By COLlive reporter
Former students and faculty returned to Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim in the French town of Brunoy to celebrate the institution’s 70th anniversary.
Founded in 1947 (5707) by Frierdiker Rebbe, the Yeshiva was a natural offspring of the original Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim, which had suffered many exiles in the course of the years, and finally found a permanent home in France.
Before long, the Yeshiva became a home for bochurim from across the country and the continent.
The Yeshiva opened its doors with a restricted number of students and an even more restricted financial capacity in the aftermath of the Second World War.
However, the Yeshiva merited to encompass great spiritual wealth. Some of the known Chassidim of those times served on its faculty, including Rabbi Nissan Nemanow, Rabbi Yosef Goldberg and Rabbi Yisroel Noach Belinitzki.
With the constant encouragement of the Frediker Rebbe, and later of the Rebbe himself, the Yeshiva was described by the Rebbe as being “like in Lubavitch” (the town).
Welcoming alumni this week for a Hakhel event were the Yeshiva’s directors Rabbi Yitzchok Nemanow and Rabbi Mendel Gurevitch. Emceeing the evening was Rabbi Shmuel Bordovitch of Shiur Aleph.
Sharing words of Torah, inspiration and memories were Rabbi Mendel Azimov, Rabbi Levi Azimov, Rabbi Elchanan Marasow of Paris, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Pinson of Nice and Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Matusof of Toulouse.
Following the formal part of the evening, past and current students sat together for a night-long farbrengen with singing and dancing.
so beautiful to see r mullehs 2 sons and 1 son-in-law at the event, they are -hand-in-hand with the yeshiva- the builders of yiidishkeit and chassidishkait in france!
I believe its important to add that the Frediker Rebbe appointed Harav Hagoan, H’chosid, R’ Avrohom Eliyahu Plotkin obm, as the head of the Yeshiva faculty (Yoshev rosh) in the year 5707 (1947) See Igros Kodesh volume 9 page 321.
Recently, a biography of his life covers extensively his misiros nefesh in 1947 and 1948 that he had toward the survival of the Yeshivah.