It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of the Novominsker Rebbe, Hagaon Rav Yaakov Perlow zt”l. He was 89.
It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of the Novominsker Rebbe, Hagaon Rav Yaakov Perlow zt”l. He was 89.
The rebbe served as rosh Agudas Yisroel of America, a position he held since 1998. He was also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel of America
The rebbe was born in Brooklyn, New York, a son of Rav Nochum Mordechai Perlow, the Novominsker Rebbe, and Rebbetzin Beila Rochma, née Morgenstern. The rebbe was named after his great-grandfather, Rav Yaakov Perlow, the first Novominsker Rebbe. His maternal zaide was Rav Yitzchok Zelig Morgenstern, the Sokolover Rebbe, a direct descendant of Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk and one of the main founders of Agudas Yisroel in Poland.
The rebbe’s father, Rav Nochum Mordechai, was niftar in 1976.
In his formative years, the rebbe learned at Yeshiva Toras Chaim in East New York and then joined Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, where he learned under the rosh yeshiva, Rav Yitzchok Hutner zt”l. He later joined Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey.
The rebbe married his wife, Rebbetzin Yehudis a”h, who was a daughter of Rav Avrohom Eichenstein zt”l, Ziditchover Rebbe of Chicago, and Rebbetzin Eichenstein, a daughter of Rav Pinchos Shalom Rottenberg zt”l of Kosson.
The rebbe was recognized as an outstanding talmid chochom, masmid and lamdan.
The rebbe began his career of harbotzas Torah as a rebbi at Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois. From there, he was appointed rosh yeshiva at Breuer’s Yeshiva, Yeshiva Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch, in Washington Heights and he established a Novominsker Bais Medrash.
In 1981, the rebbe left Breuer’s to establish and devote himself to his own yeshiva, Yeshivas Novominsk Kol Yehuda, in Boro Park.
In December 1998, the rebbe was named as rosh Agudas Yisroel seven months after the petirah of Rabbi Moshe Sherer zt”l. in this role, the rebbe served as a fearless leader for American Torah Jewry, guiding the Agudah and the olam haTorah with sagacity, strength and courage.
The rebbe was a powerful orator, whose drashos and speeches over the decades articulated the daas Torah of the time.
The rebbe was a brilliant individual, whose knowledge was utilized for the betterment of Klal Yisroel on numerous occasions. The rebbe courageously fought off intrusions into the Orthodox community, calling out false ideologies in drashos and in writings.
The rebbe’s depth of lamdus and the breadth of his bekius are seen in his monumental seforim, titled Adas Yaakov, on Shas. The seforim are masterpieces of clarity and amkus, a reflection of the rebbe’s wide-ranging yedios haTorah and koach hachiddush.
With the passing of the rebbe, Klal Yisroel has lose one of its guiding lights, a determined and influential manhig, mashpia and leader who will be sorely missed.
Yehi zichro boruch.
{Matzav.com Newscenter}