure that it would become a name enshrined with gold letters in the history of the Jewish nation. 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 Kalman recalls that Rav Aharon entered the apartment and immediately made a beeline for his bookshelf and pulled out a Gemara. Rav Aharons efforts ultimately made a deep imprint upon American Jewry. One of the Torah giants of his time, Rav Zalman Sender was a great-grandson of Rav Chaim Volozhiner through his daughter Relkehs second marriage. (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. Bunim arrived at Rav Aharons house to find him running a fever. Nothing could stand in the way of Rav Aharons lifelong pursuit of truth. 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. An elderly rav exclaimed, Yungerman, sit down. It was a rare moment of joy for Rav Aharon during the difficult war years. Following a quick stop in Cincinnati, he arrived at Penn Station on April 21, 1941. His letters back home from that trip are an important source towards understanding those tumultuous months. Many of the stories have become the stuff of legend. On that day in 1941, Rav Aharon described thechain of Torah that commenced at Har Sinai andwas composed of links of various quality someof precious metals and others of baser materials.He described the historical sequence of thetransmission of Torah from Rabban Yochanan benZakkai through the Rishonim and finished withrecent Torah leaders: Rav Chaim Brisker, Rav MeirSimchah of Dvinsk, and Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski.Reaching a fevered pitch, he began his plea, urgingthe assembled yeshivah students to forge anotherlink in the dynastic chain. Yekusiel, zing. A Lithuanian tradition from the Vilna Gaon advised adding a prefix when using the name in the future. , during the height of World War II, Rav Aharon Kotler, founder of the Lakewood Yeshiva, learned that several young Polish rabbinical students were detained in Italy. I m sorry, says Rav Shneur, my father could do that, but I am not on that high level. Rav Aharon Kotler, the founding Rosh Yeshiva of Beis Medrash Gavoha in Lakewood, was a trailblazer of Torah Jewry after WWII. 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. Most important was a partnership initiated with Mr. Irving Bunim, who was to emerge as Rav Aharons closest confidante for the next three decades. She was to remark to her friend that she had never seen her father-in-law raise his voice or get angry at anything. It was named Etz Chaim, presumably as an ode to Rav Isser Zalmans alma mater in Volozhin. In 1924 this emissary was dispatched to Germany. Over the years, I had many discussions with Rav Joseph Ber Soloveitchik. Rav Aharon suggested three candidates to lead the institution Rav Yitzchok Hutner, who was then employed in a non-leadership position in Chaim Berlin; Rav Yechezkel Burstyn, rosh yeshivah of Ohr Yisroel in Slabodka and author of Divrei Yechezkel; and his own brother-in-law Rav Yitzchak Meir Patchiner (Ben-Menachem), then a talmid in Slabodka-Chevron. [4], In 1943, Kotler founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, with 15 students. There was also a family connection as Rav Isser Zalmans ancestors had previously been rabbanim of the town. The youngest of them all was Arke Sislovitcher, a child of 13 or 14. Dor-Shav (Dershowitz), Zecharia (2022). Oftentimes it wasnt limited to mere abandonment of religion; it was openly hostile toward mitzvah observance. Following the call of their leaders: When Vaad activist Herman Hollander (not pictured) and his wife Grace learned that there was a possibility that Jewish lives could be ransomed from the Nazis, with a sense of alacrity, they sold their hard-earned, newly acquired Brooklyn home, with the proceeds benefiting the life-saving work of the Vaad Hatzalah. Back then, it was known simply as the Lakewood Yeshivah, and Rav Aharons leadership role was far from a given. We talk to a rabbi about why, and what it means. Leadership meant responsibility, responsibility always translated into activism, and activism invariably took the form of launching initiatives, motivating others, and getting the job done. He became the son-in-law of Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, another great Talmid Chacham, and they had mutual respect to a high degree. In the highly politicized atmosphere of interwar Polish Jewry, education like every other facet of communal life generally operated within a political affiliation with a specific party and political platform. 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. Donate. [3] By the time of his death in 1962, the yeshiva had grown to 250 students. Rav Aharon shared his worldview with Irving Bunim, pointing to American history as proof. His yeshivah had already escaped the Soviets 18 years earlier from Slutzk, crossing the border illegally into Poland. Eventually Rav Aharon made it to Vladivostok, and after a short stint in Kobe, Japan boarded a steamer headed for San Francisco. Mrs. Bertha Rayner Frank was born in Baltimore in 1847 into a prestigious Jewish family of German origin. He is indeed a most interesting person and considered the greatest Talmudic master of his own age. How ridiculous!! But mere ceremony was a foreign concept to Rav Aharon. 