Rav Mordechai Elefant is to his left. However, the raison dtre of Lakewood is limud haTorah lishmah the study of Torah for its own sake. In order to build, create, and motivate a new generation, he could not look back, only forward; he had to kindle, then nurture a fire strong enough, bright enough, and enduring enough to illuminate the entire Torah world. 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. In a letter penned in Toledo, Ohio, he addresses a query on the subject of masneh al mah shekasuv baTorah, and apologizes because of the great exertion and due to the weakness of my health, as I caught a cold and cant elaborate., He continued: In Columbus, Ohio $130 dollars was collected; Yesterday evening, we came to Toledo, the rav here Rabbi Nechemia Katz (brother-in-law of Rav Moshe Feinstein) studied at our yeshivah in Slutzk, and of course he is trying to do everything possible He also wrote that he considered traveling to Cleveland for the coming Shabbos, but received word that representatives of the Slabodka yeshivah had preceded him. He had just a handful of students at first, but he knew the yeshivah would grow. The Rav was a PhD from Berlin. He encouraged him to forge ahead with the plan. In 1904 Rav Chaim Rabinowitz departed for Telz and was replaced by the rav of Halusk and a prime student of Rav Chaim Brisker, Rav Boruch Ber Leibowitz. To his left are his brothers-in-law, Rav Sheftel Kramer and Rabbi Pesach Frank. The knowledge, research and published words of the following distinguished individuals, both past and present, aided in the preparation of this article. And act he did, with a fiery resolve that ignited a growing cadre of talmidim, activists, and supporters to act as well. True, his shiur consisted of cool logical analysis, but when he spoke, it was a fiery volcano. On occasion the Alter would accompany little Arke to his place of lodging. He knew, however, that many had escaped to the Far East or had been arrested by the Soviets and deported to the Gulag, and he marshaled new energy to focus on saving these last remainders of Europes yeshivah world. The man looked up and asked, Mah hashaah what time is it?. Rav Aharon also delivered schmuessen during those years. A controversy erupted over the return of a former rabbi to town. Rav Simcha Wasserman, a student of Rav Aharon in Kletzk, had arrived in the US and during this period assisted his rosh yeshivah with rescue activities. If I knew how to type, I would do it myself for Rav Aharon! he told them. The story of Rav Aharons shidduch was shared by famed journalist Rabbi Aaron Ben-Zion Shurin, who heard it from Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer while studying in Eretz Yisrael in the 1940s. Early life. 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 attended Moetzes meetings in Israel too, where his opinion was sought on weighty matters involving Israeli elections and politics, leading Rav Leizer Silver to joke at an Agudah Convention that world Jewry had a new kind of leader, a transatlantic rosh yeshivah.. 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. Rebbetzin Baila Hindas father was Reb Shraga Feivel Frank, a student and devoted supporter of Rav Yisroel Salanter. Most important was a partnership initiated with Mr. Irving Bunim, who was to emerge as Rav Aharons closest confidante for the next three decades. Completely oblivious to the guests sitting on the other side of the room or the dinner awaiting him on the table, he sat down to learn with incredible passion and energy, as if it were the middle of the day. Several had even gotten married in Europe. Even the trip from Minsk to Slabodka required planning; namely, a donor who would fund it. A savior arrived in the form of Rav Reuven Grozovsky, an older student of the Alter of Slabodka. With the eventual formation of the War Refugee Board in January 1944, Rav Aharon and Irving Bunim were able to work with its head John Pehle on several rescue attempts. MYTH BUSTED: Reb Shlomo Carlebach Was Never Kicked Out Of BMG [WATCH The outbreak of World War II in Europe sent dozens of North American yeshivah students fleeing back home. Unfortunately, almost all were murdered by the Nazis and their local collaborators. Legend has it, as believed by many in the "yeshivishe" world, that the curse began with Joe Kennedy. I know you do a lot, but Im begging you to do even more considering the circumstances. The rest is history.. One such person was Rav Aharon Kotler, zt'l, Dor-Shav (Dershowitz), Zecharia (2022). It wasnt just the working class who bought into the warm weather fallacy and filled the numerous resort hotels that lined the streets along the lake. These factors made him more amenable to the idea of traveling to the United States on his own, sensing that he could perhaps facilitate the exit of the yeshivah from there, and expedite the process by breathing new life into rescue work. He was orphaned at the age of 10 and adopted by his uncle, Rabbi Yitzchak Pinnes, a Dayan in Minsk. At 29 he was the youngest of Polands interwar roshei yeshivah, and he had now entered the public sphere as a rosh yeshivah, educator, leader and builder. 