Rav Nota Schiller זצ"ל
Rosh Yeshivas Ohr Somayach
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Bsuros Tovos - Rabbi Zev Kaufman - Yeshivas Ohr Somayach
From the Brooklyn streets of Brownsville and East Flatbush in the 1940’s, a 10 year old public school boy immersed in stickball,
basketball and with dreams of becoming a shortstop for his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, enters a fledgling yeshiva katana eager for new students.
While his generation is leaving Orthodoxy in droves, his loving rebbeim ignite a spark within him that grows in intensity as he progresses in his learning
at Yeshivas Chaim Berlin, under the tutelage of HaRav Hutner and in Ner Yisroel Yeshiva under his rebbe, Rav Yaacov Weinberg.
After his marriage, the young Rabbi Nota Schiller, moves to Eretz Yisroel to continue his learning in Rav Mordechai Elefant’s Itri Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
After a “chance” meeting with two secular, very bright young brothers (one a student at Harvard the other at Columbia), who are in Israel for a year on a
secular Zionist study program, he and his chavrusah, Rabbi Noach Weinberg, make a decision that will change the Jewish World.
They’ll start a yeshiva for
young Jewish men with limited or no background in traditional Jewish learning.
Despite a promising start and the strong encouragement of the Poseik Hador,
Rav Yosef Elyashiv, they suffer a number of financial setbacks from a skeptical Orthodox Jewish World, which has almost given up hope of a revival of
Halachic Jewry and they’re forced to close.
But, after a few years of indefatigable fundraising efforts, they manage to convince a few visionary
philanthropists to share their dream and initially fund their enterprise.
With just a handful of eager students and a passionate and stellar rabbinic staff
they launch what will become the forefather of the Baal Teshuvah Movement that will sweep the Jewish World and change it forever.
The Ohr Somayach Podcast
featuring some of the most experienced personalities in Jewish outreach today, from Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem.
HaRav Nota Schiller zt"l - Divrei Zicharon
by Harav Yitzchak Breitowitz
Rav of Kehilas Ohr Somayach
Rav Nota z"l felt very strongly that we should not refer to secular literature and sources within the hallowed walls of the beis midrash. As such, when I had the sad kavod of being maspid him, I honored his request. Nevertheless, I have to admit that in thinking about this great and unusual man, two secular references came into my head.
The first was James Fennimore Cooper's, “The Last of the Mohicans.” Rav Nota was the last survivor of a heroic, courageous group of visionaries who saw hope when others saw despair, who saw light where others saw darkness, who actually believed that it would be possible to bring unaffiliated Jews back to G-d through undiluted, uncompromising limud haTorah mixed with profound love and respect.
Read MoreHESPED
by Rabbi Shlomo Wiener
Dean – Yeshivas Ohr Somayach
Harav Nota Schiller z"tz'l was not just a Rebbe for his Talmidim, but rather he was really a father to his Talmidim. Torah Jews have both a biological father and also a spiritual father. Since most of Rav Schiller's many Talmidim had no Jewish education or mesorah from their secular families, he was their spiritual father. He taught them to revere Torah and Mitzvos, and how to approach life.
Rav Schiller z"tz'l didn't just believe that a Baal Teshuva should be a person who is observant, i.e. keeping Shabbos, Kashrus, and putting on Tefillin. He wanted his Talmidim to be "regular" frum Jews that can fit in seamlessly into a frum community. His desire was that wherever his Talmidim end up living they are regular "card carrying" members of their respective Frum communities. Whether they live in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Passaic, Edison, Toronto, Chicago, London, Johannesburg or Melbourne they should be indistinguishable from their contemporaries who were raised observant. They should not have "Baal Teshuva" painted across their foreheads.
Read MoreA Blessed Trio
There are thousands of talmidim, tens of rebbeim, and probably millions around the world who were influenced by Harav Nota Schiller, zatzal.
But there were only three members of his inner circle – the ones he called his “Mezuman.” Like the three required for birchas hamazon over a
‘kos’, these men enjoyed special blessing. They merited to serve the Rosh Yeshiva, and to become his partners in his life’s work.
Danny Lemberg, Yaakov Kaplan and George Karasik share their memories of being part of this special trio.
Reflections of… Mr. Danny Lemberg
To be Continued
Reb Danny Lemberg had always been impressed by Harav Schiller – but there was one incident that stands out as the start of his unique relationship with the Rosh Yeshiva.
There was a student whose parents were convinced that their son had gotten caught up in a cult. The boy’s father was a prestigious board member of one of the best law schools in the country – and one day, he came to take his son home. Eager to show his father what had so impressed him, the student introduced his father to his rabbi.
The meeting was a bomb. The rabbi had a strong black-and-white personality – completely the opposite of Harav Schiller’s style – and the father was incensed.
The incident caused a major brouhaha.
Read MoreReflections of... Mr. Yaakov Kaplan
"If it’s impossible – let’s do it!"
