Shmuel Halevi Schecter (Hebrew: שמואל הלוי שכטר; February 21, 1915 – September 30, 2000)[1][2] was a Canadian–American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, educator, and author. Born in Quebec and raised in Baltimore, he traveled to Eastern Europe to study at the Mir Yeshiva as a teenager and at the Kelm Talmud Torah as a young married man. In 1940 he returned to the United States, where he was a co-founder of the first kollel in America, Beth Medrash Govoha, in White Plains, New York. He was a Torah educator in New York and Boston for more than 50 years, and served as dean of Mesivta Toras Emes in Brooklyn. He published a commentary on Orchot Chaim LeHoRosh, a musar work.
Early life and education
Shmuel Schecter was born in Lachine, Quebec, Canada. His mother died when he was four or five years old.[1][3] Per his mother's request, at the age of seven he was sent to live with her brother, Rabbi Meshulam Zusha Cohen, a Torah educator in Baltimore.[1][3]
In 1940 Schecter's wife and young daughter returned to the United States on the last ship to leave France. Schecter, however, wanted to keep studying under Movshovitz.[3] Upon the urging of another student, Rabbi Aryeh Stamm, however, a beis din (rabbinical court) of three students was convened to rule that Schecter, a Canadian citizen, must leave Europe if he was able.[1] Both Schecter and Wachtfogel, who also had Canadian citizenship, departed Lithuania in October 1940.[3] Traveling in a group with other students from Kelm, Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler and his wife, and Wachtfogel's bride, they took the Trans-Siberian Express across Russia to Vladivostok, and a ship to Brisbane, Australia.[3][5] Their trip from Lithuania to Australia was paid for by the British government; the Board of Governors of the Australian Jewish community gave Schecter, Wachtfogel, and Wachtfogel's bride first-class tickets to depart for New York a few months later, out of concern that they would institute a religious revival in the Australian Jewish community.[5][6]
The remaining students and staff of the Kelm Talmud Torah were massacred by the Nazis on July 29, 1941 (5 Av 5701).[6] Years later, Schecter printed a commentary on Orchot Chaim LeHoRosh, a musar work, and recounted in the preface the final hours of the yeshiva and the speech given by Rabbi Movshovitz at the site of the slaughter, based on historical sources.[1][2]
Postwar
Schecter, Wachtfogel, and Rabbi Hershel Genauer, all alumni of the Kelm Talmud Torah, established the first kollel in the United States in White Plains, New York in spring 1942.[3][7] Named Beis Medrash Govoha, the kollel opened with 20 members.[8] Upon the arrival of Rabbi Aharon Kotler from Europe in 1943, the kollel members asked him to head the institute, which Kotler moved to Lakewood, New Jersey and expanded with a yeshiva gedola.[6][8] Wachtfogel served as mashgiach of the Lakewood Yeshiva for over 50 years, until his death in 1998.[9][8]
Schecter served as Kotler's emissary on a Vaad Hatzalah rescue mission in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1946.[6] He later taught Torah and musar in New York and Boston for more than 50 years.[2][3] He was the dean of Mesivta Toras Emes in Brooklyn.[10]
Personal life
Schecter and his wife, Chava Gordon, had four daughters and two sons.[6] In his later years he and his wife moved to Israel, settling in Jerusalem. He died on Shabbat, September 30, 2000 (1 Tishrei 5761), the first day of Rosh Hashana.[1][2]
Arem, Heshy (2002), "Mashgiach from a Previous Generation: Rabbi Nosson Meir Wachtfogel", in Wolpin, Rabbi Nisson (ed.), Torah Leaders: A treasury of biographical sketches, Mesorah Publications, ISBN1-57819-773-2
