R' Yechiel Perr - R' Ahron Kotler 60th Yahrtzeit

tomorrow will be a 60 years since Lego receiver barncut was nifter I think that uh Robinson Cutler put it best when she put it best when she referred to it I heard her many times she called it the day of the human I don't think that any of you can possibly appreciate what America was like 70 80 years ago when and therefore what kind of impact with unbelievable impact the receiver had what his accomplishment was I went to a local Yeshiva and fortunately my father took me out I think sixth grade seventh grade eighth grade he learned with me privately at home the other kids in Yeshiva daddy issue curriculum of all the kids in my class I don't remember how big a class it was it was probably 15 16 kids so welcome to my class [Music] two beside myself for me Sharma shamas and that I don't think was unusual for America what was the German Shabbos to a degree because he was a conservative rabbi and the other one I was about to shoot guy probably 20 years ago I got a phone call from somebody Barry Levine who wanted to renewal contact with me we had both been to elementary school together and it had been a buddy of mine and he called me up out of the blue and I had a conversation with him and he had and he mentions that he has three children and they all married glam he said it with regret I have to say but safe was safe I think that was pretty pretty typical of what was going on fortunately as I said my father took me out I went there only for English where I had my buddies but she was a private affair with my father my father first took me to Cedar of Shiva when I was maybe nine years old and I remember to visit because of Schneider tested me I'm a safe operations I remember snare very well for his beard and he told her Sheila did very well the second business is what I remember even more clearly the second visit was around when I was probably a 13 or so graduating all the kids in my class not all but almost all because my class were receiving graduation rings the parents bought them golden rings uh the Sheba also was offering a ring uh that they offered or I don't remember what kind of ring it was but uh it was expensive my parents didn't have a lot of money although we never felt poor I have to tell you and I never expected to have a ring it was just not what's going to happen I didn't miss it I didn't mourn it but I know I wasn't going to have one but my father had an aunt she was his mother's sister who lived in New York and she had three daughters and the three daughters are very close with each other and close with my father their first cousins and one day they showed up and he brought me a gold ring I couldn't believe it I have a gold ring I didn't expect such a thing throw me a gold ring for my graduation maybe I had to remember graduation on Bar Mitzvah they brought me a gold ring and I had a gold ring I put him on it was unbelievable I took care of it because you weren't careful when they put it away and Shiva and my father took me on one of the other one of the next visits he took me to see the receiver and of course going to see her as she like you will you don't go just you know you dress up a little bit and I put on my gold ring very proudly and on the way back we're sitting on the subway I remember very clearly this part my father said to me you know or she would have said you shouldn't wear a ring I said to my father was the reason my father said it was rasheba said so that's reason enough and I took off the ring I put it in my back right packet never put it on again I didn't understand I've seen no clue what was it about why no ring but it left a mark in me that began a deep understanding or the word bentura without realizing without even understanding what it was about gradually it was the Cornerstone of a collection of other pieces of information that finally added up to the idea of a bentura bent area didn't wear rings the tour dressed differently than other people not not major difference even we're a clown suit or something but he dressed in a different way so that it was detectable that he was a that he was different how many blades are were there in New York a handful remember when I was about 15 maybe 15 and a half Daven for the first time in Anaheim Berlin issue where I was going to and I think we should write down there I didn't done what I had nobody my age were ahead 15 year olds and one of the older Boston came over and he told me Toshiba said you should wear a hat the next time I was there was Yom Kipper and I wore a hat really shimata hat that I found at home awful but it was a hat and the receivers I guess it was the gamma came over to me on your Kipper and gave me galila I wanted to swarm and I knew that of course it was her Sheba had told me to do so as a reward for wearing a hat so I don't understand what Yiddish guy was like at that time he should have done any distributed in the magazine called olomena which I think is still being published by an organization called Sarah masora he'll tell from the name Torah masora that this is going to be a different kind of organization than the various different groups that were running education in America such as the jec Jewish Education committee let's change your name later on to the board of Jewish Education they were overseeing you know Jewish children in America this was different it was Torah and Messiah which were both Sarah and the Sarah the way Torah was what was the urban siren they published a magazine that's the most of what I know about them and I couldn't wait to get it because there was a comic on the back the page a Jewish comic not Superman like we'll look as we're reading but a Jewish comic and the comic was called Dave and his magic staff Dave in the first panel of the comic there's a picture of Dave in a beanie if you know what that was mostly kids did not wear yamuk is because they're afraid to be beaten up by the Glam I'd rather worry I'm okay but the kids were beanies so the battle begins by saying they was a regular Yeshiva guy and as they go off he went to Coney Island but what a regularly God does on his day off he's going to go on the island and that's a regular Yeshiva guy here's a picture of Dave walking down the street and Coney Island in the next panel he sees a strange