Misplaced Pages

Shneur Kotler: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 21:00, 9 February 2011 editAlansohn (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers504,795 edits add biographical details, with source; cat← Previous edit Latest revision as of 13:10, 1 November 2024 edit undoUrielAcosta (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users26,252 edits →Rosh Yeshiva: See previousTags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit 
(85 intermediate revisions by 50 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|American rabbi; dean of Beth Medrash Govoha}}
{{Infobox Jewish leader {{Infobox Jewish leader
| honorific-prefix = Rabbi | honorific-prefix = Rabbi
Line 5: Line 6:
| title = | title =
| image = Rabbi Shneur Kotler.jpg | image = Rabbi Shneur Kotler.jpg
| caption = Kotler as a young man in the 1940's, while studying at the ] in Jerusalem | caption = Kotler as a young man in the 1940s, while studying at the ] in Jerusalem
| synagogue = | synagogue =
| synagogueposition = | synagogueposition =
Line 13: Line 14:
| organisationposition = | organisationposition =
| began = 1962 | began = 1962
| ended = | ended = 1982
| predecessor = ] | predecessor = Rabbi ]
| successor = ] | successor = Rabbis ], ], ], ]
| rabbi = | rabbi =
| rebbe = | rebbe =
Line 23: Line 24:
| other_post = | other_post =
<!---------- Personal details ----------> <!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_name = | birth_name = Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler
| birth_date = 1918 | birth_date = 1918
| birthplace = ], ] | birth_place = ], ]
| death_date = June 24, 1982 | death_date = {{death date and age |1982|6|24|1918|df=y}}
| deathplace = ] | death_place = ], ]
| buried = Jerusalem, Israel | buried = ], ]
| nationality = | nationality =
| denomination = Orthodox | denomination = ]
| residence = | residence =
| dynasty = | dynasty =
| parents = Rabbi ], Rivka Chana Perel Meltzer
| parents =
| spouse = Rischel | spouse = Rischel Friedman (d. July 2015)
| children = Meir Kotler, ], Isser Zalman Kotler, Yitzchok Shraga Kotler, Aaron Kotler, Sara Yehudis Schustal, Batsheva Krupenia, Esther Reich, Baila Hinda Ribner
| children =
| occupation = | occupation =
| profession = | profession =
| alma_mater = ] | alma_mater = ]
| semicha = | semicha =
| signature = | signature =
}} }}
'''Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler''' (1918 – 24 June 1982) was an Ashkenazi ] ] from the Lithuanian movement and ] of ] (also known as the Lakewood Yeshiva) in ], ] from 1962 to 1982.<ref name="leaders">{{cite book |title=Torah Leaders: A treasury of biographical sketches |last=Wolpin |first=Rabbi Nisson |publisher=] |date=April 2002|pages=232–247|isbn=1-57819-773-2}}</ref> During his tenure, he developed the ]-style, ] but non-] ] into the largest post-graduate Torah institution in the world.<ref name="ajc">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanjewishye0084amer/page/351|title=American Jewish Yearbook 1984|page=|publisher=]|year=1983|isbn=0-8276-0235-9}}</ref><ref name="book"/> He also established Lakewood-style ]s in 30 cities, and pioneered the establishment of ] in which Torah scholars study during the morning and afternoon hours and engage in community ] during the evenings. Upon his death, he had served as the Lakewood rosh yeshiva for exactly the same amount of time as had his father, Rabbi ], the founding rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha: nineteen years, seven months, and one day.<ref name="noble">{{cite book |title=Noble Lives, Noble Deeds II: Captivating stories and biographical profiles of spiritual giants |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0H7OAAAACAAJ&q=noble+lives+noble+deeds |last=Silber |first=Dovid |publisher=Mesorah Publications |date=February 2003 |pages=52–53 |isbn=1-57819-794-5}}</ref>
'''Shneur Kotler''' (1918 - June 24, 1982) was an ] ], and the son of the famed ]ic scholar Rabbi ]. Upon the death of his father in 1962, he became the ] of ], a ]-style ]ic ] but non-] ] in ], ].


