Beth Medrash Govoha (BMG) serves as both spiritual and administrative center of Lakewood Township’s Orthodox community, exerting enormous influence and having enormous clout.
She chose this area because of its schools and sense of community; her children quickly made friends here, while she appreciated that so many kosher options existed nearby.
The Big Yeshiva
Rabbi Aharon Kotler’s founding of Beth Medrash Govoha (BMG) in 1943 helped revive this lakeside town and transform it into a vibrant metropolis for many Orthodox Jews worldwide. Today it stands as America’s largest yeshiva (Jewish college), and students often refer to it as being on par with Princeton or Yale universities in terms of prestige. BMG truly stands as the crown jewel of Lakewood Jewish life!
BMG is an institution of intense learning and stringent observance, and serves as the epicenter of Lakewood’s kosher Jewish community. While its students may devote themselves to Torah study, others hail from families that place great value on white-collar respectability and commercial success; many spend their days either working at their businesses or dining and drinking out with family, or attending high-profile sports events like recent 76ers-Celtics series games.
Due to their price point and location, BMG executive offices resemble more closely that of an expensive law firm or investment bank than they do a yeshiva. Tucked behind an intercom-protected locked door near the far corner of the cafeteria and up a staircase are offices featuring wood paneling with names etched into their doors and large conference rooms.
Etiquette in this space is also uniquely Jewish, with a strict dress code and bans on chewing gum or smoking; with one rare exception being when an outside guest is invited in for dinner.
No one would doubt BMG’s prominence, yet scores of smaller Yeshivas still populated Lakewood and educated thousands of children, mostly boys. Most are run by Baalebatim householders who contribute financially towards keeping these institutions alive. Although Kotler seems unconcerned by these claims he does not appear to question whether Lakewood residents’ religious practices are legitimated.
The Kosher Jewish Life
Lakewood, situated 10 miles from the Jersey Shore in a lush piney part of New Jersey, once served as a WASPy vacation resort. Now one of New Jersey’s fastest-growing cities and hub for American Orthodox Judaism, many newcomers from other Orthodox Jewish communities have moved here looking for peace, lower property costs, and an intimate community experience – this sudden surge has transformed Lakewood into what some longterm residents view as an isolated Orthodox Jewish enclave; some longstanding residents believe this has created social tensions among longtime residents; some longtime residents feel uncomfortable by this change resulting from so many recent arrivals from other communities; these newcomers have moved here looking for peace, lower property costs, tight knit communities – making Lakewood into something similar to what longterm residents might see as something similar enclave-
Lakewood’s explosive growth has put strain on its outdated infrastructure and caused budget deficits among schools, but residents remain committed to its future by creating an economy focused on what matters to them: kosher restaurants and markets, religious elementary/secondary schools and haberdashery/dressmaking shops.
Lakewood boasts not only many family-run businesses but also the world’s largest yeshiva, estimated at an annual budget of $35 Million and with staff composed of rabbis and Talmud scholars dedicated to teaching its 800 student body how to study Talmud. Established by Rabbi Aharon Kotler in 1943 and quadrupled under Schneur until he passed away in 1982, its student population now exceeds that of any other institution worldwide.
Students attend Lakewood from all around the world, though most come from Israel and Russia. Most are men in their 20s living in rented apartments at condominium complexes near Lakewood where their young wives and children also reside. Although almost all students are financially struggling, they remain generous individuals; giving money to local synagogues, mosdos, tzedakah organizations as well as volunteering their services at helping the elderly or repairing synagogues – they give generously but with good will!
The Fancy Houses
As with yeshivas in Brooklyn before it, Lakewood has seen tremendous growth recently, prompting tension between longtime residents and newcomers; some longtimers asserting that some newcomers do not share Lakewood’s “values”, including modest dress for women and devotion to Torah study among men.
Recent arrivals are predominantly Halachic Jews who bring with them their own values and traditions that help keep Lakewood more cohesive than when its diverse communities existed in isolation throughout the region.
Elimelech Ehrlich, 51, spends his three weeks annually in town wandering between yeshivas – schools where Jewish men in their 20s devote themselves to Talmud studies – and condominium complexes, visiting students living there with young wives and children before meeting up with old friends on the street and asking about marriages or babies.
The man in black carrying a cash box stops by each house he visits to request donations of money for himself and Aaron Kotler, President of BMG and an integral figure in Lakewood municipality. If he doesn’t get enough, he knows he may need to relocate; otherwise he would risk leaving behind both their community of Jewish scholars he built up here as well as Aaron himself who serves as President of BMG and key player within Lakewood municipality.
Lakewood stands alone among less-yeshivish communities for its level of yeshiva life and community building efforts, which would take considerable resources and money to replicate. Therefore, many Lakewoodites are now considering moving somewhere else; many are considering Waterbury, Connecticut which features similar characteristics while offering plenty of housing opportunities.
