Yeshivat Sha'alvim
Encyclopedia
Hesder
Hesder is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework...
yeshiva
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 near Kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
Sha'alvim
Sha'alvim
Sha'alvim is a religious kibbutz in central Israel. Located near the city of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council.-History:...
.
History
Yeshivat Sha'alvim was founded in 1961 by Rabbi Meir Schlesinger, the rabbi of Kibbutz Sha'alvim. The yeshiva, like the kibbutz, was originally affiliated with Poalei Agudat Yisrael ("Agudat Israel Workers"), whose ideology can be described as somewhere between that of Agudat IsraelAgudat Israel
Agudat Yisrael began as the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine...
and that of the Mizrachi.
Rabbi Schlesinger served as the rosh 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...
for over 30 years. For over 20 years, the highest class was taught by Rabbi Shimon Zelaznik, a student of Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer
Isser Zalman Meltzer
Isser Zalman Meltzer, , was a famous Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek. He is also known as the "Even HaEzel" - the title of his commentary on Rambam's Mishne Torah....
of Etz Chaim Yeshiva
Etz Chaim Yeshiva
Etz Chaim Yeshiva is an orthodox yeshiva located on Jaffa Road close to the Mahane Yehuda Market in downtown Jerusalem.-History:Etz Chaim Yeshiva was originally a Talmud Torah which was established in 1841 by the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Shmuel Salant. For the first two years classes were held in...
in Jerusalem. A weekly shiur klali (general lecture) was delivered by Rabbi Yitzchak Dzimtrovski, one of the foremost students of 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...
at Ponevezh yeshiva
Ponevezh yeshiva
Ponevezh Yeshiva, often pronounced Ponevitch Yeshiva, is a world renowned yeshiva located in Bnei Brak, Israel. Donated by Henry Krausher, it was originally established in the town of Panevėžys, Lithuania...
and maggid shiur
Maggid shiur
The term Maggid Shiur literarly translates from Hebrew to mean "sayer of Shiur".This term is used to refer to the Rabbi that lectures in a Yeshiva or Kollel.A Maggid Shiur is generally a Rabbi who lectures on advanced and in-depth Talmudic studies....
[lecturer] at Yeshivat Kol Yaakov in Jerusalem. The first mashgiach
Mashgiach ruchani
Mashgiach 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...
was Rabbi Yitzchak Gittelman who had been a student of Rabbi Yeruchom Levovitz, Mashgiach at Mir yeshiva
Mir yeshiva (Poland)
The Mir yeshiva , commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, was a Haredi yeshiva located in the town of Mir, Russian Empire...
. A subsequent mashgiach was Rabbi Moshe Yechiel Tzuriel (Weiss), a prolific author. The period between circa 1970-circa 1985, during which time these rabbis served at Yeshivat Sha'alvim, may be regarded as the yeshiva's golden age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
. The current heads of the yeshiva (see below) all studied at Yeshivat Sha'alvim during this period.
In the early to mid-1990s many of the yeshiva's original rabbis began to retire and their positions were filled by graduates of the yeshiva and of other, more strictly Religious Zionist yeshivas. This change coincided with the demise of the Poalei Agudat Yisrael movement and with the growing divide between the National Religious
Religious Zionism
Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Jewish religious faith...
and Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
movements in Israel. In the following years the yeshiva grew significantly and became the center of a large and flourishing educational campus which includes a kollel (rabbanut
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
and dayanut), a teachers college, a yeshiva high-school for boys, an ulpana high school for girls, an elementary school and a Talmud Torah. In the early 1990s a National Religious yishuv named Nof Ayalon
Nof Ayalon
Nof Ayalon is a communal settlement in central Israel. Located in the Ayalon Valley near Sha'alvim, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council. In 2007 it had a population of 2,500....
was built around the Sha'alvim educational campus. Over 400 families live in the yishuv including many graduates of the yeshiva.
Graduates of the yeshiva have founded Hesder yeshivas in Karnei Shomron and in Sderot. In recent years the yeshiva has also opened a post-high-school seminary for girls from the United States and other countries in Jerusalem.
Today, the yeshiva is headed by Rabbi Yechezkel Yaakovson and assisted by Rabbi Aryeh Hendler. The kollel is headed by Rabbi Gidon Binyamin, Rabbi of Nof Ayalon. The Mashgiach is Rabbi Aryeh Ben Ya'akov. All four are former students of the Yeshiva. Other senior rabbis are Rabbi Moshe Ganz, a graduate of Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav
Mercaz haRav
Mercaz HaRav , more properly, Mercaz HaRav Kook ), is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1924 by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. It has become synonymous with his teachings....
and a close personal student of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook
Zvi Yehuda Kook
Zvi Yehuda Kook was a rabbi, leader of Religious Zionism and Rosh Yeshiva of the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva...
