Yaakov Perlow (Yiddish: יעקבֿ פּערלאָוו Hebrew: יעקב פרלוב;
November 16, 1930 – April 7, 2020) was an American Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, and Rebbe of the Novominsk Hasidic dynasty. From 1998 until his death in 2020, he was
president of Agudath Israel of America, a Haredi advocacy
organization. He was also head of that organization's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages). He was
one of the most respected leaders of the American Orthodox Jewish community,
known for his scholarly and oratorical skills.[1][2]
Yaakov Perlow was born in Brooklyn, New York,[1][3] to Rabbi Nochum Mordechai Perlow (1887–1976), the Novominsker
Rebbe, and his wife, Beila Rochma Morgenstern.[4] He was named after his paternal great-grandfather, the Shufra
D'Yaakov, founder of the Novominsk Hasidic dynasty.[1][2] His maternal grandfather was Rabbi Yitzchak Zelig Morgenstern, the Sokolover Rebbe, a direct
descendant of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk.[2][5] Morgenstern was one of the main founders of Agudath Israel in Poland.[4][6]
Perlow began his Torah education at
Yeshiva Toras Chaim in East New York, Brooklyn,
and continued on to the Lithuanian-type Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn,[1][7][8] and then Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood.[3] He also graduated with honors from Brooklyn College.[8][9]
After his marriage, Perlow taught at Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois.[1][7] He later moved back to Brooklyn and settled in Crown Heights, becoming a member of the administration of the mesivta of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin.[1] In 1969, he was appointed rosh yeshiva at the
Breuer's yeshiva, Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, in Washington Heights, New York, a position he held for 11 years.[1] He also served as the Rav of Congregation Bais Yosef in that
city.[1]
After the death of his father on
September 4, 1976, Perlow began serving as Novominsker Rebbe.[1] In 1980, he established the Novominsk Hasidic Center and
founded his own yeshiva, Yeshivas Novominsk Kol Yehuda, named in memory of his
uncle, Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Perlow of Novominsk-Williamsburg, in Borough Park, Brooklyn.[1][2]
Perlow became an active member of Agudath Israel of America from 1975, when he was one of
the main speakers at the 7th Siyum
HaShas in New York.[1] He became a leader of the Torah Umesorah organization
as well.[1] In December 1998, Perlow was named president of Agudath
Israel of America, succeeding Rabbi Moshe Sherer, who had died
seven months earlier.[1][6] With his appointment, the presidential and leadership duties
held by Sherer were divided between Perlow, the new president, and a three-man
executive.[6] Perlow was also head of the organization's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages).[10]
Perlow frequently spoke out on issues
affecting the American Orthodox Jewish world, including Internet usage,[11] child abuse,[12] Holocaust denial,[13] overpriced Jewish weddings,[14] and U.S. politics.[15] In 2015, Perlow shocked attendees at the 93rd annual Agudath
Israel of America dinner by directly appealing to President Obama to
reconsider the Iran deal.[16]
At the 73rd annual Agudah convention in
1995, Perlow urged dialogue with non-Orthodox Jews while at the same time
"lashing out at what he described as the 'false ideology' of non-Orthodox
Judaism."[17] In June 1999, he wrote in The Jewish Observer in support of a rapprochement in
the long-standing feud between the Haredi and Reform movements.[18][19] At the May 2014 Agudath dinner, he stated that the Reform and
Conservative movements "have disintegrated themselves, become oblivious,
fallen into an abyss of intermarriage and assimilation",[20][21] and branded another movement, Open Orthodoxy, as being
