Rav Aharon was never satisfied with words alone; this was a call for action. Newly independent Lithuania bemoaned the loss of what they perceived to be their ancient capital, as they temporarily moved the capital to Kovno during the interwar period. Eventually, two developments accentuated the risk factors and paved the way for Rav Aharons decision to escape to the United States. Rabbi Aaron Kotler | kevarim.com Though hed been released, the intrusion left Rav Aharon with a feeling of uncertainty regarding the future, as well as a sense of urgency. When they felt themselves beginning to suffocate, one of them told Rav Aharon they couldnt remain any longer. Nobody is interested in that stuff anymore!, Rav Aharon replied firmly, I wont allow you to ridicule my religion; the Soviet constitution guarantees freedom of religion., The agent was stunned by his response. Son of Rabbi Shneur Zalman Pines-Kotler, ABD Sislowitz and Sara Pesha Pines For a time, Jews were actually forbidden from staying in the two Lakewood hotels he built. Their immediate needs were assumed by Rav Aharon, who had obtained a large quantity of saccharin as well as locally baked black bread. Rav Aharon chose Kletzk partly as a result of its proximity to the new border, but there was a historical impetus as well. Historian Dr. David Kranzler writes of the somber atmosphere that filled the Kotler home during the war years. Zeirei Agudath Israel leader Mike Tress was sitting at his Shabbos table in Williamsburg on Friday night when his doorbell rang. Theyd passed the test with flying colors. Rav Aharon emphasized that while Rav Yitzchak Meir was his brother-in-law, he was submitting his candidacy strictly based on his merits. Once again, the timeless words of Shlomo Hamelech, The sun rises and the sun sets, played out. One shoved Reb Berel to the side while the other grabbed the typewriter and a pile of papers. The parting from his beloved talmidim was difficult, though he believed that this was the only way hed be able to rescue them. ITwas the spring of 1941, and a small crowd gathered at a little shul on Clinton Street on the Lower East Side of New York. In From Kletzk to Siberia, Rabbi Alter Pekier writes: On Erev Shabbos, November 8, 1940 the yeshivahs faithful secretary Reb Berel Starobin was typing Rav Aharons chiddushim when agents of the NKVD burst in and began conducting a search. Upon seeing Rav Aharon after five years, Rav Isser Zalman said, Er hut azoi fil geshtiggen (he grew so much), ich hub em nisht derkent (I didnt recognize him)!. So why does the rosh yeshivah attend these meetings? the driver asked. Can we just chalk it up to coincidence?" Later, Robert, accompanied by federal investigator and family friend Walter Sheridan, visits Ted in the hospital. Rav Aharon Kotler would call him every Rosh Chodesh. Despite a deep fear of flying, Rav Aharon flew often to Israel throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. The lack of recruiters meant that few Americans came to Kletzk. Goldstein now turned his attention to building the shul and he began to fundraise. 'We never kicked Shlomo Carlebach out of our yeshiva' | 7 Senior yeshivos like Mir and Slabodka had alumni networks that greatly assisted with this process. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Until the last day of his life, Reb Zev lived with a shlichus a mission that he learnt and felt from Rav Aharon.. To the postwar generation, the practice of Torah lishmah was relegated to history books and serial novels in the Yiddish dailies. Some of Americas wealthiest businessmen such as the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Goulds, and other titans of industry built mansions on large estates. It was named Etz Chaim, presumably as an ode to Rav Isser Zalmans alma mater in Volozhin. Her condition had her spending a considerable amount of time in Atlantic City, but when in 1906 one of the hotels she frequented refused to accommodate her niece, telling her that Jews were not desired as guests, she decided to make Lakewood her preferred destination. Over the years, I had many discussions with Rav Joseph Ber Soloveitchik. When he returned and found him gone, he hastened to Mir with the intention of bringing back his treasured student. Most of the students left until just a small group remained. Rav Aharon Kotler zt"l - The 5 Towns Jewish Times From that point on, every day the principal would send the young genius fresh eggs, fruit and other vegetables. Well, vos is zein