Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, who served as vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, and chairman of the International Kinus Hashluchim, passed away last week on 27 Iyar at the age of 74. Overseeing more than 5,000 mosdos worldwide, his leadership and vision were instrumental in expanding Chabad’s global outreach through its shluchim, including through his role in the Chabad on Campus International Foundation, which operates on over 230 campuses.
Born in 1949, Rabbi Kotlarsky was raised in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. His father, Rabbi Tzvi Yosef (Hershel) Kotlarsky, was a native of Otwock, Poland, and a significant figure in the administration of the Central Lubavitcher Yeshiva, Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim, for over 40 years.
Rabbi Kotlarsky’s career with Merkos began in 1968 at the request of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, shortly after his marriage to Rivka Kazen, with whom he had nine children. He traveled extensively, identifying the needs of outlying Jewish communities and establishing Chabad Houses in coordination with local leaders. His organizational and fundraising prowess made him a vital resource for the shluchim.
Under his leadership, the network expanded to include mosdos in 100 countries and territories. Rabbi Kotlarsky also cultivated relationships with numerous philanthropists, including the late Sami Rohr and his son George. He played a pivotal role in securing funding for Chabad’s expansion on college campuses and in Eastern Europe. In a wide-ranging interview with Ami in 2022 (Issue 593), Rabbi Kotlarsky shared his life story and vision. In a letter he wrote that was read at his levayah, he requested that his son Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky take over his responsibilities, having ably served as the director of Merkos 302 and as president of Chabad’s CTeen international program.
Rabbi Kotlarsky’s contributions to the Jewish community were widely recognized, earning him a place in various rankings of influential Jewish leaders. His passing marks the end of an era, but his legacy will continue to inspire future generations.
Reflecting on the Life and Vision of Rabbi Moshe Kotlarky
With Legendary Philanthropist Mr. George Rohr
Thank you very much for speaking with me. I’m sure that this is very difficult for you.
Yes. The Jewish world has lost a giant, and I’ve lost a beloved friend and partner.
I had the great privilege of meeting with Rabbi Kotlarsky in his home last year over the course of a few days for an interview we did. He wasn’t well by then, but we spent quite a lot of time in conversation. One of the things that kept coming up was his relationship with you, especially in the context of JLI [the Jewish Learning Institute], which was particularly on his mind at the time. I know that you had the great honor of being the founder of that.
Baruch Hashem, I was a founding partner. I wouldn’t say that I was the founder; I was a partner together with Reb Moshe and Rabbi Efraim Mintz, whose brilliant brainchild JLI was.
Rabbi Kotlarsky felt it was revolutionizing in many ways, and that it’s special power in spreading Yiddishkeit is beyond compare. I guess you share that same vision.
Yes. Rabbi Mintz had been incubating a concept for a cutting-edge, high-quality, pedagogically sophisticated adult Jewish education platform that hadn’t been tried before, aiming to make Torah learning accessible and personally meaningful to every Jew, regardless of background and affiliation. It was an idea on paper by a then-young, creative, educational visionary with a burning passion to get it off the ground. Rabbi Kotlarsky believed in it and urged me to consider spending the time to understand the concept, getting to know Rabbi Mintz, and seeing what could come of it. After some early work on pilot courses and prototypes, it was clear that, indeed, there existed nothing of such outstanding quality in the Jewish world, and that it might in fact have enormous potential. But it would be truly yesh mei’ayin. I took the risk and invested quite significantly in the startup of JLI. It was also because, in large measure, I observed Rabbi Kotlarsky’s drive to help Rabbi Mintz make it happen. Nothing was going to stand in their way. In short order, the JLI initiative got excellent traction. It quickly went from being what one might have perceived to be an extremely high-risk investment to a philanthropic sure bet. Today, JLI is the world’s preeminent provider of Jewish learning, with curricula in many languages, serving learning centers in over 1,800 communities and on the Internet. The impact it has had is incalculable, and we believe it’s only the beginning. Rabbi Kotlarsky plainly saw that potential from the get-go and encouraged me to see it too.
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