View source for Kollel

{{short description|Institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature}}
[[File:Chicago Chassidishe Kollel.jpg|thumb|alt=Chicago Chassidishe Kollel|Chicago Chassidishe Kollel]]
[[File:Kollelbirkatizhak.jpg|thumb|Kollel Birkat Yitzchak in [[Moscow]]]]
A '''kollel''' (also '''kolel''') ({{langx|he|כולל \ כּוֹלֵל}}, {{Transliteration|he|kólel}}, {{abbr|pl.|plural}} {{Script/Hebrew|כוללים \ כּוֹלְלִים}}, {{Transliteration|he|kolelím}}, a "gathering" or "collection" [of scholars]) is an institute for full-time, advanced [[Torah study|study]] of the [[Talmud]] and [[rabbinic literature]]. Like a [[yeshiva]], a kollel features [[Shiur (Torah)|shiurim]] (lectures) and learning ''sedarim'' (sessions); unlike most yeshivot, the student body of a kollel typically consists mostly of married men. A kollel generally pays a regular monthly [[stipend]] to its members.<ref name=Pay>{{cite web |title=Kollel 
|url=https://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=411
|quote=kollels generally pay a regular monthly stipend to their married members.}}</ref>

==History==

===Original sense===
{{Main|Halukka}}
Originally, the word was used in the sense of "community". Each group of European Jews settling in Israel established their own community with their own support system. Each community was referred to as the "kollel of {{small|[place-name]}}" to identify the specific community of the [[Old Yishuv]]. The overwhelming majority of these Jews were scholars who left their birth countries to devote themselves to study [[Torah]] and serve God for the rest of their lives. The kollel was the umbrella organization for all their needs.

The first examples were [[Kolel Perushim]] (students of the [[Vilna Gaon]] who established the first [[Ashkenazi]] Jewish settlement in Jerusalem) and [[Colel Chabad]] for the [[History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union|Russian]] [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidim]]. The [[Polish Jews]] were divided into many kollelim: [http://www.kramban.org Kolel Polen] (Poland), headed by Rabbi [[Chaim Elozor Wax]]; [[Kolel Vilna Zamość]] was under different leadership; and the [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicians]] were incorporated under [[Kolel Chibas Yerushalayim]]. The last initially included the entire [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Kingdom]], but as each subparty looking for more courteous distribution, the Hungarians separated into [[Kolel Shomrei HaChomos]].

===Modern sense===
The first kollel – in the modern sense of the term – in the [[Jewish diaspora]] was the [[Kovno Kollel]] ("Kolel Perushim"<ref>{{cite web |title=Kovno Kollel |website=Spectroom.com
|url=https://www.spectroom.com/1021751027-kovno-kollel
|quote=The Kovno Kollel also known as Kollel Perushim of Kovno or Kollel Knesses Beis Yitzchok, was ...}}</ref>) founded in [[Kovno]] (Kaunas, Lithuania) in 1877.<ref>{{cite book 
|title=Prince of the Torah Kingdom: Excerpts
|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1583305831  |isbn=1583305831
|quote=Kollel Kovno was the first kernel of the yeshivah, established in 5637 (1877).
|author1=Shimon Yosef ben Elimelekh Meler  |date=2006| publisher=Feldheim Publishers }}</ref><ref name=TEN.1877>{{cite web
|title=Kollel |url=https://www.seraia.com/seraiauk/lexicon/Kollel.htm
|quote=The first kollel .. was the Kovno Kollel, the "Kollel Perushim" founded in Kovno (Lithuania) in 1877. The ten students were required to separate from their families, except for the Sabbath, and devote themselves to studying for the Rabbinate.}}</ref> It was founded by Rabbi [[Yisrael Salanter]]<ref name=By.YS>{{cite web
|url=https://www.thebreman.org/Portals/0/Oral%2520History%2520Transcripts/Taylor%2C%2520Herbert%252010717%2520Transcript%2520MASTER%2520X.pdf
|title=herbert ta - The Breman Museum
|quote=Yitzchak Elchanan Yeshiva is also known as the Kovno Kollel (also known as ... It was founded in 1877 by Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin Salanter
}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and directed by [[Yitzchak Blazer|Rabbi Isaac Blaser]]. The ten students enrolled were required to separate from their families, except for the [[Sabbath]], and devote themselves to studying for the Rabbinate. There was a four-year limit on one's membership in the kollel.

