Shneur Kotler
Rabbi Shneur Kotler | |
|---|---|
Kotler as a young man in the 1940s, while studying at the Hevron yeshiva in Jerusalem | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler 10 July 1918 |
| Died | 24 June 1982 (aged 63) |
| 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) | Rabbi Aharon Kotler, Rivka Chana Perel Meltzer |
| Alma mater | Hevron yeshiva |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Denomination | Orthodox |
| Jewish leader | |
| Predecessor | Rabbi Aharon Kotler |
| Successor | Rabbis Malkiel Kotler, Yerucham Olshin, Dovid Schustal, Yisroel Neuman |
| Position | Rosh yeshiva |
| Yeshiva | Beis Medrash Govoha |
| Began | 1962 |
| Ended | 1982 |
Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler (10 July 1918 – 24 June 1982) was an Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbi from the Lithuanian movement and rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha (also known as the Lakewood Yeshiva) in Lakewood, New Jersey, from 1962 to 1982. During his tenure, he developed the Lithuanian-style, Haredi but non-Hasidic yeshiva into the largest post-graduate Torah institution in the world. He also 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. Upon his death, he had served as the Lakewood rosh yeshiva for exactly the same amount of time as had his father, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, the founding rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha: nineteen years, seven months, and one day.