America's community kollel trend takes root in Europe

Photos: Daniel Benjamin

The wooden sign swinging gently in the wind is about as out of place as the building it’s attached to — a pub-turned-shtibel in the middle of a London suburb called Elstree.

The owner, Mr. Mendy Tajtelbaum, moved from the chareidi stronghold of Golders Green to the neighborhood of many unaffiliated Jews 11 years ago. When renovating the building, he replaced the swinging cat and fiddle with the image of a man wrapped in a tallis.

In the years since, the shul has created a quiet revolution in the local community, providing a non-judgmental place for people to daven and learn. Many locals, even those nominally connected to an area shul, opt to mark lifecycle events at the shtibel.

Reb Mendy thinks that the secret ingredient on offer is the community kollel that he hosts morning and night.

“Although many of the locals were not brought up religious, they appreciate that this shul has something serious going on. They are struck by the learning and the menschlichkeit of the avreichim, and that has a transformative impact.”

The tale of Elstree’s start-up shtibel came up on the sidelines of the inaugural European Conference of Community Kollelim held recently in Amsterdam, which brought together representatives of institutions from London to Rome.

Community kollelim, which combine intensive Torah learning for avreichim, along with learning for the broader community, and at times outright kiruv, aren’t new to Europe, where various kollelim have opened over the past decades — and have become major anchors for their cities.

But unlike in America, where the community kollel was created in the 1970s by  Lakewood Rosh Yeshivah Rav Shneur Kotler, the European model has never become widespread enough to develop into a cohesive movement.

Intended to start a conversation about the value of the community kollel, the first ever European Conference of Community Kollelim was a meeting of continents, bringing together avreichim and veteran kollel leadership from Europe and America, including Rabbi Aaron Kotler, President Emeritus of Beth Medrash Govoha, who is focused on continuing his father’s community kollel revolution.

Rabbi Kotler cochaired the conference with his close partner, Rabbi Sroy Levitansky, Director of International Community Development at Beth Medrash Govoha and an expert at the creation of community kollelim, with involvement in more than 50 kollelim and 100 communities worldwide.

Joining them was Lakewood Rosh Yeshivah Rav Aryeh Malkiel Kotler.

“We came together to celebrate your successes but also to recognize your challenges,” Rabbi Aaron Kotler told a packed audience at the Motzaei Shabbos plenary. “There are struggles and they are very real. We’re here to tell you that you are not alone.”

Manchester-born Rabbi Menachem Marmorstein, founder of a network of community kollelim in secular cities, towns, and moshavim across the length and breadth of Israel and one of the convenors of the conference, identifies with the difficulties.

“These are very complex enterprises,” says Rabbi Marmorstein, “and the chemistry needs to be just right to make it work. Securing funding is only part of the challenge — the other parts cover recruiting the highest quality rosh kollel, engaging community involvement, and, at times, issues like schooling and planning programs that will make the kollel the anchor of the community.”

But while a community kollel has its challenges, he adds, the combination of growth for avreichim and engaging a community in Torah learning is the natural outlet for a surplus of talent across Europe.

“So many avreichim have huge kochos and can become major marbitzei Torah,” says Rabbi Marmorstein. Sometimes living in Yerushalayim or Gateshead will not provide them the opportunity to grow and to give. So many avreichim have unrealized talent and have so much knowledge to give but lack the platform or opportunity to do so — and in a community kollel setting, they can.”