The Five Towns Far Rockaway Community Mourns an Extraordinary Torah Scholar

by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

Last week, the Five Towns/Far Rockaway community lost a unique and extraordinary individual, Rabbi Dr. David Kadosh a”h. Rabbi Kadosh was a brilliant Talmid Chochom who studied in the Mir Yeshiva of Brooklyn under Rav Avrohom Kalmanovitch zt”l and Rav Shmuel Brudny zt”l and was known as the “ilui from Morocco.” Rabbi Kadosh was also an accomplished scholar with a PhD who taught at Yeshiva University and was fully fluent in Hebrew, English, French, a number of Arabic dialects and German.

Some in the community remember him as giving the first Daf Yomi on the LIRR to Manhattan.  Others remember him as giving the first Daf Yomi shiur in Shaaray Tefillah.  And yet there were those who remember him as their all-knowing Machsheves Yisroel professor at Dov Revel Graduate School and at Yeshiva University.

But everyone who knew him recalled him as a remarkable mentsch who exhibited the apogee of ehrlichkeit and a Baal Mussar extraordinaire. He received his PhD in 1969 and his dissertation dealt with Rabbi Moshe Narvone’s commentary on Al Ghazali’s  Kavanot.

BIRTH AND EARLY HISTORY

Rabbi Kadosh was born in 1935 in Demnate, a town in central Morocco, located at the foot of the high Atlas Mountains roughly 110 km east of Marrakech. This had a downside and an upside.  The downside is that Denbate was prone to earthquakes.  The upside was that the city is surrounded by beautiful mountains and close to natural attractions, including the natural land bridge Iminifery, and the Ouzoud Falls.

Tragically, Rabbi Kadosh lost his mother when he was four years old.  His aunt, who loved her sister’s children immensely did not wish that a step-mother would raise her.  She took it upon herself to raise her nephews herself and married her former brother-in-law.  Rabbi Abuchatzerah who knew her well would describe her as an absolute tzaddeikes.

GATESHEAD AND MIR

The young Rav David was very much taken with the works of the Rambam.  Recognized as a genius at a very young age, it was decided that a young Rabbi Dovid Kadosh should go to Gateshead England to study under Reb Leib Gurwich, a Talmid of the Brisker Rav and the Mir Yeshiva in Poland.  Rav Gurwich eventually authored the Roshei She’arim, now a classic collection of Talmudic discourses and shiurim.

After a year, he transferred to the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn and became quite close to Rav Avrohom Kalmanovitch zt”l who was credited with saving the entire Mir Yeshiva in Poland when they travelled through the Soviet heartland to Japan and then onto Shanghai. He referred to Rav Kalmanovitch as the Rav.”  Rav Kadosh also became close to Rav Shmuel Brudny zt”l whose shiurim he savored greatly.

While studying in Mir he continued his studies of the Rambam and was captivated not only by the Rambam’s Mishna Torah but also by his Moreh Nevuchim.  He taught himself to be extremely proficient in English, German, Yiddish and various dialects of Arabic.  He attended Brooklyn College in the evenings and earned his bachelors and masters degrees from there.

Rav Kalmanovitch was so enamoured by his young prodigy that he would take Rav Dovid with him on fundraising visits and referred to him as the Ilui from Moroccos.  Rav Kalmanovitch also recruited other talmidim from Morocco who felt very comfortable in Mir.   Rav David spoke to his Rosh Yeshiva about pursuing a parnassah as a college professor in Judaic studies.  Rav Kalmanovich tried to dissuade him, but understood.  He received his ksav Smicha from the Mir Yeshiva after having studied there for over ten years.

AT YESHIVA UNIVERSITY

Rabbi Kadosh continued his studies at the Bernard Revel Graduate School where he received his PhD and formed a close bond with the dean, Dr. Arthur Hyman -with whom he found a kindred spirit in his love of Maimonidean philosophy and machsheves Yisroel in general.  Dr. Hyman himself had published four volumes of Maimonidean Studies, as well as an English translation of Averroes’ De Substantia Orbis.

Rabbi Kadosh chose to write his dissertation on Rabbi Moshe Narvonne’s commentary on Al Ghazali’s philosophical work.  He taught there for nine years after receiving his PhD.

MEETING HIS WIFE

Unfortunately Rabbi Kadosh had lost his younger sister to illness.  He went to the levaya in Eretz Yisroel.  It was there that he met his future akeres HaBayis, a well-regarded mechaneches who eventually became the principal of Machon Sara Torah Academy for Girls.

The young couple decided to move to Eretz Yisroel, where Rabbi Kadosh taught at bothe the Michlala as well as Machon Meir.

Eventually, they returned to the United States and moved to Lawrence, New York.  Rabbi Kadosh gave shiurim at Shaaray, the Agudah of Long island, the white shul, Beth Shalom, the Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst. And some shiurim at the Yeshiva of Far Rockaway.

HIS PASSION: SHAS

Rabbi Kadosh’s main scholarly pursuit, however, was studying and teaching Shas, and he loved studying and teaching the Daf HaYomi.

An article by JTA published in June of 1999 discussed the Siyum HaShas that took place on the LIRR.  “This is a phenomenal experience,” one observer said. “Only in New York could you experience something like this.”He was referring to the crowd that had jammed into the car last Thursday to celebrate the accomplishment by a group of 20 commuters who had studied a page a day of Talmud (known as daf yomi) on the train each weekday morning for the last 72 years. On this morning, the group finished reading the entire Talmud, which comprises the Oral Law upon which Jewish laws, practices and traditions are derived.”

The family gets up from Shiva on Monday morning. The aveilim are his wife and wonderful children;  Shlomo, Yisrael, Tamar, Michael, Shoshana, Zeeva, Shmuel, Shimon, and Daniel.  May he be a meilitz Yosher for the entire community.

The author can be reached at [email protected]