The Education of Rabbi Leib Tropper

This is the self described bio that was on Leib Tropper’s web site before the site was taken down yesterday:

“Rabbi Leib Tropper, Rosh Yeshiva of Kol Yaakov Torah Center, was born on the Lower East Side to Rav Yehuda Tropper, a popular mechanech at Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yaakov Yosef Elementary School, and Rivka o”h, the daughter of the Valbolneker Iluy, HaGaon HaRav Leib Forer zt”l. After graduating from Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yaakov Yosef at the age of 12 ½, Rabbi Tropper first attended the Yeshiva of Philadelphia and then learned at the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland. Before reaching his 15th birthday, Rabbi Tropper traveled to Eretz Yisroel to learn in Yeshivas Torah Ore, founded by Maran Harav Chaim Pinchus Scheinberg shlit”a. Rabbi Tropper spent more than five years at Yeshivas Torah Ore, where he developed a close relationship as a talmid, receiving most of his hadracha from the Rosh Yeshiva shlita.

After leaving Torah Ore, Rabbi Tropper accepted a position at the world renowned Ohr Sameach institutions, then still in its embryonic stages. During that period, Rabbi Tropper accumulated four semichos, the first being from Hagaon Harav Sroyohu Deblitzky shlita, a talmid muvhak of the Chazon Ish zt”l. Subsequently, he received ordination from then Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Rav Ovadia Yosef shlita. However, his most precious semichos were those received from the Mara D’asra of Yerushalayim, Harav Betzalel Zolty and Maran Harav Elazar Menachem Man Shach zt”l, the Ponevezher Rosh Yeshiva.

After five years in Yerushalayim teaching baalei teshuva, Rabbi Tropper returned to the United States to become the educational director of Ohr Sameach, New York located in Yonkers and Monsey. After several years he was encouraged to start a new yeshiva for baalei teshuva who wish to become B’nei Torah and be mainstreamed into a conventional yeshiva environment. Kol Yaakov’s doors opened in Elul of ’81 and was named in honor of Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l, who inspired its founding. In existence for almost 25 years, Kol Yaakov has reached students from across the globe. Rabbi Tropper attributes the yeshiva’s success to the approach in Hashkafa and Chinuch he learned from his Rosh Yeshiva, Maran Harav Scheinberg shlita.

In 1990, Rabbi Tropper began a new outreach program called Horizons, focusing on educating and inspiring the unaffiliated to experience a Torah lifestyle. As its director, Rabbi Tropper has traveled across the world to places such as Berlin, London, Paris among others and visited remote cities throughout the U.S. lecturing and teaching. Additionally, he has also authored three seforim, the first of which was published at the age of 21 which incorporated many of the psakim of Harav Eliyashuv, shlita and received approbations from numerous Gedolim including Harav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt’l and Harav Henkin, zt’l. Another of his Halachic sfarim is based on the p’sokim of his Rebbe, Maran Harav Scheinberg, shlit”a and the third based on halachic decisions of Rav Tuvia Goldstein zt’l.

Rabbi Tropper studied Halacha under the direction of Gedolei Horoah such as, Harav Sheinberg, Harav Tuvia Goldstein and had the special opportunity to learn with Harav Henkin, zt’l.”