Yeshiva Kesser Torah, nestled in the center of Kew Gardens Hills in a small house with a big heart, hosts the most minyanim in the neighborhood.
It’s a special place where everyone is welcome, and everyone feels important! Ashkenazim, Sefardim, chasidim, and everyone else all daven together in harmony.
The melaveh malkah will take place, im yirtzeh Hashem, at 8:00 p.m., on Motza’ei Shabbos, January 27, in the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills.
Everyone is invited to come and show support to this wonderful mekom Torah in our midst, and to honor Dr. Yisroel & Mrs. Leah Bitterman for their continuous support of the shul and klal Yisrael. There will also be an award presented in memory of Mr. Pinchas Solow a”h, a talmid of Rabbi Rosenblatt zt”l.
The melaveh malkah affords an opportunity to reunite with alumni from the yeshivah and community supporters and to hear the Rosh Yeshivah’s beautiful nigunim, as well as divrei Torah from our local rabbanim, including Rabbi Shmuel Marcus of the Young Israel of Queens Valley and Rabbi Yaniv Meirov of Congregation Charm Circle.
Yeshiva Kesser Torah’s history began decades ago under the direction of the Rosh HaYeshivah, Rabbi Elyakim Getzel Rosenblatt zt”l.
Over the past five years, Rebbetzin Trani Rosenblatt, along with the Rosenblatt family, have selflessly continued the legacy of the late Rosh Yeshivah.
The shul continues to offer a steady stream of heartfelt minyanim and a beautiful beis midrash for learning in the basement. Rebbetzin Rosenblatt and Rabbi Avraham Dovid Garber, rav of Yeshiva Kesser Torah, oversee every detail of the shul and, baruch Hashem, it is flourishing. Every day, the shul is zocheh to host minyanim from Shacharis until after midnight.
Rabbi Rosenblatt’s nigunim still enhance the slow-paced, meaningful davening on Shabbos and Yom Tov. Rabbi Rosenblatt composed and sang three original, professionally arranged and orchestrated musical CDs. Yamim Nora’im davening was and still is especially awe-inspiring, accompanied by Rabbi Rosenblatt’s original melodies. He also shared hundreds of shiurim on Torah Anytime and wrote books on the parshah.
On Shabbos morning, the shul continues to host a special, joyous kiddush. In addition, every week, Rabbi Garber sends out weekly Yeshiva Kesser Torah parshah sheets. He is honored to be the rav of the shul and, as a talmid of Rabbi Rosenblatt, he seeks to do his best to continue the Rav’s legacy.
As this writer wrote in a previous article, when I interviewed the late Rosh Yeshivah, Rabbi Rosenblatt was urged by his students to start Yeshiva Kesser Torah, which originated in Corona, Queens. The name came about like everything else about Kesser Torah, through pure hashgachah. Rabbi Rosenblatt was sitting with one of the bachurim in his study, trying to think of a name for the yeshivah, when he noticed a sefer facing him with the title “Kesser Torah.” That was it!
In the 1980s, Kesser Torah flourished, teaching Torah to many full-time bachurim who have all become part of the Kesser Torah family. In 1994, Rabbi Yair Hoffman, one of the yeshivah’s rebbeim, urged Rabbi Rosenblatt to move the yeshivah to Kew Gardens Hills so it could reach more people. Again, Rabbi Rosenblatt recalls amazing hashgachah. Rabbi Rosenblatt and Rabbi Hoffman were driving through Kew Gardens Hills one day, when Rabbi Hoffman spotted a hidden “For Sale” sign on the side of a small house. Rabbi Rosenblatt realized it was the perfect home for the yeshivah. He paid a very small deposit, and the house became the new home for Yeshiva Kesser Torah. The location proved to be perfect, smack in the middle of Kew Gardens Hills, between the Kew Gardens Hills mikvah and the Kew Gardens Hills library.
Today, Yeshiva Kesser Torah continues to radiate achdus. You cannot walk into the shul without being greeted warmly. Rabbi and Rebbetzin Rosenblatt created a friendly, nonjudgmental atmosphere. It would be an honor to greet you at the upcoming melaveh malkah.
To reserve for the dinner and/or to send in a journal ad, go to the Kesser Torah website yeshivakessertorah.org/or call 718-793-2890.
By Susie Garber
