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Spirituality

"Brains" Of Kollel

As Roshei Kollel (heads of the Kollel),
it is the job of Rabbi Irons and his
colleague Rabbi Moshe Schwab to
oversee the needs of the rabbinical
students. Each undertakes different
aspects of that job. It has sometimes
been said that Rabbi Schwab is the
"heart" of the Kollel while Rabbi
Irons is the "brains." Rabbi Schwab is
more involved with the administrative
aspects of running the Kollel. "He
deals with people and worries about
the Kollel all the time," says Rabbi
Irons.
For his part, Rabbi Irons gives shi-
urim (lectures) to the talmudic stu-
dents, helps direct their study and
makes himself available for questions
and discussion.
It is common knowledge among
Detroit's Orthodox community that
Rabbi Irons knows by heart the more
than 2,700 pages of the Babylonian
Talmud, as well as thousands of pages
of Shulchan Aruch (the legal code of
Judaism) and other major Jewish
texts. Rabbi Schwab recounts that
Rabbi Shneur Kotler, the revered head
of the Lakewood (N.J.) yeshiva, "used
to gasp at [Rabbi Irons'] phenomenal
memory."
Rabbi Schwab adds, "You can't
duplicate Reb Shmuel's brilliance. It's
hard for laymen to appreciate the
things he knows. He's like a computer
— no, he's better than a computer!
He can speak on any subject — it's
just indescribable."
Yet, Rabbi Schwab continues,
Rabbi Irons' "phenomenal" brilliance
is "coupled with humility. He'll sit
down with anyone who walks in to
learn. He shares his knowledge with
anybody and everybody."

Secular Standout,

Rabbi Shraga Rothbart of Oak Park,
also a Torah scholar, teaches Jewish
history at the Bais Yaakov high school
and lectures for Ohr Somayach. He
has been a fellow at the Kollel for
about 15 years.
Rabbi Rothbart says Rabbi Irons is
unique because, aside from his knowl-
edge base of traditional Torah sources,
he has a broad understanding of "out-
side information," such as history,
philosophy, science, world religions
and other subjects.
"It's extremely rare to find a
tremendous Talmud chacham with
such an incredible amount of secular
knowledge," says Rabbi Rothbart,
who brings Rabbi Irons his questions
on Gemara, Jewish history and many

other subjects. "He always has infor-
mation and insight, and on so many
different levels. He has so much to
give to so many people."
When questioned about his extra-
ordinary amassed knowledge, Rabbi
Irons says, "I'm a student. Torah
knowledge is supreme; all worldly wis-
dom is integrated in it and actually
enriches the understanding of Torah."
He then quotes from Pirkei Avot
(Ethics of the Fathers, 4:1): "Who is
wise? He who learns from every man."

JCC Connection

Eight years ago, members of the
metro Detroit community approached
Rabbi Irons to give in-depth lectures
on Jewish history, one of his special
interests.
The lectures, held at Machon
L'Torah, present Jewish history
through scholarly as well as traditional
talmudic perspectives. The tapes and
notes of these lectures are marketed
through the Jewish Heritage
Foundation.
A few years ago, Rabbi Irons was
asked to give lectures on self-improve-
ment and philosophical issues at the
Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield. Attendance levels for
these talks reached 500-600.
Rabbi Irons says he was pleased to
have the opportunity to reach out to
the broader Jewish community and to
disseminate the Torah viewpoint
through discussing subject matter of
general interest.
"There is an immediacy that the
wealth of knowledge and spirit within
the Orthodox scholarly community be
made available to the entire Jewish
community" he says. "The level of
ignorance and the rate of assimilation
is so great. If bridges are not built,
we'll witness the demise of a large
portion of the community not
exposed to the soul and mind of the
Jewish people.
"Detroit is a special community"
he adds. "It is more spiritual, less
ostentatious. When there is less
emphasis on material success, it's con-
ducive to spiritual and intellectual
growth." ❑

Machon
(248) 967-
e Kollel, call
r 968-0764.
iish
ton trtpes and
67-4724.

Rabbi Bergman leaves "Latte and Learning" series
to concentrate on Detroit's new day school.

DIANA LIEBERMAN

StaffWriter

R

abbi Aaron Bergman, who
inaugurated the popular
"Latte and Learning"
Jewish education series at
Borders Books & Music
in Farmington Hills,
gave his final presenta-
tion on June 5.
About 60 community
members heard Rabbi
Bergman speak about
his favorite story from
the Talmud, favorite
paragraph from a prayer,
favorite word and
favorite letter of the
Hebrew alphabet. Rabbi
Bergman is director of
Jewish studies at the
soon-to-open Jewish
Academy of
Metropolitan Detroit.
He has left his pulpit at
Congregation Beth
Ahm, and anticipates his
new schedule will not
allow him to continue in adult educa-
tion.
"Latte and Learning" was a program
of Eilu v'Eilu, the year-round adult
'learning resource sponsored by the
Michigan Conservative movement.
The series may be resumed with differ-

ent speakers and at a different location,
said founder Nancy Kaplan.
"Rabbi Bergman will be greatly
missed," Kaplan said. "He carried the
Torah into the public square for every-
one to learn. These people are not
going to stop learning."

❑

Above: Rabbi Aaron
Bergman

Top: 60 people came
to Rabbi Bergman's
final Latte and Learning
presentation on June 5.

, and of selected talks from earli-
arge from Eilu v'Eilu. Call the

6/23