This past erev Shabbos, parshas Toldos (4 Kislev)
thousands of America's chareidi Jewish community, headed by
roshei yeshiva and gedolei haTorah and
including thousands of alumni and students of the Ner
Yisroel Yeshiva of Baltimore, accompanied HaRav Yaakov Moshe
Kulefsky zt"l, the rosh yeshiva of the Ner
Yisroel Yeshiva in Baltimore, Maryland, on his last earthly
journey. He was niftar on Thursday 3 Kislev at the
age of 78.
HaRav Kulefsky was born on Chanukah 5682 (1921) in St.
Louis, which at that time was a desert from the point of
view of Yiddishkeit. Even as a child, he displayed a
remarkable desire to study Torah, and due to his diligence
and exertion, and the supreme yiras Shomayim and
devotion with which he studied, he acquired an amazing
bekius.
Speaking about his remarkable hasmodoh even when he
was a child, his brother-in-law Leon Sutton related at the
levaya that he very rarely left the beis
medrash or his home due to his immersion Torah study.
One time when he was about 10 years old, he was thin and
pale and his parents took him to a doctor who said that
young Yaakov Moshe needed physical activity and should go
and play in the sun. His mother told the young Yaakov Moshe
to go out with the other children his age and sent him
outside into the yard, locking the door and the windows of
the house in order to force him to play. After half an hour,
Yaakov Moshe found his way back into the house by means of
the coal chute which was used to supply the house with coal
for heating. Covered from head to toe with coal dust, he sat
down beside the table studied with yegia.
Even before his bar mitzvah, he was sent to Chicago, where
he studied under HaRav Dovid Lifschitz zt"l. Later on
he went to New York to study in Torah Vodaas, where he was
very close to HaRav Shlomo Heiman. For years he studied with
the utmost hasmodoh, imbibing the rosh yeshiva's
teachings and being inspired by his illustrious personality.
During HaRav Yaakov Moshe's in stay in Torah Vodaas he was
considered the yeshiva's most outstanding masmid.
Because he had to return to his room before midnight in
order not to disturb the owners of the apartment in which he
lived and his roommates, he bought himself a small
flashlight and continued to study under the blankets until
he fell asleep.
During the Second World War he was drafted into the United
States Army and all attempts to secure his release were in
vain. Finally, after half a year in the service, he was
released. His friends related that during this period he
would arrive at the yeshiva every Shabbos and say over the
chiddushim he had made throughout the week -- while
in the army -- to the students of the yeshiva.
Later on he transferred to Beis Medrash Elyon and learned
under HaRav Reuven Grozovsky. In Beis Medrash Elyon he rose
in Torah, becoming one of the yeshiva's finest and most
brilliant students.
After his marriage, he continued to pore over his studies,
until being asked, in 5715 (1955), to serve as a rosh
yeshiva in the Ner Yisroel yeshiva of Baltimore. For 47
consecutive years he presided as a ram and rosh
yeshiva in Ner Yisroel, delivering shiurim to
thousands of students, who thirstily drank his words. He
produced many students, who still recall his fascinating
shiurim, his flowing explanations, and his sweetness
of speech. His warm, outgoing personality, and the obvious
pleasure he had in his learning, made a deep and lasting
impression on generations of American yeshiva students.
His shiurim were delivered with a tremendous
bren and with such gusto that it seemed as if he was
discovering the lomdus for the first time, even
though he had probably reviewed it dozens of times before.
He swept along his talmidim with his enthusiasm.
Many students note his dedication and his love for each and
every one of his students, and his fatherly relationship
towards all of them. As a rosh yeshiva dedicated to
transmitting the Torah, and to whom the progress of every
student was dear, he would spend hours on end helping his
students grow in Torah and yiras Shomayim. Even
though he taught thousands, he recalled each and every
student, and when he met students years after their marriage
he would identify them by the masechta they were
studying when they left the yeshiva, saying: "You got
married in Bovo Basra," or, "You got married in
Nedorim."
In the last two decades he put special effort into helping
the immigrants who arrived from Iran and studied in Ner
Yisroel, and was like a father and a spiritual guide to
them. He founded a special fund for them and took care of
all their needs, both in ruchniyus and
gashmiyus. His home was their home, their happiness,
and their concern, his. He also led them to the
chuppah.
His family relates that on the eve of his heart operation,
he conducted the chuppah of one of his Iranian
students. His family tried to prevent him from traveling to
the wedding on the eve of the operation. He replied: "It's
the wedding of a son, and one doesn't forego such a
wedding."
In recent years, he suffered from problems with his sight,
but despite the tremendous difficulty, he continued to pore
over his studies, by means of special optical devices which
enabled him, with much effort, to continue studying.
On Wednesday morning 2 Kislev he still delivered a
shiur to his students and in the evening he prepared
his shiur for the following day. However, at night he
felt ill, and on Thursday he returned his pure soul to its
maker.
His levaya, which was held on early on Friday
morning, was attended by thousands of his students from all
over the United States. Despite the fact that Shabbos begins
early, thousands streamed to the study hall of Ner Yisroel
in Baltimore, where he had taught Torah for fifty years with
mesiras nefesh and endless love, and where he
produced students who are today presiding as roshei
yeshiva and ramim all over the world. Heading the
levaya were roshei yeshiva, gedolei haTorah,
and gedolei halocho and mussar. They were led by
HaRav Elya Svei, the rosh yeshiva of the Philadelphia
yeshiva, and a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.
Before the levaya left the yeshiva, hespedim
were delivered by the executive director of the yeshiva,
HaRav Naftoli Neuberger, as well as by the rabbonim, HaRav
Berel Weisbord, the mashgiach of the yeshiva; HaRav
Simcha Shustal, the rosh yeshiva of Beis Binyomin in
Connecticut; HaRav Don Ungarisher, the rosh yeshiva
of Beis Medrash Elyon in Monsey; HaRav Eizik Ausband,
the rosh yeshiva of Telz; HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky,
the rosh yeshiva of the Philadelphia yeshiva; HaRav
Arye Malkiel Kotler, the rosh yeshiva of Lakewood;
HaRav Moshe Heinemann, rav of Agudath Israel of Baltimore,
also spoke representing all the rabbonim of Baltimore; HaRav
Ephraim Eisenberg, ram in Ner Yisroel; the
mechutan of the niftar, HaRav Moshe Mendel
Glustein, a rosh yeshiva in Montreal; the
niftar's son-in-law HaRav Dovid Rosenbaum, a ram
in Ner Yisroel; the niftar's son-in-law, HaRav
Yechezkel Abrams, a marbitz Torah in the United
States; the niftar's son, HaRav Nosson Kulefsky, and
the niftar's brother-in-law, R' Yehuda (Leon)
Sutton.
At the end of the hespedim, the levaya
proceeded to the Jewish cemetery in Baltimore, where he was
buried near the other roshei yeshiva of Ner
Israel.
He survived by two sons, three daughters, grandchildren and
great grandchildren, all of whom are pursuing the path which
he charted for them. His thousands of students bitterly
mourn the petirah of their esteemed and beloved
rav.
