Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim (also known as the Rabbinical Seminary of America) is an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

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 st ...

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 territori ...

, based in

Kew Gardens Hills Kew Gardens Hills is a neighborhood in the middle of the New York City borough of Queens. The borders are Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to the west, the Long Island Expressway to the north, Union Turnpike to the south, and Parsons Boulevard to t ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York. It is primarily an American, Lithuanian-style

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 ce ...

ic Yeshiva. The Yeshiva is legally titled Rabbinical Seminary of America (RSA), however, it is often referred to as just Chofetz Chaim, as that was the

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...

of its namesake, Yisroel Meir Kagan. The school has affiliate branches in

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 ...

and North America.

History

The Yeshiva was established in 1933 by

Rabbi Dovid Leibowitz Dovid Leibowitz (1887–1941) was a leading rabbi and disciple of prewar Europe's Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania, who went on to found the Rabbinical Seminary of America, better known today as "Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen" or the ''"Chof ...

, a great-nephew of the Chofetz Chaim. Leibowitz was a disciple of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel and he also studied under Rabbi

Naftoli Trop Naftoli Trop (1871 – September 24, 1928) was a renowned Talmudist and Talmid Chacham. He served as ''rosh yeshiva'' of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim in Radun, Poland. Early years Naftoli Trop was born in Grodno, where he studied with his father, Rab ...

the Yeshiva ''The Yeshiva'' is an English translation by Curt Leviant of the Yiddish novel ''Tsemakh Atlas'' (צמח אטלס) by Chaim Grade. It was published in two volumes in Yiddish and also in translation. It was also published in a Hebrew translation ...

in Raduń, Belarus. The new Yeshiva was named for Leibowitz' great uncle, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, who had died that year. Although it's officially named Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen, the yeshiva is often referred to as just Chofetz Chaim ( he, חָפֵץ חַיִּים), which was a popular name for the rabbi'','' after his book with the same title. (''Chofetz Chaim'' means "Seeker/Desirer fLife" 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 ...

. The book concentrates on the Jewish religious laws of proper speech.) The Yeshiva's first building was in

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. As of the 2020 United ...

. In December 1955 it relocated to Forest Hills, Queens. Most recently, at the start of the 2003 academic year the Yeshiva relocated to

Kew Gardens Hills, Queens Kew Gardens Hills is a neighborhood in the middle of the New York City borough of Queens. The borders are Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to the west, the Long Island Expressway to the north, Union Turnpike to the south, and Parsons Boulevard to t ...

. After its founder's death in December 1941, the Yeshiva was headed and developed by his son, Rabbi Henoch Leibowitz. Today, it is led by two of Liebowitz's close disciples,

Rabbi Dovid Harris Rabbi Dovid Harris (born 1945) is an Orthodox rabbi who along with Rabbi Akiva Grunblatt, serves as Rosh Hayeshiva (deans) at the Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen. He is a prominent figure in the yeshiva world and speaks annually at the ...

and Rabbi Akiva Grunblatt. The Yeshiva houses a boys' secondary school or

Mesivta ''Mesivta'' (also metivta; Aramaic: מתיבתא, "academy") is an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva secondary school for boys. The term is commonly used in the United States to describe a yeshiva that emphasizes Talmudic studies for boys in grades ...

. It also houses an undergraduate ashiva, and a rabbinical school that grants

Semicha Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 C ...

(ordination). Rabbinical students at the yeshiva often spend a decade or more there, studying a traditional yeshiva curriculum focusing on

, '' mussar'' ("ethics"), and ''

halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

'' ("Jewish law").

Characteristics

There are six primary characteristics of Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim of Queens that distinguish it from other Yeshivos: #An emphasis upon unfolding the latent processes of reasoning within the steps of the Talmudic ''sugya'' ("section") being studied. The methodology places emphasis on the notion that the initial assumptions of the Talmud must be highly rigorous, and that the movement between the initial thought process (known as the ''hava aminah'') of the Talmudic ''sugya'' to the final thought process (known as the ''maskana'') must be fully unfolded and understood. #An approach to ethical and Biblical texts and its commentaries that emphasizes rigor. The yeshiva promotes the idea that ideally, a deduction from these texts should be "logically and textually compelling." #The study of Mussar ("ethics"), both by attending and reviewing semiweekly lectures and through daily individual study of Mussar texts, is strongly emphasized.