'Kennedy curse' strikes again? RFK's granddaughter dies at 22 Kennedy refused and was rude to the rabbi. The mutual respect between the two was immeasurable. He studied in the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania under All were driven to action by Rav Aharons charisma and his passion for his many causes. 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. In 1896 his wife Sarah Pesha passed away and he was left to raise his children alone. From that point on, every day the principal would send the young genius fresh eggs, fruit and other vegetables. But the community didnt flourish. His elder daughter Malka was ensnared by the secularist movements that captured the hearts and minds of the local youth. Rav Moshe Mordechai presented a section of the Ketzos Hachoshen and asked them to return with a challenge to the authors discourse which they succeeded in doing. After all, hadnt they been recruited by a trusted student of the Alter? An elderly rav exclaimed, Yungerman, sit down. He therefore has a tremendous obligation. He nurtured talmidim who themselves built numerous Torah institutions over the ensuing decades. Known in his youth as the Svislovitzer Ilui, the Torah prodigy from Svislovitz, his fame had spread throughout the Torah world of Lithuania, and he had risen to become the head of the Yeshiva of Kletsk. There was, however, a problem. It says smach Zevulun btzeisecha. Simchah can only be achieved in this world if the person grows in Torah. Thanking him profusely, he blessed him with nachas and greatness in Torah from his children. Rav Aharon Leib Steinman, who studied in Kletzk for a short time, described how Rav Aharon would move from one concept to another with lightning speed, requiring 100 percent focus in order to keep pace. The Torah worlds First Family: A seudas mitzvah at the home of R. Aharon Kotler in America. Sinister as his motivations may have been, Bradshaw arranged the donation of a plot of land, on the other side of the tracks, at the intersection of Park Avenue and Fourth Street for a synagogue. When the Telzer rosh yeshivah, Rav Eliezer Gordon, arrived for a Shabbos in Kovno, the students of both Slabodka yeshivos crossed the bridge and converged upon his hotel. 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. When word spread about the yeshivahs impending arrival, many of the local residents were suspicious or even dismayed. Kletzk was forced to leave Yanova and split up to evade detection. Tens of thousands of Jewish children learn due to his energy and in his merit. In From Kletzk to Siberia, Rabbi Alter Pekier writes: On Erev Shabbos, November 8, 1940 the yeshivahs faithful secretary Reb Berel Starobin was typing Rav Aharons chiddushim when agents of the NKVD burst in and began conducting a search. Geni requires JavaScript! He was only 14 years old, but that didnt stop him from being outspoken in shiur, challenging the rosh yeshivah, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein. 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. 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. Rabbi Perr is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Derech Ayson, Far Rockaway, NY. As of 2011, Beth Medrash Govoha is run by his grandson, Rabbi Malkiel Kotler, and three of his grandsons-in-law, Rabbis Yerucham Olshin, Yisroel Neuman, and Dovid Schustal. Life in Israel: The Frum Version Of The Kennedy Curse - Blogger Letters to Mrs. Necha Golding in the years following the trip beg her to follow up on pledges from others that went unpaid. Zeirei Agudath Israel leader Mike Tress was sitting at his Shabbos table in Williamsburg on Friday night when his doorbell rang. To make matters worse, another seminal event shook the yeshivah world. 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? 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. America has embraced and nurtured a vision of Torah learning for its own sake. Thank you. 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. When Rav Aharon insisted, Rav Katz immediately proposed a compromise. 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. Standing (left to right) beginning with Rabbi Nissan Waxman (with mustache): Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary, Rabbi Shlomo Aron Kazarnovsky, Rabbi Nissan Mindel and Rabbi Chaim Lieberman.
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