==Early life==
Born in ], ], where his maternal grandfather Rabbi ] was the rosh yeshiva and rabbi, Rabbi Kotler escaped to ] in 1940. There, he studied under the leading scholars of ], among them Rabbi Meltzer who had moved there previously.
Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler was born in ], ], to Rabbi Aharon Kotler and his wife, Chana Perel,<ref>Dershowitz, pp. 1, 211.</ref> the daughter of Rabbi ]. Of his parents' children, only he and his sister, Sarah, survived infancy.<ref>Dershowitz, p. 51.</ref> He was named after his father's father, Shneur Zalman Pines.<ref>Dershowitz, p. 65.</ref>


Kotler was educated in his youth by his father. He later studied in the ] in ] and became a student of Rabbi ].<ref name="noble"/>
In 1947, after ], he moved to Lakewood to join his father, who had brought his ] there from ]. Rabbi Shneur Kotler assumed the leadership of the yeshiva with his father's death in 1962. He transformed Lakewood from a small elite institution into a large center of excellence and fulcrum of the ] yeshiva world.


In 1940, when most yeshivas in ] fled to ], including the ] (where Rabbi Aharon Kotler had moved the ] yeshiva), Kotler went to Vilna where he became engaged to Rischel Friedman. He escaped Europe and went to ] in 1940 while his fiancée was a refugee in Shanghai. They married in America after the war. His father escaped to Japan and from there to America in 1941.<ref name="book">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wkpffTI0b_AC&pg=PA185 |page=185 |title=Holocaust Testimonies: European survivors and American liberators in New Jersey |last=Preil |first=Joseph J. |date=30 October 2001 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=0-8135-2947-6}}</ref> During the war he studied in the ] led by his grandfather, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, who had also emigrated to Palestine, and attended '']'' given by Rabbi ], rosh yeshiva of the ] in Jerusalem, and Rabbi ], known as the Brisker Rav.<ref name="noble"/>
Whereas his father had actively restricted enrollment to a select group of students, his son Shneur opened the yeshiva doors to a broader range of students and post-graduate fellows. From a group of approximately 200 students, the yeshiva grew to almost a thousand students by 1981. As more students enrolled, the scope of study broadened to the point where a student could join any number of groups studying all the tractates of the Talmud.


In 1946 Kotler rejoined his father in America, where he enrolled in the kollel division of the Lakewood Yeshiva which his father had founded.<ref name="noble"/> His father sent him to attend the lectures of ] at ] for several months.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/1034823/rabbi-dr-aaron-rakeffet-rothkoff/corrections-to-misunderstandings-about-r-yosef-soloveitchik-mishneh-halakhot-10-200-chicago-federation-orthodox-mikveh-used-for-conservative-and-reform-conversions-introduction-to-r-ahron-soloveichik-s-role-in-this-controversy-brief-biography-/ | title=YUTorah Online }}</ref>
Kotler sent out groups of married students, pioneers to establish ]s in major communities across America, from ] in the East to ] in the West. The members of these kollels would divide their time between studying Talmud and spreading the experience of Torah learning to the local ]ish populations. There are now Lakewood satellite kollels operating in 30 cities across ].


==Rosh Yeshiva==
⚫ Kotler was active in communal organizations and issues. He held leadership positions as a member of the ] of ] and was on the rabbinical boards of the ] and ]. Rabbi Kotler was also very active in helping Jewish refugees from Russia and ].
After his father died in 1962, Kotler took over his father's yeshiva. Whereas his father had actively restricted enrollment to a select group of students, Kotler accepted a broader range of students and post-graduate fellows. Enrollment grew from less than 200 students in 1962 to over 1,000 by the time of his death in 1982.<ref name="ajc"/><ref name="noble"/>

Kotler supervised the opening of 30 Lakewood-style ]s in 30 cities,<ref name="kollels">{{cite journal |url=http://www.ou.org/publications/ja/5763/5763winter/ITTAKESA.PDF |title=It Takes a Kollel: How higher learning is transforming American Jewry |last=Feitman |first=Yaakov |date=Winter 2002 |journal=Jewish Action |publisher=OU |accessdate=10 May 2011}}</ref> including ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ],<ref name="leaders"/> ], ], and ].<ref>Dershowitz, p. 20.</ref>

