Rabbi Zvi Dov Kanotopsky

A beloved and dynamic rav, Rabbi Zvi Dov Kanotopsky, zt"l, combined his deep commitment to Torah and mitzvot and his incredibly creative mind to develop derashot and shiurim that his congregants and students remember to this day. He developed his intellectual acumen and honesty, establishing himself as a talmid muvhak of Rav Soloveitchik in the 1940s. For 28 years, he taught at various schools of Yeshiva University even as he served as the rav in two communities: Young Israel of Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights and Young Israel of West Hempstead on Long Island. In both these communities, he was known for his erudition and for his ability to transmit his ideas to everyone, both learned students and the laity of the synagogues. He was very successful in shaping the minds and hearts of his congregants to love and respect Torah and to love and support Eretz Yisrael. After making aliyah in 1970 with his wife and two of his children, Rav Kanotopsky served as director of the Institute for Advanced Talmud Study at Bar Ilan University, while also lecturing at Hebrew University and the Michlalah College for Women in Jerusalem. The holder of a Ph.D. in theoretical physics as well as M.A. and M.B.A. degrees, Dr. David Zomick has had a distinguished career as a leader in aerospace technology. Among the positions he held at Honeywell Aerospace were vice president of engineering and chief scientist. Rabbi Kanotopsky was the rav of the shul in which Dr. Zomick was raised, and was also his rosh yeshiva.