Continuing the Tradition--25 Years of Old World Mesorah in the Midwest

No one dreamed that it could ever be possible. That Midwestern America would someday be the next
stop along the chain of transmission of the rich mesorah of yesteryear seemed like an impossible
dream. Nonetheless, thanks to the tireless efforts of one great visionary, the impossible became reality.
When the Veitzener Rav, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Meisels zt”l, settled in Chicago after the war, he
immediately set to work infusing the city with all the infrastructure of a European shtetyl including
chalav Yisrael, separate seating at simchas, a chevra kadisha, kosher mikvas, and the first Beis Yaakov.
Largely due to his efforts, Chicago has a fully functioning frum community today.

The Best of Both Worlds

A quarter of a century ago, the Veitzener Rav's dream reached completion when his son in law, Rabbi
Moshe Yosef Ungar shlita, together with help from devoted members of the community, opened the
first Yiddish speaking cheder in Chicago, ensuring that the mesorah would be transmitted to the next
generation. The Veitzener Cheder—Yeshiva Ohr Boruch (originally called Shearis Yisroel) was born,
firmly solidifying the link with the rich past and connecting it to a bright new future. The Veitzener
Cheder is committed to combining traditional old-world Yiddishkeit with Midwestern America. They
provide their students with the best of all worlds, offering a top-notch yeshiva and secular education
that utilizes all the benefits of the modern world together with a simcha and ruach that are so hard to
come by in society today. “Our mission is to produce young men who have a love for Hashem, Torah,
and Yiddishkeit, who also possess the tools to succeed in life,” Rabbi Ungar said. “Children with
refined midos, self esteem, simchas hachaim and positive attitudes are a different species altogether. It
will have an impact on their entire lives!”

There are currently over 150 students enrolled in the Cheder, grades Pre-Kindergarten to Eighth.
Afterwards many boys go on to study in top yeshivas such as Brisk, Mir, Philadelphia and Telshe.
Alumnus Shmueli Shabes now learns in Lakewood Yeshiva: “Having both Chassidish and Litvish
Rebbeim instilled us with hislahavus and bren while also preparing us for the Litvish yeshivas that most
of us went on to after graduation. The Cheder offered the best of both worlds.” Although the limudei
kodesh program is one of the best in the country, master mechanech, Menahel Rabbi Hillel Mandel
stresses that their strict commitment to mesorah is not only about giving over what was learned in
previous generations but also how it was learned: “It's about creating a positive experience of
Yiddishkeit—the geshmak, the warmth, the simcha, the excitement, the ruach! The students don't come
to school and then go home—it's a way of life.”

The strong emphasis on building good character traits at the Cheder is possibly one of the best in the
world. Academic success is only measured by the amount of effort, not the results and only together
with good midos as well. Every month students work on perfecting a different character trait in an
exciting and positive way and parents commonly note that they see regular changes in their children's
behavior at home. The Hashgacha Protis Program challenges students to write down the Divine
providence that happens in their lives each day and it helps develop experiential emuna. “We spend
more time than most yeshivas improving academic skills but we also try to give our children skills for
life--emotional, social, and behavioral skills, so that when a they graduate they can deal with the
challenges of the modern world to live a Torah life with confidence,” Rabbi Mandel said.

Striving for Success

Rebbeim work overtime, in and out of the classroom, making sure every child has a chance to reach his
highest potential. It’s no wonder that students rank amongst the best in the country in the Masmid
Gevoah and V’debarta Bam learning initiatives and that the Cheder was the recipient of the National
Torah U'Mesorah Award last year. “I don't teach a gemara unless I've prepared it before—and I've been
teaching the same material for 16 years!” veteran Rebbe, Rabbi Pinchus Krystal said. “Seeing it last
year isn't the same as seeing it last night.” The serious English studies program is taught by an all frum,
qualified staff, in addition to numerous extra-curricular activities such as Chassidic dance class, choir,
regular school plays, and a woodworking workshop, that provide students with a well-rounded
approach to life. The large Special Ed. Department addresses the needs of every child to ensure that no
one is left behind. There is also an in-house guidance counselor and clinical psychologist to provide
emotional and social support to anyone who needs it and the full-time Mashgiach, Rabbi Yissachar
Ehrman, is there to speak with children at all times. “There's a feeling in the Cheder that it's one big
family,” Eighth grade Rebbe, Rabbi Eliezer Aron said. “Even a child who isn't doing well in learning
will still feel good about himself. When I was a kid I dreaded going to cheder. Here the boys come in
with big smiles in the morning--they enjoy coming to cheder!"

