Northern New Jersey, near New York City just across the Hudson
River, is perhaps best known for its crowded highways, traffic
jams and shopping malls. It serves as a corridor to New York
City from the South (through the NJ Turnpike and Garden State
Parkway) and the East (through Route 80). Many people are thus
familiar with these areas only through the exit signs posted
on the highways as they make their way to the big city.
New York shoppers venture off the highways to shop at the
malls and take advantage of no-sales-tax on clothing in NJ,
saving the considerable tax which they would normally have to
pay in NY. Some drivers who get stuck in traffic at the
tollbooths at the Lincoln Tunnel or the George Washington
Bridge to enter Manhattan, take the local streets to get
around the tie-ups and save a few minutes. Both are so focused
on the roads or the shopping that they fail to observe the
beautiful and tranquil towns all around them.
Had they taken the time to notice the communities they pass
through, such as Hackensack, Teaneck, Fort Lee and Paterson,
they would have seen large expanding cities and a peaceful
quality of life right outside New York City.
Passaic, one of the cities in this area, boasts a frum
community comprised of bnei Torah, baalei batim and
baalei teshuva that have moved into the town over the
last 20-25 years. They all take advantage of the town's united
community that boasts a complete Jewish infrastructure
including shuls, yeshivos for children and a world-
renowned yeshiva gedolah, kosher stores and a
mikveh. Its close proximity to New York and Monsey
makes it convenient to other Jewish communities in the
area.
The Jewish community today consists of over 1200 families with
a net gain of 100 families each year recently kein
yirbu. The yeshiva boys' school and girls' school have a
combined total enrollment of over 1000 children and Yeshivat
Hillel has almost 400 children. The boys' high school is
opening an 11th grade this year and the girls' high school has
already graduated two classes.
Early History
The Passaic Jewish community has been around for over a
century. The first Jew recorded living in Passaic was Jacob
Basch who moved there in 1867. He was in the wool business
that was very prevalent in Passaic at the time and continued
as such for years. The Botany 500 clothing company made its
suits here for a while. In fact, the industrial part of the
town is called Botany Mills; the nearby town of Clifton was
called Botany Village.
The community grew after that, comprising mostly Orthodox
people. The Bnei Jacob shul opened in 1897 and flourished
through the seventies.
The town boasted many prominent rabbonim over the years. Rav
Yosef Rosen, a Volozhiner talmid and a noted talmid chochom
was rav through the '30s. HaRav Dovid Leibowitz zt'l,
rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim who was a Slobodke
talmid and a contemporary of HaRav Yaakov Kamenetsky
and HaRav Aaron Kotler, would send his talmidim to him
for their smicha.
Rav Leizer Katz zt'l, the son of HaRav Reuven Katz from
Petach Tikva, was a rav in town for many years until his
passing two months ago. He was an outstanding talmid
chochom and was mesader gittin throughout North
Jersey.
As the years went by and the older people of the community
died, their children, unfortunately, were not as Orthodox as
their parents. In fact, in the early seventies there were less
than 50 shomer Shabbos families, and only a handful of
ladies who covered their hair. Nevertheless, they maintained a
great respect for Orthodoxy. They recognized, that although
they decided not to personally lead a religious lifestyle,
they respected the Orthodox way of life as the traditional way
of Judaism and wished to maintain it on a communal level as
much as possible. Thus the seven frum shuls remained
Orthodox with a mechitza intact, even though many of
the members were not Orthodox in practice. Passaic has only
one Conservative synagogue and one Reform Temple, which is
minimal considering the amount of Jews living in the town at
that time.
The Jewish cultural institutions in Passaic maintain an
Orthodox semblance to their activities, unlike most other
towns. The "Y" is closed on Shabbos and tries to accommodate
the frum community.
The Jewish hospital in town has a mezuzah on every
door. The senior citizen home, called Daughters of Miriam,
serves as a convalescent home for seniors, as well as
providing two buildings of residence homes. They provide top-
quality health care and the staff is extremely attentive to
the patients' needs. They serve glatt kosher meals and
have a full- time rov on premises. The children in town visit
the seniors, performing for them or just to keep them company,
giving them a feel for chesed at a young age. The
bikur cholim is active in the old age home, as well.
The chevra kadisha has written in its bylaws that
everybody who uses its facilities must be given a proper
tahara with tachrichim and so on, regardless of
their Jewish religious affiliation. This policy has been in
practice all the years.
These three institutions -- the hospital, old age home, and
the chevra kadisha -- are all nonprofit entities that
are owned by the kehilla.
The irreligious townsfolk respected the Orthodox rabbonim and
the community in general was very receptive to the Passaic
Yeshiva opening in the town in 1973. "We felt there was a
foundation for a Jewish community already in place when we
came here," said Rabbi Chaim Davis, who opened the yeshiva
that year. "The town rabbonim were helpful to us and we
maintained a good relationship with them over the years. In
fact Rabbi Katz was invited every year to the yeshiva on his
father's yahrtzeit to say a shiur in halacha and
aggada, to the enjoyment and enrichment of us all."
