Rav Aharon Kotler
Founding Rosh Yeshiva of Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, a guiding leader of Vaad Hatzalah and of the Torah world in America.
Biography
Early years
Rav Aharon Kotler zt"l, the founding Rosh Yeshiva of Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, was born in 1891 in Svislach, in the Russian Empire (today Belarus). He was the son of Rav Shneur Zalman Pinnes and was known as the Shislovitzer Iluy (prodigy).
He was orphaned at the age of ten and adopted by his uncle, Rav Yitzchok Pinnes, a dayan (judge) in Minsk. At fourteen he entered the Slobodka Yeshiva, where he learned under the Alter of Slobodka, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, and under Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein. He also heard shiurim from Rav Boruch Ber, who headed his own yeshiva in one of the suburbs of Slobodka.
Torah and leadership
Rav Aharon married the daughter of Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, the head of Yeshiva Etz Chaim in Slutsk, and in 1914 became his assistant. Before he was twenty-five he was already one of the yeshiva's Roshei Yeshiva.
In 1921 the Bolshevik takeover and the persecution of religion forced the yeshiva to move to Kletsk, Poland. Rav Isser Zalman then settled in Eretz Yisroel, and Rav Aharon directed the yeshiva for the next twenty years.
When World War II broke out, Rav Aharon and the yeshiva relocated to Vilna, then the main refuge for yeshivos from the occupied areas. Most of the talmidim who remained in Europe were murdered by the Nazis. On April 10, 1941, the Vaad Hatzalah rescue organization brought Rav Aharon to America, and he guided its work throughout the Holocaust. He first settled on the Upper West Side of New York City, and in 1949 he moved to Borough Park, Brooklyn.
In 1943 he founded Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, with fifteen talmidim. By the time of his passing in 1962 it had grown to 250.
Rav Aharon also helped establish Chinuch Atzmai, the independent Torah school system in Eretz Yisroel, and served as chairman of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel. He chaired the rabbinic administration board of Torah Umesorah and sat on the presidium of the Agudas HaRabbonim of the United States and Canada. He was an outspoken opponent of Zionism.
After the passing of his father-in-law, Rav Aharon inherited his position as Rosh Yeshiva of Etz Chaim in Yerushalayim. In an unusual arrangement, he held that post while continuing to live in America and visited Yerushalayim from time to time.
Teachings and seforim
Rav Aharon's seforim are Shu"t Mishnas R' Aharon, a volume of responsa, and Mishnas Rabbi Aharon, on various masechtos of Shas.
Later years and passing
Rav Aharon passed away on 2 Kislev 5723 (November 29, 1962) in New York City, at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. His levaya was held at Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarier on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. About 25,000 mourners came, and 200 New York City police officers were assigned to the event. The congregation's president said it was the largest gathering of mourners he had ever seen. Seven hundred places inside the hall were set aside for dignitaries, and the atmosphere was likened to Yom Kippur. Eulogies were delivered by Rav Moshe Feinstein, by the Satmar Rebbe, Rav Yoel Teitelbaum, and by others.
His aron was then taken to Idlewild Airport and flown to Eretz Yisroel, accompanied by two dozen of his talmidim. A crowd of 5,000 greeted the plane. In Yerushalayim some 30,000 people lined the route as the procession carried him from the airport to Yeshiva Etz Chaim, where thousands from across Eretz Yisroel came to pay their final respects. He was then buried on Har HaMenuchos.
Legacy
Rav Aharon was succeeded as Rosh Yeshiva by his son, Rav Shneur Kotler. As of 2011, Bais Medrash Govoha was led by his grandson, Rav Malkiel Kotler, together with three of his grandsons-in-law, Rav Yerucham Olshin, Rav Yisroel Neuman and Rav Dovid Schustal.
