Harav Avraham Yaakov Hakohen Pam was born in Tammuz 5673 to Harav Meir, a noted talmid chacham, who was a former talmid of Slabodka and Radin. It was, therefore, in a Torah-steeped home that Rav Pam’s unique personality was fashioned.
Young Avraham Yaakov constantly sought to grow in Torah and ruchniyus, and his diligence, refinement and purity of thought were evident even in his youth.
As a child, he studied in Kovna. His family later moved to America, where his father was appointed R”M in Yeshiva Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin. Thirteen-year-old Avraham Yaakov began studying in Yeshiva Torah Vodaath.
After his marriage to Rebbetzin Sara, he was asked to serve as R”M in the yeshivah ketanah of Torah Vodaath, and later he went on to become Rosh Yeshivah of the yeshivah gedolah. For more than 60 years he delivered shiurim and mussar shmuessen, making a tremendous, lifelong impact on his talmidim.
His profound, weekly shiurim in parashas hashavua in Torah Vodaath were well attended. These shiurim provided the contents of his sefer Atara Lamelech, with particular stress on middos tovos.
His appearance at various assemblages and conventions of Agudas Yisroel and organizations had a tremendous impact. His speeches were accepted with great reverence in all Torah-true circles. He spoke calmly, with measured, well-chosen words that penetrated the hearts of his listeners.
Along with his leadership in many of the struggles facing Torah Jewry in the United States, he was very concerned about the problems of Torah Jewry in Eretz Yisrael. He founded the Shuvu organization for the chinuch of Russian children in Eretz Yisrael.
At one Agudah convention he delivered a stirring speech, making all aware of the urgent need to provide for the spiritual needs of these children. Then and there, he set up a special committee for rescue activities, and in that manner Shuvu was born. He was its loyal patron until his final day.
Two months before he was niftar, his health began to deteriorate. Despite his difficult condition, weeks before his passing he participated in the annual parlor meeting of Shuvu, setting out for the meeting by ambulance, on a stretcher. There, he spoke for five minutes about the tremendous importance of providing Jewish children with a Jewish education. At that, his final public appearance, he conveyed the message that every Jew, under all circumstances, is obligated to do his maximum for the sake of the chinuch of Jewish children.
He was niftar on Thursday night, 28 Av, and was buried at Mount Judah Cemetery in Queens, N.Y.
Yehi zichro baruch. https://hamodia.com/columns/day-history-28-avaugust-29/
Rav Avraham Yaakov HaCohen Pam (1913 - 2001) grew up Lithuania. His father Rav Meir, was a Gaon in Torah, and his mother a melumedes extraordinaire and a pillar of chesed. Rav Pam's stay in Slobodka, basking in the glow of the great gedolim whose presence illuminated the shtetl, though short, had a tremendous impact on his life.
In 1927 as conditions in Lithuania deteriorated, Rav Meir Pam took advantage of an opportunity to move and settle in America. He began his career at Yeshiva Mesivta Torah Voda'ath in 1938. Rav Pam was renown for his fiery pilpul chaveirim, and the Torah friendships he forged that impacted his life and that of his talmidim. With the passing of Rav Eliyahu Chazan, Rav Pam was appointed Rosh HaYeshiva the position he held until the end of his life.
Rav Pam shunned the limelight. He preferred to devote his days and nights to his life’s passion; the study and teaching of Torah. He worked tirelessly on behalf of Jewish educational causes both in the United States and in Israel.
Tens of thousands of Jews considered Rav Pam a "godol"," a spiritual giant. They regarded his words as gems to be gathered, even when his message consisted of criticism. For his listeners knew - from his reputation, his demeanor and the unmistakable pain on his face - that Rav Pam's exclusive motivations were fear of God and love for fellow Jews.
Anyone who ever met Rav Pam could not help but recognize his modesty. Although he was a great person, one of the gedolei hador, his humility was striking, his simplicity remarkable, and his honesty and integrity impeccable. He displayed remarkable sensitivity for other human beings, and the ahavah that he transmitted could be touched with your hands. He cautioned against being judgmental of others His sense of halacha and its practical application was impeccable.
Honesty and integrity were also recurrent themes of Rav Pam's. Meticulous honesty, he said is the mandate of every Jew, and must be the hallmark of every one claiming to be observant."Emunah," he went on to explain, also means "faith," alluding to the fact that faith in our Creator as the source of our daily bread is antithetical to acting dishonestly.
Perhaps above all, he was powerfully dedicated to making authentic Jewish education available to all Jewish children - the "jewels in the crown" of the Almighty, as he once wrote. He personally founded, Shuvu. It provides young immigrants to Israel, largely from the former Soviet Union, with a comprehensive Jewish education in an open and loving environment, helping both the children and their parents reconnect with the Jewish religious heritage.
All Jews, whether they knew of Rav Pam during his life or not, would do well to recognize the profound loss to us all that his death represents. We all know that any and every attempt to capture this giant's greatness will fail to do him justice.
Family Background:
His father Rav Meir, was a Gaon in Torah whose entire life evolved around limud HaTorah. Rav Pam often told his talmidim-and especially his grandson R' Meir, who is named after his great-grandfather, that Rav Meir never stopped learning in order to go to sleep. He would concentrate on either a Ketzos or Reb Akiva Eiger until finally dozing off to the strains of their svaros, often waking up in the middle of the night to find the seforim still lying open beside him.
Another potent force in molding Rav Pam's fervent hashkafa was that of his mother, Rebbetzin Rachel Leah, a melumedes extraordinaire and a pillar of chesed who constantly set aside money for the impoverished. She was the daughter of Rav Shimon Dov Analek, the Shedlitzer Rav and a Talmid muvhak of Rav Eizel Charif Rav Pam's zaide, Rav Shimon Dov, served as the Rav of Tiktin and later in the Chassidic community of Shedlitz
https://www.geni.com/people/Rabbi-Avrohom-Pam/6000000008872464260