Two people can be considered to have spearheaded<ref>{{cite web
|title=It takes a Kollel
|url=http://ou.org.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/ja/5763/5763winter/ITTAKESA.PDF
|quote=..Kollel ... under the guidance of Rabbi Aharon Kotler. At first, he traveled to each community ...
|access-date=2018-10-23
|archive-date=2020-09-29
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929020044/http://ou.org.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/ja/5763/5763winter/ITTAKESA.PDF
|url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=Rabbi Aharon Kotler
|url=http://doctoronnie.com/wp-back.php?riurjcqd=rabbi-aharon-kotler-lakewood
|quote=The Legacy Of Maran Rav Aharon Kotler: A Vivid Portrait of ... the kollel philosophy ...}}</ref> the kollel philosophy and outgrowth in today's world: Rabbi [[Aharon Kotler]] (founder of [[Beth Medrash Govoha]], [[Lakewood Township, New Jersey|Lakewood, New Jersey]], the largest yeshiva in the US) and Rabbi [[Elazar Shach]], one of the most prominent leaders of the Jewish community in Israel until his death in 2001. The community kollel movement was also fostered by [[Torah Umesorah]], the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools.<ref>{{cite news 
|newspaper=The Jewish Ledger  |date=May 18, 2010
|title=An Orthodox community comes of age in Waterbury
|url=http://www.jewishledger.com/2010/05/an-orthodox-community-comes-of-age-in-waterbury
|quote=This year, the Waterbury Jewish community turns 10. ... a little extra, so they bring in a yeshiva or a kollel or more young families. ... until the dreamer approached Torah Umesorah, the national society of Orthodox day schools and ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265577831
|title=The Emergence of the Community Kollel: A New Model |date=February 22, 2016
|quote=.. communities in North America: the community kollel. .... as a unique movement within American Orthodoxy. ... the Torah Umesorah educational network}}</ref>

Currently, the term is applied in America to any stipend given for yeshiva study and is now a general term for the yeshivah approach to life.<ref name=TEN.1877/>

==Philosophy==
The philosophy of the kollel, in which members are subsisting on support from others, is part of an overall philosophy of some Orthodox Jews, that God desires that the children of Israel primarily occupy themselves in this world with the study of the [[Torah]], and gave certain Jews more of a propensity to work with the intention that they should support the 'learners'. In [[Orthodox Judaism]] this has become known as the '[[Yissachar]]-[[Zebulun]]' partnership,<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/999756/jewish/The-Torah-Business-Partnership.htm
|title=The Torah-Business Partnership
|quote=... person supports the other who learns Torah, and the reward is shared between the two of them, has come to be known as a “Yissachar-Zevulun” partnership.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=Yissachar/Zevulun Relationships
|date=13 April 2018
|url=https://www.torahmusings.com/2018/04/yissachar-zevulun-relationships
|quote=Tzitz Eliezer on Yissachar/Zevulun Relationships ... who study Torah, but this kind of arrangement only works if it's a partnership}}</ref> after the [[Midrash]]ic legend that the tribe of Zevulun financially supported the tribe of Issachar so that they could occupy themselves with Torah study.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bereshit Rabbah 99:9|url=http://www.sefaria.org/Bereishit_Rabbah.99?lang=he&layout=lines&sidebarLang=all}}</ref> The reward of the supporter in the [[World-to-Come]] is seen to be equal to that of the scholar's reward.

==Structure==
===Leadership===
Most kollels have a scholar serving as a ''[[rosh kollel]]'', or head of the kollel.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Kollel Community |website=JewishJournal.com
|date=7 March 2002
|url=https://jewishjournal.com/news/los_angeles/community_briefs/5630
|quote=Rabbi Chaim Fasman now holds the position of rosh kollel (head) of Kollel Los Angeles Bais Avrohom, the largest of six kollels in Los Angeles, with 15 full-time learners. ...  you need years of training to become a Torah scholar.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=History
|url=https://kollel.com/history/
|quote=... Sunday morning by the Rosh Kollel Harav Shlomo Miller Shlita}}</ref> He decides on the subject matter studied by the kollel. In many cases he also has to spend considerable time fund-raising to support the kollel.

