Last Sunday I wasn’t feeling well. Our family had just finished sitting shiva for Rabbi Singer zt”l. The physical and emotional exertion had caught up with me. I felt drained and foggy. That changed when I noticed a fairly large crowd learning in the beis hamedrash at our yeshiva, Passaic Torah Institute (PTI), on Sunday evening. Some of the young professionals were reviewing what they had learned last week. Wow! Sunday night is usually quiet at the yeshiva, but something was brewing. Minutes later, another young professional walked in and asked if someone would learn with him. I was so impressed. No shiurim were scheduled, but people were coming in on their own to learn. “You guys are giving me strength,” I told them with hugs. “This is why Rabbi Singer created this yeshiva—a home where every Jew belongs.”
The last pasuk in Parshas Vayigash says, “Vayeishev Yisrael b’eretz Mitzraim b’eretz Goshen—Yaakov and his family settled in the land of Mitzrayim in the city of Goshen.” Targum Yonasan ben Uziel interprets this to mean that they settled in Egypt and built batei medrash and paltin (shuls). The Targum Yonasan emphasizes that the pasuk is not just informing us where they physically settled, but how they spiritually settled.Where did the Targum Yonasan see an indication from the pasuk that it’s referring to batei medrash and shuls, and not just regular homes?
The Netziv notes that the listing of the location seems to be in reverse order. Why does the Torah list Egypt first and only afterwards the city of Goshen? Typically, it’s the reverse. As is the case when mailing a letter, we first write the city, then the state. The Netziv answers that the Jews physically lived all over Mitzrayim, not just in Goshen. As the Torah says at the beginning of Shemos, “vatimalei ha’aretz osam—the land (of Egypt) was filled with Jews.” However, their spiritual dwelling place was in Goshen, the city in which they built yeshivos and shuls.
The Gemara tells us that from the beginning of time until the present, there was always a yeshiva where people learned. Shem and Eiver had a yeshiva, and so did Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. The Gemara continues to describe the greatness of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, saying that Avraham was a zakein who sat in a yeshiva. The same was true for Yitzchak and Yaakov. A zakein means a person who has acquired wisdom—hence, a talmid chacham. If they were talmidei chachamim, why the need to say that they sat in a yeshiva? Why was that necessary?
Rabbi Chaim Friedlander explains that everyone needs a place to sit and learn Torah without interruption. Such a place is a basic element of Jewish settlement.
Anyone who has been around our yeshiva, PTI, for a long time will have witnessed the following: A new person would join a minyan at PTI, and afterwards approach my father-in-law, Rabbi Singer zt”l, and comment, “Rabbi Singer, you have such a nice, welcoming shul!” Rabbi Singer would welcome him, saying, “I’m so happy to meet you, but this is not a shul; it’s a yeshiva.” The person would reply, “I’m confused. Why is this a yeshiva and not a shul?” Rabbi Singer would explain, “I understand your confusion. We do function as a shul with daily minyanim, but mostly we’re a yeshiva. We offer Torah learning for adults at the high levels of a yeshiva and help develop in-depth learning skills.”
Rabbi Singer was privileged to have learned in the Beth Medrash Govoha (BMG) yeshiva in Lakewood with the great Gaon, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, for seven years. When he was leaving BMG, Rav Kotler asked him, “What are you going to do as a profession?” Rabbi Singer told him that he was going to be a cantor. Rabbi Kotler told him that in every shul he went to, he must also teach Torah. “You need to create a yeshiva,” he said. Rabbi Singer came to Passaic in 1966 and eventually founded our yeshiva, PTI. Bruce Goldberg, who still attends daily shiurim with us, was his first talmid!
Rabbi Singer left a legacy of the primacy of Torah learning and establishing a set place to learn. He created PTI as a unique yeshiva for working men…and women! Indeed, Rav Moshe Feinstein encouraged learning groups for women too!
Please partner with me to bring the mission and vision of Rabbi Singer to the next generation; to continue and expand our yeshiva—our spiritual epicenter in North Jersey. Please contribute to and attend this year’s special PTI UNITED dinner on Motzei Shabbos, January 11. Reservations and ads can be submitted to ptireception.com. Thank you!
Rabbi Baruch Bodenheim is the associate rosh yeshiva of Passaic Torah Institute (PTI)/Yeshiva Ner Boruch, where he leads a multi-level Gemara learning program. PTI has attracted adult Jews of all ages from all over northern New Jersey for its learning programs. Fees are not charged, but contributions are always welcome. Rabbi Bodenheim can be reached at [email protected]. For more info about PTI and its Torah classes, visit www.pti.shulcloud.com.
