Oholei Torah
Encyclopedia
Oholei Torah is the common name of the Lubavitch
schools Educational Institute Oholei Menachem and Talmudical Seminary Oholei Torah. The main branches of the school, and its administrative offices, are located in Brooklyn
, New York City
.
Educational Institute Oholei Torah is the premier male yeshiva
for the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch
Movement, drawing students from around the world and providing a vast majority of the Chabad Shluchim
from amongst its graduates. With the teachings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
, the Lubavitcher
Rebbe as an integral part of the curriculum, Oholei Torah’s unique educational standards are among the highest to be found and have led to phenomenal growth. Founded in 1957 with four students, Oholei Torah has grown to an all-inclusive center of Jewish education for over 1600 students of all ages.
.
The school opened in a synagogue
in Brownsville
with three students.
In 1958, the school expanded and a kindergarten for young boys was introduced. In 1964, Oholei Torah added a junior high school division. Several years later came the founding of Oholei Torah Mesivta
High School. Finally, Beis HaMedrash
, Talmudic Seminary Oholei Torah was founded in 1970, for post-high school Talmudic studies.
In 1975, the school began renting space for the elementary classes at the Brooklyn Jewish Center at 667 Eastern Parkway
(Built in the year 1920), and eventually bought the building outright in 1982. Beginning in 1997, the building underwent a major expansion, with a new wing (known as the Deitsch Campus, after the school's major financial patron Dovid Deitsch) and a study hall for the Talmudical Seminary.
In 1991, the elementary school was renamed "Oholei Menachem" in honor of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, though the old name persists in general usage.
Today Oholei Torah enrolls approximately 1600 students in its various divisions.
, formally known as Oholei Menachem Kindergarten, is located in the Deitsch Campus at 667 Eastern Parkway. There is also a smaller kindergarten division at Cong. B'nai Abraham in East Flatbush
, a synagogue where Rabbi Teitelbaum served as president until his passing in 2005.
. A school blog tracks current events and programs at the New Haven branch: www.dovidshlomo.blogspot.com.
in the United States
.
, as well as Canada
, United Kingdom
, Australia
, France
, Israel
, South America
and South Africa
.
. The nature of their Shlichus varies by location, with some consisting of community outreach, and others simply helping younger students in the yeshiva.
Oholei Torah sends more students than any other yeshiva, to locations including California, Florida, Sydney, Melbourne, and France.
topics, mostly contributed by current students and staff, as well as alumni. Occasionally prominent non-Lubavitch rabbis, such as Rabbi Gavriel Zinner, submit papers to the journal.
Haoros Ubeurim has been edited since its inception by Rabbi Avrohom Y. Gerlitzky, who also contributes at least one essay to each issue.
Additionally, the school publishes an annual volume, which has variously been called Kovetz Oholei Torah or Kovetz Pilpul
im, containing Torah essays by members of the Beis Medrash classes and their teachers.
To date Kovetz Haaros has published over 1000 issues.
The Mesivta, also publish's a journal, a few times a school year. called haaros hatmimim v'anash.
This journal, also contain's essays, and disquisitions, by the staff and student's of the mesivta.
Notable alumni include:
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
schools Educational Institute Oholei Menachem and Talmudical Seminary Oholei Torah. The main branches of the school, and its administrative offices, are located in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Educational Institute Oholei Torah is the premier male 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...
for the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Lubavitch is a Chasidic movement in Orthodox Judaism. One of the world's larger and best-known Chasidic movements, its official headquarters is in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York...
Movement, drawing students from around the world and providing a vast majority of the Chabad Shluchim
Shaliach (Chabad)
A Chabad shliach is a Chabad member sent out to promulgate Judaism and Chasidut around the world.Chabad shluchim as of 2010 number about 4,500 worldwide, and can be found in many of even the most remote worldly locales.-Origins:...
from amongst its graduates. With the teachings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
, the Lubavitcher
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
Rebbe as an integral part of the curriculum, Oholei Torah’s unique educational standards are among the highest to be found and have led to phenomenal growth. Founded in 1957 with four students, Oholei Torah has grown to an all-inclusive center of Jewish education for over 1600 students of all ages.
