Shmuel Schecter
Rabbi Shmuel Schecter | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Born | Shmuel Halevi Schecter February 21, 1915 |
| Died | September 30, 2000 (aged 85) |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Spouse | Chava Gordon |
| Children | 6 |
| Denomination | Orthodox Judaism |
| Alma mater | Yeshivas Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Mir Yeshiva, Poland Kelm Talmud Torah |
| Position | Dean |
| Yeshiva | Mesivta Toras Emes, Brooklyn |
| Yahrtzeit | 1 Tishrei 5761 |
| Semikhah | Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel (Mir Poland) |
Shmuel Halevi Schecter (Hebrew: שמואל הלוי שכטר; February 21, 1915 – September 30, 2000)[1][2] was a Canadian–American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, educator, and author. Born in Quebec and raised in Baltimore, he traveled to Eastern Europe to study at the Mir Yeshiva as a teenager and at the Kelm Talmud Torah as a young married man. In 1940 he returned to the United States, where he was a co-founder of the first kollel in America, Beth Medrash Govoha, in White Plains, New York. He was a Torah educator in New York and Boston for more than 50 years, and served as dean of Mesivta Toras Emes in Brooklyn. He published a commentary on Orchot Chaim LeHoRosh, a musar work.
Early life and education
[edit]Shmuel Schecter was born in Lachine, Quebec, Canada. His mother died when he was four or five years old.[1][3] Per his mother's request, at the age of seven he was sent to live with her brother, Rabbi Meshulam Zusha Cohen, a Torah educator in Baltimore.[1][3]
At the age of 13 Schecter's uncle sent him to New York City to study at Yeshivas Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan.[4] Together with his new friends and fellow students Nosson Meir Wachtfogel and Avigdor Miller, he attended a secret shiur in Mesillas Yesharim given by Yaakov Yosef Herman in a yeshiva dormitory.[3][4] Herman encouraged him to travel to Eastern Europe to learn at the Mir Yeshiva, which he did at age 17, having completed his four-year high school course requirements in three years by attending night school.[3][1][2] Schecter's father paid for chavrusas (study partners) to tutor him at the Mir to bring his academic level up to that of the European students.[2] He remained at the Mir for four years[1] and received rabbinical ordination from the rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel ("Reb Leizer Yudel").[2] He and Wachtfogel returned to New York after the death of the mashgiach, Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz, in 1936.[1]
In 1937 Schecter married Chava Gordon in Jamaica, Queens. Right after the wedding, the two traveled to Kelm, Lithuania, so Schecter could study at the Kelm Talmud Torah.[3][2] Wachtfogel also enrolled there, and the two studied under Rabbi Daniel Movshovitz and Rabbi Gershon Miadnik until 1940.[2]
World War II
[edit]In 1940 Schecter's wife and young daughter returned to the United States on the last ship to leave France. Schecter, however, wanted to keep studying under Movshovitz.[3] Upon the urging of another student, Rabbi Aryeh Stamm, however, a beis din (rabbinical court) of three students was convened to rule that Schecter, a Canadian citizen, must leave Europe if he was able.[1] Both Schecter and Wachtfogel, who also had Canadian citizenship, departed Lithuania in October 1940.[3] Traveling in a group with other students from Kelm, Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler and his wife, and Wachtfogel's bride, they took the Trans-Siberian Express across Russia to Vladivostok, and a ship to Brisbane, Australia.[3][5] Their trip from Lithuania to Australia was paid for by the British government; the Board of Governors of the Australian Jewish community gave Schecter, Wachtfogel, and Wachtfogel's bride first-class tickets to depart for New York a few months later, out of concern that they would institute a religious revival in the Australian Jewish community.[5][6]
The remaining students and staff of the Kelm Talmud Torah were massacred by the Nazis on July 29, 1941 (5 Av 5701).[6] Years later, Schecter printed a commentary on Orchot Chaim LeHoRosh, a musar work, and recounted in the preface the final hours of the yeshiva and the speech given by Rabbi Movshovitz at the site of the slaughter, based on historical sources.[1][2]
Postwar
[edit]Schecter, Wachtfogel, and Rabbi Hershel Genauer, all alumni of the Kelm Talmud Torah, established the first kollel in the United States in White Plains, New York in spring 1942.[3][7] Named Beis Medrash Govoha, the kollel opened with 20 members.[8] Upon the arrival of Rabbi Aharon Kotler from Europe in 1943, the kollel members asked him to head the institute, which Kotler moved to Lakewood, New Jersey and expanded with a yeshiva gedola.[6][8] Wachtfogel served as mashgiach of the Lakewood Yeshiva for over 50 years, until his death in 1998.[9][8]
Schecter served as Kotler's emissary on a Vaad Hatzalah rescue mission in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1946.[6] He later taught Torah and musar in New York and Boston for more than 50 years.[2][3] He was the dean of Mesivta Toras Emes in Brooklyn.[10]
Personal life
[edit]Schecter and his wife, Chava Gordon, had four daughters and two sons.[6] In his later years he and his wife moved to Israel, settling in Jerusalem. He died on Shabbat, September 30, 2000 (1 Tishrei 5761), the first day of Rosh Hashana.[1][2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i Furst, Shlomo (12 September 2001). "Rebbe, A Year Has Gone By…". Dei'ah VeDibur. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Eliach, Rabbi Dov (2 November 2005). "Kelm And Mir — A Single Approach to Torah Excellence and Mussar Training, as Demonstrated by the Gaon and Tzaddik HaRav Shmuel Halevi Shechter, zt'l (Part III)". Dei'ah VeDibur. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shteierman, Yitzchok. "A Fire Lit in Kelm". Hamodia Inyun Magazine, December 29, 2016, pp. 14–22.
- ^ a b Shain 2001, p. 136.
- ^ a b Rosenblum 2000, pp. 180–182.
- ^ a b c d e Eliach, Rabbi Dov (15 October 2005). "Kelm And Mir — A Single Approach to Torah Excellence and Mussar Training, As Demonstrated by a Loyal And Devoted Talmid, the Gaon and Tzaddik HaRav Shmuel Halevi Shechter zt'l (Part II)". Dei'ah VeDibur. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
- ^ Shain 2001, p. 139.
- ^ a b c Arem 2002, p. 236.
- ^ Dershowitz 2005, pp. 269, 271.
- ^ Kramer 1984, p. 96.
Sources
[edit]- Arem, Heshy (2002), "Mashgiach from a Previous Generation: Rabbi Nosson Meir Wachtfogel", in Wolpin, Rabbi Nisson (ed.), Torah Leaders: A treasury of biographical sketches, Mesorah Publications, ISBN 1-57819-773-2
- Kramer, Doniel Zvi (1984). The Day Schools and Torah Umesorah: The Seeding of Traditional Judaism in America. Yeshiva University Press.
- Rosenblum, Yonoson (2000). Rav Dessler: The life and impact of Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, the Michtav M'Eliyahu. Mesorah Publications, Ltd. ISBN 1-57819-506-3.
- Shain, Ruchoma (2001). All for the Boss: The Life and Impact of R' Yaakov Yosef Herman, a Torah Pioneer in America: An Affectionate Family Chronicle (Revised ed.). Feldheim Publishers. ISBN 1583304703.
- Dershowitz, Yitzchok (2005). The Legacy of Maran Rav Aharon Kotler. Feldheim Publishers. ISBN 158330875X.
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