Rabbi Shmuel Elozor Volk
שמואל אלעזר חיים ב"ר משה אברהם שלום
Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbeinu Yitzchok Elchonon (RIETS)Date of Death:
Thu. October 24, 2019 -
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Directions to Kever: Har HaMenuchos Cemetery - Jerusalem, Israel. Location: UNCONFIRMED
Biographical Notes:
Credit: MCA
Credit: MCA
Source: Needed, June 3, 1965
Credit: NEEDED
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Rav Volk was among the top students in Telz but unfortunately never found himself in America.
He had a big fallout with the Yeshiva in the late 60’s when all the Rosh Yeshiva started teaching in English (except for Rav Dovid who taught in Hebrew). Rav Volk couldn’t make the switch and his health deteriorated. He eventually took a leave of absence to recuperate. When he tried returning to the Yeshiva they wouldn’t take him back claiming there were no student for a shiur in Yiddish. He took the Yeshiva before the NYS Labor Board but lost the case. He retired to Florida and wrote 2 more volumes of his seforim trashing the Yeshiva in the Hakdama. As a result the Yeshiva decided he doesn’t exist and erased his name from all official pictures and documents.
A sad story, indeed!!!
https://seforimblog.com/2009/01/thoughts-on-confrontation-sundry/
1) One place that RIETS still honored him was during yizkor each yom tov in the beis midrash. They would include a קל מלא for a long list of rebbeim who had passed away since the beginning of the yeshiva.
I took notice when new names would appear on the list over the years I was there. I’m pretty sure I remember Rav Volk zt”l being added some time in the mid to late 1980s.
2) I see that the location of his kever and the date of his petira haven’t yet been identified.
The social security death index does have the following listings:
SAMUEL VOLK, Date of Death: 1986 Aug, Date of Birth: 1908 Sep 20
LEAH VOLK, Date of Death: Nov 29, 1990, Date of Birth: Jun 28, 1914
last residence: Miami, FL 33140
The Florida Death Index, 1877-1998 is slightly more specific and lists Samuel Volk’s death date as Aug. 27, 1986 (approximately כ”ב אב, תשמ”ו)
I tried searching HaPardes for mentions of his levaya and came up empty handed. This wouldn’t be surprising if the publishers were taking sides in the dispute mentioned above – in truth I was skimming things so I could have possibly missed something.
The interesting thing is that a nice sized obituary for his wife, Rebbetzin Leah Volk, appeared in HaPardes No. 65 Vol. 8 (אייר תשנ”א) pp. 27,28 at https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=12408&st=&pgnum=29
It says there that she passed away on י”ב כסלו, תשנ”א which matches up to Nov 29, 1990 mentioned above.
The article mentions the tragic death of her son two years prior on the heels of the passing of her husband. This indicates that Rav Volk’s petira happened sometime during or before 1988.
It also mentions that she was buried next to husband in a cemetery in the Miami community. (an address for the Volks appears near the beginning of the final volume of שערי טהר – at 2840 Flamingo Dr. in Miami Beach, FL).
The International Jewish Cemetery Project lists Miami area cemeteries in the following pages. Perhaps someone can take a crack at investigating the contacts listed there in order to identify the exact kever location of Rav Volk and his Rebbetzin.
https://iajgscemetery.org/usa/florida-fl/miami-dade-county
https://iajgscemetery.org/usa/florida-fl/north-miami-beach-miami-dade-county
3) Also see this:
https://www.geni.com/people/Ezriel-Chizkiyahu-Chaim-Shmuel-Elazar-Volk/6000000001753447042
As a current YU student I can confirm that Rav Volk is on the Yizkor list for past YU roshei yeshiva