Rabbi Tropper continues a legacy of academic achievement, with his late grandfather Rabbi Leib Forer a highly respected presence in the Holyoke, Massachusetts, community. After attending yeshivas in Philadelphia and Cleveland, he relocated to Jerusalem at age 14 and entered the Yeshivas Torah Ore. His accomplishments under the tutelage of Rosh Yeshiva Maran Harav Scheinberg included publishing an original interpretation of the Tractate Kesubot at age 16.
Remaining in Jerusalem to instruct baalei teshuva for several years, Rabbi Leib Tropper earned four semichas. These notably included an ordinance from Rabbi Elazar Shach, the venerable Ponevezh Yeshiva’s educational leader. This authoritative figure bestowed only three semichas during the course of his years as Rosh Yeshiva.
Rabbi Tropper next returned to New York, serving as Educational Director of Ohr Sameach, a then newly established institution with locations in Yonkers and Monsey. In founding the Kol Yaakov Torah Center, he drew inspiration from his mentor Rabbi Scheinberg, and the hashkafa and chinuch he gained from him. In 1990, Rabbi Leib Tropper notably expanded the school’s scope of activities by initiating Horizons, a program that reached out to students unaccustomed to a Torah-centered lifestyle.