Yaakov Kaplan knows a thing or two about bridges. Grandson and protégé of the famous bridge builder and philanthropist Joseph Tanenbaum, he considers Rav Schiller zatzal – and Ohr Somayach – the bridge that connects him to his Torah heritage. At the root of that connection is the incredible relationship between Rav Schiller and Mr. Tanenbaum.
The relationship was fundamental to Ohr Somayach’s success – because Mr. Tanenbaum was a founding funder of the yeshiva.
Mr. Tanenbaum was known for taking on the impossible.
Read MoreReflections of... Mr. George Karasick
Torah Above All
The first time Mr. Karasick met Harav Schiller zt”l, was on a Mentors Mission, in 2010. Mr. Karasick had been a bit unsure about the trip – but like many who make the trip, he was hooked from the start.
“I became friends with Danny Lemberg and Yaakov Kaplan, and they asked me to join the board,” he says. “A few years later, Rav Schiller asked me to be part of his “Mezuman” – it was his term – with Yaakov and Danny. Of course, I accepted. You didn’t say ‘no’ to Rav Schiller.” The three were balebatim he could confide in and talk to.
Read MoreTouching All the Bases
Memories of the Rosh Yeshiva
By: Harry Rothenberg, Esq.
“Larger than life?" Check.
"Lived life to the fullest?" Check.
But glittering generalities can't begin to encapsulate the effect that the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Nota zt”l, had on his students, family members, and klal Yisroel. There were so many touch points to grab the attention of anyone fortunate enough to spend time in his orbit. The talmid chochom’s divrei Torah. The towering intellect. The mastery of public speaking. The dazzling vocabulary. The raconteur's stories. The writer/poet's turn of phrase. The world-class fundraiser. The m'kareiv par excellence. The loving husband. The doting father. The true fan's love of baseball.
Baseball? How does that even make the list?
Read MoreReflections
By: Rabbi Shlomo SimonFinancial Director of Ohr Somayach and a close Talmid
I well remember the first time I met Rabbi Schiller, z’l. I had recently come to the yeshiva from Cleveland, Ohio, after an early retirement from my law firm. As a board member who was very close to the Telshe Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Mordechai Gifter, z’l, I sought his advice about making aliyah, and where to learn in Eretz Yisroel. Without hesitation, he recommended Ohr Somayach.
“Ohr Somayach is the only baal teshuvah yeshiva that’s a real yeshiva,” he said. I was lacking a background in learning, so it was the place for me.
Read MoreDreaming While Awake: The Quintessential Visionary
The Rosh Yeshiva, Harav Hagaon Reb Noson Nota Schiller זצוק״ל
By: Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak GreenblattRabbi, Senior Lecturer at Ohr Somayach and close talmid
Reb Nota often cited the “Fallacy of Misplaced Concreteness”, Alfred North Whitehead’s pithy phrase for the
human urge to ascribe physical permanence to an abstract or spiritual concept.
Mitzvos, Reb Nota would say, are as a rule, physical acts which encapsulate and represent spiritual ideas. As such, he would continue,
with the kind yet piercing stare of a man who had predigested vast swathes of Torah, literature and philosophy; and was seized with the
urgency of communicating his understanding with precision; mitzvos are by definition acts of creativity.
The misuse of our desire for concreteness is to assign independent existence or inherent sanctity to an object – avoda zara.
Ironically, Reb Nota himself became, for me, the paragon of permanence. Whenever I needed to speak about anything, he was in his office, surrounded by seforim, scotch and sports memorabilia. He bore the tremendous responsibility for Ohr Somayach’s funding with a grace and equanimity which bespoke a firm belief in the Divine imperative of his cause – yet was still able to be a rebbe, listening patiently, giving advice, and sharing thoughts.
Read More"He Believed in Us"
A thought about Harav Schiller, zatzal
By: Rabbi Chaim GrossRabbi and Lecturer, Ohr Somayach Center Program
Several years ago, my wife and I were finishing a meeting with a certain rabbi in Yerushalayim. The meeting was about a business-related matter, but I took the opportunity to ask him how he had managed to bring up such upstanding and outstanding children, many of whom are known for their Torah teaching and leadership.
“You must have some kind of secret to share with us. No one’s children turn out like that without real thought, method and application”.
I was essentially asking him what it takes to be a good, effective father. That’s an appropriate topic to consider as we at Ohr Somayach mourn the loss of the founding father of our yeshiva, Rav Nota Schiller zatzal.
Read MoreRav Nota Schiller: The Great Innovator
By: Rabbi Zevi KaufmanRabbi, Ohr Somayach J101 Program
Rav Nota zt”l was unique. I first heard him speak as a bachur, when I joined my father on one of the famous Mentors Missions, where baalei batim come to learn Torah with beginning college students. I was blown away.
The way he spoke with such conviction and tenacity. His rigorous belief in the truth, power and ultimate relevance of Torah. His mastery of language. His power of metaphor. His message: unapologetic and infectious. I knew then that one day, this would be a mission I would align myself with.
Read More