History
Oholei Torah was founded in early 1957 by Rabbi Michoel Teitelbaum, following a statement by Rabbi Schneerson (the Lubavitcher Rebbe) that there should be a school focusing on Torah studyTorah study
Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...
.
The school opened in a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in Brownsville
Brownsville, Brooklyn
Brownsville is a residential neighborhood located in eastern Brooklyn, New York City.The total land area is one square mile, and the ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11212....
with three students.
In 1958, the school expanded and a kindergarten for young boys was introduced. In 1964, Oholei Torah added a junior high school division. Several years later came the founding of Oholei Torah Mesivta
Mesivta
Mesivta is an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva high school for boys. The term is commonly used in the United States to describe a yeshiva that emphasizes Talmudic studies for boys in grades 9 through 11 or 12; alternately, it refers to the religious studies track in a yeshiva high school that offers both...
High School. Finally, Beis HaMedrash
Beth midrash
Beth Midrash refers to a study hall, whether in a synagogue, yeshiva, kollel, or other building. It is distinct from a synagogue, although many synagogues are also used as batei midrash and vice versa....
, Talmudic Seminary Oholei Torah was founded in 1970, for post-high school Talmudic studies.
In 1975, the school began renting space for the elementary classes at the Brooklyn Jewish Center at 667 Eastern Parkway
Eastern Parkway (Brooklyn)
Eastern Parkway is a major boulevard that runs through a portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The road begins at Grand Army Plaza and extends east, running parallel to Atlantic Avenue, along the crest of the moraine that separates northern from southern Long Island, to Ralph Avenue...
(Built in the year 1920), and eventually bought the building outright in 1982. Beginning in 1997, the building underwent a major expansion, with a new wing (known as the Deitsch Campus, after the school's major financial patron Dovid Deitsch) and a study hall for the Talmudical Seminary.
In 1991, the elementary school was renamed "Oholei Menachem" in honor of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, though the old name persists in general usage.
Today Oholei Torah enrolls approximately 1600 students in its various divisions.
Location
Oholei Torah's kindergartenKindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
, formally known as Oholei Menachem Kindergarten, is located in the Deitsch Campus at 667 Eastern Parkway. There is also a smaller kindergarten division at Cong. B'nai Abraham in East Flatbush
East Flatbush, Brooklyn
East Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The area is part of Brooklyn Community Board 17 Though the borders of East Flatbush are highly subjective, its northern border is roughly at Empire Boulevard and East New York Avenue east of East 91st Street, its southern...
, a synagogue where Rabbi Teitelbaum served as president until his passing in 2005.
Enrollment
Educational Institute Oholei Menachem (Oholei Torah) consists of a preschool grade (Pre-1A) and 8 elementary grades. Each grade has an average enrollment of about 100 students, so there are four or five classes for each grade.Elementary
- Dean: Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Lustig -
- Principals:
- Grades Pre-1A - 2: Rabbi Meir Shimshoni.
- Grades 3-4: Rabbi Zalman Goldstein
- Grades 5-6: Rabbi Shua Lustig
- Grades 7-8: Rabbi Sholom Goldstein
Beis Medrash
- 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 Yisroel Friedman - MenahelPrincipal (academia)The Principal is the chief executive and the chief academic officer of a university or college in certain parts of the Commonwealth.-Canada:...
, and 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...
for NiglehOral TorahThe Oral Torah comprises the legal and interpretative traditions that, according to tradition, were transmitted orally from Mount Sinai, and were not written in the Torah...
: Rabbi Elchonon Lesches - Mashgiach ruschani for ChasidutHasidic JudaismHasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
: Rabbis Shmaryahu Roitblatt and Rabbi Meir Wilschanski - MashpimMashpiaMashpia lit. "person of influence", pl. Mashpi'im is the title of a rabbi or rebbetzin who serves as a spiritual mentor in Tomchei Temimim , in a girls' seminary belonging to the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, or in a Chabad community.-Definition:Although counterparts to the mashpia exist in...