person standing in front of a store and he calls him in but it turns out that this person is [Music] going to give him the staff that mushroom used to make the Miracles when he came out of his rhyme just giving that to Dave the regular Yeshiva boy I mean it's portion playing pushing this I don't know I don't want to call that the courses but it is so awful so awful and Mother's Day once the first he wants to throw away the staff this old stick who needs it but then while he's holding it he sees a woman an old woman about to be hit by a car and he says I wish I could save her and all of a sudden he flies and he saves it from the car sacrilege that was Torah and misora that was torahamasour in those days that was Torah and Missouri in those days the Missouri was that all your Navi gave him the Mata mushroom that's the Messiah that it was a mate that was the Messiah you understand I'm trying to explain something what kind of American it was The Firm guy was just to be I said themselves for from Guides there was no limit attire me do a couple of old Jews who still went to show and learned bishnais maybe after the diving because they were retired there was no use no one showed up after his bar mitzvah's shoe again you might know one you were bar mitzvahed and it was over I remember that uh I used to work with bar mitzvah boys and it was my father made by Mrs on Sunday the reason he made him on Sunday was because people shouldn't be my house Shabbos with them and brought the cars at the shoe on Shabbos it was just too much to bear she made Sunday bar mitzvahs Sunday bar mitzvah's like his older brother and the other brothers came they were told you have to we're going to wear to film him remember you were given film for your bar mitzvah so a kid comes it's filmed I just couldn't resist doing this to him foreign two or three years before I tell by the way I wrapped it she said okay put them on and he opened up the loop and he put it on his head and he kept sliding down because it's loose in the back he's not a real knot there's no nuts and I had no rahmanasana said okay now put on the show rice you took out the shoulders and he looked at us with two straps can be done here I had no clue what to do with it they had Rahman as they took off I took off the show yard for over one that was hanging over one ear and you know halfway down the side on the other one and I took it off and I started all over with him I said give me some nuts I may have asked him to put on his film every day and he probably said yes quite a miracle never into this atmosphere came a man from Europe who escaped for this life who refused to compromise on the standards of tyraniteshkite who didn't speak English we spoke here this was some people understood but it was a heavy European Yiddish not like an American America yet it should have shot you say a word and you stick the word on the end like let's say you want to say his choices and Ms Dicky that's not Yiddish you just say as Emerson but garnished and this is the kid that's what you figured how you speak English there's a lot of American words with the word dick on it and here is again foreign how'd he do it it's horrible impossible how he did it how did he do it he did it first of all like about him and a belief in the power of Terror he believed with her can accomplish he believed in it he really believed that Terror would do it he said she were that were above the heads of most of people who are listening to them most of the book of course above the heads well a guy came to the Lakewood in my time he didn't stay long he said he can't understand the share I don't blame him it was hard to follow this year so I said that his body was a younger book I said to him why don't you just look into a shiva's face he did that he told me afterwards he got a very big Aliyah from his face when asked her Shyla and then under that Shiloh he would ask a new Shyla and he would go and work on that child from all of her shots then he has another child and it would work on that Shiloh from all over Shahs and then he would connect the two of them to do Jerusalem that he gave and he answered the first question that he started off with and at that point when he connected it s face shown with such a good valid delight and such there was such an impact on it be on us if we didn't understand look at the office attire and look at the YIFY of the mench who's teaching and learning to her of course you have to know that the people who were in Lakewood have been my time but myself is the only exception I would say maybe it was another one they were there against their parents will and they if Lakeland was in New York who had never succeeded because the parents would have tortured the kids but it was out of town so they were away for a while and could breathe against the parents will being there I was visited by a friend of mine I haven't seen him many years you heard that I wasn't well before Shoshone fell down the steps he came to visit me and uh I know him I know him very well I know him very well I knew his family very well I knew the father and the mother I think I met to it I remember the mother but I remember the father and I normally Sayed about this you know and I'm sure actually because he did diamond follow me in and this young man who came to visit me I said a young man is already a grandfather too so he told me something that summarizes the situation at that time so clearly better than any description I can give you I'm going to tell you what he said he said my parents were shamed to say that I was in Lakewood they were ashamed can you believe that other people will be talking oh my son is going for a bachelor's degree you want to say oh well my son's already in law school and we say oh my son's an accountant probably he's never an accounting they were ashamed to say my son this is Lakewood that that explains the situation I remember when I came to Lakewood there may be 65 people in Yeshiva and a few younger light a handful remember bronze levada was already about 100 bohem and Yeshiva 104 I think precisely and a couple more younger like married I was already married then too Kaminski spoke about Edward Barnes levia and he said I think that if we make this Shiva a little smaller it may survive if we make this sheep a little