, and Rabbi Yoel Amital, a graduate of Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion, ', commonly known as "Gush," is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, a community in Gush Etzion in the West Bank, near Jerusalem, Israel. With a student body of 484, it is one of the largest hesder yeshivas in Israel...
and a close personal student of his father Rabbi Yehuda Amital
Yehuda Amital
Yehuda Amital was an Orthodox rabbi, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion and a former member of the Israeli cabinet.-Biography:Amital was born in Oradea in Romania. When Germany occupied the area in 1944, the Nazis sent his entire family to Auschwitz where they were killed. Amital was sent to...
.
Overseas program
Yeshivat Sha'alvim has a program for students from the United States and other countries like France, Belgium or Australia. This program was headed for many years by Rabbi Mallen Galinsky and is headed today by Rabbi Ari Waxman. In recent years the program has grown significantly and over 100 students attend it annually.In the year 2004, Sha'alvim opened a women's division of its overseas program. Sha'alvim for Women is located in Jerusalem and is headed by Rabbi Yamin Goldsmith, an alumnus of the Yeshiva. Approximately 80 young women attend the program annually and another 15 return for a second year of study.
Philosophy
Yeshivat Sha'alvim has had some affinity for the Torah im Derekh Eretz philosophy of German Jewry. Both founding rosh yeshivaRosh 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...
Rabbi Schlesinger and current rosh 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...
Rabbi Yaakovson studied in the Kol Torah yeshiva founded by Rabbi Dr. Yechiel Michel Schlesinger, Rabbi Schlesinger's uncle (headed subsequently, for many years, by Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach , was a renowned Orthodox Jewish rabbi, posek, and rosh yeshiva of the Kol Torah yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel...
, of whom they were both students). Both Rabbi Schlesinger and Rabbi Yaakovson are scions of prominent German-Jewish families. Rabbi Schlesinger is the son of Dr. Falk Schlesinger, former director of Sha'arey Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Other ties to German Jewry, include the phenomenon that many of the students, particularly in the high school, are associated with the German-Jewish founded youth movement Ezra
Ezra
Ezra , also called Ezra the Scribe and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible he returned from the Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem...
(formerly affiliated with Poalei Agudat Israel). In addition, in 2006 Yeshivat Sha'alvim assumed the control of the Isaac Breuer
Isaac Breuer
Isaac Breuer was a rabbi in the German Neo-Orthodoxy movement of his maternal grandfather Samson Raphael Hirsch, and was the first president of Agudat Israel Workers.- Biography :...
Institute (also formerly affiliated with Poalei Agudat Israel, founded in memory of the movement's German-Jewish ideologue of that name), which issues the scholarly quarterly HaMa'ayan.
Alumni
Notable alumni of Yeshivat Shaalvim include:- Rabbi David Fendel, 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...
of the hesder yeshiva in SderotHesder Yeshiva of SderotThe Hesder Yeshiva of Sderot, known formally as the Max and Ruth Schwartz Yeshivat Hesder of Sderot was founded in 1994 by Rabbi Dovid Fendel. The yeshiva is located in the town of Sderot, one kilometer from the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Arab town of Beit Hanoun...
. - Rabbi Dovid Hirsch, Rosh Yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
- Rabbi Yona ReissYona ReissYona Reiss is an American rabbi, noted Torah scholar, attorney, and jurist, and the current Max and Marion Grill Dean of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , which is Yeshiva University's most important yeshiva component, and serves as a preeminent seminary for the training of Orthodox...
dean of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological SeminaryRabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological SeminaryRabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University, located in Washington Heights, New York. It is named after Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, who died the year it was founded, 1896... - Rabbi Kenneth BranderKenneth BranderRabbi Kenneth Brander is the Dean of the Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future . CJF serves as Yeshiva University's catalyst to: Infuse the student body with a spirit of leadership and sense of commitment to the Jewish people and society; Builds, cultivates, and supports communities, and...
head of the Center for the Jewish Future at Yeshiva UniversityYeshiva UniversityYeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012... - Rabbi Gershon Turetsky, Head of the Beit Midrash at Shaalvim for Women
- Rabbi Dovid Kupchik, Principal of the HAFTR Middle School
External links
- Yeshiva website (Hebrew version)
- Yeshiva website (English version)
- Photo of the dais at the Yeshiva's opening