Rav Nota Schiller ztz"l, founder of Ohr Somayach, spent the last 50 years in the forefront of the kiruv movement
Over half a century, tens of thousands have walked through the iron gate on Rechov Shimon Hatzaddik, up the few steps of Jerusalem stone, and into the pulsing beis medrash of Ohr Somayach Jerusalem. They came with questions, reservations, doubt, and at times, resentment. And after a year or two they left, many going on to become true talmidei chachamim with a profound understanding of life’s true meaning.
What happened in the interim?
The answer, Rav Nota Schiller would say, lies in one word: truth. They saw truth.
Rav Nota, who passed away last Shabbos at age 88, served as Ohr Somayach’s rosh yeshivah since its inception in 1972, at a time when the term “kiruv” was barely used.
But to him, the cries of thousands of Jewish souls being robbed of their heritage was too powerful to ignore. He, together with Rav Mendel Weinbach and Rav Noach Weinberg, and Rav Yaakov Rosenberg, founded a yeshivah for baalei teshuvah called “Shema Yisrael,” which turned into Ohr Somayach after Rav Weinberg went on to found Aish HaTorah in 1974 (Rav Rosenberg later opened Machon Shlomo in 1982).
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