The Yeshiva
The Passaic Yeshiva, known worldwide for molding true bnei
Torah, was established in 1973 by Rabbi Chaim Davis and
Rabbi Gershon Weisenfeld zt'l, who joined as rosh
kollel. When Rav Weisenfeld took ill right before the
Yeshiva was to open, HaRav Meir Stern joined the
hanhalla.
The yeshiva opened its doors with 10 bochurim and 10
avreichim. As the yeshiva's reputation grew it expanded
to nearly 100 bochurim in the mid 1980s. HaRav Meir
Stern's shiurim gained a wide reputation among the
American bnei yeshiva and many came to Passaic to hear
them.
In 1987, the Yeshiva undertook an ambitious capital campaign
to build a campus suitable for a true mokom Torah. In
May 1989, the yeshiva opened its beautiful beis medrash
complete with dining room and dormitory facilities. The
yeshiva is recognized today as one of the foremost yeshivos
gedolos in the U.S.
Rav Nosson Weissman serves as mashgiach in the yeshiva.
His father-in- law, HaRav Mordechai Schwab zt'l,
mashgiach of Bais Shraga in Monsey, gave shmuessen
on a consistent basis throughout the years. "It gave the
bochurim a connection to people from previous
generations," said Rabbi Davis. "He would say stories from Reb
Boruch Ber, the Chofetz Chaim and HaRav Yeruchom Levovitz. He
met these gedolim when he learned in Europe and served
as a bridge between generations."
The yeshiva laid the foundation for the current growth. People
looked at Passaic and saw a growing yeshiva revitalizing an
old Jewish town. With communities such as New York and Monsey
getting crowded and a far commuting distance from New York,
people looked to Passaic as a viable alternative in which to
settle and raise a family.
The Community Grows
The community started experiencing its current growth with the
construction of the eruv 17 years ago and a large
communal mikveh the following year. The eruv,
which was built with the cooperation of all the local
rabbonim and constructed by Rabbi Shimon Eider, the noted
eruv expert, had a positive impact on the community way
beyond the practical aspects of the eruv -- such as the
wives being allowed to get out of their homes with babies and
wheel their carriages down the block. It created a certain
harmonious feeling among all community members.
People would eat at each other's homes and reciprocate the
invitation to their hosts, thus creating a special bond among
all the families in the community. This created an awareness
of chesed and hachnosas orchim on a communal
level, which ultimately led to the formation of a communal
bikur cholim. The bikur cholim today tends to
those in local hospitals and helps out in the homes of those
who need it. Additionally, the bikur cholim offers
financial assistance for basic Shabbos and yom tov needs like
a tzedokoh organization.
The mikveh was built by a couple of dedicated
individuals who realized the need. There was an existing
mikveh which was not in use anymore so those who used a
mikveh had to travel to West Orange, Monsey (1/2 hour
away) or New York. With the help of these individuals and
siyata deShmaya a most beautiful, modern mikveh
was built to the benefit of the entire community.
The mikveh is located near the yeshiva, on what was an
empty lot for many years. The askonim wondered if that
property was suitable for the mikveh but didn't know to
whom it belonged. An avreich in yeshiva who had just
gone into real estate went to the township office to look at
the records about available lots in town for businesses. He
came across this lot and noticed that a lawyer had the rights
to the property. He called the lawyer who told him it's not
his property; he represents a client who died just a few days
previously. The lawyer proceeded to say that this lady had
once lived on the property. She got into a dispute with the
township about property taxes and subsequently vowed that the
township would never collect taxes from this lot! She moved
out of the house, tore it down, and left the lot as is for all
these years. He felt that as executor of her estate he cannot
sell the property, for the township would then be able to
collect taxes from the property, in defiance of her wishes.
The avreich had an idea: perhaps it would be great for
the mikveh! The mikveh would be exempt from
property taxes as a nonprofit organization. The lawyer agreed,
having satisfied his clients' wishes, and sold the property to
the mikveh committee at a minimal price. The community
thus got themselves a mikveh on a choice piece of land,
all because of a lady's vow, and an avreich's
brainstorm.
The Advantages of Living in Passaic
Those who commute to work in New York City know all about
those long hours sitting in traffic getting into the city. The
entire New Jersey-New York area has experienced growth over
the years, making traffic even worse with very few new roads
built to accommodate the increasing flow of traffic. Thus
people routinely spend up to three hours just getting to work
in the morning and fighting the traffic once again on the way
home.
For example, those who live in Lakewood spend at least two
hours each way on the road; those living in Monsey spend at
least one and a half hours each way. The train ride from
Brooklyn is not much better, for it takes an hour as well (to
midtown Manhattan). When one does this day in, day out for
some time, it tends to get frustrating for one feels he is
wasting his life sitting at a tollbooth or on the highway
rather than utilizing the time more usefully.
Passaic is located just minutes away from the Lincoln Tunnel,
one of the main entrance ways into Manhattan, and the train
ride takes a total of twenty minutes! (One can actually see
the New York skyline from various points in the town.) It
changes life to be able to spend the time out of the office at
home with the family, with a chavrusa, or get involved
in communal projects with the extra time saved from
commuting.
