RIETS Israel Kollel Celebrating 50 Years: Part 2– The Early Years (Featuring R' Ari Kahn, R' Moshe Lichtman & R' Daniel Yolkut)

Featuring: R' Ari Kahn, R' Moshe Lichtman & R' Daniel YolkutR’ Ari Khan is Director of Foreign Student Programs at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. He also serves as Rav of the Mishkan Etrog community in Givat Ze’ev.Contact: [email protected]’ Moshe Lichtman teaches in several yeshivas and seminaries in Israel. He has also written several seforim focusing on Eretz Yisrael, including a translation of "Eim HaBanim Semeichah" and "Eretz Yisrael on the Parsha" among others.Contact: [email protected]’ Daniel Yolkut is Rabbi of Congregation Poale Zedeck in Pittsburgh, PA.Contact: [email protected]:What did the RIETS Israel Kollel feel like in its early decades on the Gruss Campus? In this second episode of our series celebrating 50 years of the Israel Kollel, we spoke with three alumni from the first 25 years — R’ Moshe Lichtman, R’ Ari Kahn, and R’ Daniel Yolkut. How did they end up in the Kollel, and what drew them there at that stage of life? What was unique about the learning, the chavrusa culture, and the sense of community on the Gruss Campus? Who were their chavrusas and other memorable chaverim learning with them in the Beis Medrish? We also reflect on the influence of Rav Dovid Miller and the presence of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt"l in the Beis Medrish, and how those years shaped their relationship with Torah, Eretz Yisrael, and the paths they eventually took in rabbanus and chinuch.Guest Host: R’ Aryeh LebowitzRav Miller and the alumni of the RIETS Israel Kollel will be honored at the upcoming RIETS Dinner on Monday, March 16, 2026 (27th of Adar) in celebrating 50 years of Harbatzas Torah in Israel. For more information about the dinner and scroll of honor, visit https://www.yu.edu/yeshivadinnerTo sign up for the siyum hashas celebrating Rav Miller and the RIETS Israel Kollel’s 50 years : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m3K2S3mWi8GHdUNndrOP5e3Ghvp4XGUM/edit?gid=1259069286#gid=1259069286