Page 38 - HaMizrachi Yom Yerushalayim - Shavuot 5782 USA

a Chicago Bnei Akiva boy, built Horev Girls School into what it is
today. And think what Zelda and Rabbi Sholom Horowitz have
accomplished in Chevron. These are the kind of people I met
through Bnei Akiva.
And one more thing. We had so many get-togethers at Bnei Akiva,
with different sniffim on the West Side, the Lower East Side, Crown
Heights and Williamsburg. So many shidduchim came out of Bnei
Akiva – hundreds of shidduchim! I only know of one divorce, from
all those hundreds of couples.
You moved to Israel in 1969, during the giddy years
immediately following the Six Day War. How did the Six
Day War change the trajectory of your life? Was it difficult
to leave America? What prompted your Aliyah at that
particular time?
I started teaching in 1959 in Ahavath Torah in Englewood with
Rabbi Swift, which at that time was just a little house. The next
year I taught at Concourse Center of Israel which was a prominent
Teaching Talmud in Yeshiva University's Talmudical Academy, 1965
temple in the Bronx. The main shul had separate seating without
a mechitzah, but the youth minyan that I ran had one. Then I
went into the rabbinate, but also stayed with teaching. I started
teaching at YU in 1962, appointed by Rabbi Shmuel Belkin and
Rav Soloveitchik. Thank G-d, I was successful; the Rav would build
up my ego and say “I hear the boys are excited when you teach
a Tosfos!” The Rav’s attitude was like the Lubavitcher Rebbe – if
you can teach and handle America, remain there! We need you!
I was quite happy at YU.
Then came the Six Day War, and my wife gave me an ultimatum:
either you come with me to Israel, or stay behind. We stepped off
the boat in Haifa on July 5, 1969. I’ve returned to the pier in Haifa
many times since then, but still, it’s like a dream today. When we
arrived, all I wanted was one thing – I wanted to know kol haTorah
kulah, the entire Torah. I started then, in 1969, and though I haven’t
achieved my goal, no one can accuse me of not trying!
I was offered many positions with big titles like ‘president’,
Annual Dinner Beth Ephraim – Maplewood Jewish Center, 1968 – (left to right) – Max ‘chancellor’, ‘rosh yeshivah’, and ‘dean’. I remember being offered
and Jennie Rothkoff, Malkah and Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff
a $50,000 salary in the lobby of the Kings Hotel, which back then,
during the tough times after the Yom Kippur War, was a fortune!
Rabbi Chaim Drukman, whom I idolized, called me; he wanted
me to run for the Knesset. But I couldn’t leave the beit midrash,
and I couldn’t leave my students. My time in Bnei Akiva gave me
the ability to always say no, the ability to not allow money to
determine my life decisions. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude
to Bnei Akiva. I’m very proud to be a Mizrachi Jew!
Was Rav Soloveitchik supportive of your Aliyah?
The Rav was very proud of Bnei Akiva and its accomplishments,
but on the other hand he was very hesitant to lose all his students
to Israel.
In 1968, we came to Israel for the first time on an RCA trip; we
left our youngest daughter with my wife’s parents and the two
older girls came with us. On that trip, we vowed we would settle
in Israel within the year. We came back on Aliyah ten months later.

I went to the Rav to get a birkat preidah, a goodbye blessing, and
Leaving Yeshiva University in New York after teaching his final class in 1969. A few his first words to me were “How will you make a living?” He was
days later, they set sail to Israel. bound to earth! I said “I don’t know, we’ll figure it out…” I also

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