Lamm Appoints Willig to Helm of Wexner Kollel Elyon

Touted as a vehicle by which a select group of rabbis will be enabled to "communicate effectively and address issues of social and economic, as well as religious and philosophical concern in the modern world" by President Lamm, the new Bella and Harry Wexner Kollel Elyon has been established with Rabbi Mordechai Willig at its helm.

Rabbi Willig, the Rabbi Dr. Sol Roth Professor of Talmud and Contemporary Halakha at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), has been a rosh yeshiva at the Mazer School of Talmudic Studies since 1973, and assistant head of the post-graduate institute since 1987. Hailed as a world leader on issues pertaining to the agunah, a Jewish woman who cannot obtain a religious divorce because of a recalcitrant husband, Willig received his Yeshiva B.A. in mathematics in 1968, followed by a Master's degree in Jewish History and rabbinic ordination in 1971. Willig is also the spiritual leader of the Young Israel of Riverdale.

Created through an endowment bequeathed by Mrs. Bella Wexner and her daughter Ms. Susan Wexner, the new kollel honors the memory of Mrs. Wexner's husband, Harry, and her parents, Lena and Harry Cabakoff, of Columbus, Ohio. Mrs. Wexner and her late husband founded The Limited chain of retail clothing stores, and have long supported numerous charitable causes.

Carrying the torch of the now defunct Gruss Kollel Elyon, the new Wexner Kollel Elyon intends to combine intensive Torah learning with useful courses in areas such as written and oral communications, business ethics, dispute resolution, counseling, and leadership development. An elite group of 16 students, half from the semikha program and the other half on the post-ordination kollel, will enjoy significant financial support grants, possibly including funding for housing and continued graduate studies. Once completing the program, Wexner fellows will have to participate in three years of some form of Jewish community service, including work in schools, congregations, and other communal or social service agencies approved by RIETS.

Adding to the community improvement theme of the newly established Wexner Kollel Elyon will be the Lena and Harry Cabakoff Annual Lecture delivered by Rabbi Mordechai Willig to the greater Yeshiva University student populace. Along with the annual lecture, outstanding rabbinic contributions will be rewarded with prizes given by the President of RIETS. One award will be for a "dynamic RIETS alumnus who is a practicing rabbi in a small to medium sized community" and the other will award the author of a superb paper published in the upcoming Kol Zvi, a RIETS journal established to honor the memory of Harry Cabakoff.