Although the community has grown to nearly 1200 families
bli ayin hora, the town still has a close-knit feel to
it. Many speak about the warmth and genuine concern people
have for each other in the community. Passaic is considered
part of suburban New York, yet it still has that special out-
of-town feeling that people consider so unique and cherish.
The townspeople speak highly about the "oneness" that is felt
within the community. There is one bikur cholim group,
and one community mikveh that everyone in the community
feels a part of and participates in. This enables everyone to
feel connected at a communal level.
The community itself is a diverse crowd: bnei Torah, baalei
battim, and baalei teshuva alike live and daven
together in harmony. Rabbi Menachem Zupnick, one of the
rabbonim in town, noted that both Rabbi Nachman Bulman and
Rabbi Dovid Gottleib of Ohr Somayach, were amazed at the
homogeneous community that exists in Passaic. "Rabbi Bulman
said that at Ohr Somayach they didn't believe such a community
could exist in chutz la'aretz, with baalei teshuva
and other frum people living together so
harmoniously," said Rabbi Zupnick. "He was very impressed with
what he saw here in Passaic."
Rabbi Mordechai Becher, formerly of Ohr Somayach and a current
Gateways lecturer, who resides in Passaic, noted, "At one
table in the shul, at a shiur or in a
chavrusa, one can find graduates of Brisk, Mir and
Telz, learning or davening with graduates of Machon
Shlomo, Ohr Somayach and Aish HaTorah."
The members of the community possess a strong desire to grow
in their Yiddishkeit. They lead relatively simple
lifestyles and focus their attention on the finer, more
serious aspects of life. Rabbi Zupnick remarked that over the
years he has brought in many lecturers to speak in his
shul. "Nearly all of them said to me afterward that
they felt the people who came were really interested in what
they had to say and receptive to their insights, something
they did not feel in many of the other communities they had
visited," said Rabbi Zupnick.
Learning as an Integral Part of One's Life
If one looks at the list of shiurim that are given on a
daily basis, the amount of learning that takes place every day
is quite amazing, as well as the range of different topics.
Luach.com, the Website that posts all the shiurim in
Passaic, lists at least 16 shiurim daily; on Sunday
there are 20 and on Shabbos, 27!
Rabbi Zupnick gives one shiur, on Chovos Halevovos,
in his shul immediately after ma'ariv on
motzei Shabbos for an hour! The shiurim are given
mostly by the rabbonim in town, such as Rabbi Zupnick, Rabbi
Schachna Weinberger, Rav Yonason Sacks, Rav Ron Yitzchok
Eisenberg, Rav Shlomo Rybak, Rav Shlomo Weinberger, Rav Aaron
Cohen, and Rav Shlomo Singer. Rav Shlomo Issacson has a
chassidishe shteibel in town which is active in the
community as well. The topics include daf yomi, parshas
hashovua, and other stimulating topics from a broad range
of Torah.
Partners In Torah, the popular chavrusa program run by
Torah Umesorah across the country, has its biggest branch in
Passaic in which 80 to 100 people learn together once a
week.
Every morning at 6:00, some 40 people gather in the yeshiva
library to take part in the Kollel Boker. The Kollel attracts
those who work most of the day, yet wish to have a meaningful
and constructive seder limud where they can learn
uninterruptedly and with great cheshek. Both rebbeim
and those in the work force participate in the program. They
are currently learning masechta Succah, and they hear
chaburos from Rav Shmuel Kaplan, a ram in the
yeshiva. They daven at 7:15 and then proceed to their
daily activities.
"It feels great to start the day with an intense learning
program," said one of the organizers. "At night, one is busy
learning with the children or tending to social obligations,
aside from being exhausted, so he has no time to learn when he
comes home. With such a kollel one can learn when his
mind is fresh without any other obligations to disturb him --
provided he gets to sleep on time."
The Passaic Yeshiva has a full-time kollel under the
leadership of Rav Osher Meir May, son-in-law of Rav Stern.
They are learning inyanim usually covered by
kollelim, such as Chulin.
The Passaic Community Kollel, under the leadership of Rabbi
Davis, provides shiurim for baalei battim in the
evening, aside from its regular learning schedule. It houses
an extensive tape library with tapes from speakers all across
the Jewish spectrum.
Another full-time kollel under the leadership of Rabbi
Eliezer Breslauer, an accomplished talmid chochom from
Lakewood and a son-in- law of Rav Stern, is opening in Elul
with 8 avreichim to further bolster the ruach
haTorah in town.
Individuals Changing Communities
The renaissance in Passaic makes it a model for other
communities across America trying to revitalize their cities.
What stands out in Passaic's success is the fact that most of
its yeshivas, school buildings and mikva were built by
individuals who were motivated to help the community they
lived in. "It always comes down to individuals galvanizing the
community to accomplish these goals," said Rabbi Davis. "Rav
Nosson Wachtfogel zt'l, the Lakewood mashgiach,
would mention in his shmuessen about the `koach
of the yochid' -- how each individual can positively
turn his life around and those around him."
This formula can be applied anywhere.