: Rabbi Nachman Schapiro, Rabbi Kuti Feldman, Rabbi Zalman Vileinkin, Rabbi Sholom Charitonow, Rabbi Shloime Sternberg, Rabbi Fitche Pewsner and Rabbi Levi Matosuf - NiglehOral TorahThe Oral Torah comprises the legal and interpretative traditions that, according to tradition, were transmitted orally from Mount Sinai, and were not written in the Torah...
: Rabbi Yisroel Friedman, Rabbi Shlomo Segal, Rabbi Avrohom Gerlitsky, Rabbi Avrohom Hertz, Rabbi Fishel Oster, Rabbi Shmuel Bluming and Rabbi Lipman Heller - Meishiv for Chassidus: Rabbi Mendy Matusof
- Meishiv for Nigleh: Rabbi Shlomo Horowitz
Location
Oholei Torah Mesivta is located at 417 Troy Avenue (the Rabbi Jacob J. Reines Shul). There is also a branch of the Mesivta (formally known as Beis Dovid Shlomo) at 300 Norton Ave., New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
. A school blog tracks current events and programs at the New Haven branch: www.dovidshlomo.blogspot.com.
Beis Medrash
Formally called Talmudical Seminary Oholei Torah, and colloquially as Oholei Torah Zal (Yiddish zal, [study] hall), is the largest Lubavitch yeshivaYeshiva
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...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Enrollment
The Seminary currently has around 250 students. About 1/3 of the students live locally; the rest come from other parts of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, as well as Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Shlichus
Like many Lubavitch yeshivas, Oholei Torah Zal sends graduating students to various cities around the world, primarily to other Lubavitch yeshivas, on ShlichusShaliach (Chabad)
A Chabad shliach is a Chabad member sent out to promulgate Judaism and Chasidut around the world.Chabad shluchim as of 2010 number about 4,500 worldwide, and can be found in many of even the most remote worldly locales.-Origins:...
. The nature of their Shlichus varies by location, with some consisting of community outreach, and others simply helping younger students in the yeshiva.
Oholei Torah sends more students than any other yeshiva, to locations including California, Florida, Sydney, Melbourne, and France.
Publications
Since 1979 the Beis Medrash has published a journal (formerly weekly, now biweekly) Oholei Torah, containing essays and disquisitions on various TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
topics, mostly contributed by current students and staff, as well as alumni. Occasionally prominent non-Lubavitch rabbis, such as Rabbi Gavriel Zinner, submit papers to the journal.
Haoros Ubeurim has been edited since its inception by Rabbi Avrohom Y. Gerlitzky, who also contributes at least one essay to each issue.
Additionally, the school publishes an annual volume, which has variously been called Kovetz Oholei Torah or Kovetz Pilpul
Pilpul
Pilpul refers to a method of studying the Talmud through intense textual analysis in attempts to either explain conceptual differences between various halakhic rulings or to reconcile any apparent contradictions presented from various readings of different texts.Pilpul has entered English as a...
im, containing Torah essays by members of the Beis Medrash classes and their teachers.
To date Kovetz Haaros has published over 1000 issues.
The Mesivta, also publish's a journal, a few times a school year. called haaros hatmimim v'anash.
This journal, also contain's essays, and disquisitions, by the staff and student's of the mesivta.
Dormitory
Oholei Torah has a dormitory to house its Beis Medrash students. Located at 645 Eastern Parkway, the dorm houses over 100 students.Ballroom
Oholei Torah also has a wedding ballroom in the campus at 667 Eastern Parkway, nearly every night there is a wedding.Alumni
Approximately 70% of Oholei Torah alumni choose the role of Shliach (emissary of Chabad).Notable alumni include:
- Rabbi Simon JacobsonSimon JacobsonSimon Jacobson is the author of Toward a Meaningful Life , founder of and publisher of the Yiddish English weekly, The Algemeiner Journal.-Life and career:...
, 1979 - Rabbi Yossi Jacobson, 1989
- Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi E.N. Silberberg, 1993
- Rabbi Sholom Duchman, 1963
- Avraham FriedAvraham FriedAvraham Shabshi Hakohen Friedman better known by his stage name, Avraham Fried, is a popular musical entertainer in the Orthodox Jewish community.-Career:...
, 1977
External links
- Oholeitorah.com, official website.
- Haoros.com, biweekly publication by the Beis. Medrash students