Rabbi Avraham and Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz graves

Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz ( he, שרגא משה קלמנוביץ; May 15, 1918 – April 16, 1998) was a Polish-American

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

rabbi. He was a

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...

(dean) of the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York , from 1964 to 1998.

Biography

Kalmanowitz was born in Rakov, Poland, to

Avraham Kalmanowitz Avraham Kalmanowitz (also Abraham; he, אברהם קלמנוביץ; March 8, 1887 – 15 February 1964) was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York from 1946 to 1964. Born in Belarus, he served as rabbi ...

, the rabbi of the town, and Rochel Cohen, the daughter of Betzalel Hakohen, a dayan (rabbinical court judge) in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

. He had the brothers and two sisters. At the age of 10, Kalmanowitz began studying at the Mir yeshiva in

Mir, Belarus Mir ( be, Мір; russian: Мир; ) is a town in the Karelichy District (Карэліцкі раён) of Grodno Region, Belarus on the banks of Miranka River, about 85 kilometers southwest of the national capital, Minsk. History Mir village was ...

, and later studied at the Kaminetz Yeshiva led by

Baruch Ber Leibowitz Boruch Ber Leibowitz ( yi, ברוך בער לייבאוויץ he, רב ברוך דוב ליבוביץ, Boruch Dov Libovitz; 1862 – November 17, 1939, known as Reb Boruch Ber, was a rabbi famed for his Talmudic lectures, particularly in that ...

. He came to the United States with his mother and siblings in 1941 (his father had immigrated a year earlier) and studied at both

Yeshiva Torah Vodaas Yeshiva Torah Vodaas (or Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Vodaath or Yeshiva Torah Vodaath or Torah Vodaath Rabbinical Seminary ) is a ''yeshiva'' in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. History The yeshiva was conceived in 1917 and for ...

and

Beth Medrash Elyon Beth Medrash Elyon is a four-year, not-for-profit ''yeshiva'' in Monsey, New York. History Though Beth Medrash Elyon closed in the 1970s due to disagreements among the leaders of the ''yeshiva'', the yeshiva was subsequently reopened. It was head ...

. After his marriage, Kalmanowitz became a maggid shiur in the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn. Upon the death of his father in 1964, he and his brother-in-law,

Shmuel Berenbaum Shmuel Berenbaum (March 13, 1920 – January 6, 2008) was an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Mir yeshiva (Brooklyn), Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. Biography He was born in Knyszyn, Poland and s ...

, assumed the roles of roshei yeshiva. He followed his father's lead in overseeing the education of

Sephardi Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

North African students at the Mir Yeshiva. He was also close with Sephardi organizations in New York City; he was one of the speakers at the grand opening of the

mikveh Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...

of the Sephardi Brooklyn community on Avenue S. Kalmanowitz died on April 16, 1998 (20

Nisan Nisan (or Nissan; he, נִיסָן, Standard ''Nīsan'', Tiberian ''Nīsān''; from akk, 𒊬𒊒𒄀 ''Nisanu'') in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is ...

5758) in New York. He was buried beside his father's grave in the

Sanhedria Cemetery Sanhedria Cemetery ( he, בית עלמין סנהדריה) is a 27-dunam (6.67-acre) Jewish burial ground in the Sanhedria neighborhood of Jerusalem, adjacent to the intersection of Levi Eshkol Boulevard, Shmuel HaNavi Street, and Bar-Ilan Str ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

.https://matzav.com/rebbetzin-malka-kalmanowitz-ah/ His wife Malka Kalmanowitz died in 2020.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalmanowitz, Shraga Moshe 1918 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American rabbis American Haredi rabbis Mir rosh yeshivas Orthodox rabbis from New York City Religious leaders from Brooklyn Polish emigrants to the United States