Yeshiva Gedola of Passaic

Last updated
Yeshiva Gedola of Passaic
Address
Yeshiva Gedola of Passaic
55 Ascension St.


Passaic
,
New Jersey
07055

USA
Coordinates 40°50′53″N74°07′43″W / 40.8480°N 74.1285°W / 40.8480; -74.1285
Information
Established1973
Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Meir Stern
MashgiachRabbi Nosson Weissman
Affiliation Orthodox
Bachurim160–180

Yeshiva Gedola of Passaic is an advanced yeshiva in the Passaic Park neighborhood of Passaic, New Jersey catering to post-high-school-age men. Founded in 1973 by Rabbis Chaim Davis and Gershon Weisenfeld, and further developed by Rabbi Meir Stern who replaced Rabbi Wiesenfeld when the latter became ill before the yeshiva's opening, it developed into one of the leading yeshiva gedolas (advanced Talmudic institutions) in the United States [1] [2] and revitalized the small Orthodox community of Passaic. [3]

Contents

History

In 1973 Rabbi Shneur Kotler, rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha, Rabbi Nosson Meir Wachtfogel, mashgiach ruchani of Beth Medrash Govoha, and Rabbi Dov Lesser supported the idea of opening a community kollel in Passaic. These Gedolim chose Rabbi Chaim Davis, founder of the Toronto Community Kollel, and Rabbi Wiesenfeld, then a rosh mesivta (head) of Beth Hatalmud Rabbinical College, [4] to head the new institution. In mid-1973, however, Rabbi Wiesenfeld became seriously ill and was replaced by Rabbi Meir Stern. [5] Rabbi Wiesenfeld died at age 49 on 24 September 1981. [6]

The Yeshiva Gedola of Passaic opened with 10 unmarried students in the yeshiva section and 10 married students in the kollel section. By the mid-1980s enrollment had reached nearly 100 students. [1]

In 1989 the yeshiva relocated to its own campus, including a beth midrash (study hall), dining room and dormitories. [1]

The growing yeshiva, together with the installation of an eruv and a mikveh, turned Passaic into a more desirable location for Orthodox Jewish families. Passaic's close proximity to New York also appealed to breadwinners who commuted to New York daily. [1] [3] Beginning in the mid-1980s, more and more Orthodox families began moving to Passaic. As of 2006, the Jewish community had mushroomed to 1300 families in a two-square-mile area, with a net gain of 80 families per year, making it the second fastest-growing Jewish community behind Lakewood, New Jersey. [3]

Faculty and staff

Noted alumni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aharon Kotler</span> American rabbi; founder of Beth Medrash Govoha

Aharon Kotler was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania and the United States; the latter being where he founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hebron Yeshiva</span> Branch of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Hebron, relocated afterward to Jerusalem

Hebron Yeshiva, also known as Yeshivas Hevron, or Knesses Yisroel, is a yeshiva. It originated in 1924 when the roshei yeshiva (deans) and 150 students of the Slabodka Yeshiva, known colloquially as the "mother of yeshivas", relocated to Hebron.

Yeshiva of Far Rockaway is a yeshiva located at 802 Hicksville Road, Far Rockaway, Queens in New York City. It comprises a high school, beis medrash, and Kollel. The school was founded by Rabbi Yechiel Yitzchok Perr, who was the rosh yeshiva (dean) from the school's inception until his death in May 2024, and by Rabbi Nachman Bulman. It has intensive Talmudic studies, and features the rosh yeshiva's musar (ethics) lectures in the Novardok tradition. The yeshiva also has a kollel, Kollel Ner Rochel Leah, for married students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin</span> Yeshiva school in the United States

Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin or Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin is an American Haredi Lithuanian-type boys' and men's yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. The school's divisions include a preschool, a yeshiva ketana, a mesivta, a college-level beth midrash, and Kollel Gur Aryeh, its post-graduate kollel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeshivas Ner Yisroel</span> Yeshiva in Pikesville, Maryland, US

Ner Israel Rabbinical College, also known as NIRC and Ner Yisroel, is a Haredi yeshiva in Pikesville, Maryland. It was founded in 1933 by Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, a disciple of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, dean of the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania. Rabbi Aharon Feldman, a disciple of Rabbi Ruderman and a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America, became its head in 2001.

A mashgiach ruchani, sometimes mashgiach for short, is a spiritual supervisor or guide. They are usually a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.

The Kelm Talmud Torah was a famous yeshiva in pre-holocaust Kelmė, Lithuania. Unlike other yeshivas, the Talmud Torah focused primarily on the study of Musar and self-improvement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shneur Kotler</span> American rabbi; dean of Beth Medrash Govoha

Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler was an Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbi from the Lithuanian movement and rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey from 1962 to 1982. During his tenure, he developed the Lithuanian-style, Haredi but non-Hasidic yeshiva into the largest post-graduate Torah institution in the world. He also established Lakewood-style kollels in 30 cities, and pioneered the establishment of community kollels in which Torah scholars study during the morning and afternoon hours and engage in community outreach during the evenings. Upon his death, he had served as the Lakewood rosh yeshiva for exactly the same amount of time as had his father, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, the founding rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha: nineteen years, seven months, and one day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Har HaMenuchot</span> Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem

Har HaMenuchot is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem. The hilltop burial ground lies at the western edge of the city adjacent to the neighborhood of Givat Shaul, with commanding views of Mevaseret Zion to the north, Motza to the west, and Har Nof to the south. Opened in 1951 on 300 dunams of land, it has continually expanded into new sections on the northern and western slopes of the hill. As of 2008, the cemetery encompasses 580 dunams in which over 150,000 people are buried.

