Life in America
During World War II, Rabbi Grozovsky escaped Europe and the Holocaust with a group of his students and arrived on the west coast of the United States. He then journeyed to New York where he joined Rabbis Aharon Kotler and Avraham Kalmanowitz in leading the Vaad Hatzalah's efforts to save Jews from the Nazi Holocaust, including lobbying and fundraising. In the process, he also brought 110 members of the Kaminetz community to safety in America.
Rabbi Grozovsky was extremely active in the Agudath Israel of America organization. However, he preferred to work behind the scenes. His concern for Israel was well known. He read many magazine and newspaper article about Israel and asked students to translate articles written in English. As results of his knowledge, in May 1951 he organized a public demonstration protesting the unilateral action of the Israeli government in involuntarily sending religious refugee children to anti-religious kibbutzim ("communes").
Rabbi Grozovsky was asked by Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz to head the Yeshiva Torah Vodaas located in Brooklyn, New York. There he earned a reputation for incisive analytical reasoning combined with vast Talmudic knowledge and a humble and modest personality. Although he spent less than a year in this position, his influence on the Yeshiva belies the relatively few years he was associated with it.
Reb Reuvain's schedule would have worn out many men who were physically stronger. He arrived at Beth Medrash Elyon in Upstate New York, every Thursday and remained awake all night preparing for the Friday Talmudic lecture. The same routine was followed the next night, when after his Shabbos meal, he would prepare for his Sunday afternoon lecture. He then returned to Brooklyn on Monday to present the same lecture, modified for his different audience, on Tuesday.
Six years before his death, he suffered a stroke which impaired his physical functioning. Nonetheless, the Rosh Yeshiva remained mentally alert and was able to study until his death in 1958. He was survived by his sons, Rabbi Chaim Grozovsky and rabbi Shamshon Grozovsky and his sons-in-law, Rabbis Don Ungarisher (Rosh Yeshiva of Beth Medrash Elyon) and Levi Krupenia.
Read more about this topic: Refael Reuvain Grozovsky
Famous quotes containing the words life and/or america:
“With liberty and pleasant weather, the simplest occupation, any unquestioned country mode of life which detains us in the open air, is alluring. The man who picks peas steadily for a living is more than respectable, he is even envied by his shop-worn neighbors. We are as happy as the birds when our Good Genius permits us to pursue any outdoor work, without a sense of dissipation.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner, unless you eat some of what’s on that plate. Being here in America doesn’t make you an American. Being born here in America doesn’t make you an American.”
—Malcolm X (1925–1965)