The city of Vilna and its environs had been incorporated into the Second Polish Republic after World War I. From the start, it was clear that there was little support among potential donors for what was seen as an extreme concept. He asked his close confidante, Mr. Stephen Klein, to oversee the organization, and he embarked on a relentless fundraising campaign. Rav Aharon, however, had no qualms about taking blunt political positions, even if it meant alienating donors who were Mizrachi supporters. The principal of the Kovno Gymnasium found out that among the bochurim there was an illui a wunderkind. He recalled the Rav referring to Rav Aharon as, your Rav Aharon., The Brisker Rav was saying that he was ours, Mr. Klugmann understood. He nurtured talmidim who themselves built numerous Torah institutions over the ensuing decades. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. He mentioned that when Torah Vodaath couldnt afford to pay its teachers, Mr. Herskowitz conducted an appeal at his daughters wedding. After a couple of years of intense lobbying and enormous hashgachah, Chinuch Atzmai won the coveted allotment. Another contingent, headed by the mashgiach Rav Yosef Leib Nenedick, went to Doshad. For that reason we must daven!. His elder daughter Malka was ensnared by the secularist movements that captured the hearts and minds of the local youth. A year later Rav Aharon complained that the system had failed to balance the yeshivahs budget and noted in a letter that his monthly bread budget amounted to $300. For a time, Jews were actually forbidden from staying in the two Lakewood hotels he built. Some 45 of the good bochurim were left behind however to be on the watch as it were and it was only about three weeks ago when the Soviets requisitioned their building where they remained on the mishmar and studied until the last minute. This was their introduction to Rav Aharon Kotler, and to his unbending assertion that there is only one way to produce Torah leaders of caliber: through channeling all the powers of ones will and intellectual capacities toward the study of Torah. Rav Aharon arrived in Indianapolis and proposed joining Rav Shmuel Isaac Katz, the local rav, for Shabbos, but the latter (who was clearly unaware of Rav Aharons stature) demurred, proposing that Rav Aharon stay at the local community hekdesh (guest hostel), where meshulachim were generally housed. Kotler was born Aharon Pines[1][2] in visa, Russian Empire (historically Lithuania, now Belarus) in 1892. None waiting. When Rav Aharon got on the line, the caller respectfully referred to him as Kletzker rosh yeshivah. Rav Mottel exclaimed, Kletzker rosh yeshivah? 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. Several years ago, we had the privilege of visiting Rav Yaakov Schiff, a son-in-law of the Brisker Rav and widely considered to be Rav Aharons prime talmid in Lakewood. He choked up, and remained crying at the podium for ten minutes without saying a word. 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. Like most devout Jews in visa, Rav Shneur Zalman struggled to protect his children from the winds of change sweeping Eastern European Jewish youth. However, the raison dtre of Lakewood is limud haTorah lishmah the study of Torah for its own sake. Come Shabbos, Rav Aharon would move into the yeshivah, sleeping in the dorm and eating all the Shabbos meals with his beloved talmidim, then personally thanking the cook for the delicious meals. 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. Because of Mr. Herskowitzs position as the director of the IRS for the Southern District of Manhattan, Rav Aharon said, he invited many dignitaries from Washington and New York, some of whom werent Jewish, yet he wasnt ashamed to remind his fellow Jews of their obligation to support Torah. Incredibly, he halted the dancing until he had raised sufficient funds to keep Torah Vodaath open. Other versions attribute the curse to Rav Yosef . Due to Rav Aharon Kotler's influence, Rav Mendel was appointed rosh yeshivah of RJJ on the Lower East Side in 1948. He acquiesced and blessed him to become a talmid chacham. Following a brief imprisonment by the Soviets, Rav Isser Zalman himself joined the yeshivah in Kletzk and resumed his former post as rosh yeshivah. Several months before the last Hungarian yeshivos were shuttered, following Pesach of 1943 Beth Medrash Govoha opened its doors in Lakewood with 14 students. 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. Had all his communal responsibilities been merely ceremonial roles, that would have been impressive enough. The following day the two were called in to the rosh yeshivah, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein, for their entrance exam. As he headed to the Kovno railway station, the Alter was notified and rushed to the station (another version has him sending a student). As the community grew and more Jews began to spend their winters in Lakewood, Charles Goldstein began to envision a permanent home for the budding kehillah. Immediately they began to interrogate him about the suspicious contents theyd seized. 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 . In Poland, when there were many yeshivos, people would say, if you would like an approach full of life (lebedeigkeit) then go to Kletzk. This cousin joined a group that was leaving for Israel with the Jewish Agency, and was r"l lost to Yiddishkeit." He then related the following story. Rav Ben-Menachem's family included his wife, Rebbitzin Kotler's sister who had more than a touch of her sister's sanctity, and their two children, Efrat and Menachem, who were then about 10-12 years old. 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. Last year you gave me ten dollars. Once the students of Knesses Beis Yitzchak locked the doors, preventing these students from entering. 