Yaakov Perlow ( yi, יעקבֿ פּערלאָוו he, יעקב פרלוב; November 16, 1930 – April 7, 2020) was an American
Hasidic
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
rabbi and
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 ...
, and
Rebbe
A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritua ...
of the
Novominsk Hasidic dynasty
A Hasidic dynasty is a dynasty led by Hasidic Jewish spiritual leaders known as rebbes, and usually has some or all of the following characteristics:
* Each leader of the dynasty is often known as an ''ADMOR'' (abbreviation for '' ADoneinu MOreinu ...
. From 1998 until his death in 2020, he was president of
Agudath Israel of America
Agudath Israel of America ( he, אגודת ישראל באמריקה) (also called Agudah) is an American organization that represents Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to ...
, a
Haredi
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
advocacy organization. He was also head of that organization's
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (, "Council of great Torah ages) is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually pr ...
(Council of Torah Sages). He was one of the most respected leaders of the American Orthodox Jewish community, known for his scholarly and oratorical skills.
[
]
Early life and education
Yaakov Perlow was born in Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York, to Rabbi Nochum Mordechai Perlow (1887–1976), the Novominsker Rebbe, and his wife, Beila Rochma Morgenstern. He was named after his paternal great-grandfather, the ''Shufra D'Yaakov'', founder of the Novominsk Hasidic dynasty. His maternal grandfather was Rabbi Yitzchak Zelig Morgenstern
Yitzchak Zelig Morgenstern of Kotzk-Sokolov (Hebrew: יצחק זליג מורגנשטרן, מסוקולוב, Yiddish: זעליג מארגענשטערן, מסאקאלאוו, of Sokolov; 1866 - 16 October 1939 (3 Cheshvan 5700)) was an Admor and Ros ...
, the Sokolover Rebbe, a direct descendant of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
Menachem Mendel Morgensztern of Kotzk, better known as the Kotzker Rebbe and the Kotzker (1787–1859) was a Hasidic rabbi and leader.
Life
Born to a non-Hasidic family in Goraj near Lublin, Poland, he became attracted to Hasidic philosophy in hi ...
. Morgenstern was one of the main founders of Agudath Israel in Poland.
Perlow began his Torah education at Yeshiva Toras Chaim in East New York
East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough lin ...
, Brooklyn, and continued on to the Lithuanian-type Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin
Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin or ''Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin'' ( he, יְשִׁיבַת רַבֵּינוּ חַיִּים בֶּרלִין) is an American Haredi Lithuanian-type boys' and men's yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York.
Chaim Berlin consis ...
in Brooklyn, and then Beth Medrash Govoha
Beth Medrash Govoha ( he, בית מדרש גבוה, Sephardi pronunciation: ''Beth Midrash Gavoha''. lit: "High House of Learning"; also known as Lakewood Yeshiva or BMG) is a Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jewish Misnagdim, Lithuanian ''yeshiva'' in Lake ...
in Lakewood.[ He also graduated with honors from ]Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus.
Being New York City's first publ ...
.
Career
After his marriage, Perlow taught at Hebrew Theological College
The Hebrew Theological College, known colloquially as "Skokie Yeshiva" or HTC, is a yeshiva in Skokie, Illinois. Although the school's primary focus is the teaching of Torah and Jewish tradition, it is also a private university that is part of t ...
in Skokie, Illinois
Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...
. He later moved back to Brooklyn and settled in Crown Heights, becoming a member of the administration of the mesivta
''Mesivta'' (also metivta; Aramaic: מתיבתא, "academy") is an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva secondary school for boys. The term is commonly used in the United States to describe a yeshiva that emphasizes Talmudic studies for boys in grades ...
of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin.[ In 1969, he was appointed ]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 ...
at the Breuer's yeshiva, Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch
Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (YRSRH, also known as Breuer's, after its creator) was founded in New York City in 1944, as a means of reestablishing the Orthodox Jewish community of Frankfurt, Germany in the United States. The school, founded ...
, in Washington Heights, New York, a position he held for 11 years.[ He also served as the Rav of Congregation Bais Yosef in that city.][
After the death of his father on September 4, 1976, Perlow began serving as Novominsker Rebbe.][ In 1980, he established the Novominsk Hasidic Center and founded his own yeshiva, Yeshivas Novominsk Kol Yehuda, named in memory of his uncle, Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Perlow of Novominsk-Williamsburg, in ]Borough Park, Brooklyn
Borough Park (also spelled Boro Park) is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The neighborhood is bordered by Bensonhurst to the south, Dyker Heights to the southwest, Sunset Park to the west, ...