Many kollels employ former students – {{Transliteration|he|avrechim}} ({{lang|he|אברכים}}), {{abbr|sg.|singular}} {{Transliteration|he|avrech}} ({{lang|he|אברך}}) – as fundraisers, often giving them titles such as Executive Director or Director of Community Programming. Fundraising projects may include sponsorships of specific events or "day(s) of learning".

===Student body===

Many Orthodox Jewish yeshiva students study in kollel for a year or two after they get married, whether or not they will pursue a rabbinic career.<ref>Helmreich, W. ''The World of the Yeshiva'' (The Free Press, 1982), p. 261</ref> Modest stipends, or the salaries of their working wives, and the increased wealth of many families have made kollel study commonplace for yeshiva graduates. The largest United States kollel is at [[Beth Medrash Govoha]] in [[Lakewood, New Jersey]]. More than 4,500 kollel scholars are attached to the yeshiva, which has  6500 students in total. Large kollels also exist in [[Ner Israel Rabbinical College]], numbering 180 scholars, and in [[Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin]], with more than 100 scholars. In the [[Israel]]i [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi Jewish]] community, thousands of men study full-time for many years in hundreds of kollelim.

Kollel has been known at times to cause a great deal of friction with the secular [[Israel]]i public at large. It has been criticized by the [[Modern Orthodox Judaism|Modern Orthodox]], non-Orthodox, and secular Jewish communities.<!-- why? --> The Haredi community defends the practice of kollel on the grounds that Judaism must cultivate Torah scholarship in the same way that the secular academic world conducts research into subject areas. While costs may be high in the short run, in the long run the Jewish people will benefit from having numerous learned laymen, scholars, and rabbis. (See also: [[Religious relations in Israel]])

Yeshiva students who [[Torah study|learn]] in kollel often continue their studies and 
become [[rabbi]]s,<ref>{{cite web
|title=Our Faculty & Staff - Shapell's Darche Noam
|url=http://shapellsjerusalem.com/about/our-faculty-staff
|quote=... studied at Yeshiva University's Gruss Kollel, where he earned smicha.
|access-date=2018-10-23
|archive-date=2018-10-23
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023200052/http://shapellsjerusalem.com/about/our-faculty-staff/
|url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Kollel Toronto |url=https://www.kollel.com/history |date=January 11, 2017
|quote=Toronto's Kollel graduates have become Rabbis}}</ref> [[Posek|poskim]] ("deciders" of [[Jewish law]]), or teachers of Talmud and Judaism. Others enter the world of business. If successful, they may financially support the study of others while making time to continue their own learning.

==Community kollelim==
In the late 20th century, community kollelim were introduced.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Kollel: What is it and why is everybody doing it?
|url=https://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=411
|quote= ... kollelim, lit. a "group" or "collection" [of scholars]) is an ... and are supported by ... the Jewish community (or sometimes  ...).  ... recent innovation that was introduced in the late 20th century as a response to ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|author=Adam S. Ferziger
|title=Emergence of the Community Kollel
|url=https://www.rappaportcenter.biu.ac.il/Research/PDF/Hoveret%2013_01-64.pdf
|quote=... analogy to the twentieth century "community kollelim" in which young families  ... The introduction of a new, organized framework ...
|access-date=2018-10-23
|archive-date=2018-09-28
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928144304/https://www.rappaportcenter.biu.ac.il/Research/PDF/Hoveret%2013_01-64.pdf
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> They are an [[Jewish Orthodox outreach|Orthodox outreach]] tool, aimed to decrease assimilation and propagate Orthodox Judaism among the wider Jewish population.<ref name="Ferziger">{{cite web
|url=http://www.rappaportcenter.biu.ac.il/Research/PDF/Hoveret%2013_01-64.pdf
|title=The Emergence of the Community Kolel: A new model for addressing assimilation
|last=Ferziger
|first=Adam F.
|access-date=February 13, 2010
|year=2006
|publisher=The Rappaport Center for Assimilation Research and Strengthening Jewish Vitality, Bar Ilan University
|archive-date=July 21, 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721134219/http://www.rappaportcenter.biu.ac.il/Research/PDF/Hoveret%2013_01-64.pdf
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> In the early 1990s community kollelim (or kollels) in North America were functioning in [[Los Angeles]], [[Toronto]], and [[Detroit]]; a kollel was also established in [[Montreal]]. Other locations with community kollelim include [[Atlanta]], [[Dallas]], Jacksonville,   [[Las Vegas]], [[Miami Beach, Florida|Miami Beach]], [[Minneapolis]], [[Pittsburgh]], [[Philadelphia]], Phoenix, [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], and [[Seattle]].

