Kovno kollel
Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin Salanter (1810-1883) founded it in 1877 at the age of 67. One of the Rosh Kollel (head of the school) was R. Zvi Hirsh Rabinowitz (son of R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor).
By 1877-1878, ten scholars began their full-time studies, following a curriculum which included the study of mussar (character improvement). In 1879, Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, the rabbi of Kovno, became its head. Rabbi Nosson Zvi Finkel served as the mashgiach (spiritual mentor) of the kollel but in 1880 left this position so he could devote himself to establishing more kollelim throughout Eastern Europe.
Kovno kollel's purpose was the furtherance of hora'ah (expertise in deciding matters of Jewish law) and mussar (rabbinics and ethics) - by supporting and guiding exceptional Torah scholars in their development as authorities. The project received the blessings, and eventually the name, of the Kovno Rav and posek hador (the generation's outstanding authority in halachah), Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor. It was joined by such chavrei hakollel (fellows) as Rabbi Naftoli Herz (later Rabbi of Jaffa), Rabbi Naftoli Amsterdam, Rabbi Chaim (Telsher) Rabinowitz, and Rabbi Yitzchok Meltzan, among others. Reb Yitzchak Elchanan's son Zvi Hirsh Rabinowitz accepted the administrative responsibilities, while Rabbi Avrohom Shenker and Rabbi Nosson Zvi Finkel (later known as the "Alter of Slobodka") conducted the internal affairs. Under the latter's guidance, the periodical Eitz Pri was published, featuring essays by both Rabbis Yisrael Lipkin Salanter and Yitzchok Elchanan Spektor - including a foreword by the then lesser-known Reb Yisroel Meir HaKohein (the "Chafetz Chaim).
Until 1877, yeshivot only subsidized students until they got married (at an early age). When the Kollel was established - Rabbi Salanter was attacked by many precisely for this point. He instituted the practice of paying a small salary to married students to continue their adavanced Talmudical studies. He defended this innovation because he said that he was training leaders. His argument was that the need for well-trained communal leaders mandated this drastic action. The justification was that these individuals would eventually serve the community, and it was not that because they sat and learned that they should be supported.
| Table of contents |
|
2 See also |
Some students
- Rabbi Eskolsky
- Rabbi Lechovitz
- Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky
- Rabbi Dovid Leibowitz the nephew of the Chofetz Chaim (Yisrael Meir Kagan).
- Rabbi Yosef Yozel Horowitz ("Alter of Novardok")
