Rabbi Yerachmiel Eliyahu Botchko was an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

rabbi in Switzerland. He was the founder and

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

of Yeshivas Eitz Chaim in

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

, Switzerland.

Early life

Rabbi Botchko was born on January 28, 1888, in

Chorzele Chorzele is a town in Przasnysz County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, on the Orzyc (river), Orzyc River. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 3,047. The town is crossed by the national road No. 57 Bartoszyce - Pułtusk and provinc ...

, Russia (currently Poland). At the relatively young age of 12, his parents sent him to the

Lomza Yeshiva The Lomza Yeshiva () was an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Łomża, Poland, founded by Rabbi Eliezer Bentzion Shulevitz in 1883. Rabbi Yechiel Mordechai Gordon served as the yeshiva's rosh yeshiva for many years, and Rabbi Moshe Rosenstain served as t ...

for an advanced

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

education. Shortly after his

bar mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

, his father died, and his mother a short time later. At some point, Eliyahu switched to the Novardok Yeshiva where he grew significantly in his Torah studies. He married Rivka Sternbuch, daughter of Rabbi Naftali Sternbuch of

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and sister-in-law of Recha Sternbuch. The couple settled in Basel.

Rabbinic career

The couple later resettled in

in the

Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...

after Rivka fell ill and the doctors suggested relocation to the mountains. There, in the spring of 1927, Rabbi Botchko opened Yeshivas Eitz Chaim (commonly referred to as the "Montreux Yeshiva") under the instructions of his Rabbi, the Saba of Novardok. Rabbi

Yosef Leib Bloch Rabbi Yosef Yehudah Leib Bloch (February 13, 1860 – November 10, 1929) was a prominent rabbi and ''rosh yeshiva'' in Telshe (Telšiai), Lithuania. Early life Bloch was born on February 13, 1860, in Raseiniai, Lithuania, then part of the Ru ...

of the

Telshe Yeshiva Telshe Yeshiva (; ; also spelled ''Telz'') is a yeshiva in Wickliffe, Ohio, formerly located in Telšiai, Lithuania. During World War II the yeshiva relocated to Cleveland, Ohio in the United States and is now known as the Rabbinical College of ...

sent five of his students to Montreux, who in addition to four local Swiss boys, made up the yeshiva. As opposed to the yeshivas in Eastern Europe where the students studied Torah the entire day, Rabbi Botchko's yeshiva was for Jewish students who went to college during the day and came only at night. The yeshiva's fame grew and it attracted students from all over Europe, and was one of the only European yeshivas to continue functioning during World War II. Teachers in the yeshiva would include Rabbis

Aharon Leib Shteinman Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman (), also Shtainman or Steinman (November 3, 1914 – December 12, 2017), was a Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. Following the death of Yosef Shalom Elyashiv in 2012, he was widely regarded as the Gadol HaDor ...

, Moshe Soloveitchik, and Aryeh Leib Glickson (the latter two were grandchildren of Rabbi

Chaim Soloveitchik Chaim (Halevi) Soloveitchik (Yiddish: חיים סאָלאָווייטשיק, ), also known as Chaim Brisker (1853 – 30 July 1918), was a rabbi and Talmudic scholar credited as the founder of the Brisker method of Talmudic study within Judaism ...

Death and legacy

In January 1956, the yeshiva organized an alumni reunion in the United States, with the participation of Rabbi Botchko. En route to America, he stopped in Ireland where he suffered a sudden heart attack and died; his coffin was flown to Israel for burial, and his son, Rabbi Moshe Botchko, became rosh yeshiva. In 1985, the yeshiva moved to Jerusalem and in 1996, to the Kokhav Ya'akov settlement in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. The yeshiva's name was changed to "Yeshivat Heichal Eliyahu", named after its founder, Rabbi Eliyahu Botchko, and is affiliated with the

Hesder Hesder ( "arrangement"; also Yeshivat Hesder ) is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework. The program allows Orthodox J ...

yeshiva program.

Gallery

File:Yechiva Etz Haïm de Montreux - Bacheliers 1979.jpg, Yeshivas Eitz Chaim, 1979 File:Rav Moshé Botschko par Claude Truong-Ngoc 1979.jpg, His son and successor, Rabbi Moshe Botchko

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botchko, Eliyahu 1888 births 1956 deaths Swiss Orthodox rabbis 20th-century Polish rabbis Rosh yeshivas Disease-related deaths in the Republic of Ireland Polish emigrants to Switzerland Novardok Yeshiva alumni 20th-century Swiss rabbis