ב׳ שבט ה׳תשפ״ו | January 19, 2026
The Rebbe’s Kollel Is Without Support: Who Cares?
It has now almost a year since the Crown Heights kollel, “Kollel Menachem She’al Yad Hamazkirus,” has paid a single monthly stipend to any of the yungeleit learning there. Where is the Mazkirus and the community?
By a Kollel yungerman
It has now almost a year since the Crown Heights kollel, “Kollel Menachem She’al Yad Hamazkirus,” has paid a single monthly stipend to any of the young married men learning there. For many of these families, this means trying to survive in Crown Heights with no kollel support at all, despite the kollel’s original mandate and the explicit intent of its founding.
In the year 5722, the Rebbe established a kollel for newly married men in Crown Heights, so that the first year of marriage, the shana rishona, should be spent fully immersed in Torah and Chassidus, laying a strong foundation for life. The Rebbe even allowed the kollel to carry his name, saying: “Establishing a kollel in Lubavitch is a chidush that I wanted to introduce. For 180 years, Lubavitch never had a kollel. I wanted to create a new phenomenon: that yungeleit should kuch zich in learning.”
To make this possible, the Rebbe appointed the Mazkirus to take responsibility for raising funds to support the yungeleit learning in the kollel. On various occasions, the Rebbe himself also contributed toward the kollel’s expenses.
For many years, this structure worked. One of the mazkirim fulfilled his mandate, and young couples who wished to begin their married life focused on learning were able to do so without constant financial anxiety. Indeed, thousands of couples established their marriage “al yesodei hatorah” literally, through full-time learning of the husband.
After that mazkir passed away, however, the Mazkirus let it go. Some others donated, but over time, their support dwindled when they couldn’t support it anymore.
Today, the kollel stipend has disappeared entirely. For close to a year, there has been no support at all for the yungeleit learning in the Rebbe’s kollel.
Even under normal circumstances, life for young kollel couples is tight. With a wife working full-time and a stipend of about $1,000 a month from kollel, families already struggle to cover rent, food, and basic living expenses in Crown Heights. There is rarely room for anything beyond essentials. When that modest stipend is removed altogether, covering even the basics becomes an intense and ongoing struggle.
Today, with rent and living costs so high, learning in kollel in Crown Heights is barely a viable option for most young couples. A moisad that the Rebbe worked to establish, and clearly cared deeply about, is in danger of falling apart at its very seams.
What makes the situation even more painful is that there appears to be no functioning address to turn to. The Mazkirus, who were tasked with sustaining the kollel, have not created any visible infrastructure for fundraising, not even a basic website or donation platform through which the community can help support the kollel and its families. As a result, kollel yungeleit are left without any means of support.
There are many yungeleit who sincerely yearn to dedicate a full year to Torah learning at the start of their married life. But without a functioning support system, this becomes an almost impossible decision for many families. The responsibility to fix this does not rest on the yungeleit themselves, but on the Mazkirus, who were charged with ensuring that the Rebbe’s kollel continues to flourish as intended.
It is long past time for a proper system to be put in place, one that actively raises funds, communicates with the community, and restores the kollel’s ability to support those learning within it. Without that, a central moisad founded by the Rebbe himself will erode entirely.
COMMENTS
So sorry to hear this, such an important stage that the Rebbe encouraged for yungerlite to set up their married life in the proper way… I would love to donate to this, I hope we can figure something out… is there any way we can help?
This is a real problem.
A few years ago we decided we wanted to support Torah learning. Wanting to support the Rebbe’s Kollel we tried reaching out to different people to find out how we can donate but everything led to dead end. Either they said they didn’t know or wouldn’t respond… it’s still something we would like to donate to monthly but have no idea how
My cousin didn’t get paid even one paycheck.
This disrespectful trash is clearly targeted at a certain individual and is quite nasty.
I also find it unlikely that the author is unaware that Lubavitch World Headquarters, including “Mazkirus”, has a website including a donation portal at Lubavitch.com, and a working phone line: 718-774-4000.
If the author is indeed concerned perhaps he should reach out through the proper channels instead of shamelessly writing anonymous pashkevilin on the open web.
And the kollel HAS NOT BEEN PAID. That is the message. And it is accurate. Where is the accountability?
There is no place where one can specifically donate to Kollel. Machine Israel doesn’t list kollel as one of their projects one can donate to, though they proudly sit on kollel letterhead.
I learnt in the Kollel 37 years ago. We could go without receiving cheques for months. So I approached the Secretary concerned on a regular basis in a friendly and gentle prodding. Which worked , as long as I was in Kollel, to receive the cheque’s on time. In 1989 we received $220 a month, whilst rent for a half a floor was $450 and $650 for a whole floor. The secretary claimed, that $220 doesn’t even pay the rent. So I told him, that it would pay food and some utilities. He then took me seriously.
When I was in kolel are talked to him a lot and I saw firsthand that he was the only one who took the Kolel seriously and worked tirelessly to fundraise for it.
And the building on Union street has been flattened!
As a current Kolel Guy who sits here every day . The kolel guys got some funds over time and most were paid recently thru the efforts of Reb Menacham Heller the Menahel. Now there is a full group of guys getting paid full time and on time monthly.
As of now we were told the funding cannot support 115 guys a month like before but a smaller more diligent group and that group is getting paid monthly. Also the place is packed BH with guys learning from wall to wall.
The fact is that there is currently no mosad in Crown Heights for a yungerman to learn in if he wants to be able to live (without support from parents or tzedaka)
A few guys get paid? That’s great! But there is no motivation for anyone else to sit and learn from morning to night when they know there is no accountability
And anyone getting married now knows they will either live off tzedaka, get a job instead of full time kollel, or get illegal government assistance
This is categorically false.
I as well sit in Kollel, Kollel is in fact full, however, No one has been payed.
He should have been much sharper. Machane was in charge of paying for Kolel before Gimmel Tammuz and even till recently the checks were written under their name (although they didn’t fund any of it), so to reach out to them is quite pointless they know they haven’t signed checks in months. And even when there was money for Kolel we had to wait weeks sometimes just for it to get signed, or it had to go through another account.
Your comment was also anonymous. Also, you didn’t answer his tayne. It’s a valid tayne.
I connect well with the writer, as i myself had to leave a few months ago because of this
If you are referring to the three older people (in their 50’s), (cause NON of the yungerleit get paid, and that’s a fact) well the rebbe spoke about kollel for people in their first year of marriage…
I wanted to go to Kollel for 1 year but did not for fear of not having enough to make ends meet.
I started working and tutoring right off the bat and regret that I didn’t find a way to make it work.
I would wholeheartedly send monthly support for those in their Shana Reshona to go to Kollel for one year if a campaign was made public
I find it odd that the author of this article does not mention the Mazkir, Binyamin Klein AH who was in charge of it.
Although the pay was super low 20 years ago, it worked somehow. He made it work.
Machne Yisroel/Merkos has become completely ineffective on many fronts unfortunately. Very sad state of affairs. R”L.
B”H Lubavitch itself has begun to run from the inside out, not from top down systems that are ineffective.
Chassidim with the Rebbe are effective, not systems.
Maybe R Heller can comment on this status?
Kollel was truly a fundamental part of our Shana Rishona. It is such an important transition from learning full time as a bochur to going into the world. It is clear why the Rebbe saw the great need for a Kollel. It is sad how many yungeleit don’t go to kollel these days. And to add insult to injury is the lack of payment to the few guys left who are going to Kollel