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Rav Ahar ron Kotle er Rav Aharo Kotler w born born in Svisla on was ach, Belarus As s. a child he was known as the Sv n vislovitzer Il lui, He stu udied in the Slab bodka yeshi in Lithu iva uania under the "Alter of r r Slabodka" Rav Nosson Tzvi Fin ", nkel, and Ra abbi Moshe e Mordecha Epstein. A ai After learni there, h joined his ing he s father-in-l law, a gado named Ra ol abbi Isser Z Zalman Mel ltzer, to run the yeshiva of Slutsk which later mo oved to Klet tzk. on ed e o Rav Aharo was save from the Nazis and brought to the United States in 1941. He told a group F myself, I wouldnt h S d For have come. I have com . me only to help save, with your as h w ssistance, American Yi A idden, the c centuries-old Torah centers of Europe. o When he arrived in the United States, pe e n d eople said h should no waste his time he ot s rebuildin the Yesh ng hivos from Europe tha had been destroyed b the Nazi People said E at by is. America men wan an nted to go to college an did not w o nd want to lear Torah Li rn ishmah, Torah for its ow sake. Ra Aharon did not liste to the na wn av d en aysayers!. H decided that he wou He uld plant To orah in Ame erica. He ch hose Lakew wood, New J Jersey, as th site for h new Yes he his shiva in Amer rica, because it was so far from Ne York Cit and its distractions. The talmid ew ty . dim would be able to co oncentrate on learning without do o g oing other t things. The Yesh hiva began with only three studen By the time Rav A t nts. Aharon pass away, th sed here were hundreds of talmidim, an they wer beginnin to have a major imp nd re ng pact on Torah on ica. 7, iva 00 im hurim in th he educatio in Ameri In 2007 the yeshi had 5,00 avreichi and boch beis med drash and kollel. Lakewood had grown to ab k g bout 100 sh huls and ove 50 schoo er ols! Using Time T One of Rav Aharon maxims was One should imag R ns w gine that his entire spi iritual stand ding is literal depende on how he utilizes the present moment, f the time that come lly ent h t t for e es afterwar is a com rds mpletely diff ferent entit Rav Aha ty. aron had to spend a lo of time o ot collectin money fo Lakewoo Yeshiva. This was ve difficult for him be ng or od ery t ecause he would have preferr to learn Torah instead. Studen would d red nts drive him ar round to co ollect tzedakah from busi h inessmen. While they were drivin he talke divrei To W ng, ed orah the ent tire time.

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Gratitude to People Rav Shlomo Brevda was on a bus with Rav Aharon Kotler and his wife travelling from Lakewood to New York. Rav Brevda tried to ask Rav Aharon a question and got a one word answer. He asked another question and again got a one word answer. Rav Brevda hadnt realized that Rav Aharon was on his way to New York for surgery and was in a lot of pain. When the bus came to New York, Rav Brevda took Rav Aharons bags to a taxi. He walked away to take a subway home. Suddenly, he heard a man shouting, Hey, that man wants to talk to you! Rav Aharon was running after him to tell him THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! for helping him with his bags! Gratitude to Hashem Rav Aharon would often say that we owe Hashem so much thanks because he dragged us out of the mud, and gave us such a Torah! He would explain that we not only owe people thanks for things we get, but also for what we are able to accomplish spiritually. Hashem made the world to do good for us. All this good comes through the Torah. Rav Aharon would say that a lifetime would not be enough to thank Hashem for letting us learn Torah. Middos Once when a talmid was driving him around to collect tzedakah for Lakewood Yeshiva he asked the talmid to drive him back home. The Talmid thought that Rav Aharon had forgotten something at home. He found out later that Rav Aharon had returned home to say good by to his wife as he had forgotten to say good bye in his rush to leave. He cared about her feelings!
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Something to Think About: Hakaras Hatov, showing appreciation is such an important mitzvah. Have you ever gone out of your way to show appreciation to someone who did a special kindness for you?