Jewish History Moment podcast with Ben Bresky
Israel Beat
How a Holocaust Survivor Inspired Today’s Rabbis
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How a Holocaust Survivor Inspired Today’s Rabbis

Interview with Rabbi Kalman Flaks on the incredible life of Rabbi Yisroel Zev Gustman, head of the Netzach Yisrael yeshiva in Jerusalem.

The stories of how Rabbi Yisroel Zev Gustman survived World War II and reestablished the Netzach Yisrael yeshiva in Jerusalem have inspired the new generation of Israeli rabbis. Meet Rabbi Kalman Flaks of the Simcha Center who teaches at Netzach as he shares stories of Rabbi Gutman’s miraculous and inspiring life.

A licensed tour-guide and IDF reserve soldier, Rabbi Kalman (Keith) Flaks explains the history of the Ramailes Yeshiva in the once thriving Jewish community of Vilna. Rabbi Yisroel Zev Gustman was the last great rabbi of Vilna before the Holocaust. He was helped Jews escape the Nazis, was severely injured, and became a partisan fighter. After the war, he headed the Chabad – Lubavitch yeshiva in New York. He then made aliyah to Jerusalem’s Rehavia neighborhood and reestablished the Ramailes Yeshiva in the historic Havatzelet House, an architectural gem built in 1925 for Gad Frumkin, one of the only Jews allowed to served on the Supreme Court during the British Mandate period.

Today Rabbi Kalman Flaks teaches at the yeshiva and hosts tours and Shabbat events. For more information visit https://www.tourstoinspire.com/

Rabbi Kalman (Keith) Flaks giving a tour of the Old City and Mount Zion. Credit: Ben Bresky, 2024
Ish HaEshkolot, the biography of Rabbi Yisroel Zev Gustman. Credit: Chabadpedia.
Letterhead of the original Ramailes Yeshiva in Vilna (Vilnius) from a letter by Rabbi Abraham Tzvi Hirsh Grodzinski.
Netzach Yisrael Yeshiva, Jerusalem. Formerly the home of Judge Gad Frumkin. Rabbi Gustman reestablished his yeshiva here and expanded the building. Credit: Ben Bresky, 2025.
The sign over the door says “Havatzelet” the name of the Hebrew newspaper started in the 1860s and edited by Israel Dov Frumkin, father of Justice Gad Frumkin.
Kalman Flaks at the Netzach courtyard where Rabbi Gustman used to tent to the plants.

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