"steeped in apikorsos (heresy)".[22] While New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was
the next speaker at the dinner, he did not challenge Perlow's remarks, which
cast aspersions on the affiliations of the non-Orthodox Jewish population of
New York City.[20][23]
Perlow's first wife, Yehudis (d. 1998),
was the daughter of Grand Rabbi Avrohom Eichenstein of Zidichov-Chicago.[1] The couple had two sons and two daughters.[1] In 2004, Perlow remarried to Miriam Landynski, his first
wife's sister and widow of Rabbi Yaakov Zev Landynski.[1]
In March 2020, Perlow urged American
Orthodox Jews to follow social distancing and
other precautionary guidelines in response to the coronavirus outbreak, saying: "We cannot behave the way
we did last week or two weeks ago. We're told that the halakha (Jewish law) is that we must listen to doctors,
whether it's about a sick person or Yom Kippur".[10][24] He was soon after infected by COVID-19. On April 7, 2020, he died due to complications from
the disease. He was 89.[2][25] His funeral was held in a private ceremony. The eulogies and saying of Psalms were broadcast live over
the telephone, in order to limit the spread of the virus.[2] After his burial, his twin sons were named his successors as
Rebbes of the Novominsk dynasty. The elder of the two, Rabbi Yehoshua Heshel
"Reb Shia" currently leads his father's synagogue in Borough Park,
while Rabbi Alter Yisroel Shimon "Reb Yisruel" leads the Novominsk
shteeble in Lakewood, New Jersey. The two Rebbes lead Yeshivas Novominsk Kol
Yehuda in unison, with Reb Shia predominantly responsible for the high school,
and Reb Yisruel for the Beis Midrash.
In 1982, Perlow published the first of
what would eventually be a seven-volume series called Adas Yaakov,
with three volumes on topics in the Talmud, three volumes on the Jewish holidays, and one
volume on Chumash.[1]
·
פרלוב, יעקב (1982). ספר עדת יעקב: חידושים והערות ובאורי סוגיות בשמעתתא
דתלמודא ובדברי הראשונים [Sefer Adas Yaakov: Novellae,
Annotations and Commentary on Topics in the Talmud and the Works of the
Rishonim] (in Hebrew).
·
פרלוב, יעקב (2013). עדת יעקב: לחג הפסח [Adas Yaakov on
the Festival of Passover] (in Hebrew).
·
פרלוב, יעקב (2015). ספר עדת יעקב לחג השבועות [Sefer Adas
Yaakov on the Festival of Shavuot] (in Hebrew).
1.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Karman,
Rabbi Binyomin (April 22, 2020). "'...And So Much More' – Harav Yaakov
Perlow, Novominsker Rebbe, zt'l". Hamodia. pp. 28–29.
2.
^ a b c d e f Weisberg,
Moshe (April 7, 2020). "אבל ביהדות החרדית: הרבי מנובומינסק זצ"ל ראש אגו"י באמריקה" [Mourning in Haredi Judaism: The
Novominsker Rebbe, zt'l, Head of Agudath Israel in America]. Behadrei
Chareidim (in Hebrew).
Retrieved April 7, 2020.
3.
^ a b Roberts,
Sam (April 10, 2020). "Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, Head of
Hasidic Dynasty in Brooklyn, Dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved April
10, 2020.
4.
^ a b "Today's Yahrtzeits and History
– 9 Elul". matzav.com. August 24, 2015. Retrieved August
25, 2016.
5.
^ Markusz, Katarzyna. "Zapomniany rabin" [Forgotten
Rabbi] (in Polish). poznan.jewish.org.pl. Retrieved August
25, 2016.
6.
^ a b c "Novominsker Rebbe Emerges as
New Sage of Aguda: Perlow Assumes Mantle". The Forward.
December 4, 1998. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved August
25, 2016 – via HighBeam.
7.
^ a b "Interviews conducted by Professor William Helmreich
with various Roshei Yeshiva Helmreich with various Roshei Yeshiva" (PDF). Stevens Institute of Technology. December 28, 1977.
pp. 10–20. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
8.
^ a b Helmreich 2000,
p. 369.
9.
^ Heilman 1995, p. 326.
10.
^ a b Sones,
Mordechai (April 7, 2020). "US Agudath Yisroel head, Rabbi
Yaakov Perlow, the Novominsker Rebbe, dies of coronavirus". Israel National News. Retrieved April
7, 2020.