nomen whats his name? Rav Mordechai asked. With many rabbinic dignitaries in attendance, the festive Chanukas Habayis took place in the uncompleted building in November 1929. What he said was magnificent. He would take eight lit torches, throwing one and catching another, without one touching the other (Succah 53a). On that day in 1941, Rav Aharon described thechain of Torah that commenced at Har Sinai andwas composed of links of various quality someof precious metals and others of baser materials.He described the historical sequence of thetransmission of Torah from Rabban Yochanan benZakkai through the Rishonim and finished withrecent Torah leaders: Rav Chaim Brisker, Rav MeirSimchah of Dvinsk, and Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski.Reaching a fevered pitch, he began his plea, urgingthe assembled yeshivah students to forge anotherlink in the dynastic chain. Rav Boruch Ber wouldnt hear of it. It was a short winter day, and as sunset approached there was still no resolution to the contentious issue under discussion. Rav Aharon Kotler: Builder of the Torah World - 9781614653370 - Menucha Continued 55th Yahrtzeit of Rav Aharon Kotler, ZTL Rav Beinush Finkel shared that on the day that Rav Noach left for Mir, Rav Aharon was absent from the yeshivah. He studied in the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania under He explained that he used to be a butcher in Minsk, and he took a kopek from every ruble he made and put it aside to support Torah learning. In Minsk, Arke became acquainted with another budding Torah scholar just a few months his, senior named Yaakov Kamenetsky, with whom he developed a close relationship. When he delivered his shiur in Kletzk or Lakewood, it was often a challenge to follow his line of reasoning. There will never be another like her.. If a student interrupted, he would yell at him, Du redst vie a shikere Turk! (When Rav Shach assumed a position at one of the Novardok branches and later at the Karlin yeshivah in Luninitz, his family remained in Kletzk. One Erev Shabbos he saw a small kiosk in Tel Aviv, and someone asked the proprietor for a pack of cigarettes. Youre right, Rav Aharon responded. To appreciate this saga, we fast-forward a half-century to Tel Aviv, Israel: In the mid-50s, Rav Mordechai Shapiro, a talmid of Rav Aharon Kotler ztzl, traveled to Israel. Shneur Kotler - Wikipedia united methodist church global methodist. Just weeks after Rav Aharons arrival in Americaon Erev Pesach of 1941, the Nazis invaded Soviet-occupied Lithuania andbrought an end to the golden age of Torah study in Eastern Europe. Believing that unity was crucial to rescue, Rav Aharon advised putting aside political and ideological differences and closing ranks among all Orthodox factions to further rescue activities. A story is told regarding the brothers-in-law. When Rav Aharon noticed, he said to the student, Let him speak, perhaps hes right.. Rav Aharon stopped talking and looked out the window, to the right and to the left. The Legacy Of Rav Aharon Kotler - The Jewish Press In hindsight, this relatively overlooked aspect of Rav Aharons early leadership served as a prologue to his later efforts to build Torah across the ocean. As the yeshivah left Kletzk for the last time in horse-drawn wagons, they were filled with apprehension but committed to following Rav Aharons instructions. At the wedding of Rav Shmuel Yitzchak Herman: Lower row: Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Yaakov Safsel (Vishker Illui), Rav Shmuel Yitzchak Herman, Rav Avraham Kalmanowitz. His son, current Shaar HaTorah rosh yeshivah Rav Kalman Epstein, who was then a young boy, accompanied his father. After a certain point, the Alter no longer worried about Rav Aharon being influenced negatively and set out on another mission: to prepare Rav Aharon to be a Torah leader. Must leave Moscow within 24 hours. Clearly, one who accepts the responsibility of the nations leadership overcomes challenges beyond his nature., Rav Aharon (seated, far right) at a siyum in Kletzk. He is about 48 years, blue smiling eyes, small stature, powerful determination, and penetrating vision. Due to fundraising concerns, yeshivos generally refrained from overt association of this sort. Most of his students did not manage to escape and were murdered by the Nazis. That piqued Rav Mordechai Shapiros interest. Toward the end of 1943, due to the dawning reality of the scope of the Final Solution, the Vaad expanded its rescue operations beyond yeshivah students and Torah scholars to the general rescue of European Jewry. The world will yet survive without another one. Had all his communal responsibilities been merely ceremonial roles, that would have been impressive enough. He was excitable. He choked up, and remained crying at the podium for ten minutes without saying a word. That same thinking likely prompted Rav Aharons decision not to attend the famous Rabbis March on Washington in October 1943. Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler (1918 - 24 June 1982) was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha (also known as the Lakewood Yeshiva) in Lakewood, New Jersey from 1962 to 1982. Nosson Tzvi Finkel, and Moshe Mordechai Epstein. Much of the difficulties faced by Rav Aharon in America stemmed from the fact that Kletzk was a relatively new yeshivah and didnt have many alumni serving in prominent roles in America to assist in making connections and collecting multi-year pledges Rav Aharon had received. In order to generate publicity that would enhance fundraising prospects, Rav Aharon conceived the idea of a grand opening ceremony. One group was in Lakewood and included many students who would emerge as leading roshei yeshivah and builders of Torah. The Jewish community of Lakewood invited the Rebbe to explore the possibilities of establishing his court there and hosted him for three months in the spring of 1940. Oftentimes it wasnt limited to mere abandonment of religion; it was openly hostile toward mitzvah observance. Yet his sense of responsibility for the wider yeshivah world was astonishingly broad. On that day in Moscow, Nazi foreign minister Joachim Von Ribbentrop and Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov signed a non-aggression pact between the two regimes. This is his story. Years later he heard that this child had somehow ended up in America and opened a yeshivah. Apparently, he was studying two different masechtos in depth, simultaneously. Haosek bmitzvah patur min hamitzvah someone engaged in a mitzvah is exempt from performing another mitzvah. All eyes focused on Rav Aharon, the ultimate decisor, who said, Really, Rav Hutner is right, but what will the balabatim think when they see us skipping Minchah? He considered the Vilna Gaon, an eighteenth century Torah genius of exceptional greatness, one of his spiritual mentors. The Gerrer Rebbe, who was not used to being turned down, smiled and quipped, ah chassid vet er nisht zayn he will never be a chassid, at which Rav Aharon quickly instructed his grandson, Zog amen! We went to see Secretary Morgenthau in order to get permission to transfer these funds. Though we knew that once Rav Aharon was in America our own chances of being able to leave would improve, we felt lost and forsaken. The curse mandated that Kennedy should never see joy from his descendants. The latter yeshivahs numbers swelled as a result and by 1924 it contained 156 talmidim. The rest,as they say, is history. Rav Aharon later related how much he enjoyed talking in learning with Rav Katz. The Lomza rosh yeshivah, Rav Yechiel Mordechai Gordon, was stranded in the US during the war, and he was hired to serve as rosh kollel. The Lomza Rav, Rav Moshe Shatzkes, also delivered some shiurim to the group. Erupting in torrents of thought like a volcano, hed cite a tradition from Rav Yisrael Salanter that Torah is studied with venom, not with calm equanimity or coldness and apathy. He spoke quickly. Thousands of yungeleit sit and learn all day with hasmadah and zeal championed by supporters, fellow bnei Torah who vie for the opportunity to contribute eye-popping sums to their heroes. There were plenty of scientists and engineers. I know you do a lot, but Im begging you to do even more considering the circumstances. Havent seen one of these in a while.. He chose Lakewood, New Jersey, as the site for his new Yeshiva in America, because its location, far from the distractions of New York City, would enable his students to concentrate on their studies. Luminaries who studied in Slutzk during its first two decades include Rav Elazar M. Shach, Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, Rav Aryeh Levine, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, Rav Moshe Aharon Poleyoff, and Rav Moshe Feinstein. (His son Rav Shneur had already departed for Palestine using a certificate received from his grandfather Rav Isser Zalman.). The Mizrachi leader and Warsaw-based lawyer Zorach Warhaftig, who enjoyed a