He also established ] in several countries. Unlike a kollel, which is a full-time learning program, a community kollel is a part-time learning program, part-time ] program.<ref name="kollels" /> His assistant in this was Rabbi ] (1910–1998), the Lakewood '']''.<ref name="leaders"/> Kotler and Wachtfogel oversaw the opening of community kollels in cities including ] (a kollel which developed into the ]),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bmtshul.org/?page=history |title=History |publisher=Bais Medrash L'Torah |accessdate=11 May 2011}}</ref> ], ], ], Los Angeles, ],<ref name="leaders"/> and Melbourne]], Australia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=13115 |title= Synopsis of Rav Malkiel Kotler's Trip to Australia |date=25 December 2007 |work=] |accessdate=10 May 2011}}</ref>

⚫ Kotler served on the ] of ] and the rabbinical boards of the ] and ].<ref name="ajc"/> He was also active in the effort to help Jewish refugees from Russia and ].<ref name="yahrtzeit"/>


==Death== ==Death==
A resident of Lakewood, Kotler died in 1982 in ], in ] at the age of 64.<ref>Staff. , '']'', June 27, 1982. Accessed February 9, 2011. "Rabbi Shneur Kotler, dean of Beth Medrash Govoha, a postgraduate rabbinical school in Lakewood, N.J., died Thursday at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston. He was 64 years old and a resident of Lakewood."</ref> Tens of thousands of mourners assembled at Rabbi Kotler's funeral in Jerusalem; even vaster throngs had attended in America before his final journey. Kotler died on 24 June 1982 (3 ] 5742)<ref name="noble"/> in ], ], at the age of 64. He was survived by his wife, Rischel, eight children, fifteen grandchildren, and his sister, Sarah Schwartzman.<ref name="ny">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/27/obituaries/rabbi-shneur-kotler-64-head-of-rabbinical-school-in-jersey.html |title=Rabbi Shneur Kotler, 64, Head Of Rabbinical School in Jersey |work=]|date=27 June 1982|accessdate=9 February 2011}}</ref> His funeral processions in Lakewood and Jerusalem were attended by tens of thousands,<ref name="yahrtzeit">{{cite web |url=http://matzav.com/rav-shneur-kotler-ztl-on-his-yahrtzeit-today-3-tammuz |title=Rav Shneur Kotler zt"l, On His Yahrtzeit, Today, 3 Tammuz
|publisher=matzav.com |accessdate=11 May 2011 |date=15 June 2010}}</ref> with an additional stop in Borough Park, Brooklyn attended by 30,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jta.org/1982/06/30/archive/rabbi-shneur-kotler-dead-at-64 |title= Rabbi Shneur Kotler Dead at 64 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency }}</ref> He was buried near his father, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, and his grandfather, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, on ].


His widow, Rischel, died at her home in Lakewood on July 17, 2015. Her funeral took place on July 19 in Lakewood. Estimated attendance was about 15,000.
Rabbi Kotler passed away on the nineteenth year, seventh month and second day after assuming his ] position, equal to the day to the tenure of his father as Rosh Yeshiva of Lakewood. This extraordinary phenomenon was spoken of throughout the Torah world as a Heavenly sign that he was considered a worthy son, disciple and successor who carried on his father’s mission to build Torah with total devotion.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://matzav.com/todays-yahrtzeits-history-3-tammuz-2 |title=Rabbi Shneur Kotler's yahrzeit}}</ref>


Kotler served as rosh yeshiva for nineteen years, seven months, and one day, exactly the same amount of time as did his father.<ref name="noble"/> This extraordinary coincidence was noted throughout the Torah world and seen as a sign that he had been a worthy son and successor who carried on his father's mission.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://matzav.com/todays-yahrtzeits-history-3-tammuz-2 |title=Today's Yahrtzeits & History – 3 Tammuz |publisher=matzav.com |date=15 June 2010 |accessdate=11 May 2011}}</ref>
He was survived by his wife, Rischel; a sister, Sarah Schwartzman of ]; eight children, and many grandchildren. With his untimely death, his son Rabbi ] took over the leadership of the yeshiva, assisted by three other grandchildren of Rabbi Aharon Kotler, Rabbis ], ] and ].

He was succeeded as rosh yeshiva by his son, Rabbi ] along with son-in-law Rabbi ], Rabbi ], and Rabbi ] who are married to other grandchildren of Rabbi Aharon Kotler.