11.
^ Rawls,
Oren (December 5, 2003). "In Other Words". The Forward. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved August
25, 2016. 'The
Internet, with the flick of a button, invades a Jewish home, a Jewish soul, and
makes moral disaster. And it is happening all the time', warns the
highly-respected Rabbi Yaakov Perlow in The Jewish Observer, the house organ of
the organization he heads, Agudath Israel of America.
12.
^ "Call to Action". Yated Ne'eman. June 22, 2016. Retrieved August
26, 2016. The
Novominsker Rebbe, Rav Yaakov Perlow, issued a call for action in response to
the festering scourge of child abuse and molestation.
13.
^ Sitrit, Gavriel (January 6, 2016). "Novominsker Rebbe Condemns
Holocaust Comments of Rabbi on Video Publicized by Matzav.com".
matzav.com. Retrieved August 26, 2016. I
condemn in the strongest terms possible the outrageous claim that fewer than a
million halachic Jews were killed in the Holocaust.
14.
^ Cohen, Debra Nussbaum (December 7,
2001). "Waiter, Hold The Knishes:
Agudah urges cutting back on pricey weddings". The Jewish Week. Archived
from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved August
26, 2016 – via HighBeam. These rabbis, led by Yaakov Perlow,
the chief religious authority of the fervently Orthodox organization Agudath
Israel of America, are leading a charge to change the communal culture around
frum weddings, where even families of moderate means feel social pressure to
invite upward of 1,000 people and serve them food from lavish smorgasbords set
with everything from intricate ice sculptures to glatt kosher prime rib carving
stations.
15.
^ Runyan, Joshua (September 9, 2004). "Senator Presses for 2004,
Before Focusing on Own Ambition". The Jewish Exponent.
Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved August
26, 2016 – via HighBeam. [Rick] Santorum and first-term Sen.
Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) sat with Orthodox leaders during a closed-door meeting
at Yeshivas Novominsk Kol Yehuda. After the meeting, Santorum said that he took
to heart a message delivered to him by the Novominsker Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov
Perlow, and that he would try to incorporate that message into his convention
address. "I won't have time to mention my visit, but I will have the time
to transmit the words of the rebbe upstairs, the importance of faith
communities and making sure those communities can transmit their faith",
he said.
16.
^ "Novominsker Rebbe Issues Direct
Plea to President Obama at Agudath Israel Dinner". Yeshiva World News. May 12, 2015. Retrieved August
26, 2016.
17.
^ "Agudath Israel Leader Calls for
Dialogue As He Lashes Out". JTA. November 28, 1995. Retrieved August
26, 2016.
18.
^ Ferziger 2015,
pp. 136–139.
19.
^ "Perlow's Progress". The
Forward. January 8, 1999. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved August
26, 2016 – via HighBeam.
20.
^ a b Powell,
Michael (May 28, 2014). "At a Jewish Gala, de Blasio
Skips His Cue to Speak Out". The New York Times. Retrieved August
26, 2016.
21.
^ Lebens, Dr. Samuel (June 9, 2014). "Fair Criticism, Flawed
Justification: Where Rabbi Perlow Went Wrong". Haaretz.
Retrieved August 26, 2016.
22.
^ Nathan-Kazis,
Josh (May 28, 2014). "Orthodox Rabbi Stuns Agudath
Gala With 'Heresy' Attack on Open Orthodoxy". The Forward. Retrieved August
25, 2016.
23.
^ Barkan, Ross (May 30, 2014). "Bill de Blasio Furiously
Refuses to Denounce Rabbi Tirade". New York Observer. Retrieved August
26, 2016.
24.
^ Prince, Cathryn J. (March 31, 2020). "In the eye of NY's coronavirus
storm, ultra-Orthodox face rising anti-Semitism". The Times of Israel. Retrieved April
7, 2020.
25.
^ "Agudath Israel leader succumbs
to coronavirus". jewishinsider.com. Retrieved April
7, 2020.