Ponevezh yeshiva
Encyclopedia
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
located in Bnei Brak, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Donated by Henry Krausher, it was originally established in the town of Panevėžys
Panevežys
Panevėžys see also other names, is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2008, it occupied 50 square kilometers with 113,653 inhabitants. The largest multifunctional arena in Panevėžys is the Cido Arena...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. The yeshiva has over one thousand students, and is arguably the leading Lithuanian-style yeshiva in Israel today.
As of January 2007 the Roshei Yeshiva were Rabbis Gershon Eidelstein, Boruch Dov Povarski and Haim Shloime Leibovitz.
History
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
the yeshiva was led by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman
Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman
Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman , יוסף שלמה כהנמן, was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Ponevezh yeshiva. He was a renowned Torah and Talmudic scholar.- Biography :...
, the "Ponovezher Rov", who functioned more as the president and chief fundraiser. Towards the end of the second world war, he re-established the yeshiva in Israel. He selected and appointed Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky
Shmuel Rozovsky
Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky is known as a Talmudic lecturer at Ponevezh Yeshiva and is counted amongst the great rabbis of his generation. During his heyday, Reb Shmuel was known as the king of the yeshivah world. Hundreds attended his lectures...
as dean, and some years later appointed Rabbi's Elazar Shach
Elazar Shach
Elazar Menachem Man Shach also spelt Eliezer Schach, was a leading Lithuanian-born and educated Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. He also served as one of three co-deans of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak along with Rabbis Shmuel Rozovsky and Dovid Povarsky...
and Dovid Povarsky
Dovid Povarsky
Rabbi Dovid Povarsky is known for his erudite Talmudic lectures and his deanship as Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh Yeshiva. He was asked by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman to join the previous two heads of the institute, Rabbi Elazar Menachem Shach and Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky to create a triumvirate in...
as co-roshei yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
.
Faculty
The Kahaneman faction of the yeshiva is presently led by Rabbi's Gershon Eidelstein and Berel Povarsky, in addition to Rabbi's Chaim Shlomo Leibovitch and Chaim Peretz Berman. The Markovitz faction of the yeshiva is led by Rabbi's Shmuel Markovitz, Asher Deutch and Dessler.Internal disputes
Since then, the yeshiva has practically split, effectively resulting in two yeshivos in the same building, with the students occupying different dormitories though studying in the same learning hall and eating in the same dining room.
Famous teachers
- Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer DesslerEliyahu Eliezer DesslerEliyahu Eliezer Dessler was an Orthodox rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Jewish philosopher of the 20th century. He is known as mashgiach ruchani of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Israel and through collections of his writings published posthumously by his pupils.-Lithuania:Eliyahu Dessler Eliyahu Eliezer...
(1892-1953), Mashgiach ruchaniMashgiach ruchaniMashgiach ruchani or mashgiach for short, means a spiritual supervisor or guide. It is a title which usually refers to a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.The position of mashgiach ruchani arose with the...
, "Michtav me-Eliyahu"/"Strive for Truth" - Rabbi Yechezkel LevensteinYechezkel LevensteinYechezkel Levenstein, known as Reb Chatzkel, , was the mashgiach ruchani of the Mir yeshiva, in Mir, Belarus and during the yeshiva's flight to Lithuania and on to Shanghai due to the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in World War II...
(1895-1974), Mashgiach ruchaniMashgiach ruchaniMashgiach ruchani or mashgiach for short, means a spiritual supervisor or guide. It is a title which usually refers to a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.The position of mashgiach ruchani arose with the...
, author of "Or Yechezkel" - Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man ShachElazar ShachElazar Menachem Man Shach also spelt Eliezer Schach, was a leading Lithuanian-born and educated Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. He also served as one of three co-deans of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak along with Rabbis Shmuel Rozovsky and Dovid Povarsky...
(1898-2001), Rosh Yeshiva - Rabbi Dovid PovarskyDovid PovarskyRabbi Dovid Povarsky is known for his erudite Talmudic lectures and his deanship as Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh Yeshiva. He was asked by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman to join the previous two heads of the institute, Rabbi Elazar Menachem Shach and Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky to create a triumvirate in...
, Rosh YeshivaRosh yeshivaRosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education... - Rabbi Chaim Friedlander MashgiachMashgiachIn Judaism, a Mashgiach is a person who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment.A mashgiah may supervise any type of food service establishment, including slaughterhouses, food manufacturers, hotels, caterers, nursing homes, restaurants, butchers, groceries, or cooperatives...
Famous alumni
- Rabbi Asher ArieliAsher ArieliAsher Arieli is a senior lecturer at Yeshivas Mir. He is globally renowned for his lectures and is widely recognized as a Gadol in his own right. He presently delivers the largest Talmudic lecture by attendance in the world with approximately 600 daily attendees. His shiur starts at aprox...
