Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on June 15, 2024

In a personal tribute, Daniel Eleff of DansDeals.com recounts the impact Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky had on him and his family, and how, despite being very busy, he took the time to listen.

By Daniel Eleff

Last week, I went to Crown Heights with my mother and grandfather, along with thousands of others topay our final respectsto a great man, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky. He passed away just shy of his 75th birthday in New York.

A visionary, he worked tirelessly for decades to bring theLubavitcher Rebbes vision to fruition. He constantly traveled the globe to support the RebbesShluchim, and was beloved by thousands, who could each write their own book about him. Even in his final years when he battled a lengthy illness, he was still busy with his mission and visited Shluchim andparticipated in regional gatheringsworldwide.

The proof is in the pudding. Under his direction as Shliach of the Rebbe, the global network of Chabad centers has exploded to over 5,000. Its no exaggeration to say that millions of Jews have been able to learn more Torah and do moreMitzvosthanks to his efforts to do everything to bringMoshiach. He personified the type of Chossid that the Rebbe would be proud of. He never settled for what was accomplished but looked at how much more work there was to do.

The fact that G-d didnt feel the world was ready for Moshiach pained him personally. During his final illness, he felt like a reason for getting sick was from negative forces that wished to counter his push for theOneMitzvah campaign.If it was too successful in getting Jews to do more mitzvos, Moshiach would have to come. His final wish was for people to sign up there to share mitzvos, for Bar Mitzvah bochurim to inspire classmates to do more good deeds, and that people should inspire others to do the same.

He was the dedicated organizer and emcee of the annualKinus Hashluchim, which hosts thousands of Shluchim from around the world.His annual roll call of Shluchimbefore a call forspontaneous dancingwas legendary.

And his impact on the world was massive.

The stories about him are no less legendary.

The story ofthe Small Jew in Curaaois a powerful one about the Rebbes vision and devotion toeverysmallJew, and Rabbi Kotlarsky was proud to have served his part. Im happy to have had a tiny part in the postscript to that story, which Ill share below.

Theemotional wedding storyis another incredible one.

My family was no exception and our story is forever linked with Rabbi Kotlarsky as well.

My maternal grandparents, Ted and Vicky Cohn, may they live and be well, were not religious when they first met 23-year-old Rabbi Kotlarsky. Along with my Bubbys siblings, they were introduced to Chabad in Cleveland and went on an annual community trip to Crown Heights for Simchas Torah from 1972 through 1979. My grandparents family was matched up to stay with Rabbi Kotlarsky, who was married to Cleveland native Rivka Kazen. Their family of 5 crammed into Rabbi Kotlarskys 2 bedroom apartment at 888 Montgomery St.

The philosophy of Chabad is that whenever you go somewhere, you arent going there on your own volition. You are being directed by G-d himself to go there to fulfill the purpose of the worlds creation. Its a lesson I drove home when our DansDeals kosher cruise to Antarctica was temporarily diverted to the remote Falkland Islands. There is a purpose to this, so make a brocha, say over some Torah, and lets elevate this corner of the Earth. In the end, the DansDeals reader who won a free cruise in a charity auction wound up printing theTanyathere for the first time.

Those trips were fateful indeed.

Within just a couple of months of their first trip to Rabbi Kotlarskys apartment, they would start keeping kosher and Shabbos. My grandparents attribute their decision to become religious in their 30s to Rabbi Kotlarsky, without which I wouldnt be here today. His warm, down-to-earth approach to Judaism, mixed with a very healthy dose of good humor, sold them on taking the leap of faith.

The first joke he remembers Rabbi Kotlarsky telling him? G-d told Moses to go forth, but he wound up placing fifth and G-d lost two bucks.

With the Rebbes blessings, they wound up going into business and traveled together, with the business cards showing Mo Kotlarsky and Ted Cohn as partners.

In July 1973, my mother was going to fly by herself to Boston and then Camp Emunah as an 11-year-old. The day before her flight,Delta flight 723 crashed attempting to land there, killing 88 passengers. My grandfather called Rabbi Kotlarsky for the Rebbes advice about her flight and medical issues that my grandmother was having at the time.

Rabbi Kotlarsky typed up the note below and the Rebbe responded by circling the word that she was scared, and answering that there was nothing to fear at all. The Rebbe also noted in response to my grandmothers problems, they should keep strictly kosher. Rabbi Kotlarsky said that meant to keep things like Bishul Yisroel, and my grandmother recovered from the issues she was having.

My Aunt in Boston said that it was a stormy day, but suddenly the sky cleared when her plane landed at Logan Airport, before returning to heavy storms afterward.

When Rabbi Kotlarsky started working for the Rebbes office, Rabbi Hodakov told him that he would get a small salary, but that he could collect a commission on funds raised, as is traditional for anyone raising funds. He refused to take a cent from funds raised, feeling that it was wrong to take away money that was intended for the Rebbe or the Shluchim.

In the end, he raised billions of dollars for Chabad and Shluchim worldwide, without taking any commission on those donations. When donors offered to help fix up his house, he refused to accept any help, only taking out another mortgage once he started collecting social security income. While others who raised those kinds of funds would be living quite the lifestyle, he lived modestly and Rabbi Kotlarskys kids used his final paycheck to cover his burial expenses. While he lamented not being able to leave his 9 kids with much, he said that he was leaving them each other.