.[
]
Agudath Israel of America
Perlow became an active member of Agudath Israel of America
Agudath Israel of America ( he, אגודת ישראל באמריקה) (also called Agudah) is an American organization that represents Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to ...
from 1975, when he was one of the main speakers at the 7th Siyum HaShas in New York.[ He became a leader of the ]Torah Umesorah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the sa ...
organization as well.[ In December 1998, Perlow was named president of Agudath Israel of America, succeeding Rabbi ]Moshe Sherer Rabbi Moshe Sherer (June 18, 1921 – May 17, 1998) was co-Chairman of the Agudath Israel World Organization from 1980, and the Chairman of Agudath Israel of America from the 1960s, until his death in 1998.
Career
Sherer "joined Agudath Israel a ...
, who had died seven months earlier. With his appointment, the presidential and leadership duties held by Sherer were divided between Perlow, the new president, and a three-man executive. Perlow was also head of the organization's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (, "Council of great Torah ages) is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually pr ...
(Council of Torah Sages).
Perlow frequently spoke out on issues affecting the American Orthodox Jewish world, including Internet usage, child abuse, Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements:
...
, overpriced Jewish weddings, and U.S. politics. In 2015, Perlow shocked attendees at the 93rd annual Agudath Israel of America dinner by directly appealing to President Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
to reconsider the Iran deal
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear ...
.
At the 73rd annual Agudah convention in 1995, Perlow urged dialogue with non-Orthodox Jews while at the same time "lashing out at what he described as the 'false ideology' of non-Orthodox Judaism." In June 1999, he wrote in ''The Jewish Observer
''The Jewish Observer'' was an American Orthodox Jewish magazine published by the Agudath Israel of America, from 1963 until 2009. It was put on "hiatus" in 2009, with plans to restart once the finances of the magazine, affected by the economic c ...
'' in support of a rapprochement in the long-standing feud between the Haredi and Reform movements. At the May 2014 Agudath dinner, he stated that the Reform and Conservative movements "have disintegrated themselves, become oblivious, fallen into an abyss of intermarriage and assimilation", and branded another movement, Open Orthodoxy
Open Orthodoxy is a Jewish religious movement with increased emphasis on intellectual openness and a more expansive role for Judaism and women, women. The term was coined in 1997 by Avi Weiss, who views ''halakha'' (Jewish law) as permitting more ...
, as being "steeped in apikorsos (heresy)". While New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...
was the next speaker at the dinner, he did not challenge Perlow's remarks, which cast aspersions on the affiliations of the non-Orthodox Jewish population of New York City.
Personal life
Perlow's first wife, Yehudis (d. 1998), was the daughter of Grand Rabbi Avrohom Eichenstein of Zidichov-Chicago.[ The couple had two sons and two daughters.][ In 2004, Perlow remarried to Miriam Landynski, his first wife's sister and widow of Rabbi Yaakov Zev Landynski.][
]
Death
In March 2020, Perlow urged American Orthodox Jews to follow social distancing
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...
and other precautionary guidelines in response to the coronavirus outbreak, saying: "We cannot behave the way we did last week or two weeks ago. We're told that the halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
(Jewish law) is that we must listen to doctors, whether it's about a sick person or Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...
".[ He was soon after infected by ]COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. On April 7, 2020, he died due to complications from the disease. He was 89. His funeral was held in a private ceremony. The eulogies and saying of Psalms were broadcast live over the telephone, in order to limit the spread of the virus.[ After his burial, his twin sons were named his successors as Rebbes of the Novominsk dynasty. The elder of the two, Rabbi Yehoshua Heshel "Reb Shia" currently leads his father's synagogue in Borough Park, while Rabbi Alter Yisroel Shimon "Reb Yisruel" leads the Novominsk shteeble in Lakewood, New Jersey. The two Rebbes lead Yeshivas Novominsk Kol Yehuda in unison, with Reb Shia predominantly responsible for the high school, and Reb Yisruel for the Beis Midrash.
]
Bibliography
In 1982, Perlow published the first of what would eventually be a seven-volume series called ''Adas Yaakov'', with three volumes on topics in the Talmud, three volumes on the Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...
s, and one volume on Chumash (Judaism), Chumash.[
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References
Sources
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External links
Photo of Rabbi Yaakov Perlow
at the 12th Siyum HaShas, August 2, 2012
“City Council candidate John Heyer meets with Rabbi Yaakov Perlow and Rabbi Shmuel Lefkowitz” (video)
September 4, 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perlow, Yaakov
1931 births
2020 deaths
Hasidic rebbes
Hasidic rosh yeshivas
American Hasidic rabbis
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Writers from Brooklyn
20th-century American rabbis
21st-century American rabbis
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)