A Prince of His People

He built valuable relationships on local, county, and state levels, founded Lakewood’s first girls’ high school, personally served as Hatzolah’s evening dispatcher for nearly 25 years, and created the conditions for Lakewood to become a thriving kehillah.

His levayah was held in the yeshivah itself, a testament to the esteem in which he was held by the Roshei Yeshivah and rabbanim, and condolence calls streamed in from elected officials, showcasing the respect he commanded in political circles as well. Lakewood’s long-serving Mayor Raymond Coles mourned the rabbi’s loss, calling him “my teacher, advisor, and confidant — my Rebbi,” and credited him with having an “immense impact on Lakewood.”

Rabbi Aaron Kotler, President Emeritus of Beth Medrash Govoha, shares his reflections on a lifelong friend.

The famed Oxford English Dictionary defines “byword” as “a person or thing who becomes proverbial, as a type of specified characteristics.”