close relationship with many leading roshei yeshivah including Rav Aharon and would later play a vital role in the rescue of yeshivah students and roshei yeshivah during the war years, recounted in his memoirs his conversation with Rav Aharon regarding one facet among others of his general opposition to Zionism: In my many conversations with Rav Aharon Kotler, similar to my ones with Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, I got the impression that they view the study of Torah and the love of Torah as an all-encompassing outlook. Another contingent, headed by the mashgiach Rav Yosef Leib Nenedick, went to Doshad. If you lived it, you wouldnt feel the smoke!, Public speaking, however, didnt come naturally to Rav Aharon. In an interview conducted with the president of Lakewood Yeshiva, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, a myth and legend that has been well-entrenched in the haredi world about famous Jewish composer and. R' Aharon Kotler very nearly got on a train to leave yeshiva and study mathematics in Moscow, and his sister spent the rest of her life regretting that he didn't do so; I thus find it unlikely that he would solve a Communist's challenge to solve a calculus problem. Other versions attribute the curse to Rav Yosef . Rav Aharon delivering a shiur at the Bialystoker Synagogue on New Yorks Lower East Side. And while he supported and interacted with many different types of faithful Jews enjoying a close relationship with the Kopyczynitzer Rebbe, the Satmar Rav and the Tchebiner Rav he was unfailingly true to his roots and identity. Even after this harrowing journey, Rav Aharon wasnt about to rest on his laurels. He related the story about a poshute Yid who set aside a kopek from his earnings for hachzakas Torah. When I talk about Rav Aaron and mibeis abba, I dont mean just his scholarship, his Torah, but the qualities of a gadol, the warmth and other great middos. The nucleus of the venture included Rav Mordechai Yoffe, Rav Hershel Genauer, Rav Shmuel Shechter, Rav Nosson Wachtfogel, Rav Yitzchok Hoffman, Rav Zeidel Leshinsky, Rav Osher Katz, Rav Simcha Zissel Levovitz, Rav Shachne Zohn, Rav Pesach Cohen, Rav Yisroel Bergstein, Rav Menachem Moore, Rav Hirsch Kaplan, Rav Dovid Hershowitz and others. The departure of Rav Bishko soon after the yeshivah opened compounded the financial strain. JHS: The Life of Rav Aharon Kotler: Origins of Greatness - part 1 - Blogger America. A lot of them were meshumadim!, Rav Aharon did not back down. Rav Aharon's sister, Malka, also in Minsk, traveled in different circles in Minsk than her uncle, the dayan. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Standing (left to right) beginning with Rabbi Nissan Waxman (with mustache): Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary, Rabbi Shlomo Aron Kazarnovsky, Rabbi Nissan Mindel and Rabbi Chaim Lieberman. [9] Along with Rabbi Eliezer Silver , Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz and others, he worked day and night, using both private and government channels to try and save lives. On October 8, Rav Aharon traveled to Vilna to consult with Rav Chaim Ozer and other roshei yeshivah. Hashem gave you these abilities, he is the one who gave you the power to be successful. The emergence of an experienced administrator for the kollel, helped it gain both legitimacy and financial backing for its initial months. The kallahs brother, Rav Tzvi Yehuda Meltzer, recalled that Rav Aharon delivered a brilliant Torah discourse, followed by a breathtaking display by his close friend Rav Avraham Elya Kaplan, who repeated the pilpul flawlessly with brilliant rhymes and a melodious tune. America has embraced and nurtured a vision of Torah learning for its own sake. There are about 230 students in this yeshivah, 40 of whom are still in Vilna. The NKVD agent began to berate him. The story is told that the Beis HaLevi asked the two youngsters which was a bigger lamdan. Somewhere on the towering dais sat a senior student of Rav Aharons from the early days of Beth Medrash Govoha. This arrangement presented an open door for the various ideological movements sweeping the increasingly radicalized Jewish street. During one bein hazmanim intersession, Rav Aharon had the opportunity to speak in learning with Rav Meir Simchah of Dvinsk (the Ohr Sameach), who was taken with Rav Aharon and implored his teachers, Take care of young Aharon, he has potential to emerge as a Rabbi Akiva Eiger of the generation.. Yankele