PHOTO: Rabbi Tzvi Fisher speaks at the Portland Kollel's 20th Anniversary celebration Wednesday, May 13, at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center. Rabbi Fisher was one of the founding figures of Portand's Orthodox Torah learning hub.(Rockne Roll/The Jewish Review)

Luminaries past and present, from near and far, gathered to celebrate 20 years of the Portland Kollel Wednesday, May 13 at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center. Two decades of learning and programming started with one meeting.

“In the summer of 2005, Rabbi [Nate] Segal convinced  Esther and me to take a trip to the West Coast to consider moving there from Yerushalayim,” Rabbi Tzvi Fisher, one of the Kollel’s founders, explained. “Sura Rubinstein and her late husband, whose yahrzeit is today, the late Honorable Rick Haselton, opened their home to Esther and me and some community members who were passionate about starting a Kollel, a community outreach program that would be based in teaching and learning Torah and they made a good pitch. Adam Rosenberg, together with his father, Michael, picked us up and took us around, and showed us Multnomah Falls, and we were sold.”

Rabbi Segal, founder of the New Springville Jewish Center in Staten Island and Director of Community Outreach and Development for the Haredi educational non-profit Torah Umesorah, was on hand for the festivities as well.

“You have honored the name of the Almighty,” Rabbi Segal told the capacity crowd in the MJCC’s ballroom. He called the evening “a celebration of going from the desert to a beautiful blooming garden. That’s what you have accomplished. You have built the most beautiful garden.”

His message was more than congratulatory; Rabbi Segal quickly pivoted to galvanize attendees to keep going.

“Let’s understand something: As great as Portland has become, there is still much more to do. There are thousands more Jews around here that you must inspire,” he said. “Kesser has done remarkable things. It has to be more. More children have to beat Maayan Torah. More people have to become involved in this great NCSY. Most of all, more people have to come to learn from the Kollel.”

Portland’s current Rosh Kollel, Rabbi Chanan Spivak, conveyed a similar sentiment a different way.

“Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly always think that they’re finished, no matter what stage of life you’re in. A human being will think that they’re finished despite the fact that we are a work in progress,” he said. “A lot of change is really success. This person said to me, ‘Our family’s need for a strong Jewish community that offers everything is so advanced now, when we came there was so little; you should be proud,’ and it’s true.”