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. He commissioned Rav Reuven Grozovsky with the unenviable task of censoring Rav Aharons mail. It is being maintained largely through the efforts of a limited number of people. 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. Rav Yechiel Mordechai Gordon of the Lomza Yeshivah was traveling to Detroit, as it was already scheduled for him earlier, therefore I dont know yet where we will be for Pesach.. Rav Aharon Kotler would call him every Rosh Chodesh. They assumed diverse leadership roles in the wider Jewish community, and were inspired by his palpable sense of urgency to act for the benefit of their nation. Reb Shmuel Teitzmaller, whose family owned the local construction firm that built the yeshivah, described this exuberance decades later in a Beth Medrash Govoha newsletter: You could see a simple laborer or one of the balabatim grab a free moment, run over to the construction site, grab a few bricks and hand it to a bricklayer. The calm before the storm Inside the beis medrash in Kletzk during the summer of 1939. Niles contacted General Eisenhower, supreme commander of Allied Forces in Europe. When the Nazis enacted a law in Germany during the 1930s banning traditional shechitah, Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg of Berlin wrote to halachic decisors of the time to elicit their opinions on whether German Jewry could rely on a leniency to stun the animals prior to shechitah. Kennedy, a rabid anti-Semite, refused, and Rav Aharon cursed him. One talmid recalled how Shmuel would recall precisely at which point Rav Aharon had cleared his throat during the shiur. 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. Reb Shraga Feivels youngest daughter Devorah Kramer recalled the eulogy delivered by Rav Yitzchok Elchonon Spektor, the Kovno Rav, at her fathers levayah. See CONTACT page for details. 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. 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 city of Vilna and its environs had been incorporated into the Second Polish Republic after World War I. In the middle of the wedding, shells were fired, a large explosion was heard and the room went dark. Initially named Emergency Committee for War-Torn Yeshivos, it was headed by Rav Chaim Ozers talmid in America, Rav Eliezer Silver. Rav Shneur Zalman refused to take part in the polemics some were hurling at his opponent, but those close to him saw that he was suffering greatly. Rav Shach remained in Kletzk through the early 1930s. The early years of the yeshivah witnessed an interesting blend. Rav Nachum Baruch was the president of the Lithuanian rabbinate and at one point the chairman of the Vaad HaYeshivos. The Mizrachi leader and Warsaw-based lawyer Zorach Warhaftig, who enjoyed a close relationship with many leading roshei yeshivah including Rav Aharon and would later play a vital role in the rescue of yeshivah students and roshei yeshivah during the war years, recounted in his memoirs his conversation with Rav Aharon regarding one facet among others of his general opposition to Zionism: In my many conversations with Rav Aharon Kotler, similar to my ones with Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, I got the impression that they view the study of Torah and the love of Torah as an all-encompassing outlook. Another geopolitical development presented a surprising ray of hope. Rav Aharon chose Kletzk partly as a result of its proximity to the new border, but there was a historical impetus as well. The economy was finally on the upswing, but the depression wouldnt end until 1939 and funds were still tight for many. There was, however, a problem. 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. (Perhaps they did not want to embarrass him; nevertheless, it was a great source of pain.) Contents Address of Rav Aharon Kotler Chinuch Atzmai Dinner 1956 50th yartzheit of harav aharon kotler zt l lakewood 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. Rav Aharons shiurim gained renown during the Kletzk era, and he came to be known as a great charif, a sharp and incisive thinker. I cant refuse a bona fide talmid chacham!. 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. Looking back, the . Rather, it is the clarion call that brought a revolution to Americas yeshivah world. He encouraged him to forge ahead with the plan. The latter yeshivahs numbers swelled as a result and by 1924 it contained 156 talmidim. Little is known about the time Rav Aharon spent at Knesses Beis Yitzchak, but the presence of the young student caused a stir in Slabodka, so much so that a plan was eventually put into motion to try and bring him to the Alters yeshivah, Knesses Yisrael. 