Dovid Leibowitz Dovid Leibowitz (1887–1941) was a leading rabbi and disciple of prewar Europe's Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania, who went on to found the Rabbinical Seminary of America, better known today as "Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen" or the ''"Cho ...

founded the Chofetz Chaim yeshiva in the footsteps of his

rebbe A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritua ...

, the

Alter of Slabodka Nosson Tzvi Finkel ( he, נתן צבי פינקל, Sephardic/Israeli: ''Natan Tzvi''; yi, נָטע הערש, Nota Hirsch; 1849–1927) was an influential Lithuanian Jewish leader of Orthodox Judaism in Eastern Europe and founder of the Slabodk ...

, and Rabbi

Yisroel Salanter Yisrael ben Ze'ev Wolf Lipkin, also known as "Israel Salanter" or "Yisroel Salanter" (November 3, 1809, Zhagory – February 2, 1883, Königsberg), was the father of the Musar movement in Orthodox Judaism and a famed Rosh yeshiva and Talmudist. ...

, the founder of the

Mussar movement The Musar movement (also Mussar movement) is a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Lithuania, particularly among Orthodox Lithuanian Jews. The Hebrew term (), is adopted from the Book of Proverbs (1 ...

Henoch Leibowitz Alter Chanoch Henoch Hakohen Leibowitz (c. 1918His date of birth is uncertain, but his passport read June 2, 1918. – April 15, 2008) was an Orthodox rabbi who was Rosh Yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen, which was founded ...

would continually remind his students that as important as it is to become a lamden ("analytical scholar") and a great

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken a ...

, it is even more important to become a

mentch ( yi, מענטש, ''mentsh'', from Middle High German , from Old High German ''mennisco''; akin to Old English ''human being'', ''man'') means "a person of integrity and honor". According to Leo Rosten, a is "someone to admire and emulate, som ...

("a good human being"). #An emphasis on propagating the ideals and values of Judaism. Upon completion of a rigorous term of study, students are encouraged to seek employment, often building Torah institutions like schools and Shuls in communities far away from major Jewish cities like Orlando, FL or Henderson, NV. Going in the field of Jewish education (Harbatzos Hatorah) is the greatest of goals. Torah is not just ours for us. We need to share it. #The omni-significance and complete subservience to "

Daas Torah Rabbinic authority in Judaism relates to the theological and communal authority attributed to rabbis and their pronouncements in matters of Jewish law. The extent of rabbinic authority differs by various Jewish groups and denominations throughout ...

" as defined in the introduction to the 6-volume collection of Henoch Lebowitz's mussar lectures, "Chidushei Halev", as well as numerous public ethical discourses. This is the concept that everything is included in the Torah and the way that the Torah logic (i.e. Talmudic reasoning) works is the way that God's mind works; therefore one who has spent years dedicated to in depth Talmudic study has shaped his mind to think like the Torah/God and is thus able to apply the Torah's logic to all manner of situations. # The Yeshiva Hashkafa (philosophy) is that externals don't matter as much as internals so rather than focusing on looking like a good person it's more important on working on oneself and becoming a good person.

Affiliates and branches by location

United States

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

: ** Valley Torah High School,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

**Torah High Schools of San Diego,

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

**Yeshivas Ner Aryeh **Chofetz Chaim of Los Angeles,

**Yeshiva Ketana of Los Angeles *

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

: **Yeshiva Toras Chaim Toras Emes, North Miami Beach- Rabbi Binyomin Luban, ''Rosh Yeshiva'' **JEC of South Florida, Boca Raton, Florida **Torah Academy of Boca Raton **Yeshiva Tiferes Torah of Boca Raton **Orlando Torah Academy, Orlando, Florida *

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

: **Torah Academy of

Buffalo Grove Buffalo Grove, officially the Village of Buffalo Grove, is a village in Lake and Cook County, Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of Downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 Census, Buffalo Grove has a population of 43,212. It tota ...

