Ponevezh Yeshiva

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Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, Israel

Ponevezh Yeshiva, often pronounced as Ponevitch Yeshiva (Hebrew: ישיבת פוניבז׳), is a yeshiva founded in 1908, and located in Bnei Brak, Israel since 1944. The yeshiva has over three thousand students, including those of affiliated institutions, and is considered one of the leading Litvish yeshivas in Israel.

History[]

Founded in 1908, the yeshiva was originally located in city of Panevėžys (Ponevezh), Lithuania prior to the Holocaust.[1] After the death of its founder, Rabbi Yitzhak Yaakov Rabinovich, the yeshiva was re-established in Bnei Brak in 1944 by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, who was residing in British Mandate of Palestine at the time.[2][3] Kahaneman appointed Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky as dean, and some years later appointed Rabbi Dovid Povarsky as rosh yeshiva.

The Kahaneman faction of the yeshiva is led by Rabbi Gershon Eidelstein and Rabbi Berel Povarsky, son of Rabbi Dovid Povarsky, and Rabbi Chaim Peretz Berman, a grandson of The Steipler, and a son-in-law of Rabbi Kahanaman. The Markovitz faction of the yeshiva is led by Rabbi Shmuel Markovitz, Rabbi Asher Deutch, and Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler.

The main study hall has an original 16th-century Italian wooden aron kodesh (Torah scroll ark), brought to the yeshiva in the early 1980s, and restored and re-gilded with 22 carat gild leaf.

  • The yeshiva in 1949

  • The yeshiva

  • Yeshiva students studying

  • Students swimming in the yeshiva's pool, 1945

  • The main entrance to the yeshiva

  • The aron Kodesh (Torah scroll ark)

  • Shelves with prayer books

  • Hats and coats, as worn by students and teachers

  • Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, second rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ponevezh

  • Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, second rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ponevezh

  • Rabbi Steinman with students of Little Yeshiva Ponevezh on Purim, 1960

  • Header of official stationery of Yeshiva Ponevezh in Panevėžys, Lithuania, ca. 1920

  • Loan certificated for 100 Israeli shekels issued by Yeshiva Ponevezh, 1953

  • Plate in Bnei Brak with a description of Yeshiva Ponevezh's history

  • Video from the Yeshiva in 1960

Controversy[]

During the 1990s, leadership of the yeshiva was the subject of a public disagreement between two of its leaders. Since then, the yeshiva has split and resulted in two yeshivas in the same building, with the students occupying different dormitories, though studying in the same learning hall and eating in the same dining room.

Notable teachers[]

Notable alumni[]

Affiliated institutions[]

  • Kollel Avreichim — located on the grounds of the yeshiva in the Ohel Kedoshim building; intended for married students who have graduated from the yeshiva.
  • Yeshivat Ponevezh Le'zeirim — a division for 200 high school students headed by Rabbi Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, and was formerly co-headed by Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman.
  • Batei Avot — sheltered accommodation established by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman for children rescued from the holocaust, orphans and children from broken homes donated by Henry Krausher.
  • Grodno Yeshiva - Beer Yaakov — an additional yeshiva located in Beer Yaakov.
  • Grodno Yeshiva - Ashdod, also known as Ponevezh Ashdod — an additional yeshiva located in Ashdod.

References[]

  1. ^ "YIVO | Ponevezh, Yeshiva of". www.yivoencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  2. ^ "YIVO | Rabinovich, Yitsḥak Ya'akov". www.yivoencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
  3. ^ "YIVO | Kahaneman, Yosef Shelomoh". www.yivoencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2019-01-04.

External links[]

Coordinates: 32°4′59.49″N 34°49′58.09″E / 32.0831917°N 34.8328028°E / 32.0831917; 34.8328028

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