The Rebbe’s Kollel Is Without Support: Who Cares? A Response
The current crisis facing the Crown Heights kollel is real. Yungeleit have gone close to a year without stipends, families are struggling, and an institution founded by the Rebbe is under strain. That reality cannot and should not be minimized.
But what is increasingly unhelpful is framing this situation as a question of who failed, whose job it was, or which office should be blamed. That discussion may satisfy frustration, but it does not put food on tables, nor does it sustain Torah learning. More importantly, it distracts from the solution the Rebbe himself already put in place.
The Rebbe did not rely on complaints, nor did he expect Torah institutions to survive on finger-pointing. As early as 5715 (1955), the Rebbe established Keren Torah under Machne Yisroel, explicitly to support limud haTorah. From the time of its founding and repeatedly throughout the Nesius, the Rebbe spoke about this fund at the Yud Shvat farbrengens and called upon chassidim to donate to it annually on Yud Shvat. This was not presented as a suggestion tied to a specific institution or crisis. It was a standing directive to chassidim, year after year.
That point is critical. Supporting Keren Torah is not something that suddenly becomes relevant because a kollel is in trouble. It is something every chassid should be doing regardless, simply because the Rebbe said to do so. The kollel crisis merely exposes what happens when that instruction is not broadly followed.
A kollel for newly married men is not peripheral to the purpose of Keren Torah. It is one of the clearest and most direct expressions of supporting Torah learning. If there is “no money” for the kollel, that does not mean the Rebbe’s model failed. It means the model is not being used.
The numbers make this unmistakably clear. If just 25,000 chassidim would each give 54 dollars to Keren Torah on Yud Shvat, that would generate 1.35 million dollars. That sum would fully cover the kollel’s needs. Not partially, not temporarily, but in a way that actually stabilizes and sustains it. And that figure reflects a modest contribution that is well within reach for many.
This is why endless discussion about responsibility misses the point. No single office, no individual donor, and no small group was ever meant to carry this alone. The Rebbe created a communal solution, one that depends on many people doing a little, rather than a few people doing everything.
Yes, better infrastructure and clearer communication are important, and they should be improved. But no amount of organization can replace collective responsibility. The Rebbe did not envision Torah institutions surviving on emergency appeals or public frustration. He envisioned chassidim taking shared ownership of supporting Torah learning.
If the kollel matters to us, then the response should be more than concern or criticism. It should be a positive step forward. Yud Shvat gives every chassid an opportunity to participate in strengthening Torah learning in a tangible way, exactly as the Rebbe asked. When many people answer that call together, the result is not crisis management, but stability, dignity, and growth.
Donations to Keren Torah can be made at: https://www.magbis.org/keren-torah
