Perhaps the most noteworthy seed planted by Rav Aharon on this trip occurred following his visit to Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. 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. 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. But when you got to know him on a more private level, you could talk to him about. Slutzks 10,000 Jews comprised more than 75 percent of the population. sister. He was orphaned at the age of 10 and adopted by his uncle, Yitzchak Pines, a rabbinic judge in Minsk. Supporters of the yeshivah accused the opponents of being biased against poor war refugees. The challenges quickly subsided. But what is difficult for a Russian principal, was utterly simple and straightforward for an illui from Knesses Yisrael. When RIETS began searching for a new home as it grew under the Meitscheter Illui in the 1920s, the Gould Estate (currently Georgian Court University) was one of the locations they considered, before settling on Washington Heights. 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. Vilna and its surroundings would be returned to Lithuania which was neutral during the hostilities and in return the Soviets would be allowed to establish military bases on Lithuanian territory. He recalled the Rav referring to Rav Aharon as, your Rav Aharon., The Brisker Rav was saying that he was ours, Mr. Klugmann understood. Following Pesach of 1906, Rav Aharon arrived in Slabodka together with RavYaakov. Rav Boruch Ber Leibowitz also known for his musical gifts shared how on Seder night, the townspeople of Krinik would gather outside Rav Zalman Senders window to hear him sing. Soon the exhaust from the wood stove began to fill the beis medrash. Arke may have had a shining reputation, but his childhood was marred by tragedy and pain. Rav Shach once remarked, You see the Rav Aharon of today, the dynamic leader. The faculty at Slutzk realized that the yeshivah would have to move away from Bolshevik sovereignty in order to continue operating, yet Rav Isser Zalman categorically refused to abandon his rabbinical responsibilities to his community. The Jewish community of Lakewood invited the Rebbe to explore the possibilities of establishing his court there and hosted him for three months in the spring of 1940. 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. As they entered the beis medrash, it was clear they were uncomfortable with what they saw. On March 8, 1940, he wrote: I have just returned from Yanova where the Kletzker Yeshivah is now located. His elder daughter Malka was ensnared by the secularist movements that captured the hearts and minds of the local youth. They came with a value of avodahtefillah. The aron was carrying its bearer, the student aptly observed. 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. "Personal Experiences with Great Rabbis of My Generation". The Vaad HaYeshivos, which was the brainchild of the Chofetz Chaim, would serve as an umbrella organization for the fundraising and budgeting operations of all member yeshivos. Rav Aharon was never satisfied with words alone; this was a call for action. IN THIS CHAPTER I analyse the way in which Rabbi Aharon Kotler (1891-1962) presented Maimonides' thought. John Pehle, Hon. He recalled how the small group had been tasked by their general with holding the line, as he promised the imminent arrival of reinforcements. Torah discussions filled the air, ideas debated, sugyos clarified. 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. Hed clarify that his fundamental position hadnt changed; it was rather counterbalanced in individual cases when specific needs arose (such as financial straits, the military draft, etc.). The curse mandated that Kennedy should never see joy from his descendants. He once officiated at the wedding of his talmid Rav Alter Yitzchok Dershowitz in Yerushalayim near the then-Jordanian border. 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. Nein! He bent forward and strained his neck to look backward. Around the same time, Rav Hillel Bishko came to Lakewood on a fundraising trip for the kollel and delivered a rousing speech, alluding to what the Nazis were currently doing in Europe, dramatically saying, Dear Friends, I am here to invite you to the funeral and burial of Torah.. 