- Rabbi Baruch Shmuel Deutch, teacher at Yeshivat Kol Torah
- Rabbi Yitzchak Dzimtrovski, maggid shiur in Yeshivat Sha'alvimYeshivat Sha'alvimYeshivat Sha'alvim is a hesder yeshiva located near Kibbutz Sha'alvim.- History :Yeshivat Sha'alvim was founded in 1961 by Rabbi Meir Schlesinger, the rabbi of Kibbutz Sha'alvim...
and Yeshivat Kol Yaakov - Rabbi Yehoshua Erenberg, the Rosh Yeshivot of "Kneses Yitzchok", Chadera and Kiryat Sefer.
- Rabbi Menachem Gelley
- Rabbi Pinchas GoldschmidtPinchas GoldschmidtPinchas Goldschmidt is the Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Russia since 1993Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt is the spiritual leader of the Moscow Choral Synagogue, the head of the rabbinnical court of the CIS, and is an officer of the Russian Jewish Congress .Goldschmidt represents the Russian Jewish community...
- Rabbi Yitzchok Halberstadt, former deputy mayor of Bnei Brak, co-founder of Rav Wolf Seminary
- Rabbi Dr. Mordechai HalperinMordechai HalperinMordechai Halperin is an Israeli rabbi, physician and scientist. He is Chief Officer of Medical Ethics for the Israeli Ministry of Health and director of the Falk Schlesinger Institute for Medical-Halachic Research in Jerusalem, Israel...
, Chief Officer of Medical Ethics for the Israeli Ministry of Health, director of the Dr. Falk Schlesinger InstituteSchlesinger instituteThe Schlesinger Institute for Medical-Halachic Research was founded in 1966 under the auspices of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, imbuing its professional pursuits with the spirit of Torah... - Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel
- Rabbi Binyomin Moskovitz, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Midrash Shmuel
- Rabbi Yoel SchwartzYoel SchwartzYoel Schwartz is a Haredi Jewish rabbi, Torah scholar, and prolific writer who has published over 200 Jewish books. He is currently a senior lecturer at Dvar Yerushalayim yeshiva in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof, an English-speaking institute for baalei teshuva...
, Torah scholar and author, senior lecturer at Yeshivas Dvar YerushalayimDvar YerushalayimYeshivat Dvar Yerushalayim, also called the Jerusalem Academy of Jewish Studies, is a yeshiva for baalei teshuva currently located in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel. The yeshiva was founded in 1970 by Rabbi Baruch Horovitz, formerly of Manchester, England.-Link:*... - Yisrael Segal, Israeli journalist
- Rabbi Dovid Stefansky, rosh yeshiva of Kol Yaakov Torah CenterKol Yaakov Torah CenterKol Yaakov Torah Center is an orthodox yeshiva in Monsey, New York that is accredited by The Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools and has received recognition from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and United States Department of Education ....
- Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchok UlmanAvrohom Yitzchok UlmanRabbi Avrohom Yitzchok Ulman is a senior Haredi rabbi living in Jerusalem.He was born in Hungary and immigrated to Israel as a child. He serves on the Beis Din , also known as the Badatz, of the Edah HaChareidis, Jerusalem's council of Haredi communities...
, rabbi of Ner Yisroel in Jerusalem, member of Jerusalem's Edah HaChareidis)
Artwork in the yeshiva buildings
The main study hall has an original 16th century Italian wooden Aron Kodesh (Torah scroll arc). It was brought to the Yeshiva in the early 1980's and restored and regilded with 22 carat gild leaf work.Institutions affiliated to Ponevezh Yeshiva
- KollelKollelA kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
Avreichim — located on the grounds of the yeshiva in the Ohel Kedoshim building; intended for married students who have graduated from the yeshiva. - Yeshivat Ponevezh Le’zeirim — a division for 200 high school students headed by Rabbi Michel Yehuda LefkowitzMichel Yehuda LefkowitzMichel Yehuda Lefkowitz was a respected Haredi Lithuanian Torah leader and rosh yeshiva in Bnei Brak, Israel, for over 70 years. He was a maggid shiur at Yeshivas Tiferes Tzion from 1940 to 2011 and rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Ponovezh L’Tzeirim from 1954 to 2009, raising thousands of students...
, and was formerly co-headed by Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman. - Batei Avot — sheltered accommodation established by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman for children rescued form the holocaust, orphans and children from broken homes donated by Henry Krausher.
- Grodno Yeshiva - Beer Yaakov — an additional yeshiva located in Beer Yaakov.
- Grodno Yeshiva - Ashdod, also known as Ponevezh Ashdod — an additional yeshiva located in Ashdod.