A small piece of Lakewood Yeshiva history arrived at the recording desk of Bais Medrash Govoah this week: a physical cassette recording of a shiur delivered by Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler, son of the rosh yeshiva, Rav Aryeh Malkiel Kotler.
The cassette went on sale following Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur’s inaugural shiur at the yeshiva on Sunday, an event that drew considerable excitement as another generation of the Kotler family formally assumed a role in delivering shiurim at the institution founded by Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l.
In an era when virtually every shiur can be streamed, downloaded or played instantly from a phone, the continued production of actual cassette tapes at BMG may seem like a relic from another age. But the yeshiva continues producing them regularly for a very particular reason.
The rosh yeshiva, Rav Yeruchem Olshin, continues to listen to recorded shiurim using a personal Walkman and has not transitioned to newer digital devices. As a result, the recording operation at BMG maintains the old cassette format, producing physical tapes alongside the more modern means through which shiurim are distributed.
That longstanding practice took on added significance this week when Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur’s first shiur was transferred onto cassette and made available for purchase, creating a tangible recording of a milestone moment in the yeshiva’s history.
The shiur itself was delivered in BMG’s Bais Medrash Hayoshon, the Bendheim Bais Medrash, the original building that occupies a singular place in Lakewood’s history. It is the same bais medrash where Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur’s grandfather and namesake, Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler zt”l, delivered shiurim decades earlier. Rav Shneur Kotler succeeded his father, Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l, in leading BMG and served as its rosh yeshiva until his petirah in 1982.
During his younger years, Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur learned at Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe of South Fallsburg. He subsequently traveled to Eretz Yisroel, where he became a talmid of Rav Yonason David, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Pachad Yitzchok, whom Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur considers his rebbi muvhak.
He later married Miriam Baddouch, daughter of Rav Shmuel Baddouch, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Lev Eliyohu of the Aram Soba community in Mexico.
Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur’s appointment comes amid a gradual introduction of a new generation of marbitzei Torah into BMG’s leadership. In recent years, sons and sons-in-law of the yeshiva’s roshei yeshiva have assumed positions delivering shiurim, including Rav Aharon Schustal, son of Rosh Yeshiva Rav Dovid Schustal; Rav Aharon Olshin, son of Rosh Yeshiva Rav Yeruchem Olshin; and Rav Yehoshua Abba Budel, son-in-law of Rosh Yeshiva Rav Yisroel Neuman.
On Sunday, Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur entered the Bais Medrash Hayoshon accompanied by the roshei yeshiva before beginning his inaugural shiur. He spoke on Maseches Bava Kamma, the masechta currently being learned in the yeshiva, addressing the sugya of “Toldoseihen kayotzei bahem.”
Now, days after the younger Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur delivered his first shiur there, the recording has joined the vast archive of Torah produced within those walls.
And fittingly for a yeshiva whose history stretches back generations, that newest chapter can still be purchased in one of the oldest formats around: a cassette tape.
{Matzav.com}
