Oholei Torah

Oholei Torah ("Tents of Torah") is the common name of the Lubavitch schools Educational Institute Oholei Menachem and Talmudical Seminary Oholei Torah. The main branches of the school, and its administrative offices, are located in Brooklyn, New York City.

Educational Institute Oholei Torah is a yeshiva for male students in Chabad-Lubavitch Movement, drawing students from around the world and providing a vast majority of the Chabad Shluchim from amongst its graduates^{[citation needed]}. Oholei Torah's curriculum consists primarily of torah study, with a strong emphasis on the teachings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. The curriculum has been noted for its exclusion of all secular studies, such as language skills and mathematics.^[1]^[2]^[3] Founded in 1957 with four (or three) students, Oholei Torah is now a center of Jewish education for over 1600 students of all ages.^{[citation needed]}

History

Oholei Torah was founded in early 1957 by Rabbi Michoel Teitelbaum, following a statement by Rabbi Schneerson (the Lubavitcher Rebbe) that there should be a school focusing on Torah study on the holy purity^{[citation needed]}.

The school opened in a synagogue in Brownsville with three (or four) students^{[citation needed]}.

In 1958, the school expanded and a kindergarten for young boys was introduced. In 1964, Oholei Torah added a junior high school division, followed several years later by Oholei Torah Mesivta High School. The Beis HaMedrash, Talmudic Seminary Oholei Torah was founded in 1970, for post-high school Talmudic studies.^{[citation needed]}

In 1975, the school began renting space for the elementary classes at the Brooklyn Jewish Center at 667 Eastern Parkway, built in 1920, and purchased the building outright in 1982. Beginning in 1997, the building underwent a major expansion, with a new wing (known as the Deitsch Campus, after the school's major financial patron Dovid Deitsch) and a study hall for the Talmudical Seminary.^{[citation needed]}

In 1994, the elementary school was renamed "Oholei Menachem" in honor of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, though the old name persists in general usage.^{[citation needed]}

Today Oholei Torah enrolls approximately 1600 students in its various divisions.^{[citation needed]}

Divisions

Educational Institute Oholei Menachem (Oholei Torah) consists of a preschool grade (Pre-1A) and 8 elementary grades. Each grade has an average enrollment of about 100 students, so there are four or five classes for each grade.^{[citation needed]}

Oholei Torah's kindergarten elementary school and middle school are located in the Deitsch Campus at 667 Eastern Parkway. There is also a smaller kindergarten division at Cong. B'nai Abraham in East Flatbush, a synagogue where Rabbi Teitelbaum served as president until his death in 2005.^{[citation needed]}

Oholei Torah Mesivta is located at 417 Troy Avenue (the Rabbi Jacob J. Reines Shul).^{[citation needed]} There is also a branch of the Mesivta (formally known as Beis Dovid Shlomo) at 300 Norton Ave., New Haven, Connecticut.^{[citation needed]}

The Beis Medrash, formally called Talmudical Seminary Oholei Torah, and colloquially as Oholei Torah Zal (Yiddish zal, [study] hall), is the largest Lubavitch yeshiva in the United States^{[citation needed]}.

The Seminary currently has around 250 students. About 1/3 of the students live locally; the rest come from other parts of the United States, as well as Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Israel, South America and South Africa^{[citation needed]}.

Oholei Torah has a dormitory to house its Beis Medrash students. Located in a former apartment house at 645 Eastern Parkway, the dorm houses over 100 students.^{[citation needed]}

Shlichus

Like many Lubavitch yeshivas, Oholei Torah Zal sends graduating students to various cities around the world, primarily to other Lubavitch yeshivas, on Shlichus. The nature of their Shlichus varies by location, with some consisting of community outreach, and others simply helping younger students in the yeshiva.^{[citation needed]}

Publications

Since 1979 the Beis Medrash has published a journal (formerly weekly, now biweekly)^[4] Haoros U'bi'urim Oholei Torah, and an annual volume, which has variously been called Kovetz Oholei Torah or Kovetz Pilpulim. Both contain essays on various torah topics, mostly contributed by current students and staff, as well as alumni. Occasionally prominent non-Lubavitch rabbis, such as Rabbi Gavriel Zinner, submit papers to the journal, which is edited by Rabbi Avrohom Y. Gerlitzky, who also contributes at least one essay to each issue^{[citation needed]}.

The Mesivta publishes a journal a few times a school year called haaros hatmimim v'anash which contains essays by the staff and students^{[citation needed]}.

Notable alumni include:

Rabbi Simon Jacobson, 1979
Rabbi Yossi Jacobson, 1989
Avraham Fried, 1977

External links

Oholeitorah.com, official website.
Haoros.com, biweekly publication by the Beis. Medrash students

References

^ http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/06/nyregion/so-far-from-the-brooklyn-bridge-yeshiva-spurns-the-secular-world.html
^ http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130122/crown-heights/english-is-absent-math-doesnt-count-at-brooklyns-biggest-yeshivas
^ בטאון חבד No. 38 Shevat 5733 (1973) p. 113
^ Haoros U'bi'urim

[1] ttp://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/06/nyregion/so-far-from-the-brooklyn-bridge-yeshiva-spurns-the-secular-world.html

[2] ttp://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130122/crown-heights/english-is-absent-math-doesnt-count-at-brooklyns-biggest-yeshivas

[3] בטאון חבד No. 38 Shevat 5733 (1973) p. 113

[4] Haoros U'bi'urim

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