In 2019 the yeshiva counted 6,715 talmidim, of whom 2,748 learned in the regular program and 3,967 in kollel, which makes it the largest yeshiva of its kind in America. The Lakewood community around it supports a network of more than a hundred other yeshivos and about 200 shuls, for an Orthodox community that is estimated to number over 66,000. In Yerushalayim, his grandson Rav Zevulun Schwartzman heads a kollel at Etz Chaim.
Stories
The Rebbe's Bracha
It is told that when Rav Aharon lay in the hospital for treatment, he asked whether anyone had informed "the Rebbe" of his condition. A relative wondered which rebbe the Rosh Yeshiva had in mind.
Rav Aharon explained that by "the Rebbe" he meant the Kopycznitzer Rebbe. His son, Rav Shneur Kotler, who related this account, added that Rav Aharon would send every chassan in the yeshiva to that Rebbe to receive a bracha before his wedding.
Rav Aharon and the Mafia Chief
It is told that during World War II, twenty-four Rabbonim were detained in Italy, in danger of being returned to Nazi-occupied Europe, where death was certain. Rav Aharon went to Mr. Irving Bunim, the askan (communal leader) who later wrote Ethics From Sinai, and asked who could intercede for them. Mr. Bunim suggested the Italian Mafia, and Rav Aharon urged him to make contact at once.
When the Mafia agreed to a meeting, Mr. Bunim asked who would be going. Rav Aharon said simply, "You and I." They went to see the godfather, Joe Bonnano. Since Rav Aharon did not speak English, Mr. Bunim explained the plight of the twenty-four Rabbonim.
Bonnano asked who the elderly man beside him was. Mr. Bunim answered that he was the godfather of the Jewish people. Bonnano then said he wanted a blessing, and Mr. Bunim passed the request on in Yiddish. Rav Aharon replied that he should live long and die in bed. When this was translated, Bonnano said he liked it, and he promised to arrange the release of the Rabbonim within two weeks. He kept his word.
Some twenty years later, in 1964, a black limousine pulled up outside the yeshiva in Lakewood. Two well-dressed men asked for Rav Kotler. When Rav Shneur Kotler introduced himself, they said they were looking for an older man. He told them that was his father, who had since passed away.
The visitors were the Bonnano brothers. Their father, they explained, had always credited his long life to Rav Aharon's blessing, and now that he had retired and they were taking over the family business, they had come for the same bracha. Rav Shneur answered that his father could give such a blessing but that he himself was not on that level. They understood the idea of yeridas hadoros (the spiritual decline of the generations) and left. Joe Bonnano is said to have lived to the age of ninety-seven.
A Glimpse of Ruach HaKodesh
Rav Aharon was always asking when the yeshiva world would receive true gedolim. Rabbonim, he would say, there were plenty; the question was who would bring genuine gedolim. He wanted bnei Torah to grow into true gedolei Torah, and even of the older students he kept demanding more.
It is told that Rav Aharon once described to Rav Elchonon Wasserman a conversation he had had with the Chofetz Chaim. In the middle of it, the Chofetz Chaim suddenly said that when a person begins a masechta, he must always finish it and never leave it half learned. Rav Aharon thought about this afterward and realized he was guilty of exactly that. Many times he had started a masechta, learned a little, and put it aside.
"How did he know?" Rav Aharon asked. Reb Elchonon answered that the very same thing had happened to him. While he was speaking with the Chofetz Chaim, the Chofetz Chaim had broken in with the same instruction about finishing a masechta. Both agreed that it was genuine ruach hakodesh (divine inspiration).
Seforim
- Shu"t Mishnas R' Aharon: His volume of halachic responsa.
- Mishnas Rabbi Aharon: His chiddushim on various masechtos of Shas.
Family & talmidim
Teachers: Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the Alter of Slobodka, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein, Rav Boruch Ber
Children: Rav Shneur Kotler
Also on 2 Kislev
All hilulos on 2 Kislev ›Historical sources
- The Monsey Mevaser, Klal Personalities series (Yisroel Safrin)
- Emunah Magazine / Matzav.com (Noam Amdurski)
- Chareidi.org