He always refused to accept any money from my grandfather, only offering to pass it on to the Rebbe. That distressed him, so he went into Lowens Bake Shop and secretly paid off Rabbi Kotlarskys account there.

Rabbi Kotlarsky made a party for one of my uncles Bar Mitzvahs in 1977 in his apartment, and when another uncle wasnt eating, made sure to let him know that if he didnt eat, he would only get 1 dessert. Later that year they moved to 398 Crown St and my mother stayed with the family for the year when she went to Bais Rivkah High School.

He also helped my grandparents family receive several private audiences (yechidus) with the Rebbe, and they have several miraculous stories that came out of that connection with the Rebbe.

My grandfather relates how impressed he was when Rabbi Kotlarsky was held up in Peru at gunpoint and had his tefilin stolen, mistaken for a jewelry bag. Nobody in Peru had a pair ofRabbeinu Tam tefilinat the time, so he rushed to buy and take a flight to another country so that he wouldnt miss a day of wearing them.

My grandparents went with the Kotlarskys oneMotzei Shabboson the Staten Island Ferry (hey, its cheap entertainment!) when a young mans yarmulka blew into the water. Rabbi Kotlarsky didnt hesitate to reach under his hat and give him his yarmulka, despite his wife mentioning to him that he was giving away his favorite and hard-to-find yarmulka.

As a bochur, I had the opportunity to stay at Rabbi Kotlarskys house and shmooze with him many times. I was also roommates with his son Sruli in LAs Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad.

He also made a surprise Bar Mitzvah party for JJ when he came to Crown Heights to receive his first aliya in the Rebbes office. At his house for the Friday night meal when JJ turned 13, he invited JJs camp counselors and friends to celebrate with him.

When my parents were engaged, Rabbi Kotlarsky gave my father insider tips so that he would be able to daven from the Rebbes siddur. The Rebbe also put his hands on my fathers head to give him a brocha, something that Rabbi Kotlarsky mentioned he hadnt seen him do before.

Rabbi Kotlarsky wasMesader Kiddushinat my parents and my own wedding. In subsequent years, he would check in on our marriage, saying he always davened that the people he married off would haveShalom Bayisand stay together.

Rabbi Kazen, Rabbi Kotlarsky, my grandfather, and my father at his Kabalas ponim before his wedding in Beachwood, OH, December 1983:

My parents getting married by Rabbi Kotlarsky, Beachwood, OH, December 1983:

With Rabbi Kotlarsky and my father at my Kabalas ponim in Overland Park, KS, November 2008. My fathers beard had grown just a bit in the 25 years since he got married!

As for the Curaao story, my shul brought outRabbi Shais Taub to farbreng in Cleveland last year, and he spoke about Rabbi Kotlarskys influence on him moving to Five Towns, and then the Rebbes and Rabbi Kotlarskys hand inhis son getting engaged to the granddaughter of the Jew in Curacao.

The story didnt end there.

Rabbi Taub asked if we would also fly a Trumpet player,Mike Bogart, to Cleveland, which I happily agreed to. Mike spoke about recently leaving his band, the Tower of Power, as he was becoming religious and didnt want to perform on Shabbos any longer. He went to the Ohel to daven by the Rebbe, pray for a shidduch, and ask for the strength to leave the band, and received a quick answer when he found a wedding invitation with a trumpet on it. An attendee at the Cleveland farbrengen loved his story and suggested a shidduch for him. It worked out and they got married several months later! At the wedding was a local shliach, whose sister was thekallahfrom the wedding invitation he found when davening at the Oheltrulyhashgocha protis.

As Rabbi Taub explained the Chasidus behind Adam Kadmonin the Hayom Yom for the 16th of Elul, when you do a favor to another, you are doing a favor to all of their progeny until the end of all generations.

People who think like that will never stop working to do a favor for another, and that was how the Rebbe, and his shliach, Rabbi Kotlarsky operated.

After the brutal murder of theHoltzbergs, Shluchim to Mumbai, in the2008 terror attack, Rabbi Kotlarsky urged everyone to take strength and make the world a brighter place with torches of goodness and kindness.

At the end of a dedication in 2019 after the passing of Rebbetzin Kazen, her sons-in-law, Rabbi Kotlarsky andRabbi Shabsi Alpern from Sao Paulofarbrengedand shared stories and life lessons with the community. He shared words of the Rebbe that made him cry, but also gave him strength after the Rebbe passed away in 1994.

Rabbi Kotlarsky often related how its our job to bring Jews closer to Judaism, so that Shabbos doesnt become Saturday or the weekend.

But thanks to him, the opposite happened in my family and countless other families.

Despite being incredibly busy, somehow everyone felt like they were Rabbi Kotlarskys best friend. My grandfather spoke with him every few weeks for decades, until recently when it became too difficult for him to talk on the phone.

Rabbi Kotlarsky exemplified what it means to love and care about his fellow Jews and we can all take a lesson from that.

Want to participate in his legacy?

He founded OneMitzvah 2 years ago.You can enroll here to do a mitzvah for his 75th Birthday.

And you candonate to keep his legacy going.

It was heartwarming to see so many thousands participate in paying their final respects.

ButC.D.S.G.(Chasidim dont say goodbye). We know that well see each other again very soon.

Baruch Dayan Haemes, may the neshama of Moshe Yehuda ben Tzvi Yosef have an aliya and storm the heavens to bring Moshiach now.

More:

'Everyone Felt Like They Were Rabbi Kotlarsky's Best Friend' - Anash.org - Good News

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