Beloved Maggid Shiur Marks 77th Birthday With Students

By COLlive reporter

The 77th birthday of Rabbi Avrohom Gerlitzky, a veteran teacher and beloved maggid shiur, was marked with a grand party on Thursday at a Shul in Crown Heights.

It has become a tradition among his students at Oholei Torah Zal since 1981 to go all out in celebrating the day with a lavish farbrengen, fliers and posters in Crown Heights and gifts.

R’ Avrohom is marking his 54th year of teaching students at Oholei Torah, and each year, his students arrange this lavish celebration as a small token of their appreciation for his warmth, kindness and dedication to his students for decades.

“His students are like his children,” they told COLlive.com. “He puts his heart and soul into teaching, and he has thousands of grateful students all over the world.”

On Thursday, Rabbi Gerlitzky’s students gathered to greet him with confetti, music, singing and dancing, l’chaims, as well as a festive birthday cake.

The bochurim prepared a special gift to present to Rabbi Gerlitzky, a beautiful leather arm chair, which will be delivered to his classroom in Oholei Torah.

The farbrengen continued with surprise guests stopping by to give birthday wishes to the Rabbi, including alumni from the past 54 years.

R’ Avrohom was moved by the great outpouring of love and well wishes from his students, former students and friends.

The organizers thanked the event sponsors: COLlive, Raskin’s Fish, Mendy’s, Sushi Spot for the sushi, First Quality products for the paper goods, and Kahan’s Superette for the snacks and drinks.

Video by Motti Wenger, Srully Jacobs