Yeshiva President, Rabbi Zvi Feiner, noted that the yeshiva has raised the standard of learning in the
entire Midwest. “The top chinuch is not just in New York, it’s not just on the East coast, it’s right here
in the Midwest,” he said.

“We've far exceeded every expectation for the Cheder,” Rabbi Ungar said. “That the Veitzener Cheder
would some day become a beacon for mosdos all over the country was beyond our wildest dreams! It
gives us energy and chizuk to keep going farther and farther to continue giving these children the tools
to succeed in life.”

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Sidebar
The Guardian of Chicago

The story of Rabbi Ungar's eventual relocation to Chicago came out of a dream that his wife had
twenty five years ago. Before his engagement to the daughter of the Veitzener Rav zt”l, Rabbi Ungar
was asked if he would ever consider moving to Chicago. The answer was a definitive NO. The couple
was committed to living in Boro Park in the center of American Chassidus. One night, Rebitzen Ungar
had a strange dream. Her father appeared in their house pacing back and forth with his hands up in the
air: “What will be with Chicago?” he moaned. Suddenly, Rabbi Ungar walked into the room and the
Veitzener Rav exclaimed: “Ah, he will take over Chicago!” Even from the next world, the Veitzener
Rav couldn't forget his city! Later that day, the Rebitzen's brother called and asked if they might
consider moving back to Chicago to take over the Veitzener shul for just one year. How could they
refuse after a dream like that?

The problem however, was that coming from a long line of Chassidishe Rebbes, Rav Ungar wanted his
son to attend a traditional Yiddish speaking chedar. There was nothing of the sort in Chicago, or
anywhere in the Midwest for that matter. Someone suggested that he open his own. After receiving a
brocha from Rav Shlomo Bubover zt"l, the Ungars moved to Chicago and set out to start the Veitzener
Cheder. The rest is history. "My father-in-law brought Europe to Chicago," Rabbi Ungar said, "without
any compromise. He was the guardian of the city. We are just carrying out his dream of continuing the
mesorah. We're just another link in the chain."
The Quarter Century Banquet—Preserving the Unbroken Chain of Our Heritage

This year's annual banquet marks a milestone for the Veitzener Cheder. Since its founding, a quarter of
a century ago, it has been devoted to passing on the chain of our rich mesorah to Chicago's children by
combining old world Torah with Chassidishe varmkeit while simultaneously utilizing all the benefits of
Midwestern America. After the Holocaust, it appeared as if the link with authentic Yiddishkeit was lost
forever. Thanks to the uncompromising vision of the Veitzener Rav and others like him, klal Yisrael has
managed to preserve the unbroken chain of its heritage. The Cheder owes its very existence to the
mesiras nefesh of all the individuals who devoted their time, energy, and money to ensuring that the
Midwest had a traditional European cheder. Without their help this dream could never have become a
reality.

Mr. Boruch Hollander z"l was one such individual. Without his constant emotional and financial
support, the Cheder would not be where it is today. After his untimely passing, his son Mr. Volvie
Hollander and dear friend, Rabbi Morris Esformes have renamed the yeshiva in his name in an act of
charity that is worthy of his great memory. In this honor, the Quarter Century Banquet is being co-
chaired by these two exemplary men. “We have brought the past into the future - to have a Cheder
which speaks in Yiddish and teaches children how it was at one time is really an incredible thing in
today’s America. It’s because of Reb Boruch's vision and dream, that this is possible,” Rabbi Esformes
said.

Mr. Yaakov (Jack) Reiss is the recipient of the first-ever Veitzener Rav zt"l Memorial Award in honor
of his great devotion to the Veitzener Rav and Cheder all these years. He was one of the founding board
members together with Mr. Yisroel Gluck, Mr. Rudolph Tessler, Dr. Arthur Kohn and lbch”l, Mr. Boruch
Hollander z”l. His beloved grandson Mr. Ari Haas, and son-in-laws Mr. Moshe Kahn and Rabbi
Samuel Seleski are the Chairmen of this inaugural award.