==References== ==References==
⚫ {{reflist|30em}}
*
*


==Notes== ==Sources==
*{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-Jb4w78HMzUC |title=The Legacy Of Maran Rav Aharon Kotler |last=Dershowitz |first=Rabbi Yitzchok |year=2006 |publisher=] |isbn=1-58330-875-X}}
⚫ {{reflist}}

==External links==
*


{{Beth Medrash Govoha}} {{Beth Medrash Govoha}}
{{Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. -->
| NAME = Kotler, Shneur
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1918
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = June 24, 1982
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotler, Shneur}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kotler, Shneur}}
] ]
Line 92: Line 93:
] ]
] ]
]

]
]
]

Latest revision as of 13:10, 1 November 2024

American rabbi; dean of Beth Medrash Govoha
RabbiShneur Kotler
Kotler as a young man in the 1940s, while studying at the Hevron yeshiva in Jerusalem
Personal life
BornYosef Chaim Shneur Kotler
1918
Slutsk, Russia
Died24 June 1982(1982-06-24) (aged 63–64)
Boston, Massachusetts
SpouseRischel Friedman (d. July 2015)
ChildrenMeir Kotler, Aryeh Malkiel Kotler, Isser Zalman Kotler, Yitzchok Shraga Kotler, Aaron Kotler, Sara Yehudis Schustal, Batsheva Krupenia, Esther Reich, Baila Hinda Ribner
Parent(s)Rabbi Aharon Kotler, Rivka Chana Perel Meltzer
Alma materHevron yeshiva
Religious life
ReligionJudaism
DenominationOrthodox
Jewish leader
PredecessorRabbi Aharon Kotler
SuccessorRabbis Malkiel Kotler, Yerucham Olshin, Dovid Schustal, Yisroel Neuman

Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler (1918 – 24 June 1982) was an Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbi from the Lithuanian movement and rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha (also known as the Lakewood Yeshiva) in Lakewood, New Jersey from 1962 to 1982. During his tenure, he developed the Lithuanian-style, Haredi but non-Hasidic yeshiva into the largest post-graduate Torah institution in the world. He also established Lakewood-style kollels in 30 cities, and pioneered the establishment of community kollels in which Torah scholars study during the morning and afternoon hours and engage in community outreach during the evenings. Upon his death, he had served as the Lakewood rosh yeshiva for exactly the same amount of time as had his father, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, the founding rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha: nineteen years, seven months, and one day.

Early life

Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler was born in Slutsk, Russia, to Rabbi Aharon Kotler and his wife, Chana Perel, the daughter of Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer. Of his parents' children, only he and his sister, Sarah, survived infancy. He was named after his father's father, Shneur Zalman Pines.

Kotler was educated in his youth by his father. He later studied in the Kaminetz yeshiva in Poland and became a student of Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz.

In 1940, when most yeshivas in Lithuania fled to Vilna, including the yeshiva in Kletzk (where Rabbi Aharon Kotler had moved the Slutsk yeshiva), Kotler went to Vilna where he became engaged to Rischel Friedman. He escaped Europe and went to Mandatory Palestine in 1940 while his fiancée was a refugee in Shanghai. They married in America after the war. His father escaped to Japan and from there to America in 1941. During the war he studied in the Eitz Chaim Yeshiva led by his grandfather, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, who had also emigrated to Palestine, and attended shiurim given by Rabbi Yechezkel Sarna, rosh yeshiva of the Hevron yeshiva in Jerusalem, and Rabbi Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik, known as the Brisker Rav.

In 1946 Kotler rejoined his father in America, where he enrolled in the kollel division of the Lakewood Yeshiva which his father had founded. His father sent him to attend the lectures of Rav Joseph B. Soloveichik at RIETS for several months.

Rosh Yeshiva

After his father died in 1962, Kotler took over his father's yeshiva. Whereas his father had actively restricted enrollment to a select group of students, Kotler accepted a broader range of students and post-graduate fellows. Enrollment grew from less than 200 students in 1962 to over 1,000 by the time of his death in 1982.

