Rabbi Avrohom Korf, who escaped Communist Russia as a child and served as Head Shliach of Florida, making it the U.S. state with the most Shluchim and Chabad institutions, passed away on Monday night, 12 Tammuz, 5785. Full Story
By COLlive reporter
Rabbi Avrohom Korf, Head Shliach of the State of Florida who built an empire of Jewish institutions with dedication and little fanfare, passed away on Monday night, 12 Tammuz, 5785.
He was 92.
Rabbi Korf was born two days after Simchas Torah 5693, to his father Rabbi Yehoshua and his mother Chaya Rivka, in the town of Kharkiv. At the outbreak of World War II, his family fled to the city of Samarkand in Georgia. In 1977, and the family escaped as part of the escape operation from Russia together with Rebbetzin Chana. His family settled in the Poking refugee camp for a short period, and then Rabbi Avrohom went to study in France at the Yeshiva in Brunoy.
In 5713, after receiving permission from the Rebbe, he came to the United States for the first time to 770.
In the year 1977, he was sent by the Rebbe, along with other bochurim, to Israel, to strengthen the Chabad Chassidim after the murderous attack on the school in Kfar Chabad, in which an instructor and five students were murdered.
He married Rivka (nee Eichenbaum) in the month of Shevat 5720. The couple had the privilege of being among the last for whom the Rebbe was Mesader Kiddushin.
A year after their marriage, Rabbi Avrohom and Rivka Korf uprooted themselves from the tight-knit Chassidic community in Crown Heights and headed to Miami Beach on behalf of the Rebbe. What they encountered was a South Florida community on the verge of a vast transformation with an influx of retirees from out of state and a swell of Jewish immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean, Chabad.org writes.
By 1960, the state had about 175,000 Jewish residents. Miami had a total of 3 synagogues and only 2 mikvahs in all of Florida. Miami had modern Jewish day schools, but they didn’t suit the needs of frum Jewish families.
Unfazed by his sparse and halting command of the English language, the couple viewed every obstacle as an opportunity and forged ahead. Even though money was extremely tight and their welcome wasn’t always certain, they established the Landow Yeshiva in 1966.
“It started off with 6 children,” Rabbi Korf recalled, “then, 32 children the next year, then 67, and then hundreds. As people started hearing about it, it grew.” Along with the school, the Korfs built a synagogue and a Gan Yisroel Jewish overnight camp. They each led Torah classes.
With kosher products hard to come by in those days, cholov yisroel dairy products were almost unheard of. Undaunted, Rabbi Korf headed out to the farms and milked the cows himself. Fifty years later, the Korfs marvel at the thousands and thousands of kosher products available in Florida supermarkets.
Mirroring the growth of other programs, today, under the umbrella of the Lubavitch Educational Center, what began as the Landow Yeshiva incorporates a preschool, an elementary school, the Beis Chana High School for Girls, and a rabbinical college. The complex serves approximately 800 students.
Today, Florida boasts the third-largest Jewish community in the United States with about 750,000 Jews. Some 180 Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries are spread throughout the state in some 145 locations.
He was predeceased by his wife Rivka Korf on 28 Tishrei 5778.
He is survived by his children, Rabbi Yossi Korf – Hollywood, FL; Mrs. Rashi Raices – Postville, Iowa; Mrs. Shevi Sossonko – Miami Beach, FL; Rabbi Benjy Korf – Miami Beach, FL; Mrs. Leah Jacobson – Crown Heights; R’ Mendy Korf – Miami Beach, FL; R’ Motty Korf – Miami Beach, FL; Rabbi Zalman Korf – Walnut Creek, FL; Ms. Sari Korf – Miami Beach, FL; grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