The last link in the unbroken chain of continuity are the transmitters themselves—the Rebbeim.
Without the talented, professional, and devoted Rebbeim, the Cheder's mission would be futile. Their
love, patience, and warmth are what allow for the transmission of Torah through simcha, ruach, and
geshmak. Together with the hanhala, the yeshiva's Rebbeim provide the children with so much more
than academic knowledge—they provide them with an experience of the true joy of Yiddishkeit. The
Harbotzas HaTorah Award is therefore dedicated to them. The Harbotzas HaTorah Award committee is
chaired by the Veitzener Cheder's very own Mashgiach, Rabbi Yissocher Ehrman, together with Mr.
Meier Knopf, Rabbi Ari Maryles, and Rabbi Yeruchom Levovitz.

The ultimate proof of the success of the Veitzener Rav's vision, however, is most evident in the alumni.
Without them, there would be no future for klal Yisrael. The hundreds of students to have passed
through the hallowed halls of the yeshiva haven't only walked away with a top-notch education but also
with a deeply ingrained connection to their heritage. Now, 25 years later, the first talmidim are already
starting their own families and are themselves transmitting the love of authentic Yiddishkeit that they
received at the Cheder to their own children, the next generation of American Jewry--another link in
the unbroken chain of mesorah.

Rabbi Tzvi Schnell was a member of the founding class 25 years ago. Today he is a Maggid Shiur in a
yeshiva in Lakewood, passing on the tradition to his own talmidim: “There was such an emphasis on
mesorah at the Cheder. It had a strong lasting impression on us even as little kids. They gave us a true
taste of Yiddishkeit the way it was.”
"This is a dream come true," Dean Rabbi Moshe Ungar shlita said. "Just look where we are now after
25 years. It's unbelievable! It never hit me before how many students have passed through our halls
until I recently saw a list of alumni. We've been zokeh to touch hundreds of neshamos over the years.
Today they themselves are passing on the tradition to the next generation of American Jews."

The Veitzener Cheder Quarter Century Banquet will take place at 6:30 p.m. on January 9, 2011
(‫תשע"א‬, ‫ )אור לה ' שבט‬at the Crowne Plaza O'Hare on 5440 North River Road in Rosemont. Join us in
celebration of 25 years of continued tradition in Chicago. Your ongoing generous support at this
landmark juncture will guarantee the continuity of this vital link in the chain of our treasured mesorah.

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Pull Quotes: Alumni and Rebbeim

Rabbi Pinchus Krystal is the veteran Rabbi on the staff, having taught at the Veitzener Cheder for the
past 16 years: “The Rebbeim put in the extra time—coming early in the morning, staying late, and
making home visits and house calls to prepare children for class. They make sure to learn all the topics
b'iyun just to teach it to the kids. The better you know something the more equipped you are to give it
over even on the simplest level. In the classroom, the focus has to be purely on giving over the
material, not understanding it yourself. I don't teach a gemara unless I've prepared it before—and I've
been teaching the same material for 16 years! Seeing it last year isn't the same as seeing it last night.”

Eighth grade Rebbe, Rabbi Eliezer Aron commented that the most important aspect of the Cheder is the
warm connection between students and Rebbeim: "Chazal teach us that students are similar to children
—it has to be a personal connection. There's a feeling in the Cheder that it's one big family. It's not just
a job--it's a warm environment full of simcha, Even a child who isn't doing well in learning will still
feel good about himself. When I was a kid I dreaded going to cheder. Here the boys come in with big
smiles in the morning--they enjoy coming to cheder! Now that's a huge accomplishment."

Shmueli Shabes graduated the yeshiva 10 years ago and learns in BMG Yeshiva in Lakewood: “Having
both Chassidish and Litvish Rebbeim instilled us with hislahavus and bren while also preparing us for
the Litvish yeshivas that most of us went on to after graduation. The Cheder offered the best of both
worlds.”

Rabbi Tzvi Schnell was a member of the founding class 25 years ago. Today he lives in Lakewood and
is a Maggid Shiur in Yeshivas Beis Meir: “We got to watch the school being built—we were part of it
and saw the mesiros nefesh and dedication of the Rebbeim and hanhalah first-hand. There was such an
emphasis on mesorah at the Cheder. It had a strong lasting impression on us even as little kids. They
gave us a true taste of Yiddishkeit the way it was.”