smaller it may survive has any of you been in Lakewood recently what happened was it it wasn't made a little smaller by any means and Yeshiva what was the Yeshiva I have to tell you that I remember there was a headline on the Lakewood paper there's a newspaper aggression paper Rabbi School dirtiest in County that was the headline on the front page the rabbi school was the dirtiest place in the dirtiest School in the county and it was I'm sorry to say it was how did this happen well as I said earlier the first thing was beta had another receiver had been talking first of all I think he had to have the talking to do what he did but beside that I happen to be one of a group of three people who probably and said to him we'd like to learn with him privately not during this dorm but any subject he chooses will go along with any subject but we like the northern privately he said fine we'll learn Thursday night 11 o'clock whatever late at night and he chose the subject and somebody was a subject he taught us he wants us to understand it so it was all stories I wrote down the story of stories about representative salanta and others and he picked that in the stomach because that is the aside of everything you have to trust the Buddhism is going to help you trusted the running slow on a job that could not be done and he did it I like to tell the story that I think is to me a very formative one and I know many of you have heard already before and I'm going to repeat it because I think you have to hear us throughout this many times I don't know if you can understand it from hearing a story without experience the story I don't know if you'll understand I was hearing it one time or ten times the only guys in Lakewood which I was one put together to learn how we learned then a small island but we put together humble to learn if I remember correctly it was Marcus it was an older talmud there among us who had learned already Marcus and uh he was going to be very shaburra because you know the masakta and we took over a corner of the basement and we kicked out a couple of younger kids you know come on that's our place whatever like you're supposed to when you're older and uh we made a we said I would have roses and even we arranged who's going to sit in this place in the corner is going to sit that place in the corner it's very well done and I had a good clever percentage to tell you and I sat down and we began learning and I feel a tap on this shoulder because that was the shoulder next to the aisle and the guys are saying to ushiva wants to see you in this office now I heard she didn't have any offers I'll tell you the truth it was like a room that was separate from the rest of the place but that's called the office there was a telephone in it probably made an awful side of it telephone was on the wall and of course the well-known number of the Yeshiva was one two three three that was the whole number there's no dial on the phones either picked up the phone and operator said yes he told him number he wanted to cool anyway and went into the office she spoke very rapidly needs only then they just received the permission from the vital era of Saint Louis to let money there for two to collect money for two weeks in the community and then I will be going together with so and so and he he's going to give me a list of plays people that have potentials than they have given before and that the Rangers will be made for this and this and this and I couldn't even open my mouth that was so slender struck and I woke back I must have must have looked I must have had a white face when I came back I came in there and I said well the receiver wants I said he's sending me to St Louis to raise money and it was a big response of what don't go one guy said to me say no to him he had the guts you know say no to him say hello another guy said to me why should you go you're not you're not the coil don't get a check here but he eat a potato for supper for that you have to go to St Louis we don't want well I knew it wasn't worth much but when she was going back a segment time to give me a list of people to go to so I said to her she or she should forgive me and yet it's my best status I could but just my own sake I'd really like to understand why I'm okay to do this after all and I packed in I'm not incredible and I eat a potato for supper and you know I got that within a second and a half I managed to got that in because I thought it might be good Arguments for him and Rashida said to me do you know why you have to go I said why am I much why am I to do this he says you know why because you can to me that was a formative I went there for two weeks to St Louis and I learned how to ask people for money which helped over here quite a bit I found out you don't have a heart attack when you do it and that they don't have a hard time but the most important thing I found out was that if you can do something you believe to do it if you can bring Torah to America you're mostly to bring to her to America if you can stop in from being my final Shabbos and saving a Jew for going off the diary I mean we can't be my garbage you have you know we are making our whatever you can do you're mostly to do what makes him where does it say that it says it that you can therefore you must and that was with rashiva's oh I would say I would suspect that that was beneath everything that he did because he was the head of Terminator he was the head of the aguda he was ahead of me was that Buddhists are born and he was involved in that's he was the head of our soul and he was the same time running the Lakewood Yeshiva and there was nothing he couldn't do I remember she had a broken collarbone and he was in bed by Marcia Golding where she goalings parents had been very wealthy emotion didn't have the money I know what happened to whether he lost it or they lost it his mother was the famous Dora Golding after whom there's a camp the mountains named came to Oregon they would the old line oh my from Vietnam New York she gave myself when the mission bureaus and Magic Golding noon that is he wants to stay in this apartment although he didn't have the resources the money to live in an apartment like that very big apartment up in Manhattan but it was to him that part was the Holy place because his mother