In the past years about 30 [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]] community kollelim in North America have been opened by yeshiva-trained scholars to serve, in addition to the full-time study by the members of the kollel, as centers for adult education and outreach to the Jewish communities in which they located 
themselves.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Adult Education - Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis
|url=http://www.ovkosher.org/a/jewishcommunity-adulted
|quote=That purpose is to offer Jewish education to all Jews, regardless of level of ... to the values of community, family and educational outreach. The Kollel provides ...
|access-date=2018-10-23
|archive-date=2017-12-24
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224123207/http://www.ovkosher.org/a/jewishcommunity-adulted
|url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=Community : Bensalem Jewish Outreach Center
|url=https://www.BenSalemOutreach.org/community
}}</ref> Topics include everything from basic [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] to advanced Talmud. In addition to imparting Torah knowledge, such kollels function to impart technical skills required for self-study.

Many [[Modern Orthodox]] communities host a [[:he:תורה מציון (ארגון)|''Torah MiTzion'']] kollel, where ''[[Hesder]]'' graduates learn and teach, generally for one year.

In recent years there have been established a number of  [[Hasidic Judaism|Chassidishe]] Kollelim as well, such as the [https://www.livingjewishlybook.com/guide/detail.aspx?id=453165 Chicago Chassidishe Kollel],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.livingjewishlybook.com/guide/detail.aspx?id=453165 | title=JUF : Guide to Jewish Living : Chicago Chassidishe Kollel }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/community/jewish-community/the-chesed-of-chicago/2022/09/08/ | title=The Chesed of Chicago | date=8 September 2022 }}</ref> the [https://thekollel.net/ Los Angeles Kollel Yechiel Yehudah], and others.
Unlike most community Kollelim that primarily focus on in depth [[Talmud]] study, Chassidishe Kollelim usually focus more on the study of [[Shulchan Aruch]] and [[poskim]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2019-01-03 |title=Kollel Zichron Yitzchok Zev/ The Chassidishe Kollel… {{!}} The Chicago Jewish Home |url=https://chicagojewishhome.com/kollel-zichron-yitzchok-zev-the-chassidishe-kollel%ef%bb%bf/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |language=en-US}}</ref> including tests on the material by leading [[Poskim]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web | url=https://mishpacha.com/happening-in-issue-941/ | title=Happening in… Issue 941 | date=20 December 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.boropark24.com/news/photo-gallery-yungeleit-from-the-chicago-chassidishe-kollel-are-tested-on-all-of-hilchos-basar-b-chalav-and-taaruvos-by-hagaon-rav-avrohom-hersh-wosner-shlit-a-satmar-dayan-of-monsey | title=Photo Gallery: Yungeleit from the Chicago Chassidishe Kollel are tested on all of hilchos basar b'chalav and taaruvos by hagaon Rav Avrohom Hersh Wosner, shlit }}</ref>

==Criticism==

[[Maimonides]] in his code of Jewish law,<ref>Laws of Torah Study, chapter 3 halacha 10–11</ref> is very critical of those that study Torah without having a source of income and rely on charity, to the extent that he calls it a disgrace to God and to the Torah.