Mr. Naftali Tessler was one of the original board members of the Cheder. He gave the very first
donation to get things started and underwrote the yeshiva's deficit for the first few years: “The
Veitzener Cheder brought back the nusach of learning as it was in Europe. Nothing like that happened
before in Chicago. We never dreamed it was possible.”

“We have brought the past into the future - to have a Cheder which speaks in Yiddish and teaches
children how it was at one time is really an incredible thing in today’s America. It’s because of Reb
Boruch's vision and dream, that this is possible.” --Rabbi Morris Esformes
“The Cheder instilled my children with a love of Yiddishkeit as well as the priorities from the heim such
as derech eretz and midos tovos to prepared them to become true benei Torah.” --Mr. Volvie Hollander,
proud father of two alumni.

"Our motto is not to be as good as everyone else," Rabbi Mandel said, "it's to be better! We are a
proactive school. The real problem effecting many kids today is that they weren't given a true geshmak
in Yiddishkeit. We make sure to teach everything in a dynamic, exciting way without any pressure or
negativity so they will stay connected to Torah forever. Once you reveal the neshama through simcha,
it naturally leads to a life of emuna."

“To a huge extent Chicago's frumkeit stands on the shoulders of the Veitzener Rav," Rabbi Leibel
Shainbaum said. He practically grew in Rabbi Meisels' home as a buchor and can never forget the time
he spent together with the Rav. "He was the shomer ha'ir, the guardian of the city. Other mosdos were
able to succeed in Chicago because he planted the seeds. He imbued the city with a sense of yira
Shamayim."

Rabbi Schaje Abromovitz, a Rebbe in Yeshiva Tiferes Tzvi and an afternoon teacher in the Cheder,
davened in the Veitzener Shul most of his life and was very close to the Rav as a buchor. "He was warm
and friendly and was mekarev every Yid who came his way regardless of race, creed, or color but he
wouldn't compromise one iota on what he was mekabel from the old country. When he davened from
the amud he poured out his heart in tears and saw Gehenom opened up before him because he
experienced it first hand. He was a living example of an emesdika Yid--the most amazing person there
ever was!"
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A Lifetime Connection—A Tribute to the Memory of Reb Boruch Hollander z”l

In his lifetime, Reb Boruch Hollander z”l's name was intimately connected to the Veitzener Cheder.
Despite the fact that he was personally responsible for helping to fund countless organizations, schools
and charities throughout Chicago and the world, the Cheder always remained closest to his heart. From
its very inception, Reb Boruch cared for it as if it were his own child. “He wanted to have a Cheder that
resembled what was before the chorbon,” his son, Reb Volvie Hollander said. “The changing times
never effected his opinion—his goal was to preserve the mesorah without swaying.”

Reb Boruch was born in Budapest in 1942, in the middle of war-torn Europe. After the War, the
Hollanders immigrated to Williamsburg. His father was a staunch Munkatcher Chassid and made sure
to send him to the best Chassidishe chederim and yeshivas to ensure that he stayed connected to the
mesorah in America. It worked, and Reb Boruch remained a Munkatcher Chassid his entire life. Not a
month went by that he didn't speak to the Rebbe shlita and he went every Rosh Hashana to be by him.

In 1971, Reb Boruch moved to Chicago to take over his father-in-law's dying nursing home business
and managed to turn it into a highly successful operation in a relatively short amount of time. The
Munkatcher Rebbe shlita once explained that Reb Boruch's unusual generosity was a natural
outpouring of hakaras hatov to Hashem for this great siate d'Shamaya.

More than Dollars and Cents

“What my father did for a living is far less important that what he did with it,” Reb Volvie said. “He
always felt the pain of anything that other Yidden were going through from across the spectrum of Jews.
He lived for others and he really gave away a lot—not just in dollars and cents, but also in concern and
time. He always did whatever he could to make sure his tzedakah had the most substantial impact on
the recipient.”

When Reb Boruch moved to Chicago, his father made him promise that he would attach himself to the
Veitzener Rav zt”l in order to stay connected to old world Yiddishkeit. He helped provide the initial
funds to start the Cheder together with a handful of generous donors and he continued to give the
yeshiva a monthly check from that day on. When it became necessary to purchase a new building, he
came forward with the namesake donation but he always refused to take any public credit. The
sponsorship for the first Cheder Banquet was written anonymously—he wouldn't have it any other way.

