NEW YORK (VINnews) In this video posted by Mishpacha journalist Dovi Safier, Harav Yechiel Perr shlit”a, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva of Far Rockaway, describes how prior to the establishment of Lakewood, all New York yeshivos, even the most serious which were not “college yeshivos”, had students who attended college.
Then Rav Aharon revolutionized Torah learning in America, by establishing a yeshiva that was exclusively dedicated to learning.
Rav Perr says: “There were many European Roshei Yeshiva, and they all agreed that learning is the ikar, and college should be negated, yet all the yeshivos in NY had talmidim going to college, they were not ‘college yeshivos’, they were ‘serious learning yeshivos’ and boys were ‘serious learning boys’.
But the idea of going through life without a source of parnassah was not acceptable to baal habatim, nor I think did the leadership think it was at all possible to change that.
That was the chiddush of the Rosh Yeshiva zt”l [Rav Aharon Kotler], he made a yeshiva that was completely dedicated to learning only…”
