The Denver Community Kollel launched several new Torah learning initiatives for the community in November of 2020.
Kollel member Rabbi Avraham Dovid Karnowsky began a 7-part Zoom series, The Story of Creation. Based on the teachings of Rabbi Moshe Shapiro zt”l, one of the foremost Torah thinkers of our time who passed away several years ago, the class offers the opportunity to delve into the depths of the Torah’s narrative of Creation. Recordings of the classes are available online.
Kollel Scholar Rabbi Nesanel Kipper opened a new branch of the world-renowned Kinyan Hamasechta program in Southeast Denver. This ground-breaking program, which has spread across the country, is a chazara (review)-focused learning program that seeks to help participants retain what they have learned through a specialized review system. Rabbi Yehuda Orlansky of Far Rockaway, NY, Executive Director of Kinyan Hamasechta, flew into Denver to launch the initiative at an in-person inaugural event (pre-packaged dinners were served). Under Rabbi Kipper’s direction, Kinyan Hamasechta participants will meet several times a week for learning and, of course, chazara. “We have people at all levels of learning, from advanced to those with more basic learning skills, joining,” says Rabbi Kipper. “There’s a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, and I am looking forward to that translating into real growth in learning.”
Rabbi Chaim Gross, who joined the Kollel this past Elul, has created a Shivti chaburah (group) in Southeast Denver. The program is a co
llaborative effort of the Kollel and Aish of the Rockies. Rabbi Gross is the perfect person to oversee this effort; in addition to his current position as a Kollel Scholar, he is an alumnus of Bais Medrash Govoha (which creates the Shivti syllabus) and a son-in-law of Aish of the Rockies founder Rabbi Yaakov Meyer. The chaburah meets Sunday mornings for in-depth learning and breakfast. “Shivti provides a great opportunity for many diverse members of the community to come together for in-depth learning,” says Kollel Program Director Rabbi Shmuel Halpern. “The ability the Kollel has to offer different options for Torah study, so that a person can choose something that suits him, means that more people are learning at an optimum level.”
