1. Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler was an Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbi from the Lithuanian movement and rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey, from 1962 to 1982.
19 Facts About Shneur Kotler
1. 2.
Shneur Kotler 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.
3.
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.
4.
Shneur Kotler was named after his father's father, Shneur Zalman Pines.
5.
Shneur Kotler later studied in the Kaminetz yeshiva in Poland and became a student of Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz.
6.
In 1940, when most yeshivas in Lithuania fled to Vilna, including the yeshiva in Kletzk, Shneur Kotler went to Vilna where he became engaged to Rischel Friedman.
7.
Shneur Kotler escaped Europe and went to Mandatory Palestine in 1940 while his fiancee was a refugee in Shanghai.
8.
Shneur Kotler's father escaped to Japan and from there to America in 1941.
9.
In 1946 Shneur Kotler rejoined his father in America, where he enrolled in the kollel division of the Lakewood Yeshiva which his father had founded.
10.
Shneur Kotler's father sent him to attend the lectures of Rav Joseph B Soloveichik at RIETS for several months.
11.
Whereas his father had actively restricted enrollment to a select group of students, Shneur Kotler accepted a broader range of students and post-graduate fellows.
12.
Shneur 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.
13.
Shneur 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.
14.
Shneur Kotler was active in the effort to help Jewish refugees from Russia and Iran.
15.
Shneur Kotler died on 24 June 1982 in Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, at the age of 64.
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Shneur Kotler was survived by his wife, Rischel, eight children, fifteen grandchildren, and his sister, Sarah Schwartzman.
17.
Shneur Kotler was buried near his father, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, and his grandfather, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, on Har HaMenuchot.
18.
Shneur Kotler served as rosh yeshiva for nineteen years, seven months, and one day, exactly the same amount of time as did his father.
19.
Shneur Kotler was succeeded as rosh yeshiva by his son, Rabbi Malkiel Kotler, alongside his son-in-law Rabbi Dovid Schustal, and Rabbis Yerucham Olshin and Yisroel Neuman, who are married to other grandchildren of Rabbi Aharon Kotler.