Rabbi Shneur Kotler | |
|---|---|
 Kotler as a young man in the 1940s, while studying at theHevron yeshiva in Jerusalem | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler 1918 |
| Died | 24 June 1982(1982-06-24) (aged 63–64) |
| Buried | Har HaMenuchos,Jerusalem |
| Spouse | Rischel Friedman (d. July 2015) |
| Children | Meir Kotler,Aryeh Malkiel Kotler, Isser Zalman Kotler, Yitzchok Shraga Kotler, Aaron Kotler, Sara Yehudis Schustal, Batsheva Krupenia, Esther Reich, Baila Hinda Ribner |
| Parent(s) | RabbiAharon Kotler, Rivka Chana Perel Meltzer |
| Alma mater | Hevron yeshiva |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Denomination | Orthodox |
| Jewish leader | |
| Predecessor | RabbiAharon Kotler |
| Successor | RabbisMalkiel Kotler,Yerucham Olshin,Dovid Schustal,Yisroel Neuman |
| Position | Rosh yeshiva |
| Yeshiva | Beis Medrash Govoha |
| Began | 1962 |
| Ended | 1982 |
Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler (1918 – 24 June 1982) was an AshkenaziOrthodoxrabbi from the Lithuanian movement androsh yeshiva ofBeth Medrash Govoha (also known as the Lakewood Yeshiva) inLakewood, New Jersey, from 1962 to 1982.[1] During his tenure, he developed theLithuanian-style,Haredi but non-Hasidicyeshiva into the largest post-graduate Torah institution in the world.[2][3] He also established Lakewood-stylekollels in 30 cities, and pioneered the establishment ofcommunity kollels in which Torah scholars study during the morning and afternoon hours and engage in communityoutreach 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, RabbiAharon Kotler, the founding rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha: nineteen years, seven months, and one day.[4]
Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler was born inSlutsk,Russia, to Rabbi Aharon Kotler and his wife, Chana Perel,[5] the daughter of RabbiIsser Zalman Meltzer. Of his parents' children, only he and his sister, Sarah, survived infancy.[6] He was named after his father's father, Shneur Zalman Pines.[7]
Kotler was educated in his youth by his father. He later studied in theKaminetz yeshiva inPoland and became a student of RabbiBaruch Ber Leibowitz.[4]
In 1940, when most yeshivas inLithuania fled toVilna, including theyeshiva in Kletzk (where Rabbi Aharon Kotler had moved theSlutsk yeshiva), Kotler went to Vilna where he became engaged to Rischel Friedman. He escaped Europe and went toMandatory 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.[3] During the war he studied in theEitz Chaim Yeshiva led by his grandfather, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, who had also emigrated to Palestine, and attendedshiurim given by RabbiYechezkel Sarna, rosh yeshiva of theHevron yeshiva in Jerusalem, and RabbiYitzchok Zev Soloveitchik, known as the Brisker Rav.[4]
In 1946 Kotler rejoined his father in America, where he enrolled in the kollel division of the Lakewood Yeshiva which his father had founded.[4] His father sent him to attend the lectures ofRav Joseph B. Soloveichik atRIETS for several months.[8]
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.[2][4]
Kotler supervised the opening of 30 Lakewood-stylekollels in 30 cities,[9] includingLos Angeles,Detroit,Toronto,Montreal,Boston,Long Beach, New York,Scranton, Pennsylvania,Miami Beach,Denver,[1]Pittsburgh,Deal, New Jersey, andMelbourne.[10]
He also establishedcommunity kollels in several countries. Unlike a kollel, which is a full-time learning program, a community kollel is a part-time learning program, part-timeoutreach program.[9] His assistant in this was RabbiNosson Meir Wachtfogel (1910–1998), the Lakewoodmashgiach.[1] Kotler and Wachtfogel oversaw the opening of community kollels in cities includingPassaic, New Jersey (a kollel which developed into theYeshiva Gedola of Passaic),[11]Chicago,Pittsburgh,Detroit, Los Angeles,Toronto,[1] and Melbourne, Australia.[12]
Kotler served on theMoetzes Gedolei HaTorah ofAgudath Israel of America and the rabbinical boards of theTorah Umesorah National Society for Hebrew Day Schools andChinuch Atzmai.[2] He was also active in the effort to help Jewish refugees from Russia andIran.[13]
Kotler died on 24 June 1982 (3Tammuz 5742)[4] inMassachusetts General Hospital,Boston, at the age of 64. He was survived by his wife, Rischel, eight children, fifteen grandchildren, and his sister, Sarah Schwartzman.[14] His funeral processions in Lakewood and Jerusalem were attended by tens of thousands,[13] with an additional stop in Borough Park, Brooklyn attended by 30,000.[15] He was buried near his father, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, and his grandfather, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, onHar 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.[4] 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.[16]
He was succeeded as rosh yeshiva by his son, RabbiMalkiel Kotler, alongside his son-in-law RabbiDovid Schustal, and RabbisYerucham Olshin andYisroel Neuman, who are married to other grandchildren of Rabbi Aharon Kotler.
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