Pesach: A Night to Remember

Rabbi Yitzchok Alster was born in Cologne, Germany. He emigrated to the US with his family shortly before WWII.  There, he became a close talmid  of the great Rosh Yeshiva, HaGaon Ha’adir Rav Yitzchok  Hutner.

Rabbi Alster founded the Yeshiva of Pittsburgh in 1967; and in 1985, established Kolel HaTorah in New York for businessmen and professionals — the first of its kind.

In 2004, Rabbi Alster fulfilled his lifetime aspiration of shivat Tzion, emigrating to Israel, where he seen established Kolel Nachlas Tzvi for English-speaking talmidei chachomim.

Why did you write this book? 

Rav Hutner once related to me his wish that  his sefarim ‘Pachad Yitzchok” be translated into English. It was the time of the establishment of various baalei tshuva yeshivos in America and in Israel. I believe he thought that the deeper Torah philosophies clarified in the Pachad Yitzchok would attract people who are looking for a cohesive, intellectual, as well as  emotional understanding of the world.

However, it was commonly understood, at the time, that it would be nigh impossible to capture the unique style  of his writing. In addition, his uncanny ability to explain the most difficult and lofty  concepts , clearly, fleshed out, was  an impossible task. He was able to explain the nister in the terms of nigla.

How does A Night to Remember fit into this? 

A Night to Remember is not an attempt at translation of Pachad Yitzchok. It is a translation of my original work, taken from  the four volumes, named “Olas Yitzchok,” which, to a large degree is based on the very fundamentals of Jewish thought as formulated by Pachad Yitzchok.

How has the feedback been?  

It has been very well received. I am gratified that in some way I have fulfilled the mission I was given by my great rebbe, zecher tzadik livrocho.