Kotler supervised the opening of 30 Lakewood-style kollels in 30 cities, including Los Angeles, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Long Beach, New York, Scranton, Pennsylvania, Miami Beach, Denver, Pittsburgh, Deal, New Jersey, and Melbourne.

He also established community kollels in several countries. Unlike a kollel, which is a full-time learning program, a community kollel is a part-time learning program, part-time outreach program. His assistant in this was Rabbi Nosson Meir Wachtfogel (1910–1998), the Lakewood mashgiach. Kotler and Wachtfogel oversaw the opening of community kollels in cities including Passaic, New Jersey (a kollel which developed into the Yeshiva Gedola of Passaic), Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Melbourne]], Australia.

Kotler served on the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America and the rabbinical boards of the Torah Umesorah National Society for Hebrew Day Schools and Chinuch Atzmai. He was also active in the effort to help Jewish refugees from Russia and Iran.

Death

Kotler died on 24 June 1982 (3 Tammuz 5742) in Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, at the age of 64. He was survived by his wife, Rischel, eight children, fifteen grandchildren, and his sister, Sarah Schwartzman. His funeral processions in Lakewood and Jerusalem were attended by tens of thousands, with an additional stop in Borough Park, Brooklyn attended by 30,000. He was buried near his father, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, and his grandfather, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, on Har HaMenuchot.

His widow, Rischel, died at her home in Lakewood on July 17, 2015. Her funeral took place on July 19 in Lakewood. Estimated attendance was about 15,000.

Kotler served as rosh yeshiva for nineteen years, seven months, and one day, exactly the same amount of time as did his father. This extraordinary coincidence was noted throughout the Torah world and seen as a sign that he had been a worthy son and successor who carried on his father's mission.

He was succeeded as rosh yeshiva by his son, Rabbi Malkiel Kotler along with son-in-law Rabbi Dovid Schustal, Rabbi Yerucham Olshin, and Rabbi Yisroel Neuman who are married to other grandchildren of Rabbi Aharon Kotler.

References

  1. ^ Wolpin, Rabbi Nisson (April 2002). Torah Leaders: A treasury of biographical sketches. Mesorah Publications Ltd. pp. 232–247. ISBN 1-57819-773-2.
  2. ^ American Jewish Yearbook 1984. Jewish Publication Society of America. 1983. p. 351. ISBN 0-8276-0235-9.
  3. ^ Preil, Joseph J. (30 October 2001). Holocaust Testimonies: European survivors and American liberators in New Jersey. Rutgers University Press. p. 185. ISBN 0-8135-2947-6.
  4. ^ Silber, Dovid (February 2003). Noble Lives, Noble Deeds II: Captivating stories and biographical profiles of spiritual giants. Mesorah Publications. pp. 52–53. ISBN 1-57819-794-5.
  5. Dershowitz, pp. 1, 211.
  6. Dershowitz, p. 51.
  7. Dershowitz, p. 65.
  8. "YUTorah Online".
  9. ^ Feitman, Yaakov (Winter 2002). "It Takes a Kollel: How higher learning is transforming American Jewry" (PDF). Jewish Action. OU. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  10. Dershowitz, p. 20.
  11. "History". Bais Medrash L'Torah. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  12. "Synopsis of Rav Malkiel Kotler's Trip to Australia". Yeshiva World News. 25 December 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  13. ^ "Rav Shneur Kotler zt"l, On His Yahrtzeit, Today, 3 Tammuz". matzav.com. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  14. "Rabbi Shneur Kotler, 64, Head Of Rabbinical School in Jersey". The New York Times. 27 June 1982. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  15. "Rabbi Shneur Kotler Dead at 64". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
  16. "Today's Yahrtzeits & History – 3 Tammuz". matzav.com. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2011.

Sources

Rabbis of Beth Medrash Govoha
Roshei yeshiva
Current
Malkiel Kotler
Yerucham Olshin
Dovid Schustal
Yisroel Neuman
Past
Aharon Kotler
Shneur Kotler
Mashgiach ruchani
Current
Abba Brudny
Past
Nosson Meir Wachtfogel
Yehudah Jacobs
Matisyohu Salomon
Category
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Europe
World Agudath Israel
Past members
Israel
Agudat Yisrael
Degel HaTorah
Past members
Present members
United States
Agudath Israel of America
Past members
Present members
Category
Categories: