It is with deep pain and regret that YWN informs you of the petirah of Harav Mordechai Zev Jofen zt”l, Rosh Yeshivas Bais Yosef in Brooklyn. Rav Mordechai Zev zt”l, a great-grandson of the famed Alter of Novardok, was a tremendous talmid chochom, famous for his genius, unparalleled hasmada, depth and breadth in learning, and his lifelong mission of being marbitz torah. As the head of Yeshivas Bais Yosef he ensured that the legacy of Novardok’s unique mesorah continued to flourish in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The Novardok network of yeshivas suffered near-total destruction during the Holocaust, with the exception of Gateshead Talmudical College in England, officially named “Yeshivas Beis Yosef.” Despite this devastation, efforts to re-establish Novardok yeshivas after World War II have kept its mesorah alive.

Rav Avraham Jofen zt”l survived the Holocaust and emigrated to the United States, where he settled in Brooklyn, New York. There, he re-established a Novardok yeshiva, assembling a faculty that included himself as rosh yeshiva, his son Rav Yaakov Yoffen zt”l as maggid shiur, and his son-in-law Rav Yehuda Leib Nekritz zt”l as mashgiach.

Following the petirah of Rabbi Nekritz and the subsequent petirah of Rabbi Yaakov Jofen in 2003, the leadership transitioned to the next generation. Rav Mordechai Jofen and Rav Tzvi Nekritz took the reins of the yeshiva, overseeing a relocation to Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood. To strengthen the yeshiva, they brought in Harav Yaakov Drillman shlit”a, originally from Yeshiva Chaim Berlin, to serve as a rosh yeshiva.

With the petirah of Rav Mordechai Zev zt”l, his position as rosh yeshiva will be succeeded by his son, Rav Moshe shlit”a.

The levaya will take place on Motzei Shabbos at 7:30 PM at Yeshivas Bais Yosef, located at 1502 Avenue N in Brooklyn.

Baruch Dayan Ha’Emes.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)