🎙️From Ashes to Empire: How Torah Took Root—and Thrives—in America

Recorded live at the Columbus Community Kollel’s historic 30th Anniversary Celebration on November 19, 2025, inside the majestic Ohio Statehouse, this rare conversation brings together two of the most consequential leaders of American Torah Jewry—on one stage, in one unforgettable dialogue.

In this landmark episode, Rabbi Aaron Kotler, President Emeritus of Beth Medrash Govoha, and Rabbi Boruch Neuberger, President of Ner Israel Rabbinical College, trace a three-generation journey that reshaped the destiny of Torah in the United States.

They begin with their grandfathers—survivors of the European devastation—who arrived on American shores with little more than unshakable emunah and a daring conviction: Torah could not only survive in America, it could flourish. They continue with their fathers, who transformed that vision into living institutions as Torah life took root and spread across the country. And finally, they turn inward—reflecting candidly on their own leadership, responsibility, and the weight of carrying a mesorah that now shapes tens of thousands of lives.

Along the way, you’ll hear:

• Powerful, never-before-shared stories of chesed and achrayis (responsibility)—often expressed in the most unconventional and surprising ways
• A penetrating look at the current stage of American Torah Jewry: its strengths, its tensions, and its unprecedented opportunities
• A forward-looking charge on how Torah learning can continue to thrive amid the cultural, spiritual, and communal challenges of our time

The conversation closes with a stirring vision for the future of the Jewish people—rooted in humility, courage, and unwavering commitment to Torah.

This is not a panel.

This is not a speech.

This is a once-in-a-generation conversation between the stewards of the two largest Torah institutions in America.

🎙️ Hosted by: Rabbi Hillel Kapenstein

📍 Presented by: Columbus Community Kollel

📰 Media Sponsor: Columbus Jewish News

🤝 In partnership with:

The Henry, Bertha and Edward Rothman Foundation

(Circleville, Ohio • Cleveland, Ohio • Rochester, New York)

✨ A rare moment. Historic voices. A timeless mission.

🎙️✨ NEW EPISODE DROP! ✨🎙

The KOLOT Podcast proudly presents:

🌟 HaRav Shraga Feivel Zimmerman 🌟

Av Beis Din of London | Renowned Posek | Visionary Leader in Global Jewish Life

🔥 A rare and penetrating conversation exploring halacha, leadership, and Klal Yisrael in the modern world 🔥

💬 Topics include:

📜 Path to Leadership — from Gateshead to London: how his journey shaped a generation of rabbanim and dayanim

⚖️ The Role of a Beis Din Today — protecting and guiding a kehilla beyond dinei Torah and gittin

💡 Halacha in a Modern World — navigating technology, medicine, and finance while preserving mesorah

🌍 Antisemitism & European Jewry — reflections on resilience, unity, and faith amidst rising challenges

🕍 Responsibility Beyond Borders — how a dayan’s psak echoes across continents

🧠 True Mechilah — the Torah definition of forgiveness in an age of public pain and personal growth

👑 Leadership Under Pressure — maintaining composure, clarity, and humility when every decision counts

🌿 Personal Reflections — what decades in communal leadership have taught him about Torah, people, and Hashem’s hashgachah

💎 This episode offers rare depth, balance, and authenticity — a must-listen for anyone seeking to understand how timeless Torah wisdom meets today’s complex world.

✨ The KOLOT Podcast — Conversations that Inspire. Voices that Elevate. ✨

🎙️ Hosted by Rabbi Hillel Kapenstein

📍 Presented by the Columbus Community Kollel

📰 Media Sponsor: Columbus Jewish News

In partnership with the Henry, Bertha and Edward Rothman Foundation of Circleville, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio and Rochester, New York.

🎙️✨ NEW EPISODE DROP! ✨🎙️

The KOLOT Podcast proudly presents

🌟 Harav Uri Deutsch 🌟

🔥 A deep, moving and timely conversation about leadership, chinuch, materialism, mental health, and the state of Klal Yisrael today. 🔥

💬 Topics include:

📖 His inspiring upbringing & journey — from Brisk ➡️ Lakewood

👑 What it means to be B’nei Melachim

🌿 When is gashmiyus too much?

🧠 Mental health through a Torah lens — when to go public, and what message Hashem is sending us

🏫 Today’s chinuch challenges — raising children amidst distractions

🏡 Moving out of town — maintaining growth beyond major Torah centers

🕯️ Simchas Torah on a year marking the yahrtzeit of over 1,200 kedoshim — how do we celebrate withsensitivity and simchah?

🕊️ A Torah view on the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk

💫 Blending Yiras Shamayim & Simchas HaChaim — finding awe and joy in Avodas Hashem

💎 This episode is powerful, raw, and deeply uplifting — a must-listen for anyone seeking clarity, balance, and renewed inspiration in avodas Hashem.

🎧 LISTEN & WATCH NOW!

📹 TorahAnytime

🎧 Spotify

🍎 Apple Podcasts

▶️ YouTube

✨ The KOLOT Podcast — Conversations that Inspire. Voices that Elevate. ✨

🎙️ Hosted by Rabbi Hillel Kapenstein

📰 Media Sponsor: Columbus Jewish News

In partnership with the Henry, Bertha and Edward Rothman Foundation of Circleville, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio and Rochester, New York.