Kol Torah is a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

in the

Bayit Vegan Bayit VeGan ( he, בית וגן, lit. ''House and Garden'') is a neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem. Bayit VeGan is located to the east of Mount Herzl and borders the neighborhoods of Kiryat HaYovel and Givat Mordechai. History Bronze Age A 4,0 ...

neighborhood of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

History

Yeshivas Kol Torah was founded in 1939 by Yechiel Michel Schlesinger (1898–1948), born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Boruch Kunstadt, a dayan from

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...

. It was the first mainstream

Haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

yeshiva to teach in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, as opposed to

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

, as was accepted at the time. This innovation had the crucial support of the

Chazon Ish Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz (7 November 1878 – 24 October 1953), also known as the Chazon Ish () after his magnum opus, was a Belarusian-born Orthodox rabbi who later became one of the leaders of Haredi Judaism in Israel, where he spent his ...

After Schlesinger's death in 1949, Kol Torah was headed by Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, until his death in 1995. Moshe Yehuda Schlesinger, eldest son of the founder, is currently serving as

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, 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, primar ...

. Kol Torah is separated into two parts, the rabbinical college and the high school. The number of students in both combined reaches around 1000 students.

Notable faculty members

* Gavriel Bollag (1911–2007), member of the Mir Yeshiva – Shanghai. * , son in law of Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. * , chief disciple of

Elazar Shach Elazar Menachem Man Shach ( he, אלעזר מנחם מן שך, Elazar Shach; January 1, 1899 O.S. – November 2, 2001) was a prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbi, heading the non-Hasidic ''Litvak'' Orthodox from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

and Jerusalem Faction leader. * Shimon Moshe Diskin (1932–1999). * , author of ''Birkas Avrohom''. * (1943–1997). * Yitzchok Lorincz, son of

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

Member

Shlomo Lorincz Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz ( he, שלמה לורינץ; 5 March 1918 – 19 October 2009) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Agudat Yisrael from 1951 until 1984, and a close confidant of many gedolim. Biography Born i ...

; married the granddaughter of Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. * Yonah Merzbach (1900–1980), former rabbi of

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

, and chief editor of the Talmudic Encyclopedia. *

Yehoshua Neuwirth Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth ( he, יהושע ישעיה נויברט) (15 February 1927 – 11 June 2013) was an eminent Orthodox Jewish rabbi and ''posek'' (halakhic authority) in Jerusalem. He was one of the primary students of Rabbi Shlomo Zalma ...

(1927-2013), author of ''

Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah ''Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah'', also pronounced ''Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchosoh'' ( he, שמירת שבת כהלכתה, , keeping Shabbat according to its law; published in English as ''Shemirath Shabbath''), is a book of halachah authored by Ra ...

''. * Sholom Povarsky (d. 2020), son of

Dovid Povarsky Yehoshua Dovid Povarsky ( he, יהושע דוד פוברסקי; 1902–1999) is known for his erudite Talmudic lectures and his deanship as Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh Yeshiva. He was asked by Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman to join the previous two heads o ...

. * Yosef Yehuda Reiner * Yaakov Steinhouse, author of ''Dvar Yaakov''.

Notable alumni

Avi Berkowitz Avrahm "Avi" Berkowitz (born November 4, 1988) is an American attorney and political adviser who served as the Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiations from 2019 to 2021. He was an advisor to Jared Kushn ...

(born 1988), American attorney and political adviser *

Pinchas Biberfeld Pinchas Paul Biberfeld (31 October 1915 – 23 January 1999) was a rabbi in Germany and Israel. Childhood Rabbi Pinchas Paul Biberfeld was born on October 31, 1915 in Berlin. His father, Dr. Chaim Eduard Biberfeld (1864–1939), a famous rabbi a ...

(1915–1999), Chief Rabbi of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

* Yehoshua Erenberg, the rosh yeshivot of "Kneses Yitzchok" -Chadera and Kiryat Sefer * Benyamin Goldstein, current Chief Rabbi of

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

and

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

Meir Kessler Meir Kessler (born February 17, 1961) is the Chief Rabbi and head of Rabbinical Court of Modi'in Illit. He was born at Bnei Brak and studied at the Ponevezh yeshiva and afterward at Kol Torah under Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. After his marriag ...

, rabbi of Modi'in Illit * Rabbi Ephraim Klyne, dean of Torah Temimah School,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Israel Meir Lau Yisrael Meir Lau ( he, ישראל מאיר לאו; born 1 June 1937) served as the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Israel, and chairman of Yad Vashem. He previously served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1993 to 2003. Biography Early life ...

(born 1937), Ashkenazi

Chief Rabbi of Israel The Chief Rabbinate of Israel ( he, הָרַבָּנוּת הָרָאשִׁית לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Ha-Rabbanut Ha-Rashit Li-Yisra'el'') is recognized by law as the supreme rabbinic authority for Judaism in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate Co ...