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. 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. Rav Isser Zalman then closeted himself in a room with the Chofetz Chaim to discuss the matter. On Friday, April 11, 1941 (Erev Pesach), Rav Aharon arrived in San Francisco. From Lakewood To Yeshiva University: An Interview With Rabbi Aaron When I talk about Rav Aaron and mibeis abba, I dont mean just his scholarship, his Torah, but the qualities of a gadol, the warmth and other great middos. Just weeks after Rav Aharons arrival in Americaon Erev Pesach of 1941, the Nazis invaded Soviet-occupied Lithuania andbrought an end to the golden age of Torah study in Eastern Europe. Rav Aharon was overcome with stage fright because of the presence of one one unfamiliar person, so acute was his shyness. There were plenty of scientists and engineers. The rest, approximately 80, will be given to us by the Vaad HaYeshivos, as they promised that they would be ready right after the holiday. At the bottom of the letter Rav Aharon adds a note saying, Perhaps the bookstore will accept a note from the Vaad promising payment shortly., Rav Aharons approach to communal leadership was the same as his approach to Torah study: the establishment of firm principles, broadness of scope and a most detailed conclusion. His nusach for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur became popular as well. If you lived it, you wouldnt feel the smoke!, Public speaking, however, didnt come naturally to Rav Aharon. Due to fundraising concerns, yeshivos generally refrained from overt association of this sort. That historic talk articulated Rav Aharons ideology, mission, and contagious energy. Erupting in torrents of thought like a volcano, hed cite a tradition from Rav Yisrael Salanter that Torah is studied with venom, not with calm equanimity or coldness and apathy. He spoke quickly. Today, his grandson, Rabbi Zevulun Schwartzman, heads a kollel located at Etz Chaim Yeshiva. The mutual respect between the two was immeasurable. ), The new couple settled in Slutzk, where Rav Aharon soon joined the faculty of his father-in-laws renowned Slutzk Yeshivah. The Torah will begin to rise in a new place before its current locus goes dark. They came with a value of avodahtefillah. There were a few precocious children in the shul there, and he paid for train tickets for two of them to go to Slabodka. As the great activist and builder of Americas postwar Torah world, Rav Aharon had no choice but to remain fixated on the sole goal and vision of generating a Torah revolution in his new country. Named Chachmei Tzarfat after the great Rishonim who had once resided there, the yeshivah started with a group of DPs in Aix-Les-Baines. February 2, 1892 / the fourth of Shevat 5652. 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. 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. 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. Other family members tried influencing him and even registered him in a. On March 12, 1943, the sale was completed. Disappointed, the new Mafia chiefs bid farewell to Rav Shneur and left. 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. Rav Schorrs student, Rabbi Nosson Scherman, related that Rav Schorrs parents had provided the young couple with mattresses for their stay in Kletzk. 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. The Yeshiva began very humbly; Rabbi Ezra Novick, one of the earliest students, reports that when he joined the Yeshiva, there were only three students. Harav Aharon Kotler, zt"l, with the Kopyczynitzer Rebbe, Harav Avraham Yehoshua Heschel, zy"a, at the famed Lederer Hotel in the Catskills. And he (Zev) has a tremendous part in this accomplishment (to strengthen Chinuch Atzmai), through lobbying efforts and other means. For that reason we must daven!. 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. With his arrival in Slabodka, he enjoyed a . This statement is perhaps the best summation of Rav Aharons greatness. Ultimately this dialogue led to the establishment of Bais Medrash Elyon in Monsey. The news of Volozhins closure spread quickly as students returned home to their respective cities and villages, among them the town of visa (Sislovitz), located 250 kilometers from Volozhin in Grodno Province, where a respected alumnus of the yeshivah, a rav named Rav Shneur Zalman Pines, was hosting a bris for his son, whom he named Aharon. The mans father, a wealthy philanthropist who supported a plethora of causes including Beth Medrash Govoha, experienced a financial reversal. Also seen to his left are Rav Shlomo Halberstam of Bobov and Rav Moshe Teitelbaum (the Beirach Moshe) of Satmar, When Julius Klugman, one of Rav Aharons most trusted confidants, was in Israel attending the Fourth Knessiah Gedolah of Agudas Yisrael in 1954, he visited the Brisker Rav.
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