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. It says smach Zevulun btzeisecha. Simchah can only be achieved in this world if the person grows in Torah. Rav Isser Zalman told me that hed long been aware of young Ahrele Sislovitzer, the prodigy of Slabodka, and had hopes of becoming his father-in-law one day. In summarizing the shmuessen, Rav Nosson Wachtfogel once remarked, The rosh yeshivah had just one shmuess the requirement to study Torah, the need to accept upon oneself the yoke of Torah., In eulogizing Rav Aharon, Rav Moshe Sherer utilized the Gemaras description of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel at the Simchas Beis Hashoeivah celebrations in the Bais Hamikdash. 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. Rav Ruderman remained bothered by this for quite some time. [Likewise,] if a Jew puts in effort and is successful, he knows that he cannot take credit for himself, he cannot show off. In the postwar period, Rav Aharon would be universally recognized as an Agudas Yisrael leader in the United States, and more surprisingly, even in Israel. 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 Aharon Kotler: Builder of the Torah World - 9781614653370 - Menucha Rav Aharon ruled against this leniency, even for those medically required to eat meat, concerned for the precedent such a dispensation would create. 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. The Gemara surely didnt mean to describe Rabban Shimon ben Gamliels physical prowess, rather his ability to simultaneously lead Klal Yisrael in eight different respects, without any one of these areas interfering with the other. Paradoxically, the passing of the Chofetz Chaim in Elul 1933 provided a new impetus for fundraising. As a rosh yeshivah himself, Rav Aharon understood the predicament and advised the Vaad to look the other way, in a letter to Vaad secretary Rav Yosef Shub in 1933: You understand that at this point individual fundraising is now viewed as permissible. Rav Aharon stopped talking and looked out the window, to the right and to the left. Rav Aharon was the Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai of his time, tasked with picking up the pieces after the staggering destruction of the Holocaust. 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. Rav Shach would return home for the Yamim Tovim.) Tears rolled down his cheeks as his thoughts turned to his beloved rebbe, Rav Aharon, who just 60 years prior was delivering a shiur before a small group of two dozen charges, eyes on fire as words flowed rapidly from his holy tongue, his entire being seemed consumed in a blissful trance of Torah. Something like I would imagine the Chasam Sofer and Rav Akiva Eiger spoke. He watched as those around him strayed from the faith their families had maintained for generations. Arke (as he was known) was born into a family that traced its lineage back to the Megaleh Amukos and Rashi. Rav Aharon was once in the midst of delivering a shiur in Kletzk during the snowy winter when the chimney became clogged. The house of the rabbi shone with the splendor of(his son) the gaon. He once officiated at the wedding of his talmid Rav Alter Yitzchok Dershowitz in Yerushalayim near the then-Jordanian border. Despite the burgeoning vacation industry, it lacked the typical big-city distractions. After a short while, he informed them that the yeshivah was likely too crowded for the upcoming zeman. The image engraved in ones memory is more accurate than any photographic or artistic rendition. 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. 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. Following World War I, the Lakewood Township embarked on the construction of a memorial to local soldiers who had perished, inviting famed cantor Yossele Rosenblatt to sing Kel Malei at the consecration. Yankele Ochsenkrug, the proprietor said. Rav Yaakov, who wasnt prone to hyperbole, later recalled his mothers reaction upon meeting his friend: Who is this boy? The world will yet survive without another one. In Minsk, Arke became acquainted with another budding Torah scholar just a few months his, senior named Yaakov Kamenetsky, with whom he developed a close relationship. 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. With the onset of the worldwide financial crisis and the Great Depression in 1929, the yeshivos found themselves in ever more dire financial straits. Arke Sislovitzer is Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Mordechai told him. Rav Aharon Kotler is the Rosh Hayeshivah there. Eventually Rav Aharon made it to Vladivostok, and after a short stint in Kobe, Japan boarded a steamer headed for San Francisco. Rav Aharons efforts ultimately made a deep imprint upon American Jewry. Thanking him profusely, he blessed him with nachas and greatness in Torah from his children. ), The new couple settled in Slutzk, where Rav Aharon soon joined the faculty of his father-in-laws renowned Slutzk Yeshivah. Utilizing the emergency visa obtained for him by the Vaad Hatzalah, he, his wife, and daughter received their Soviet exit visas and departed Lithuania for Moscow on February 7, 1941. Rav Aharon shared his worldview with Irving Bunim, pointing to American history as proof. Mrs. Frank agreed to donate $5,000 and help raise the remaining balance from wealthy friends. Rabbi Kotler played a crucial role in the shaping of the aredi world view in the twentieth century. He chaired the Rabbinical administration board of Torah Umesorah, and was on the presidium of the Agudas HaRabbonim of the U.S. and Canada. In marrying into the Meltzer/Frank family Rav Aharon merited a wife who had grown up in a home steeped in Torah, and solidified a connection with a family that was influential in the Torah landscape over the last century. The Shechinah shines from him!. The roshei yeshivah in Torah Vodaath were understandably upset to lose such prize pupils and complained to Rav Shraga Feivel. there was suddenly a commotion at the head table. Locals also volunteered to assist in its construction. To that end, pushkes were distributed to shuls and private homes, a publicity campaign was launched to encourage the public to donate in the local pushkes, and gabbaim were hired to oversee operations in each locality and empty the pushkes at regular intervals. Harav Aharon Kotler, zt"l, with the Kopyczynitzer Rebbe, Harav Avraham Yehoshua Heschel, zy"a, at the famed Lederer Hotel in the Catskills.
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