Matisyahu Chaim Salomon was an English-born American rabbi, author and public speaker. He served as the mashgiach ruchani of Beth Medrash Govoha, one of the world's largest yeshivas, located in Lakewood, New Jersey, United States. An opponent of unrestrained internet access in the Orthodox Jewish community, he spearheaded a campaign to have internet filters installed on all computers and smartphones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berel Soloveitchik</span>

Rabbi Berel Soloveichik (1915–1981) was a rabbi and the son of Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveichik and one of the leading Rosh Yeshivas of the Brisk yeshivas in Jerusalem. He was a first cousin to Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, who was named after the Beis HaLevi, like himself. Rabbi Soloveichik was succeeded as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Brisk in Jerusalem by his son Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Soloveichik.

Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe, also known as Yeshiva of South Fallsburg, is a private yeshiva in South Fallsburg, New York. It is considered one of the leading beit midrash (undergraduate-level) programs in the United States, maintaining a "steady" enrollment of approximately 200 students. As an Orthodox rabbinical college, all students are male.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Medrash Govoha</span> Jewish school in the US

Beth Medrash Govoha is a Haredi Jewish Lithuanian yeshiva in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. It was founded by Rabbi Aharon Kotler in 1943 and is the second-largest yeshiva in the world, after Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. As of 2019, it had 6,715 students, 2,748 regular and 3,967 in Kollel status. The principal Rosh yeshiva since 1982 is Rabbi Malkiel Kotler. Talmud and halakha studies in the institution are carried in the form of over 200 small groups, Chaburos, which consist of several students mentored by a veteran, each pursuing its own specific curriculum with an emphasis on individual learning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dov Schwartzman</span> Russian-born American Haredi rabbi (1921–2011)

Dov Schwartzman, also called Berel Schwartzman, was a Russian-born American Haredi Jewish rabbi, educator, Talmudic scholar, and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Bais Hatalmud, which he founded in the Sanhedria Murhevet neighborhood of Jerusalem and led for over 40 years. He also founded and led the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia together with Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky, and co-founded the first yeshiva in Israel for baalei teshuva. He taught tens of thousands of students, many of whom received semicha from him.

Etz Chaim Yeshiva was a "Lithuanian" Orthodox yeshiva, now advanced kollel, in Golders Green, London, England. It operated as a yeshiva from the early 1900s through the 1990s, when it repositioned to function as the latter. It has several prominent alumni including Commonwealth Chief Rabbis Immanuel Jakobovits and Jonathan Sacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nosson Meir Wachtfogel</span> Orthodox rabbi (1910–1998)

Nosson Meir Wachtfogel, known as the Lakewood Mashgiach, was an Orthodox rabbi and long-time mashgiach ruchani of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey. He also helped establish branches of the Lakewood Yeshiva in dozens of cities, and opened a combination Torah study and Orthodox outreach centers in the United States and other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meir Stern</span> Dean of Yeshiva Gedola of Passaic

Rabbi Meir Stern is the rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Yeshiva Gedola of Passaic, a large yeshiva and kollel in the United States. He is known for the revival of the Orthodox communities of Passaic and Clifton. Because he is the sole lecturer at Yeshiva Gedola, with enrollment of approximately 200 students, it is estimated that he gives the largest regular Talmud class in the United States. In addition to his Talmudic acumen and lecture he is also known for his incredible integrity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael (Slabodka)</span> Former yeshiva in Vilijampolė, Lithuania

Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael was a yeshiva located in the town of Vilijampolės Slabada in the Kovno Governorate of the Russian Empire. It operated from the late 19th century until World War II.

Shmuel Halevi Schecter was a Canadian–American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, educator, and author. Born in Quebec and raised in Baltimore, he traveled to Eastern Europe to study at the Mir Yeshiva as a teenager and at the Kelm Talmud Torah as a young married man. In 1940 he returned to the United States, where he was a co-founder of the first kollel in America, Beth Medrash Govoha, in White Plains, New York. He was a Torah educator in New York and Boston for more than 50 years, and served as dean of Mesivta Toras Emes in Brooklyn. He published a commentary on Orchot Chaim LeHoRosh, a musar work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yehudah Jacobs</span> Mashgiach ruchani of Beth Medrash Govoha

Rabbi Yehudah Jacobs was a mashgiach ruchani (counselor) in Beth Medrash Govoha, the largest yeshiva outside of Israel and the second largest in the world after the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rockove, Moshe (25 September 2001). "Passaic, NJ: A Profile of a Growing Torah Community". Dei'ah VeDibur. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  2. Helmreich, William B. (2000). The World of the Yeshiva: An intimate portrait of Orthodox Jewry. Ktav Publishing House. p. xix. ISBN   0-88125-642-0.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Berman, Rachel (22 November 2006). "Passaic/Clifton: The new Jewish boom town". The Jewish Press . Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  4. "משפתי ישנים". קובץ מורנו עם התורה (in Hebrew). Am HaTorah. 1985. p. 5.
  5. "History". Bais Medrash L'Torah. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  6. "Rabbi Gershon Avroham Weisenfeld". kevarim.com. 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  7. "Administration". Hebrew Academy of Cleveland. 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  8. "The Smilow Family Presents Pesach 2010". Smilow Vacations. 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  9. "Rabbi Moshe Taub". Buffalo Vaad Hakashrut. Retrieved 23 October 2014.