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. Rav Aharon Kotlers sister Malka was relentless in trying to convince him to leave Slabodka, enroll in university, and join the modern world. In Slutzk he was paired with the Beis HaLevis son Chaim, who would soon light up the world as a young rosh yeshivah in Volozhin. He was introduced to admirers who would become his loyal supporters. As is traditional in chassidic circles, the Gerrer Rebbe offered the little boy an apple, which he declined saying he wasnt hungry. Once again, the growing yeshivah of Kletzk was left in the able hands of Rav Aharon. Rav Aharon proudly wrote to Rav Yosef Shub of the Vaad HaYeshivos that aside from Mir and Radin, there is no yeshivah (in that region of Poland where most yeshivos were located) larger than ours.. The youngest of them all was Arke Sislovitcher, a child of 13 or 14. Rav Aharons immediate placement in the yeshivah proper awarded him unique status. 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). The city of Vilna and its environs had been incorporated into the Second Polish Republic after World War I. 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.. Husband of Rebbetzin Chana Peryl Kotler 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. 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. 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 Rav Aharon would take a flight, the rebbetzin would fast until she was assured that he had arrived at his destination. In 1938 the journalist Hirsch Movshowitz (under the pseudonym M. Gertz) shared memories of his time in Slabodka in the Riga-based Yiddish newspaper Haynt in an article entitled: The Once-in-a Generation Gaon, HaRav Aharon Kotler, excerpted below: Thirty-two years ago, when I came to Yeshivas Slabodka, Knesses Yisrael had a number of bochurim that were renowned giants in Torah. The Sislovitzer paced up and down the room, lhavdil like a Slabodka bochur with a difficult question in the Gemara, spun his thumb and readily solved the difficult mathematical problem. Arke (as he was known) was born into a family that traced its lineage back to the Megaleh Amukos and Rashi. 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. The Vaad Hatzalah had been able to procure limited above-quota visas designated for clergy, and Rav Aharon was offered one. Many of the more than 100 shuls in Minsk belonged to the various workers guilds common to urban life at the turn of the century. An early student at the yeshivah described how it was such a novelty at the time, that visitors to Lakewood hotels would occasionally peer into the windows of the beis medrash and stare in astonishment at the men avidly learning. In hindsight, this relatively overlooked aspect of Rav Aharons early leadership served as a prologue to his later efforts to build Torah across the ocean. His letters back home from that trip are an important source towards understanding those tumultuous months. ), At the behest of the Ridbaz, Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer led a group of 14 students from Slabodka to open a yeshivah in Slutzk. Tell him, perhaps he is afraid of losing his post; he should be mindful that the life of one single Jew is valued higher than his entire prominent position., Morgenthau indignantly replied, What did he say?, Afraid of embarrassing him, I generally conveyed there comes a time in a Jews life the Rebbi cut me off and said, Nein nein Bunim, zugt em vus ich hub gizugt tell him what I said!, When he heard the translation, Morgenthau put his head down for a long time. In his landmark address, Morgenthau publicly expressed his admiration for Rav Aharons heroics alongside those of Rav Avraham Kalmanowitz and Irving Bunim. 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. Birth of Rabbi Shneur Kotler, RY BMG-Lakewood, Birth of Rebbetzin Sara Pesha Schwartzman. Rav Aharons focus on his studies was such that he regularly forgot to eat his meals. By the end of the month Warsaw capitulated, and Poland was divided between the two aggressors. Rav Aharon was overcome with stage fright because of the presence of one one unfamiliar person, so acute was his shyness. How could it be that such a small boy, who in his life never even visited an elementary school, should, on his own, immediately solve complex problems? Rav Aharon Kotler was one of the very few Torah giants who contributed mightily to the transformation of the face of American Jewry in the middle of the twentieth century from one of Torah ignorance and mourning over the Holocaust to significant progress in Torah knowledge and partial recovery from the tragedy of the Holocaust. It is my responsibility and yours to save them. 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. In the interim he also hired a mashgiach, first Rav Shmuel Fundiler, then Rav Pesach Pruskin, and when the latter departed to establish his own yeshivah in Shklov, Rav Isser Zalman hired his brother-in-law Rav Sheftel Kramer for the position. Upon their arrival at the train station in Baranovich, reports trickled in that a refugee crisis was brewing in Vilna, with overcrowding and food shortages. city of lakewood permits,