A yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and the Torah, and halacha. The studying is usually done through daily shiurim as well as in study pairs called chavrutas. Chavrusa-style learning is one of the unique features of the yeshiva.
Kairouan, also spelled Al Qayrawān or Kairwan, is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was founded by the Umayyads around 670. In the period of Caliph Mu'awiya, it became an important centre for Sunni Islamic scholarship and Quranic learning, and thus attracting many Muslims from various parts of the world, next only to Mecca and Medina. The holy Mosque of Uqba is situated in the city.
Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Adherents are also referred to as Dati Leumi. The community is sometimes called כִּפָּה סְרוּגָה Kippah seruga, literally, "knitted skullcap", the typical head-covering worn by the men.
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, split among the present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, northeastern Suwałki and Białystok region of Poland, as well as some border areas of Russia and Ukraine. The term is sometimes used to cover all Haredi Jews who follow a "Lithuanian" style of life and learning, whatever their ethnic background. The area where Lithuanian Jews lived is referred to in Yiddish as ליטע Lite, hence the Hebrew term Lita'im (לִיטָאִים).
Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi ha-Cohen (1013–1103) - also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym Rif, was an Algerian Talmudist and posek. He is best known for his work of halakha, the legal code Sefer Ha-halachot, considered the first fundamental work in halakhic literature. His name "Alfasi" means "of Fez" in Arabic, but opinions differ as to whether he ever lived in Fez.
Nissim ben Jacob, was a rabbi best known today for his Talmudic commentary ha-Mafteach, by which title he is also known.
The history of the Jews in Tunisia extendsd nearly two thousand years and goes back to the Punic era. The Jewish community in Tunisia is no doubt older, grew up following successive waves of immigration and proselytism before its development was hampered by anti-Jewish measures in the Byzantine Empire. The community formerly used its own dialect of Arabic. After the Muslim conquest of Tunisia, Tunisian Judaism went through periods of relative freedom or even cultural apogee to times of more marked discrimination. The arrival of Jews expelled from the Iberian peninsula, often through Livorno, greatly altered the country. Its economic, social and cultural situation has improved markedly with the advent of the French protectorate before being compromised during the Second World War, with the occupation of the country by the Axis. The creation of Israel in 1948 provoked a widespread anti-Zionist reaction in the Arab world, to which was added nationalist agitation, nationalization of enterprises, Arabization of education and part of the administration. Jews left Tunisia en masse from the 1950s onwards because of the problems raised and the hostile climate created by the Bizerte crisis in 1961 and the Six-Day War in 1967. The Jewish population of Tunisia, estimated at about 105,000 individuals in 1948, numbered just 1,100 individuals as of 2018, about 1% of the 1948 population. These Jews lived mainly in Tunis, with communities present in Djerba.
Hesder is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework. These yeshivot allow Orthodox Jewish men to fulfill the ideal of full and active participation in the defense of the Israeli people, while still engaging in Torah study during their formative years.
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski was a pre-eminent Av beis din, posek, and Talmudic scholar in Vilnius, Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During his 55 years of community service, he was recognized as the leading posek and spiritual guide of his generation, fielding halakhic queries from all parts of the world and being consulted on every Jewish communal issue. He played an instrumental role in preserving Lithuanian yeshivas during the Communist era, and saved the yeshivas of Poland and Russia during the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, when he arranged for these yeshivas to relocate to Lithuanian cities.
Jewish education is the transmission of the tenets, principles and religious laws of Judaism. Known as the "people of the book", Jews value education, and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish culture. Judaism places a heavy emphasis on Torah study, from the early days of studying the Tanakh.
Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim is an Israeli yeshiva or religious educational institution for the study of Judaism. It caters to English-speaking students spending a year in Israel after high school. It is located on Moshav Beit Meir, 9 miles (14 km) west of Jerusalem.
Yeshivat Torat Yosef - Hamivtar is a men's yeshiva located in Efrat in the West Bank. The Roshei Yeshiva are Rabbi Yonatan Rosensweig and Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. The institution is primarily focused on post college-aged students and is part of the Ohr Torah Stone educational institutions founded by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin and Rabbi Chaim Brovender.
Jacob ben Nissim ibn Shahin was a Jewish philosopher and mathematician who lived at Kairouan, Tunisia in the 10th century; he was a younger contemporary of Saadia. At Jacob's request Sherira Gaon wrote a treatise entitled Iggeret, on the redaction of the Mishnah. Jacob is credited with the authorship of an Arabic commentary on the Sefer Yeẓirah.
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, Johannesburg. It was established and headed by Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Azriel Goldfein until his death in 2007, and is now headed by his sons Rabbi Avraham and Rabbi David Goldfein. The Yeshiva accommodates students from across the spectrum of Orthodoxy. The Hirsch Lyons Primary and High Schools are associated with the Yeshivah.
The Yeshiva of Cape Town is a kollel and yeshiva established in 1994. Its full title is "The Rabbi Cyril and Ann Harris Yeshiva of Cape Town", named for the late Chief Rabbi. It is based in the Green and sea point hebrew Congregation community, in the suburb of Sea Point, Cape Town.
Jewish thought, also known as Judaic thought or Hebraic thought, is a field of Jewish studies that deals with the products of Jewish thought and culture throughout the ages, and their historical development. The field also deals with the connections, parallels, and influences, between Jewish ways of thought and world philosophy in general.
The Tunisian city of Kairouan, also known as Kirwan or al-Qayrawan was a world center of Talmudic and Halakhic scholarship for at least three generations.
The Yeshiva of Kairouan was a Talmudic Academy in Kairouan during the era of the Geonim sages. It was one of the main centers of Jewish thought between the 8th and 11th centuries. and is known for producing the first books of commentaries, or exegesis, to the Talmud itself.
The Kairouan Synagogue is a former Tunisian synagogue located in Kairouan, Tunisia.
