Last Friday (12 Adar I), Hechover R' Yosef Kahn z"l,
one of the founders of the chareidi community of
Copenhagen and one of the most prominent and outstanding
askonim of Agudas Yisroel in Denmark, was brought to
his final rest. His levaya was attended by a huge
throng. He was 99 years old at the time of his
petirah.
Hechover R' Yosef Kahn was born in the Lithuanian city of
Liboi. His father, Hechover R' Arye Leib was a talmid
of the Volozhin yeshiva. The home in which Reb Yosef grew up
home was saturated with Torah and yiras Shomayim, and
in it he imbibed his exalted character traits and his deep
dedication to Klal Yisroel.
As a young child, he moved with his family to Sweden, where
his father served as a shochet uvodek for the local
Jewish community. In 5680 (1920) the family moved to Denmark,
where they remained.
Soon after their arrival in that country, the heads of the
chareidi Jewry there decided to form a separate community,
and R' Yosef Kahn soon became one of its leaders. He built up
the chareidi community with his very own hands, and led with
wisdom and prudence. As a leader, he was deeply attached to
the gedolei haTorah and imbued with a burning belief
that the only way to save the local chareidi community was by
means of Torah dissemination and the staunch adherence to the
halocho.
In time, he was appointed head of the chareidi community and
was sent as a delegate of Agudas Yisroel of Denmark to the
famous Aguda Congress in Marienbad in Poland.
During World War II, the German's sought to send Denmark's
Jews to the concentration camps. With Hashem's help, they
gathered most of the members of the Jewish community in
hospitals, old age homes, and apartments of non-Jews and
then, by means of various groups, transferred them to Sweden.
Thus they were able to save most of the members of Denmark's
Jewish community.
After the war they returned to Denmark, where the infamous
anti-shechita decree landed on them. Denmark's
government, claiming that shechita is an inhumane way
of killing animals, sought to outlaw it. Reb Yosef approached
the top ranking leaders of the government, and represented
the Jewish tradition with courage and pride.
Appearing before the heads of the government, he cited the
verse, "I will give grass in your fields to your beasts, and
you shall eat and be satiated," (Devorim 11:15) and
said: "The Torah demands that one feed his animals before
eating himself. Is there any other nation that is so
concerned about not causing pain to animals?"
His dedication to the chinuch of his children
constitutes yet another important chapter of his life. He was
the very first member of the chareidi community of Denmark to
send his children to another country in order to grow in
Torah. Immediately after he sent his sons to Gateshead many
of the members of his community followed suit, sending them
to Torah institutions in Eretz Yisroel. As a result he
merited to see all of his children pursue genuine Torah
paths.
He yearned to live in Eretz Hakodesh, and one time he even
secured the necessary certificates to make aliya.
However, when he learned that a family of refugees wanted
to go up to Israel, he gave them his papers and remained with
his family in Denmark.
Once, when Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz, then a Member of Knesset of
Agudas Yisroel, came on a visit to Denmark, Reb Yosef Kahn
told him about Denmark's policy of paying children's
allotments, and urged him to try to enact a similar law in
Israel. Eventually, due to the efforts of Rabbi Lorincz,
Israel too adopted such a law.
In 5723, he did move to Eretz Hakodesh, and was immediately
chosen to serve on the executive board of the Chinuch Atzmai.
He was very active in the Tenuah Lehafotzas Torah
organization with HaRav Eliezer Kugel, and due to their
efforts a kollel was founded in Beit Shemesh, and a thriving
Torah center in Migdal Ha'Emek. He also served on the board
of directors of Yeshivas Kol Torah.
As soon as he arrived in Eretz Yisroel, he joined the battle
against autopsies which were a major problem at the time, and
he was one of the main activists in this struggle. He even
met with the heads of the state in order influence them to
abolish the decree.
In Eretz Yisroel, he also devoted himself to his Torah
studies with amazing hasmodoh, even completing
Shas.
Last Thursday (Adar 11) he felt ill, and in a matter moments
he returned his pure soul to its Maker. On his lips was the
verse he would often quote, "Ono eilech meiruchacho,
ve'ono miponecho evrach."
His levaya, which proceeded from his son's home in
Bnei Brak and passed by the Lederman shul, was attended by a
large throng. Before the procession set out to the cemetery,
hespedim were delivered by his nephew, HaRav Z. Kahn,
and his mechuton HaRav A. Dunner. In Jerusalem,
hespedim were delivered by HaRav A. Winkler, HaRav L.
Heiman and the niftar's grandson, HaRav A. Kahn, who
parted from him in the name of the family.
He is survived by his wife, and by children and descendants
who are pursuing the path he charted for them. In the final
month of his life he merited to see a fifth generation.