(day school) **Suburban Alliance for Jewish Education (outreach organization) **Jewish Family Interactive Experience Hebrew School *Kentucky **Montessori Torah Academy, Louisville, KY *

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

: ** Missouri Torah Institute,

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

:
Foxman Torah Institute
Cherry Hill serving the Greater Philadelphia region *

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

: **Ahavas Torah Center **Las Vegas Kollel **Mesivta of Las Vegas **Yeshiva Day School of Las Vegas * New York: ** Huntington **

Yeshiva Zichron Yaakov Yeshiva Zichron Yaakov (ישיבה זכרון יעקב) was an all-male Jewish Orthodox high school located in New Hempstead, New York which operated under the direction and leadership of Rabbi Eliyahu Maza and, for several years, Secular Studies ...

, Monsey (closed 2013) ** Yeshiva Tiferes Yerushalayim,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

**Kew Gardens Hills,

(main school, described in this article) **Yeshiva Zichron Paltiel, Staten Island **

Talmudical Institute of Upstate New York The Yeshiva of Rochester (formerly the Talmudical Institute of Upstate New York or TIUNY) is an all-male educational institution for high school- and college-age young men located in Rochester, New York. It is primarily an American, Lithuanian sty ...

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

**Yeshiva Zichron Aryeh, Bayswater (Far Rockaway) **Mesivta Tiferet Torah, Kew Gardens **Yeshivas Ma'ayan Hatorah, NY, Richmond Hill *

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

: ** Yeshiva of Cleveland,

Cleveland Heights, Ohio Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs. The city's population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. As of the 2010 census, Cleveland Heights was ranked the 8th largest ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

: **Texas Torah Institute,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

: **

Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study The Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study (WITS), also known as Yeshivas Ohr Yechezkel, is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, Jewish school for boys (''yeshiva'') in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and an affiliate of Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim. History ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

: **

Torah Academy of the Pacific Northwest The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the sa ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

Canada

*British Columbia: **

Pacific Torah Institute The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

(Moved to Las Vegas, 2019) *Ontario: **

Ottawa Torah Institute Ottawa Torah Institute is a Yeshiva high school for boys located in Ottawa providing secular and Judaic education. Founded in 1982, it is Ottawa's first and only full-time Jewish high school. In 1990 the high school expanded to include a girls ...

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

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 ...

* Jerusalem area **Chofetz Chaim Jerusalem-CCJ **Zichron Aryeh Yerushalayim **

Ramat Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh ( he, בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ ) is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of in . History Tel Beit Shemesh The small archaeological tell northeast of the modern city wa ...

- Yeshivas Nachalas Yisroel Yitzchok

Notable alumni

*Rabbi

Solomon Sharfman Solomon Sharfman was a rabbi of Orthodox Jewry who built the Flatbush Modern Orthodox Jewish community in the mid-1900s. Life Solomon Joseph Sharfman was born on November 1, 1915, in Treblinka, Poland; his family came to the United States five ...

, former rabbi of the Young Israel of Flatbush *Rabbi Dovid Harris, serves as co-Rosh Hayeshiva (deans) at the Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen. *Rabbi Akiva Grunblatt, serves as co-Rosh Hayeshiva (deans) at the Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen. *Rabbi

Baruch Chait Baruch (Burry) Chait is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, musician and composer. He is Rosh Yeshiva of the Israeli high school Maarava Machon Rubin. Personal life He is the son of Rabbi Moshe Chait, the former Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivath Chafetz Chaim o ...

, composer, and Rosh Yeshiva of Maarava, located in Moshav Matisyahu, Israel. *Rabbi Elyakim Rosenblatt, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Kesser Torah *Rabbi Binyomin Luban, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Toras Chaim in Miami *Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein zt"l, founder o
Diaspora Yeshiva
the original yeshivah for ba'alei teshuva, on Mount Zion, Jerusalem

References

External links

Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim Official website
{{coord, 40, 43, 23, N, 73, 49, 2.03, W, region:US-NY, display=title Educational institutions established in 1933 Lithuanian-American culture in New York City Lithuanian-Jewish culture in New York (state) Men's universities and colleges in the United States

Chofetz Chaim The '' Sefer'' ''Chafetz Chaim'' (or ''Chofetz Chaim'' or ''Hafetz Hayim'') ( he, חָפֵץ חַיִּים, trans. "Desirer of Life") is a book by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, who is also called "the Chofetz Chaim" after it. The book deals wit ...

Kew Gardens Hills, Queens 1933 establishments in New York City Jewish seminaries