However, the kollel system is both a popular and accepted one in many Orthodox Jewish circles, yet some maintain that a distinction must be made between a situation of mutual desire for such by both the learner and the supporter and, on the other hand, communities that put pressure on the learner to join and remain in a kollel while simultaneously putting pressure on the community to support such an individual.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sokol|first1=Sam|title=US haredim seek to share kollels' 'burden'|website=JPost.com|publisher=The Jerusalem Post| url = https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/US-haredim-seek-to-share-kollels-burden-382900 | date=November 26, 2014}}</ref>

Some other criticisms of the modern kollel system include:
*The difficult financial burden placed on individuals who are less than willing to support institutions for kollel studies.<ref name="jewishjournal.com">{{cite web|last1=Prager|first1=Dennis|title=Ultra-Orthodox Yeshivas and secular universities|url=https://www.jewishjournal.com/dennis_prager/article/ultra-orthodox_yeshivas_and_secular_universities_20101201|website=Jewish Journal|date=December 1, 2010}}</ref>
*The complex [[halachah|halachic]] permissibility of receiving financial support for Torah study, while avoiding preparation for a future occupation.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Levi|first1=Yehudah|title=Torah Study: A Survey of Classic Sources on Timely Issues|date=1990|publisher=Feldheim Publishers|location=Jerusalem|isbn=1-58330-556-4|page=44|url=http://www.feldheim.com/torah-study.html|chapter=Accepting Payment for Torah Study - Halakhic Opinions|access-date=2016-06-22|archive-date=2016-08-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812163646/http://www.feldheim.com/torah-study.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*The community-wide poverty that often accompanies the system<ref>{{cite news|last1=Leibler|first1=Isi|title=Israel and Diaspora Jewry – A Looming Crisis|url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2016/06/19/israel-and-diaspora-jewry-a-looming-crisis/#|publisher=The Algemeiner Journal|date=June 19, 2016|quote=This has economic implications and dooms most haredim to poverty, dependence on welfare or on the earnings of their wives.}}</ref> along with its effect on the larger economy.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Goldman|first1=Mordechai|title=Israel support for yeshiva students up by 53%. Is it enough?|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/01/yeshiva-budget-poverty-university-rabbinical-college.html|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=January 28, 2016|quote=There is nothing in Jewish history that compares to this society of learners. It is very serious and very dangerous for us to encourage ultra-Orthodox men to remain in kollels. It causes enormous harm to the economy.}}</ref>
*The convention of isolation from daily life, social interactions and a career resulting in studies being divorced from actual day-to-day practice.<ref name="jewishjournal.com"/>
*The lack of standardized testing and regular supervision which allows for misuse of time intended for study.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Novick|first1=Akiva|title='We yeshiva students barely study'|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3974053,00.html|publisher=Ynet News|date=October 24, 2010}}</ref>
*The focus on thorough examination of a relatively few number of pages of [[Talmud]], as opposed to completion of the entire Talmud with a focus on practical [[halachah]] and other areas of Jewish literature.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kahane|first1=Libby|title=Beyond Words: Selected Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane 1960-1990 Volume Two|date=2010|publisher=Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane|location=Jerusalem|isbn=978-965-7044-06-3|pages=452–453|url=http://mkwords.com/text/index.php?i=100&a=A%20Different%20Kind%20of%20Yeshiva|quote=One of the great deficiencies in yeshiva students is their absorption with depth of study to the exclusion of quantity. Thus, after many years of study they are shockingly ignorant of huge amounts of Talmud. At the same time there is a vast ignorance of the practical halachic rulings in everyday life.}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*''The World of the Yeshiva: An Intimate Portrait of Orthodox Jewry'' William B. Helmreich, KTAV Publishing House; {{ISBN|0-88125-641-2}}; Augmented edition (February 2000)
*''The way we were before our destruction: Lives of Jewish students from Vilna who perished during the Holocaust'' Yulian I. Rafes, VIA Press ; [[YIVO Institute for Jewish Research]]; {{ISBN|1-885563-06-X}}; (July 1, 1998)
{{Jewish education}}

[[Category:Jewish educational institutions]]
[[Category:Kollelim| ]]
[[Category:Orthodox yeshivas]]
[[Category:Hebrew words and phrases]]