Ochsenkrug, the proprietor said. Another member of the Yad Hachazakah, Rabbi David Rackman, who would later become a rav and businessman in Albany, described the joy exuded by the Ridbaz when he entered the beis medrash: He would stand in the doorway virtually unseen and simply listen. His flaming blue eyes bore into the souls of all present. The Legacy of Maran Rav Aharon Kotler - Google Books Rav Aharon proudly wrote to Rav Yosef Shub of the Vaad HaYeshivos that aside from Mir and Radin, there is no yeshivah (in that region of Poland where most yeshivos were located) larger than ours.. On August 3, Lithuania was formally incorporated into the Soviet Union. Rav Elazar M. Shach related that only one of Rav Aharons friends from Slabodka attended the wedding, which was the norm in those days. That wide-lens view accompanied him throughout his life, marking him not only as the Rosh Yeshivah who transformed Americas relationship with Torah learning, but as the leader who burned with a constant urgency to rescue, restore, initiate, rally, and support the growth of Torah wherever Jews could be found. They came with a value of avodahtefillah. An issue was debated and Rav Aharon, not yet 40, stated his opinion. Upon their arrival at the train station in Baranovich, reports trickled in that a refugee crisis was brewing in Vilna, with overcrowding and food shortages. Rabbi Nathan Baruch, Mrs. Chaya Baumwolspiner, Rabbi Eliyahu Beane, Rabbi Asher Bergman, Rabbi Yaakov Bender, Yisroel Besser, Rabbi Amos Bunim, Rabbi Dovid Cohen, Rabbi Henoch Cohen, Rabbi Yitzchok Dershowitz, Rabbi Dov Eliach, Rabbi Shimon Finkelman, Rabbi Dr. Dovid Fox, Shimon Glick, Mrs. Devora Gliksman, Dr. Alex Grobman, Professor William Helmreich, Chaya Sarah Herman, Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Rabbi Shimon Hirsch, Rabbi Alexander Hoffman, Rabbi Nosson Kamenetsky, Rabbi Yitzchok Kasnett, Rabbi Dov Katz, Dr. Bentzion Klibansky, Rabbi Moshe Kolodny, The Kotler family, Dr. David Kranzler, Rebbetzin Danielle Leibowitz, Rabbi Nachman Levovitz, Rabbi Aharon Lopiansky, Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz, Reb Shimon Mendlowitz, Symcha Nadborny, The Neuberger family, Rabbi Alter Pekier, Rabbi Yechiel Perr, Rabbi Shaul Robinson, Yonasan Rosenblum, Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Rosenthal, Rabbi Leib Rotkin, Simcha Schecter, Rabbi Marvin Schick, Rabbi Shmaryahu Schulman, Rabbi Gavriel Schuster, Rabbi Nosson Sherman, Rabbi Aaron Sorasky, Zorach Warhaftig, Baruch Wenger, Zev Wolfson, Dov Wolowitz, Rabbi Boruch Ber Yoffe, Pinkas Kletzk, Pinkas Kobryn, Pinkas Slutzk, (Originally featured in Torchbearer, Rav Aharon Kotler Tribute, Issue 941), Even though six decades have passed, the brilliant shiurim and maamarim of Rav Aharon are speaking to a new generation. Rabbi Aharon Kotler, whose 50th yahrtzeit is today, arrived in the United States in 1941. It was after the treaty was signed between the Bolsheviks and the Poles, placing Slutzk under Soviet control. He was followed there by the rosh yeshivah Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein and a few dozen loyal students. Rav Isser Zalman conveyed the Frank familys position to the Alter of Slabodka, emphasizing the pain this was causing his mother-in-law, the elderly widow. Rav Aharon Kotler And - Rav Herzog, The Brisker Rov And - Blogger The granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, died on Thursday at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, according to a spokesperson for the Kennedy family. Rav Aharon successfully crossed the border into Poland and attempted to reestablish the yeshivah less than 40 miles away in Kletzk. Even the trip from Minsk to Slabodka required planning; namely, a donor who would fund it. The majority of students, however, chose to remain with the Rav of Slabodka, Rav Moshe Danishevsky, until Rav Chaim Rabinowitz (known to posterity as Rav Chaim Telzer) was hired as rosh yeshivah. Irving Bunim funded the initial purchase with donations from his brother-in-law Isidor Farber as well as his friends Samuel Kaufman and David Shapiro. Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky stood up, walked over to Rav Mordechai and said, I was the second child., Rav Aharon as a student in Slabodka, seated second from left. Leadership meant responsibility, responsibility always translated into activism, and activism invariably took the form of launching initiatives, motivating others, and getting the job done. Geni requires JavaScript! There was also a family connection as Rav Isser Zalmans ancestors had previously been rabbanim of the town. Yet, as is evident from a speech he delivered at a family simchah of Mr. Wolfsons just weeks before his passing, Rav Aharon, in his wisdom, saw his young charges potential to make a continuing and unprecedented impact and encouraged him to do even more: The plan was, G-d forbid, for a totally different type of education to take hold (in Israel), which would undermine the very existence of a life according to Torah values. Henry Morgenthau Jr., Hon. The towns rav, Rav Chaim Shimon Herensohn, recalled that his father and predecessor had invited Slabodka to establish the branch there upon its founding in 1897. Rav Aharon Kotler was one of the very few Torah giants who contributed mightily to the transformation of the face of American Jewry in the middle of the twentieth century from one of Torah ignorance and mourning over the Holocaust to significant progress in Torah knowledge and partial recovery from the tragedy of the Holocaust. Vilna and its surroundings would be returned to Lithuania which was neutral during the hostilities and in return the Soviets would be allowed to establish military bases on Lithuanian territory. He wasnt able to make it and Menashe Rabinowitz (who would later lead the Yamim Noraim davening at Beth Medrash Govoha) filled in for him at the event. On June 15, 1940 only eight months after the Kletzk Yeshivah escaped to Vilna the Lithuanian government caved to a Soviet ultimatum and the Red Army entered the country. Rav Isser Zalman also exerted pressure on him to depart, writing to him urgently, Lama atem yoshvim al har goesh kazeh Why are you sitting on top of a volcano?. A handful of these improvised yeshivos became formal institutions and gained some renown, such as the famous Blumkas Kloiz and a yeshivah run by Rav Shlomo Goloventzitz, which served as a feeder for Slabodka. The White Plains group sent a delegation led by Rav Mordechai Yaffe to meet with Rav Aharon. It was therefore decided to split the yeshivah. Daughter of Rabbi Aharon Kotler, Rosh Yeshivas Kletzk & Lakewood and Rebbetzin Chana Perl Kotler Ex-wife of Rabbi Dov Ber Schwartzman Mother of Private; . He once officiated at the wedding of his talmid Rav Alter Yitzchok Dershowitz in Yerushalayim near the then-Jordanian border. Husband of Rebbetzin Chana Peryl Kotler Who knows why they converted and at what risk they did it? he countered. Contrast that with the current era. Except one. (This proverbial rite of passage was adapted by many roshei yeshivah, Rav Aharon among them. He was the synthesis of both previous illuyim. Eventually, the Epsteins made their presence known. Rav Isser Zalman, who was a vaunted student of Rav Chaim Brisker and author of the Even Haezel, marveled at the logic of his son-in-law. In 1896 his wife Sarah Pesha passed away and he was left to raise his children alone. He surely noticed the hopelessness exuded by so many after the utter devastation of the Holocaust, and concluded that a singular, unshakeable focus on the future was the only path forward. Though Rav Aharons name is most closely linked to Lakewood, the impact of his Torah trailblazing goes far beyond a single yeshivah. [1] During his tenure, he developed the Lithuanian -style, Haredi but non- Hasidic yeshiva into the largest post-graduate Torah institution in the world. Picking up the phone, I heard a voice say in Yiddish, This is Kotler. A talmid of Rav Shlomo Heiman in Torah Vodaath, Rav Schorr traveled to Kletzk following his marriage to study under Rav Aharon, remaining there for a year until the American embassy advised him to return home in the summer of 1939. Rav Aharon returned home prior to Elul of 1936 with a feeling of satisfaction, knowing he had saved the yeshivah in Kletzk from potential closure and could pay up its debts. Rav Aharon would oftentimes make extended visits to Israel, during which he delivered regular shiurim at Etz Chaim. True, his shiur consisted of cool logical analysis, but when he spoke, it was a fiery volcano. ISBN9781510770232. A very symbolic number indeed, as this was the exact number of students that had pioneered the launch of the Slutzk Yeshivah almost a half century earlier. Upon hearing that neurologists believe that people have access to only a fraction of their brains potential, he declared to his student Rabbi Dr. Dovid Fox, They never knew Rav Aharon Kotler; every brain cell was full of brilliance!.