Rav Reuven Grozovsky, son in law and confidante of Rav Baruch Ber of Kamenitz, delivered the main s hiur. The staff he selected reflected his own breadth, his vision for the talmidim of this high-level institution. He purchased an estate in idyllic Monsey, far from the distractions and noise of the city, for this purpose. KELM IN ROCKLAND COUNTYĪfter Reb Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz’s Torah Vodaath succeeded in producing the bnei Torah that would give America its first generation of balabatim, the visionary menahel perceived the need for a higher level yeshivah, where the elite talmidim could continue on and give America maggidei shiur, dayanim, and rabbanim. His story, largely untold, is the coming-of-age tale of the American Torah world. Reb Shmelka Taubenfeld didn’t head a prestigious yeshivah or author best-selling seforim, but it was he who gave the entire chaburah its pride and prestige. If you slip through the trees of Main Street, between the rustling leaves of Elyon Court, you can still see the old building, the rocks upon which Reb Shraga Feivel sat, talmidim at his feet, and shared mysteries of creation, the humble bungalows from which the first generation of kollel couples in America taught those that would yet come what the lifestyle demands.Īnd with a bit of imagination you might discern the impression left by a unique figure, humble in stature, carriage, and title while towering in genius and kindness. The penetrating self-awareness of Reb Yerucham’s mussar fused with the crackling warmth of Reb Shraga Feivel’s chassidus there was room for everything in the display case that was the humble beis medrash of Beth Medrash Elyon, breeding ground of gedolim. And like a gleaming display case in an epicurean heaven, it featured all sorts of scholars: some proficient in all of Shas, others capable of hairsplitting analysis. Food was fairly limited - fresh baked goods imported from Brooklyn - but the tiny settlement boasted an assortment of unique gaonim. Back then, it also featured diversity, breadth, and range, an incredible assortment of options, though not of the edible sort. Sixty years ago, this very intersection was already a capital. You can turn right, left, or go straight in Monsey, a capital of contemporary heimeshe gastronomy. Walk up Monsey’s Route 306 where it intersects with Route 59 and savor the options: sushi or prime cuts of meat, upscale cafés or ice cream in a dazzling array of flavors.
But the people he touched, while relatively few, will forever carry his memory. Rav Shmuel Shmelka Taubenfeld was a different kind of gadol: He lived in relative isolation, far from the public eye, and his only pursuit was Torah - more and more learning.
We grace our walls with images of gedolim, men who shaped future leaders, wrote famous tomes, inspired and taught the masses. Reb Shmelka Taubenfeld didn’t head a prestigious yeshivah or author best-selling seforim, but it was he who gave the entire chaburah its pride and prestige
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