(1993–2003) *

Norman Lebrecht Norman Lebrecht (born 11 July 1948) is a British music journalist and author who specializes in classical music. He is best known as the owner of the classical music blog, ''Slipped Disc'', where he frequently publishes articles. Unlike other ...

(born 1948), British commentator on music and cultural affairs, and novelist *

Nachum Neriya Rabbi Nachum Neriya (23 October 1941) is the rosh yeshiva of Torah Betziyon in Efrat, Israel, which he founded with his son, Yitzchak. He is a former rabbi at Yeshivat Hakotel. He is the eldest son of Rabbi Moshe-Zvi Neria, a major figure in the ...

(born 1941), son of Rabbi

Moshe-Zvi Neria Rabbi Moshe-Zvi Neria ( he, משה צבי נריה, 29 January 1913 – 12 December 1995) was an Israeli educator, writer, and rosh yeshiva who served as a member of the Knesset for the National Religious Party between 1969 and 1974. Neria establi ...

and founder of Torah Betziyon *

(1927 - 2013), author of ''Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah'' *

Shmuel Rabinovitch Shmuel Rabinovitch, also spelled Rabinowitz ( he, שמואל רבינוביץ) (born 4 April 1970, Jerusalem) is an Orthodox rabbi and Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites of Israel. In his duties as Rabbi of the Wall in the Old City of J ...

(born 1970), rabbi of the

Western Wall The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط � ...

and the Holy Sites of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

* Shmuel Reiner (born 1954), established Yeshivat Maale Gilboa; later a student of Meir Schlesinger at Yeshivat Shaalvim *

Meir Schlesinger Meir ( he, מֵאִיר) is a Jewish male given name and an occasional surname. It means "one who shines". It is often Germanized as Maier, Mayer, Mayr, Meier, Meyer, Meijer, Italianized as Miagro, or Anglicized as Mayer, Meyer, or Myer.Alfred J ...

(born 1935), founder of Yeshivat Shaalvim; nephew of Yechiel Michel Schlesinger * Don Segal,

mashgiach ruchani A mashgiach ruchani ( he, משגיח רוחני; pl., ''mashgichim ruchani'im'') or mashgicha ruchani – sometimes mashgiach/mashgicha for short – is a spiritual supervisor or guide. He or she is usually a rabbi who has an official position wit ...

of Mir Yeshiva – Brooklyn and Yeshivas Tifrach *

Daniel Sperber Daniel Sperber (Hebrew: דניאל שפרבר) is a British-born Israeli academic and centrist orthodox rabbi. He is a professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and an expert in classical philology, history of Jewish customs, Jewish ...

(born 1940), Professor of

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 ...

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

. * Moshe Stav, rebbe at

Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh ( he, ישיבת כרם ביבנה, lit. ''Vineyard in Yavne Yeshiva'') is a youth village and major yeshiva in southern Israel. Located near the city of Ashdod and adjacent to Kvutzat Yavne, it falls under the jurisdictio ...

Chaim Walder Chaim Eliezer Walder (; 15 November 1968 – 27 December 2021) was an Israeli Haredi author of literature for children, adolescents, and adults. In 1993, he became an Israeli publishing sensation with his bestselling first book, ''Yeladim Mesap ...

, bestselling author of Haredi children's literature * Yechezkel Yaakovson (born 1954), rosh yeshiva emeritus of Yeshivat Shaalvim *

Yitzhak Shlomo Zilberman Yitzchok Shlomo Zilberman ( he, יצחק שלמה זילברמן ; 30 April 1929 – 13 March 2001) was an Israeli Haredi rabbi and educator, pioneer of the Zilberman Method of Torah study. He founded Yeshivat Aderet Eliyahu, part of a community th ...

(1929-2001), founder of

Yeshivat Aderet Eliyahu Yeshivat Aderet Eliyahu (ישיבת אדרת אליהו), commonly referred to as "Zilberman's," is a Haredi, Lithuanian educational facility located between the Jewish and Muslim quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem. The yeshiva encompasses th ...

; pioneer of the

Zilberman Method The Zilberman Method is a system of teaching the Torah to young students, pioneered by Jerusalem rabbi Yitzchak Shlomo Zilberman, that emphasizes rote learning of the text, while leaving the more advanced study of Talmud to older students. Schoo ...

in Jewish education

References

External links

KOL TORAH RABBINICAL COLLEGE

{{Authority control Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Jerusalem German-Jewish culture in Jerusalem Haredi Judaism in Israel Haredi yeshivas Educational institutions established in 1939 Orthodox yeshivas in Jerusalem 1939 establishments in Mandatory Palestine