Kovno kollel, (or Kollel Perushim of Kovno or Kollel Knesses Bais Yitzchok) was an advanced Orthodox Judaism Torah and Talmud yeshiva (advanced Jewish school) for Jewish adults, located in what is today known as Kaunas, Lithuania.

Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin Salanter (1810-1883) founded it in 1877 when he was 67. One of the Rosh Kollel (head of the school) was R. Zvi Hirsh Rabinowitz (son of R. [Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor]).

By 1877-1878, ten scholars began their full-time studies, following a curriculum which included the study of mussar (character improvement). In 1879, Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, the rabbi of Kovno, became the head of it. Rabbi Nosson Zvi Finkel served as the mashgiach (spiritual mentor) of the kollel but in 1880 left this position so he could devote himself to establishing more kollelim throughout Eastern Europe.

Kovno kollel's purpose was the furtherance of Hora'ah (expertize in Halakha) and mussar, rabbinics and ethics - by supporting and guiding exceptional Torah scholars in their development as authorities. The project received the blessings, and eventually the name, of the Kovno Rav and posek hador (the generation's outstanding authority in halachah), Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor. It was joined by such chavrei hakollel (fellows) as Rabbi Naftoli Herz (later Rav of Jaffa), Rabbi Naftoli Amsterdam, Rabbi Chaim (Telsher) Rabinowitz, and Rabbi Yitzchok Meltzan , among others. Reb Yitzchak Elchanan's son Zvi Hirsh Rabinowitz accepted the administrative responsibilities, while Rabbi Avrohom Shenker and Rabbi Nosson Zvi Finkel (later revered as the "Alter of Slobodka") conducted the internal affairs of this great institution. Under the latter's guidance, publication of the Eitz Pri inspired the world of Torah and mussar, featuring essays by both Reb Yisrael Lipkin Salanter and Reb [[Yitzchok Elchanan Spektor - including a foreword by the then lesser-known Reb Yisroel Meir HaKohein, author of Chofetz Chaim. The fruit of Reb Yisrael Lipkin Salanter's seed nourished generations of yeshivos and sustains ours today.

Until 1877, yeshivot only subsidized students until they got married] (at an early age), (the Kesef Mishne says, "if there are no 'kids', there will be no 'rams'.") When the Kollel was established] - Yisrael Lipkin Salanter was attacked by many precisely for this point. He instituted the practice of paying a small salary to married students to continue their adavanced Talmudical studies. He defended this innovation because he said that he was training leaders. His argument was that the need for well-trained communal leaders mandated this drastic action. The justification was that these individuals would eventually serve the community, and it was not that because they sat and learned that they should be supported.

Some talmidim (students)

• Rabbi Eskolsky
• Rabbi Lechovitz
• Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky
• Rabbi Dovid Leibowitz the nephew of the Chofetz Chaim (Yisrael Meir Kagan).
• Rabbi Yosef Yozel Horowitz ("Alter of Novardok" . Born in 1847 in the Lithuanian town of Plongian (Plunge ) ) joined Kovno's Kollel perushim where he studied under Reb Itzele Blazer, Reb Naftali Amsterdam and Reb Avraham Shenker, spending at least 18 hours a day - most of the time standing - studying Talmud and the classical rabbinical responsa.

See also

Slabodka Yeshiva

External link

• The Goal of Kollel Imrei Kohain
• New School of Kabbalah from Kaunas