The Yeshiva College of South Africa (''Yeshivat Beit Yitzchak''), commonly known as Yeshiva College - and formerly known as Yeshivat

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva ( he, בְּנֵי עֲקִיבָא, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established in Mandatory Palestine in 1929. History B ...

- is

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

’s largest religious

Jewish Day School A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate s ...

. The school is headed by Mr Rob Lon

since 2018; the Rosh Yeshiva is Rabb
Nechemya Taylor
as of 2021.

Yeshiva College

Yeshiva College was established in 1953; it is located in the Glenhazel, Gauteng, Glenhazel area of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

. The school has around 500 pupils, between the ages of 3 and 18. It consists of a nursery school (up to age 6), a coeducational primary school (grades 0-6), and separate boys' and girls' high schools (grade 7-12). The school adopts a

Religious Zionist Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...

and

Modern Orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosoph ...

philosophy. Throughout, pupils study a double curriculum, focusing on

Torah study Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's Sifrei kodesh, religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the ''mi ...

as well as secular studies; students ultimately sitting for the

National Senior Certificate In South Africa, matriculation (or matric) is the final year of high school and the qualification received on graduating from high school, and the minimum university entrance requirements. The first formal examination was conducted in South Africa ...

(see

Matriculation in South Africa In South Africa, matriculation (or matric) is the final year of high school and the qualification received on graduating from high school, and the minimum university entrance requirements. The first formal examination was conducted in South Africa ...

), where the school achieves competitively. Various sports and cultural activities are offered and encouraged.

History

The yeshiva was co-founded by Rabbi Michel Kossowsky, an

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

ic scholar who had settled in South Africa during

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, and Rabbi Joseph Bronner, an alumnus of the

Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin or ''Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin'' ( he, יְשִׁיבַת רַבֵּינוּ חַיִּים בֶּרלִין) is an American Haredi Lithuanian-type boys' and men's yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. Chaim Berlin consis ...

in Brooklyn, New York, who had settled in South Africa after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was active in the business world. The yeshiva was named for Rabbi Kossowsky's father, Rabbi Yitzchak Kossowsky, who had preceded him and had served as one of the heads of Johannesburg's

Beth Din A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...

("religious court".) The first full-time instructor of Talmud at the yeshiva was Rabbi David Sanders (rabbi), who was brought out from the

Telz yeshiva Telshe Yeshiva (also spelled ''Telz'') is a yeshiva in Wickliffe, Ohio, formerly located in Telšiai, Lithuania. During World War II the yeshiva began relocating to Wickliffe, Ohio, in the United States and is now known as the Rabbinical College o ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to teach the young students Talmud in the traditional style of the Lithuanian yeshivas. Sanders helped to bring Rabbi Avraham Tanzer, also an alumnus of the Telz, to teach at the yeshiva. Eventually Rabbi Tanzer was appointed the

Rosh yeshivah Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, plural, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, ...

("dean") of the school, a position which he retained until his passing in 2020

As above, the Rosh Yeshiva as of 2021 is Rabbi Nechemya Taylor. Throughout Yeshiva College's history, it has continued to grow in numbers and stature. Here, Rabbi Tanzer brought out Rabbi

Azriel Goldfein Azriel, Asriel or Ezriel may refer to: People * Azriel of Gerona (c. 1160–c. 1238), Catalan kabbalist * Azriel Hildesheimer (1820–1899), German rabbi * Azriel Rabinowitz (1905–1941), Lithuanian rabbi and Holocaust victim * Azriel Rosenfeld ( ...

br>
(again, a fellow Telz yeshiva alumnus) to be a co-Rosh yeshiva; Rabbi Goldfein eventually left to establish the

Yeshivah Gedolah of Johannesburg Yeshivah Gedolah of Johannesburg was one of the first Yeshivot established in South Africa. Since its founding in 1978, it has played an important - though understated - role in the South African religious community. It is based in Glenhazel, Joh ...

. In the 1980s Rabbi

Aharon Pfeuffer Aharon Pfeuffer (אהרן פפויפר, also "Pfoifer"; 1949–1993) was a Rabbi and Posek, and a recognized authority on Kashrut. Pfeuffer studied in various Yeshivot, primarily Hebron and HaNegev in Israel, as well as Lakewood in the US; ...

similarly taught at the school. The staff today includes Rabbanim from Israeli, American and South African yeshivot, and graduates of several

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

likewise. The school retains its close association with the

youth movement, extending to Mizrachi, and its local

Kollel Bet Mordechai Kollel Bet Mordechai (The Beit Mordechai Campus Kollel) is a Kollel and Bet Midrash in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is associated with Mizrachi and is based at the Yeshiva College of South Africa. The Kollel facilitates advanced, as well as c ...

External links

Yeshiva College websiteInterview with Rabbi Tanzer

Yeshiva College

History

External links

See also