Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin Explained
Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin or Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin (Hebrew: יְשִׁיבַת רַבֵּינוּ חַיִּים בֶּרלִין) 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 (elementary school), a mesivta (high school), a college-level beth midrash, and Kollel Gur Aryeh, its post-graduate kollel.
History
Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin was established in 1904 as Yeshiva Tiferes Bachurim in Brownsville, Brooklyn, by Jews who moved there from the Lower East Side of New York City,[1] thus making it the oldest yeshiva in Kings County.[2] At the suggestion of Meir Berlin (Bar-Ilan), it was renamed in 1914 for his brother, Chaim Berlin, Chief Rabbi of Moscow and later Jerusalem, and who had also served in Valozhyn, from where several of the yeshiva's founders came.[1] [3] Through the help of philanthropist Jacob Rutstein,[4] in 1940 the yeshiva purchased the seven-story former Municipal Bank Building at Pitkin and Stone Avenues[5] (now Mother Gaston Boulevard) in Brownsville.[6]
Leadership
The founding rosh yeshiva, Yaakov Moshe Shurkin, served from 1936 until his death in 1963. Yitzchok Hutner joined the faculty during 1936–1937, and gave monthly lectures as rosh yeshiva from 1943 to 1980. In the late 1970s, a branch was opened in Jerusalem called Yeshiva Pachad Yitzchok (Fear of Isaac).[7]
After Hutner's death, the New York yeshiva was headed by his disciple Aaron Schechter, and the Jerusalem branch was headed by his son-in-law Yonason David.[7] When Schechter died in 2023, the leadership of the yeshiva passed to his son-in-law Shlomo Halioua.[8]
The position of mashgiach ruchani (spiritual supervisor) has been held by (among others) Avigdor Miller,[9] Shlomo Freifeld,[10] Shlomo Carlebach, Shimon Groner, and Mordechai Zelig Shechter.
Divisions
Chaim Berlin consists of a preschool, a yeshiva ketana (elementary school), a mesivta (high school), a college-level beth midrash, and Kollel Gur Aryeh, its post-graduate kollel division. Total enrollment for all divisions approaches 2,000 students.[11] The mesivta acts as a feeder school for the beth midrash.[12] [13] For a time, while located in Far Rockaway,[14] the mesivta was headed by Shlomo Freifeld.[15]
The yeshiva maintains a summer location, Camp Morris, in Sullivan County, New York.[16] The Yeshiva also runs a summer youth program with the name Chaim Day Camp.
Notable alumni
Notable alumni include many who served in rabbinic capacities throughout the world.
- Shalom Z. Berger (born 1960), Senior Content Editor of the Koren Talmud Bavli
- Shlomo Carlebach (1925–2022), former mashgiach ruchani of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin[17]
- Shlomo Carlebach (1925–1994), rabbi, religious teacher, spiritual leader, composer, and singer[18]
- Yonasan Dovid David, co-rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin
- Yaakov Feitman (born 1948), rabbi of Kehillas Bais Yehudah Tzvi, Cedarhurst, New York[19]
- Aharon Feldman (born 1932), rosh yeshiva of Ner Israel Rabbinical College
- Shlomo Freifeld (1925–1990), founding rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Shor Yoshuv[15]
- David Weiss Halivni (1927–2022), rabbi and professor of Talmud[20]
- David Hartman (1931–2013), American-Israeli rabbi and philosopher of contemporary Judaism, founder of the Shalom Hartman Institute.[21]
- Yitzhak Aharon Korff (born 1949), Grand Rabbi of Zvhil-Mezbuz, Boston, and The Jerusalem Great Synagogue
- Simcha Krauss (1937–2022), retired rabbi of the Young Israel of Hillcrest, Queens, and leader of the Religious Zionists of America
- David Lefkowitz (1875–1955), chaplain United States Marines
- Aharon Lichtenstein (1933–2015), rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, Alon Shevut, and rosh kollel of Yeshiva University's Gruss Kollel, Jerusalem
- Yaakov Perlow (1931–2020), the Novominsker Rebbe of Borough Park[22] [23]
- Yechiel Perr (born 1935), rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva of Far Rockaway
- Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld (1922–1978), Polish–American rabbi and educator associated with the Breslov Hasidic movement
- Nota Schiller (born 1937), rosh yeshiva of Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem
- Ahron Soloveichik (1917–2001), taught at Yeshiva University, Hebrew Theological College and Brisk Rabbinical College
- Pinchas Stolper (1931–2022), former Executive Vice-President of the Orthodox Union and founder of NCSY
- Noah Weinberg (1930–2009), co-founder of Yeshivas Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem; founder of Yeshivas Aish HaTorah
- Yaakov Weinberg (1923–1999), rosh yeshiva of Ner Israel Rabbinical College
- Yisroel Eliyahu Weintraub (1932–2010), rabbi
See also
External links
Notes and References
- (May 14, 1964) "Yeshiva Fire Loss Is $150,000; Brooklyn School Not Insured", The New York Times. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- Web site: Kabbalas Hatorah at Three Landmark Flatbush Yeshivos. May 13, 2010. November 17, 2011. Flatbush Jewish Journal. July 9, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150709094933/http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/flatbush-jewish-news/may_13_final/2010051301/18.html#18. dead.
