This Sunday, 9 Cheshvan will mark the 85th yahrtzeit of Rav Shimon Shkop

Title: For the Bochurim, by the Bochurim

Location: Grodno, Poland

Document: Yiddishe Togblatt

Time: 1922

This Sunday, 9 Cheshvan will mark the 85th yahrtzeit of Rav Shimon Shkop. The authors hope to present a more complete profile of Rav Shimon in the future.

Appeal For The Grodno Yeshiva

Letter from the esteemed Rabbi, the Gaon Rav Shimon Yehuda Shkop of Grodno:

A significant number of my friends who studied with me in the yeshivos of Telz, Maltch, and Brynsk now find themselves in the United States. As it is now very difficult for me to sustain the Shaar HaTorah Yeshivah, which I now lead in Grodno and which is in great need, I turn to you to support it. This support will not only sustain the yeshivah but will also be an expression of gratitude toward me. Please, each of you, contribute according to your ability.

I have appointed my brother-in-law, Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Olshwang of Chicago, to serve as the contact for all donations. Any contributions to support the yeshivah can be sent directly to him, and he will ensure they reach us.

With a broken heart due to the dire situation of our holy Torah and with hope for the rebuilding of Zion and Jerusalem,

Shimon Yehuda HaKohein Shkop, rosh mesivta of the Shaar HaTorah Yeshivah, Grodno.

Rabbi Olshwang is the rabbi of the Mishnah U’Gemara Society. He can be found either in the Mishnah U’Gemara synagogue or at his residence, 717 West Roosevelt Road.

When the German army captured Grodno during World War I, a group of refugee yeshivah students remained in this historic Jewish city. Amid the wartime mayhem, Yeshivah Shaar HaTorah emerged through the determination of the students themselves. In 1916, with no rosh yeshivah or formal institution, a group of them formed a committee, gathering resources and laying the groundwork for a new Torah center in Grodno. They secured a building, arranged funding, and created the structure of an established yeshivah.

The Yesod V’Shoresh Ha’avodah beis medrash, established in honor of the esteemed Rav Alexander Ziskind, rav of Grodno and author of the foundational sefer by that name, hosted the yeshivah during the early years. Local lay leaders led by Reb Reuven Soloveitchik rallied around the cause, offering wisdom and encouragement. Rabbi Dr. David Winter, a German army chaplain stationed in Grodno, was instrumental in securing financial support from Ezra, a Jewish-German organization that assisted with monthly expenses. Talmidim recalled Dr. Winter’s warmth and hands-on approach during those challenging times.

Rav Alter Shmuelevitz, the son-in-law of the Alter of Novardok, Rav Yosef Yoizel Horowitz, had relocated to Grodno during the war from his residence in Shtutshin (Szczuczyn). At the request of the bochurim, he began to deliver shiurim. Among the students was his 13-year-old son Chaim. Shortly afterward, Rabbi Yosef Leib Nenedik was hired as mashgiach, having previously served in that role in Lomza, Radin, and Brynsk.

After the end of the war, Grodno became part of Poland, and life resumed its normal patterns. However, the situation of the Shaar HaTorah yeshivah was desperate. Rav Alter Shmuelevitz left Grodno and returned home to Shtutshin, where he passed away in 1918, leaving the yeshivah bereft. The economic situation began to deteriorate. The Ezra Association stopped its monthly payments following the German withdrawal from the city, and the Joint Distribution Committee was not yet providing funding.

It was the rav of Ponevezh, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, who recommended Rav Shimon Shkop, the brilliant mechanech and rosh yeshivah of Brynsk to lead Shaar HaTorah. Rav Shimon had already made an indelible mark in the Torah world with his shiurim at Telshe, where he had redefined the derech halimud with clarity and incisiveness. He was a leader with the ability to build minds and souls.

A delegation led by Rav Yosef Leib traveled to Vilna to petition Rav Shimon. Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzenski took up the cause, convinced that Rav Shimon was uniquely suited to not just save the Grodno Yeshivah but shepherd it into a new era. Rav Chaim Ozer described the devastation of Torah institutions from the war and the vision of Shaar HaTorah as a central beacon that could restore Grodno’s — and Poland’s — position as a world center of Torah.

With a heavy heart and a sense of duty that transcended personal attachment to his community in Brynsk, Rav Shimon accepted, albeit with one condition: His entire focus would be on Torah and the talmidim, while the financial affairs of the yeshivah would remain in the hands of the committee. It was a concession that Rav Chaim Ozer and the delegation readily accepted.

When Rav Shimon arrived in Grodno in 1920, the yeshivah’s transformation was immediate. The brilliance of his derech halimud, coupled with his humility and love for his students, led to a growth in both quantity and quality of the student body. Shaar HaTorah was now a premier Torah center, and Rav Shimon, its illustrious rosh yeshivah, was a symbol of the resilience and revival of Torah in a world shattered by war.

Yet shortly after he arrived in Grodno, the local community still struggled to keep the yeshivah financially solvent. Rav Shimon therefore penned the above letter to his former students in New York, hoping they would come to the yeshivah’s assistance.

The Warmest Winter

Rabbi Dr. David Alexander Winter was a German-born rabbi whose career began with his studies at the Kaiser Wilhelm Gymnasium in Cologne, followed by a year at the yeshivah in Halberstadt. He then attended the University of Berlin, where he studied philosophy, and the Berlin Rabbinical Seminary, receiving ordination in 1904 and earning his doctorate in 1906.

During World War I, Winter served as a field rabbi for the German Army’s 12th and 10th Armies, and in the process helped support reeling Lithuanian yeshivos. He subsequently served as the last prewar rabbi of the Jewish community in Lübeck (1921–1938), succeeding Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and his son Rav Yosef Tzvi, who also helped rebuild yeshivos in Lithuania during World War I.

A Regiment of Relentless Study

Though founded by students, the yeshivah’s rigor and discipline were uncompromising. A vaad of students governed in its early days. Yosef Begun, who would go on to be known as one of the giants of the Lithuanian Torah world was chosen as its leader. Under his guidance, the Vaad established a demanding learning schedule. Each talmid committed to learning 11 dapim of Gemara weekly — six focused on breadth and five on depth. Exams took place biweekly, administered by an Examining Committee chosen from among the students. To maintain high standards, the Examining Committee was regularly evaluated by a group known as the “Examiners of the Examiners.”

The writings of Rav Zelik Epstein and Professor Benzion Klibansky were utilized in the preparation of this article.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1035)