Rabbi Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz (May 15, 1918 – April 16, 1998) was a prominent Polish-American Orthodox rabbi and long-time Rosh Yeshiva (dean) of the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. For over three decades, he served as a central figure in rebuilding European-style Torah scholarship on American soil after the Holocaust.

Early Life and Noble Lineage

Rabbi Kalmanowitz was born into a distinguished rabbinic family in Rakov, Poland:

• Father: Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz, the rabbi of Rakov and later Tiktin. He was a titanic leader of the Vaad Hatzalah (Rescue Committee) during World War II, famously moving mountains, confronting government officials, and risking his life to fund and save the Mir Yeshiva during its exile in Shanghai.

  
  

• Maternal Grandfather: Rabbi Betzalel Hakohen, a renowned dayan (rabbinical court judge) in the Torah hub of Vilna.

  
  

Blessed with a brilliant mind, Shraga Moshe began studying at the original Mir Yeshiva in Belarus at the exceptionally young age of 10. He later moved to the Kaminetz Yeshiva, where he became a prized student of the legendary Talmudist Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz.

World War II and the Midnight Telegrams

When World War II broke out, his father managed to escape to the United States to spearhead emergency rescue operations. Shraga Moshe, along with his mother and siblings, escaped through Europe and arrived in New York in 1941. In America, he continued his advanced studies at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas and Beth Medrash Elyon in Monsey.

Even as a young student in New York, he was actively drafted into his father's grueling rescue work. One famous account details an urgent, coded telegram from the exiled yeshiva arriving at the Kalmanowitz home on a Sabbath afternoon, pleading for immediate funds to stave off starvation and arrest. Because it was a matter of pikuach nefesh (saving a human life, which supersedes the Sabbath laws), the young Shraga Moshe rushed to Manhattan to pull his father out from the middle of a speech at a synagogue to secure the lifesaving emergency funds immediately.

Leadership of the Brooklyn Mir Yeshiva

After the war, the survivors of the Mir Yeshiva migrated from Shanghai to the United States, establishing a new campus in Brooklyn (eventually settling on Ocean Parkway in Flatbush). Rabbi Shraga Moshe married Malka, and shortly thereafter began delivering high-level Talmudic lectures (maggid shiur) at the yeshiva.

Upon his father’s passing in 1964, leadership of the Mir Yeshiva was transferred to the next generation. Rabbi Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz became co-Rosh Yeshiva alongside his brother-in-law, the legendary Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum.

• Division of Roles: While Rabbi Shmuel was famous for his electrifying, intensive daily Talmudic lectures, Rabbi Shraga Moshe balanced a deep scholarly presence with the communal, educational, and administrative stewardship of the institution.

Outreach to Sephardic Jewry

One of Rabbi Kalmanowitz’s most distinctive legacies was his passionate commitment to the spiritual preservation of North African and Middle Eastern Sephardic Jewish youth. Following his father's vision, he personally oversaw programs at the Mir designed to integrate and educate young Sephardic immigrants arriving in America from countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Syria, and Egypt. He built deep, lasting relationships with the leaders of the burgeoning Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn, ensuring the yeshiva served as a welcoming home for them.

Passing and Succession

Rabbi Kalmanowitz passed away in New York on April 16, 1998 (the 20th of Nisan, during the holiday of Passover) at the age of 79. His body was flown to Israel, where he was buried next to his father in the Sanhedria Cemetery in Jerusalem.

His legacy within the Mir Yeshiva continues through his children and sons-in-law; his son, Rabbi Asher Eliyahu Kalmanowitz, serves as one of the current Roshei Yeshiva of the Brooklyn institution.