had been there his parents had been there he wants us he kept the apartment and had many rooms rashiba was sick and he was there in Marsha gold in his apartment and he had a broken it's a long story but he had a broken collarbone and he was propped up on pillows and I was putting film on him it's very hard to put on Thrones if you're not if you're leaning back and for him to move his body was terribly painful in any direction that he had to move it because of the collarbone he could do nothing for calabone except suffer and wait for it to heal so it was a very painful operation getting that show Rush on him but he moved his head forward as much as possible and we finally got the show Rush on him and then we lowered the straps on both sides down in front of him on the bed on top of the young man on top of the blanket and I saw her Sheba stroking the straps in that just for a minute he lay there and he just stroked the straps I just throw something a favorite thing he screw up the straps I was very touched by it his Abus and by the way Martian Golding American Guy I learned something from him foreign in those days we didn't Wear Ties something like our days the only people wore ties were the European Yeshiva lied to wear still a few left in the yeshivas there were ties the Americana guys didn't wear any times she was wart's eyes who wore a time it's a pain he said if I'd go into open account in a bank would would we were a time when I go into the bank I'm going to speak to the British line I have to put on a tie also that was emotional as good children I I was asked once by a old time of the receives what we used to go on a lake with the kletzkers he said to me do you think that there she would have ever imagined that Lake would it be like this before I didn't he didn't ask me that because he wanted me to answer because he wanted to answer himself before I even got the word out of my mouth he said never he could never have imagined it would be like this never well when he said this to me was probably something like 15 20 years ago and since then it's become probably double a triple what it was but I think that the rashiva what happened to the rashiva with Lakewood it's the same thing or she used to tell us about learning she used to tell us the biggest mistake about learning is that you think well I've learned to fly blood I learned 10 black okay if I until the end of his mind I'll learn another few blocks and next year we're in another 10 blots 20 blocks he says that's a mistake he said what happens is you're you're measuring the wrong way turret information snow he doesn't say the word snowballs but I'm using that for my own expression it just grows far beyond your expectation grows beyond your expectation it's not just piece by piece you know and tomorrow's more tomorrow is a much more and they have that has much much more you want to encourage us you should know that you're going to grow and be you're going to be great people well the same thing happened to him and I said the same thing happened to Lakewood he thought of a handful of people he's a lot of I think with 13th I'll meet him in the original originally and the same thing happened to Legoland but it's not just like what I have to tell you it's I think we have to we're minimizing him if we just talk about Michael foreign a couple of guys who went to learn by the brisket roof later on by Roberto two or three a four went to learn in brisk I was just real whoever heard of such a thing called territorial to learn I've ever heard of that it was I'm crazy and to go learn episode brisk what are you going to press play of all places brisk today has a tremendous Island and there are briskier Yeshiva said broke away from brisk and there have themselves tremendous oil my brother-in-law and Adam is American my brother-in-law from told me that when they needed he would stand by the door and yeah and get people to come in so make a minion in the marijuana there wouldn't be no Minion from there wasn't a minion this year she had told comment by the door to the street mirishima is today one of the major largest forces in Earth's Israel American boys did that where did this come from these American boys why did they come there through all the results of Lakewood and it's all the same creates abrahimovic she was sprang up from Lakewood they were and that bill there is Cicero that built near of course cover was by itself but that built near the brisk it changed the whole attitude nervous Israel about learning when the government had first allowed yeshiba broken to excuse from the draft 70 years ago they would just talk about a few kids a few guys now there's thousands Paris Israel is the receiver used to say imagine this list of Rashi every time you took it Rashi and he teaches you something look at this horse that goes to Rashi for you learning a little piece of Rashi imagine imagine this course imagine this close of their shoes that sound this is what happens in uh 60 years tomorrow would be 60 years imagine was going to be in a hundred years in 200 years the only revolution in the whole world to be revolution the whole world from and it was really I can't say he did everything but he inspired everything many picked up the burden having seen what he'd done what he's done he picked up the bird net and went along he made an apostle for others to do a similar things that he did and his sheer willpower and his patience and knowing there was something that he could do you have to do what you can and a father I was saying I think that's something we should take away from his life that everybody has to do what they can of course you have to know this you can do a lot more than you want to think about but you can you have to be honest with yourself you can't do more you can learn more you can teach more you can do more there's enough energy and talent in this room to change the whole world without question more than enough but you have to do what you can and it'll be as close for him continues because men's schools and of his face was shining when he put together the final points of a sheer and made it all work to imagine how his face is shining when they see his lifetime work come together and click together in the next world little lights are shining from him the United squares are high