Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (Rachack Review)
This book contains a collection
of essays that Mr. Kobre wrote in Mishpacha Magazine outlining the lives
and achievements of various Gedolim (“Great Rabbis”) who lived in
America. Each chapter discusses a different rabbi and in many of the chapters,
Mr. Kobre interview students and family members of the rabbi, and in some cases
even the rabbis themselves. One interesting aspect of this book is that it does
not just discuss the Gedolim that many of already know about and have
read biographies on them, but rather also devotes chapters to rabbis whose names
people may have heard in the Beis Midrash, but are otherwise unfamiliar
with them. Likewise, this book is not confined to just discussing rabbis of
generations past, but even deals with contemporary rabbis who still walk among
us (although, unfortunately, some of those rabbis passed away since Mr. Kobre originally
wrote the chapters on them).
In presenting the stories of
these various Gedolim, this book does an excellent job of striking a
balance between presenting a fawning hagiographic account of the various rabbis
it discusses and giving the reader a more realistic down-to-earth sketch of the
same rabbis.
The chapter on Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
(1895–1986) was presented as the minutes of a meeting in which his various
students reminisced about their beloved Rosh Yeshiva. Rather than focusing on
Rabbi Feinstein’s role as Halachic decider for Orthodox Jews across the USA and
abroad (which has been written about at length elsewhere), Mr. Kobre chose to focus
on Rabbi Feinstein’s role as Rosh Yeshiva and mentor to many students in the
two yeshivas at whose helm he stood.
No Gedolim biography can
be complete without a chapter on Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan (1838–1933) — the Chofetz
Chaim and his son-law Rabbi Mendel Zaks (1898–1974). For this chapter, Mr.
Kobre interviewed the Chofetz Chaim’s grandson Rabbi Yisroel Meir Zaks
at his home in Flatbush in order to hear more about these two great paragons of
righteousness and scholarship. In doing so, Kobre provides us with new miracles
stories (like the time that the Chofetz Chaim somehow knew about a local
Jew’s secret desecration of Shabbos), but also puts these stories in
perspective by citing a quip from Rabbi Avrohom Yehoshua Soloveitchik who
denied the possibility that the Chofetz Chaim had a special ramp in his
house to practice the rituals in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. A later chapter
is devoted to Rabbi Mendel Zak’s son Rabbi Hillel Zaks (1931–2015).
The author interviewed Rabbi
Yechiel Perr about Rabbi Yosef Yoizel Horowitz (1847–1919known as the Alter of
Novhardok, and about Rabbi Aharon Kotler (1892–1962). Indeed, an entire chapter
is dedicated to Rabbi Aharon Kotler, and a subsequent chapter is dedicated to
his daughter-in-law, Rebbetzin Rischel Kotler (1923–2015). There is also chapter
devoted to Rabbi Moshe Heinemann chronicles some of Rabbi Heinemann’s
experiences as a student of Rabbi Aharon Kotler and the guiding principles
behind Star-K.
Some lesser-known, but equally important
rabbis (if not more so) were treated to chapters in this book as well. For
example, there is a chapter devoted to Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin (1881–1973) —
one of the greatest rabbis in America in the first half of the 20th
century. This chapter particularly focuses on Rabbi Doniel Osher Kleinman’s
efforts (at the behest of Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky) to republish Rabbi Henkin’s
Halachic rulings and present them to the next generation and Rabbi Kleinman’s budding
friendship with Rabbi Henkin’s descendant Rabbi Eitam Henkin (1984–2015), who was
tragically murdered by terrorists. (The junior Rabbi Henkin was known to his fellow
researcher and colleagues online on the Otzar HaChochmah Forums as Toch Kdei
Dibbur).
Likewise, another chapter tells
the tragic story of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Grodzinski (1857–1947), a world-class Talmid
Chacham who served the Orthodox community in Omaha, Nebraska until he was
unceremoniously deposed in favor of younger blood. The bulk of this chapter is
actually dedicated to the efforts of Rabbi Myron Wakschlag and Shalom Jacob to publish
Rabbi Grodzinski’s remaining unpublished works.
In another chapter, Mr. Kobre
treats the reader to an interview he conducted with the now-deceased Rabbi
Shlomo Carlebach (1925–2022), a Holocaust survivor and scion of the Carlebach
rabbinic from Germany (not to be confused with the singer Rabbi Shlomo
Carlebach, who actually does make an appearance in another chapter). After the
War, Rabbi Carlebach came to America, where became a student of Rabbi Yitzchak
Hutner — eventually serving under him as Mashgiach of Mesivta Chaim
Berlin.
Rabbi Chaim Epstein (1936-2015)
is a name that those who learn in the Beis Midrash may have heard of (because
of his famous work on the Rashba to Bava Basra), but aren’t that
familiar with. He served as the Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta of Eastern Parkway
(also known as Yeshiva Zichron Melech) one of the most prominent students of Rabbi
Aharon Kotler and was very much sought-after for his advice. As you may have guessed,
Mr. Kobre devotes an entire chapter to telling us more about Rabbi Epstein.
There is also a chapter about Rabbi
Levi Yitzchok Horowitz (1921–2009), known as the Bostoner Rebbe, and how he transformed
the Jewish community in Boston and touched the lives of many people, including
academic-trained professionals like Dr. Meir Wikler and Rabbi Dr. Dovid
Gottlieb.
Each of the oldest Yeshivas in
America are represented with chapters on their respective Roshei Yeshiva: For Yeshivas
Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan (Yeshiva University), there’s a chapter on Rabbi
Dovid Lifshitz (1906–1993) and Rabbi Moshe Meiselman. For Mesivta Torah VoDaas,
there’s a chapter on Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky (1891–1986). And for Ner Israel
Rabbinical College, there’s a chapter on Rabbi Dovid Kronglas (1910–1973) and another
one on Rabbi Yakkov Yitzchok Ruderman (1900–1987).
Mr. Kobre’s interview with Dr.
William Helmreich (1945–2020) concludes the book as an appendix. Dr. Helmreich was
a frum sociologist, who famously interviewed various Yeshiva heads and students
to provide a unique study on the Yeshiva World.
All in all, Mr. Kobre’s book provides
a compelling collection of essays about lesser-known and well-known great
rabbis who lived in America, striking a balance between presenting hagiographic
accounts and realistic sketches of these rabbis. Some of the stories the author
relates presents us with the human side of these great Torah luminaries, with
the implicit lesson that we too can become like them. Yet on the other hand, the
same book spells out what exactly made these rabbis special and unique. Mr.
Kobre's interviews with family members and students of the rabbis add a
personal touch to the stories. This book will make you laugh, it will make you cry, but above all it will inspire. Overall, the book provides an insightful and
informative read for anyone interested in the history and lives of these influential
rabbis in America (and it has a really cool cover, thanks to Mosaica Press' graphics talented team).
