Today I bid a personal, emotional farewell to Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, zt”l. Rabbi Charlop was a scion of the preeminent Charlop rabbinic family, congregational rabbi in the Bronx for over five decades, and served as the dean of YU’s Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan Theological Seminary from 1971 to 2008. He was a singular personality.
I am sharing a few reflections with you with a sense of deep personal sorrow, sadness, loss and appreciation. You should know that without Rabbi Charlop, I would not be who and where I am today. My personal accomplishments and our kollel impact are thanks to him. My hakarat hatov to him is beyond words.
Rabbi Charlop welcomed me into the semicha program at RIETS in my early 20s; we met in his office as he took notes about our conversation in a large tome in which he kept track of every meeting with every student. Our relationship was forged as he helped me organize a student trip to Israel (a place that was so beloved to him) during the second intifada. He fundraised, advised and encouraged.
Shortly after, I was at a crossroads, whether I should enter the classroom or pursue advanced Torah learning in the RIETS Kollel. Not only did he encourage me to keep learning, but I believe (although I am not certain) that it was he who personally ensured that I would be accepted into the Wexner Kollel Elyon at RIETS. This is where I received an outstanding advanced Torah education with access to today’s truly most outstanding rabbeim and mentors. Thanks to Rabbi Charlop I developed my learning, speaking, writing and pastoral skills.
He danced with me at our wedding in Miami and encouraged and supported me and Nechama in our decision to move to Chicago to join the YU Torah Mitzion Kollel. In subsequent years I would send him kollel materials and notes in the mail so that he would have nachas from what has been accomplished here.
Rabbi Charlop was a prodigious scholar in a range of Torah and secular disciplines, an original thinker and larger-than-life personality. He was a deeply caring and generous person, attending to congregants, students and strangers in all aspects of life. He was supremely optimistic and saw the potential and value in others, irrespective of their station in life.
He had the unusual ability to be a visionary thinker and idealistic dreamer while simultaneously being practical and pragmatic. He was deeply rooted in his personal Masorah—his grandfather, Rav Yaakov Moshe Charlop, zt”l, and the Yerushalmi world from which his family came. He was committed to the future of klal Yisrael with the countless students he mentored and supported.
His loss is felt by his beautiful family, the YU- RIETS community and me personally.
My debt of gratitude to Rabbi Zevulun Charlop is immeasurable. May my personal accomplishments and the light of the Torah we learn together be a source of illumination for his exalted neshama.
Rabbi Reuven Brand is the rosh kollel of the YU Torah Mitzion Kollel in Skokie, Illinois.
