Rabbi Elias (Eli) Schwartz (died November 23, 2016) was an American synagogue rabbi, a yeshiva principal,[1] and an author.[2][3]

Education edit

He was a student at Yeshiva Torah Vodaath, where his primary influences were Rabbis Shlomo Heiman and Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz[2]

Career edit

His students and past congregants numbered in the thousands[4]

The two volumes that he authored using the title V'Shee-non-tom (And thou shalt teach them) [5][6] were to extend the work he did in helping to found Olomeinu Magazine.

His synagogue, Young Israel of Bensonhurst, was in a neighborhood that changed several times since he accepted its pulpit "in the early 1960s."[2][7]

Similarly, the backgrounds of his students at Yeshiva Toras Emes Kaminetz changed from "the 1940s..." when "Rabbi Schwartz assumed leadership of Torah Emes."[2][8]

Schwartz also oversaw the relocation of the school's three buildings twice:

  • first, from a pair of buildings housing the elementary grades, on 43rd street between 13th and 14th Avenue, and a separate building blocks away housing the high school, all in the lower end of Boro Park, to a single building a mile away
  • then, years later, to the Midwood section of Flatbush.[9]

The growing presence of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union within Brooklyn added to both his congregation[4] and the yeshiva, and he helped with "the many challenges they faced."

Works edit

In Volume I of V'Shee-non-tom, Schwartz describes his work on this volume as an outgrowth of his work on Olameinu Magazine.[10][11]

First came the weekly mimeograph sheets, sent home to parents of the Yeshiva where he was principal. This came to the attention of NCSY's Rabbi Pinchas Stolper; the material was printed by UOJCA, the parent body, for use by NCSY group leaders.[12]

Death edit

Upon his November 23, 2016 (22 Mar-Cheshvan)[2] passing, he was survived by a son (Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Schwartz), a daughter (Mrs. Hoschander), and 2 more generations of descendants.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ William Helmreich (1979). "Old Wine in New Bottles: Advanced Yeshivot in the United States". American Jewish History. 69 (2): 234–256. JSTOR 23881834. Interview with Rabbi Elias Schwartz, September 24, 1979. Schwartz is principal of Yeshivah Toras Emes in Brooklyn.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Rafael Hoffman (November 23, 2016). "Rabbi Elias Schwartz". Hamodia. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  3. ^ "he authored several English-language sefarim that ...
  4. ^ a b "Shuvu's 26th Annual Dinner: Dedication L'Iluy Nishmas Rabbi Elias Schwartz, Z"l". February 26, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Rabbi Elias Schwartz (1973). V'shee-non-tom, Volume I, For each and every sedra. Rabbi Elias Schwartz. LCCN 73-80075.
  6. ^ a b Rabbi Elias Schwartz (1981). V'shee-non-tom, Volume II, Pesach, Shevuos, Succohs. ISBN 978-0960607402. LCCN 81-90008.
  7. ^ Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler (December 1, 2016). "Bringing Nachat to Ourselves".
  8. ^ Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz (January 21, 2015). "The Miracle of Mesorah". Yated Ne'eman (United States). Some seventy years ago, in 1944, .. attended Yeshiva Toras Emes ... visiting the centenarian former menahel, ... Rabbi Elias Schwartz, who was the principal of Toras Emes when ...
  9. ^ Garry Pierre-Pierre (April 17, 1994). "Tale of the Half-Built Yeshiva". The New York Times.
  10. ^ publisher: Torah Umesorah - National Society for Hebrew Day Schools
  11. ^ "HERE'S my STORY" (PDF). JEmedia (Jewish Educational Media). January 11, 2014. ... the 1950s, when their Olameinu magazine was in a severe financial crisis and was going to stop publishing ...
  12. ^ Volume I, History and Acknowledgement

External links edit