Yated
Last Thursday, chof-daled Tamuz, marked the 107th yahrtzeit of New York City’s first Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Jacob Joseph, who was niftar in 1902 at the age of 59. In honor of the yahrtzeit, an anonymous donor sponsored the completion of the entire Shishah Sidrei Mishnah through Chevrah Lomdei Mishnah’s mishnah study program. The siyum, which was followed by a seudah, was held at Congregation Yekusiel Mordechai Mishkholtz (Coventry Shul) and was attended by a sizable crowd, including all the yungeleit who participated in completing the limud, as well as many mispallelim.
Rabbi Moshe H., founder of Chevrah Lomdei Mishnah, recited the hadran, after which he spoke about Rabbi Jacob Joseph, a great talmid chochom for whom one of New York’s first yeshivahs, RJJ, is named. Rabbi Joseph arrived in America in 1888 after being hired for the position of Chief Rabbi by the newly formed Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. Although he tried to raise the level of frumkeit in America, his efforts were met with much opposition and bore little fruit. Rabbi Haikins pointed out that although in many ways Rabbi Jacob Joseph was ahead of his time, the frum community today owes him a great deal of hakaras hatov as a groundbreaker in establishing shemiras hamitzvos in America.
For more information and various sponsorship opportunities, contact Chevrah Lomdei Mishnah at 732-364-7029 or at ChevrahLomdeiMishnah.org.
– July 2009
