Aharon Kotler

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Template:Short description Template:Infobox Jewish leader Aharon Kotler (February 2, 1892 – November 29, 1962) was a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) rabbi and a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania and in the United States, where he founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.

Early life

Kotler was born Aharon Pines<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Refn in Sislevitch, near Minsk Russian Empire in 1892. He was orphaned at the age of 10 and adopted by his uncle, Yitzchak Pines, a rabbinic judge in Minsk. who sent him to study in the yeshivah in Krinik under the tutelage of Rav Zalman Sender Kahana- Shapiro.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> He then studied in the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania under Nosson Tzvi Finkel, and Moshe Mordechai Epstein, where he became known as an exceptional scholar.<ref name=":0" />

Career

Kotler joined his father-in-law, Isser Zalman Meltzer, in running the yeshiva of Slutsk.<ref name=NYTObit/> After World War I, the yeshiva moved from Slutsk to Kletsk in Belarus. With the outbreak of World War II, Kotler and the yeshiva relocated to Vilna, then the major refuge of most yeshivas from the occupied areas. The smaller yeshivas followed the lead of the larger ones, and either escaped with them to Japan and China, or were arrested by the communists and sent to Siberia or Kazakhstan. Most of his students did not manage to escape and were murdered by the Nazis. He was brought to America on April 10, 1941, by the Vaad Hatzalah rescue organization, and guided it during the Holocaust.<ref name=NYTObit/> At first, he settled in New York City's Upper West Side, and in 1949, he moved to the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn.<ref>Ami. No. 65. Apr 4, 2012. p. 84.</ref>

In 1943, Kotler founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, with 15 students.<ref name=NYTObit/> By the time of his death in 1962, the yeshiva had grown to 250 students.<ref name=NYTObit/> He was succeeded by his son, Shneur Kotler, as rosh yeshiva (dean). As of 2011, Beth Medrash Govoha is run by his grandson, Malkiel Kotler, and three of his grandsons-in-law, Yerucham Olshin, Yisroel Neuman, and Dovid Schustal. By 2019 the yeshiva had grown into the largest institution of its kind in the United States with 6,715 students, 2,748 regular and 3,967 in Kollel status.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while the surrounding Lakewood community supports a network of more than 100 other yeshivas<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and approximately 200 synagogues<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> for an Orthodox population estimated at more than 66,000.<ref>Strunsky, Steve. "Lakewood's Orthodox population keeps growing. We talk to a rabbi about why, and what it means.", The New York Times, December 10, 2007. Accessed August 29, 2011. "Many Orthodox Jews have been drawn to Lakewood by the prestige of the town's yeshiva, Beth Medrash Govoha, one of the largest rabbinical colleges in the world. The yeshiva was founded in 1943 by a Polish-born rabbi, Aaron Kotler. In 1962, when Rabbi Kotler died, the school had 250 students. It now has about 5,000. The wider yeshiva community includes more than a hundred temples, and about 50 schools."</ref>

Upon the death of his father-in-law, Kotler inherited the latter's position of rosh yeshiva of Etz Chaim Yeshiva of Jerusalem. In an unusual arrangement, he held this position while continuing to live in the United States, and visiting Jerusalem occasionally. Today, his grandson, Zevulun Schwartzman, heads a Template:Transliteration located at Etz Chaim Yeshiva.Template:Citation needed

Activism

Kotler shortly before his death

Following his arrival in the United States, Kotler joined the presidium of the Vaad Hatzalah, working feverishly to save rabbis and yeshiva students who were trapped in Europe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Along with Eliezer Silver, Avraham Kalmanowitz and others, he worked day and night, using both private and government channels to try and save lives.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A committed anti-Zionist,<ref name="Magid2013">Template:Cite book</ref> Kotler also helped establish Chinuch Atzmai, the independent religious school system in Israel, and was the chairman of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel. He chaired the Rabbinical administration board of Torah Umesorah, and was on the presidium of the Agudas HaRabbonim of the U.S. and Canada.<ref name="NYTObit" />

Some of those noted Jewish activists who supported Kotler in his efforts were Irving Bunim, Moses Feuerstein,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Stephen Klein and Zev Wolfson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Death

Kotler died at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City on November 29, 1962.<ref name=NYTObit>Staff. "Rabbi Aaron Kotler Dead at 71; Jersey Rabbinical School Dean", The New York Times, November 30, 1962. Accessed August 29, 2011.</ref> A funeral service at the Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarier on Manhattan's Lower East Side drew 25,000 mourners, with 200 officers from the New York City Police Department assigned to the event. Kotler was buried in Israel<ref>"25,000 MOURNERS AT Rabbi Aharon KOTLER'S RITES; Crowd Pays Tribute to Rabbi at East Side Synagogue", The New York Times, December 3, 1962. Accessed August 29, 2011.</ref><ref>Staff. "30,000 March in Funeral Of Rabbi Aharon Kotler in Israel", The New York Times, December 5, 1962. Accessed August 29, 2011.</ref> on Har HaMenuchot.

Works

  • Shu"t Mishnas R' Aharon, responsa
  • Mishnas Rabbi Aharon on various tractates of the Talmud

Notable students

References

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