[Avodah] Bringing Torah Im Derech Eretz to Lithuania

[Yitzchok Levine]

 From an interview that I conducted with 
Rebbetzin Etel Miller 
("<http://personal.stevens.edu/%7Ellevine/miller_2.pdf>Rebbetzin 
Chana Ettel Miller, a"h" The Hamodia September 
24, 2008, page C35.) as well as from Dr. Rivka 
Teitz Blau's biography of her father, Rav 
Mordechai Pinchas Teitz, Learn Torah, Live Torah, 
Love Torah,  I was aware that there were 3 Yavneh schools in Lithuania.

However, from Ish Yehudi, the biography of Rav 
Joseph Tzvi Carlebach, I recently learned that 
TIDE was brought to Lithuania after the Germans 
occupied this county not long after the start of 
WW I in 1914. This was done by German Orthodox 
rabbonim. Rabbi Joseph Tzvi Carlebach played a key role in this.

I have posted almost all of Chapter 14 from Ish 
Yehudi at 
http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/carlebach/tide_lita.pdf 
(There are two pages of pictures that I left 
out.) This material describes how TIDE schools 
were set up in Lithuania and their success.

The following is from this chapter. Note second 
paragraph that says that the TIDE schools were 
established in consultation "with the local 
rabbinical authorities, including some of 
Lithuania's foremost Torah scholars."

Also note the final paragraph given below and who 
Rav Reuvein Grozovsky credits with saving the 
Slabodka Yeshiva. See the link above for the entire chapter.

The lack of proper schooling for Jewish 
youngsters was a matter of great concern to the 
Occupation authorities. The traditional cheder 
provided schooling only at the elementary level; 
there was no organized educational system for 
high school and beyond. To address that need, Dr. 
Rosenak was asked to recommend an experienced 
educator who combined Jewish and secular 
scholarship, to establish and direct a school in 
Lithuania's capital city of Kovno.

Dr. Rosenak could not think of anyone better 
qualified for such an assignment than his 
brother-in-law, the Rav [Rabbi Joseph Tzvi 
Carlebach]. The educational experience of his 
years in Jerusalem and at the Margareten Lyceum 
in Berlin, had the Rav's status as a first rate 
educator firmly established. With doctorates in 
mathematics and philosophy included in his 
resume, he received the call. Reporting to the 
High Command -North East, he was promoted to 
captain with the title of advisor on educational 
matters, and invested with full authority to 
proceed with the schooling plan. Following 
extensive consultations with the local rabbinical 
authorities, including some of Lithuania's 
foremost Torah scholars, the Rav laid the 
foundations for a gymnasium-type school, based 
upon the principles of Torah im Derech Eretz, 
combining Torah lessons with secular subjects. 
Since the German authorities limited the number 
of weekly hours of instruction for religious 
subjects, the Rav introduced Hebrew as a foreign 
language, thus doubling the hours available for 
limuday kodesh, including Talmud for the boys and 
Tenach (Bible and Prophets) for the girls. The 
Rav was able to persuade a number of highly 
qualified teachers from Germany to join him, in 
his pioneering effort on behalf of the 
chinuch-deprived Jewish youth in the occupied 
territories. Notable among them was Dr. Leo 
Deutschlaender, whose name became famous, some 
years later, for his enormous contribution to the Beth Jacob school system.

Known locally as the Carlebach Gymnasium, the 
school began with fewer than a hundred students, 
as many parents were reluctant to entrust their 
children to the new educators who wore German 
army uniforms. The more religious-leaning among 
them were afraid that the new school might 
secularize their children, while the more secular 
minded were afraid of religious indoctrination. 
The Rav went from house to house to introduce 
himself and his program, winning over the parents 
of potential candidates. The enthusiastic 
reaction of the initial student body further 
dispelled any doubts about the quality of the 
education and the spirit in which it was guided. 
Ultimately, the whole-hearted endorsement of the 
community leadership, both religious and 
communal, soon made enrollment in the gymnasium a sought-after prize.

This additional aspect o£ the Rav's blessed activities during World
War I remained unreported for decades, until a number of years after
World War II. At that time, the gaon and tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Y. Finkel,
dean of the world famous Yeshivat Mil' of Jerusalem, came to New
York to raise funds for the rebuilding of his Torah institution. He visited
the gaon, Rabbi Reuvein Grozovsky, a former talmid of Slobodka
Yeshivah and eminent Lithuanian Torah leader, who had already
established himself as one of the outstanding Torah personalities in
the U.S. Among Rabbi Finkel's entourage was the Rav's younger son.
Upon being introduced, Rabbi Grozovsky became very excited. Turning
to Rabbi Finkel he exclaimed, "I can bear witness that if not for
the intervention of this young man's father, the gaon Rav Joseph Tzvi
Carlebach, may HASHEM avenge his blood, Slobodka Yeshiva would
have ceased to exist. And not only Slobodka, but all the great T()rah
institutions in Lithuania, were saved through his intervention, and his
strenuous efforts to provide for their sustenance."



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