But he wasn't only there financially. In the early years of the Cheder, he and Rabbi Ungar used to
brainstorm together night after night about how to improve the well-being of the children and the
Rebbeim. On his own initiative, he helped found the Avrum Aber Hollander Lifecycle Simcha Fund,
named after his father, to provide yeshiva Rebbeim with generous stipends on the event of a family
simcha. “Reb Boruch supported me both financially and emotionally,” Rabbi Ungar shlita recalled. “In
over 25 years together, I never approached him for anything. He always came forward and volunteered
his services without my ever asking. He was like a father to the Cheder.”

Eternally Connected

He and Rabbi Ungar also had a deep friendship and there are countless times that he offered the Ungars
personal assistance to help support their growing family. Reb Boruch once said that if he could have
picked a younger brother it would have been Rabbi Ungar. “A day did not go by that I didn't think
about him,” Rabbi Ungar said, “because a day didn't go by that he didn't think about us. He taught this
city how to give tzedakah."

“What is it that he left with me that I can carry around my entire life?” his dear friend, philanthropist
Morris Esformes, asked. The two began their lifelong friendship after meeting in the Veitzener Shul so
many years ago. “For all the years that I knew Boruch, it never was about him. When approached, he
extended himself to incredible levels, whether in business or in chesed. How often is it in our
generation that we get to live in a community with people who are that sensitive and really care?”

Reb Boruch was survived by his three children, Shaindel Hollander of Miami, Feigi Knobel of
Flatbush, and Volvie Hollander of Chicago, his thirteen grandchildren, and five great grandchildren,
ka”h, one of whom already bears his name. His mother Roize, survived him by six months and passed
away last Rosh Hashana at the age of 92.

Only now, with the renaming of the Cheder after Reb Boruch by the Hollander family together with
Rabbi Esformes, does his name finally get the recognition it deserved all those years. He still only
permitted the use of his name after his passing for selfless reasons: so that his grandchildren can see
what their Zeidie valued in life! At the sheloshim, Rabbi Dovid Meisels shlita said: “Now that you are
up there with your father, tell him that you fulfilled your promise to him completely. Not only were you
close to the Veitzener Rav zt”l, but now you've become one with him forever—The Veitzener Cheder-
Yeshiva Ohr Boruch!”

This is the legacy of Boruch Hollander. Yehi zichro boruch--may his name be remembered for blessing.
Veitzener Rav zt”l Memorial Award Recipient: Mr. Yaakov Reiss

Connecting to the Past, Rebuilding the Future

Reb Yaakov (Jack) Reiss was involved in the yeshiva from its very inception and was also a devoted
Chassid and supporter of the Veitzener Rav zt”l.

Reb Yaakov was born in Munkatch, Hungary in 1928 and was a Chassid of the Minchas Elazer. He
always had fond memories of that idyllic time in Munkatch before the Holocaust that took the lives of
his entire family. When the war ended, Reb Yaakov was left all alone in the world. Instead of falling
into despair over the past, he preferred to start over. His life began anew on the day of his liberation
from Buchenwald on Shvi Shel Pesach - the day he often refers to as his birthday. He was forever
thankful to Hashem for having taking him out of that Gehenom and given him a chance to begin again.

Reb Yaakov arrived on American shores at the age of 18--without a soul in the world. The first time he
met the Veitzener Rav, Rav Tzvi Hirsch Meisels, zt”l, he was immediately brought back to Munkatch
and he instantly accepted him as his Rebbe. He often tells people that the Rav helped him stay
connected to the ways of his ancestors--to the long-gone glorious past.

Reb Yaakov became one of the most devoted supporters of the Veitzener Rav, and he underwrote all of
the Rav's seforim, most notably the first edition of Shaylos U'teshuvos Mikadeshei Hashem - the
Veitzener Rav's account of the life and death shaylos he had to poskin in the hell of Auschwitz. Rav
Meisels not only considered Reb Yaakov to be a devoted Chassid, but also a friend.

Reb Yaakov was a staunch supporter of the Veitzener Chedar from the beginning. The very first Cheder
meeting was held in his living room. “The Veitzener Cheder was born in his home!” Dean, Rabbi
Ungar shlita recalled. “I always thought I would be a Rav with a chedar on the side. Yaakov Reiss was
the one who encouraged me to make the Chedar my life. He was a shliach of Hashem to push me to
fulfill the dream of carrying on the rich tradition of the past.”