- News: Levine. Yitzchok. Brooklyn Yeshivas In The 1930s (Part I). May 5, 2016. The Jewish Press.
- News: Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 10. Boro Bundles Benefit . Jewish School Raises $15,500 ... Yeshiva and Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin. March 16, 1942.
- News: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Convert Bank to High School Use Alteration of the former Municipal Bank Building, Stone and Pitkin Aves.. December 23, 1940.
- News: Brooklyn Building Bought From Bank: 7-Story Brownsville. January 26, 1940. The New York Times.
- News: Karman. Binyomin Zev. Hijacked! TWA Flight 741 Revisited After 50 Years. October 5, 2020. Hamodia.
- Rudomin, Yitschak (August 27, 2023) "The Passing of Rav Aaron Schechter, a Chief Disciple of Rav Yitzchok Hutner", Arutz Sheva. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- Web site: The Rov Who Turned Baalebatim Into Bnei Yeshiva. M. Samsonowitz . May 30, 2001.
- Web site: The Kriah Clinic. Rav Shlomo Freifeld zt”l related the following story: When Rav Shlomo was Mashgiach at Yeshivas Rabbi Chaim Berlin, one bochur ....
- Web site: Chaim Berlin Yeshiva . . Negev Direct Marketing . September 13, 2019 .
- News: Jolkovsky. Binyamin. Status is ... for Orthodox Jews; Studying, Studying and More Studying. November 15, 1998 . The New York Times.
- Perkal, Harry (November 20, 2017) "Confessions Of A Chaim Berlin Yeshiva Graduate", The Forward
- Book: The Jewish Day School in America. Alvin Irwin Schiff. Jewish Education Committee Press . 66-19790 . January 1966.
- https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/08/obituaries/shlomo-freifeld-rabbi-66.html "Shlomo Freifeld, Rabbi, 66"
- Feuerman, Alter Yisrael Shimon (September 25, 2013) "Remember the Often Invisible Non-Jews Who Help the Jewish World Function", Tablet. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/2108019/petirah-of-rav-shlomo-carlebach-ztl-former-mashgiach-at-yeshivas-chaim-berlin.html "Petirah of Rav Shlomo Carlebach zt'l, Former Mashgiach at Yeshivas Chaim Berlin"
- https://shlomocarlebachfoundation.org/about-reb-shlomo/ Reb Shlomo Carlebach Biography
- Web site: Kehillas Bais Yehuda Tzvi . Kbyt.org . 2019-09-12.
- [Joseph Berger (author)|Berger, Joseph]
- Winer, Stuart (February 10, 2013) "Liberal Rabbi-philosopher David Hartman Dies", The Times of Israel. Accessed September 19, 2023. "Born in 1931 in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, Hartman attended Yeshiva Chaim Berlin and the Lubavitch Yeshiva."
- News: Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, Head of Hasidic Dynasty in Brooklyn. April 16, 2020. The New York Times. He attended Yeshiva Toras Chaim and Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn and Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, N.J..
- Web site: Thousands of Free Torah Video and Audio Lectures By Hundreds of Rabbis and Speakers. TorahAnytime.com . 2019-09-12.
