Ponevezh Yeshiva
Ponevezh Yeshiva, often pronounced Ponevitch Yeshiva, (Hebrew: ישיבת פוניבז׳) is a world-renowned yeshiva located in Bnei Brak, Israel. Donated by Henry Krausher, it was established in the town of Panevėžys, Lithuania. The yeshiva has over one thousand students, and is arguably the leading Litvak-style yeshiva in Israel today.
As of January 2007 the Roshei Yeshiva were Rabbis Gershon Eidelstein, Boruch Dov Povarski and Chaim Shloime Leibovitz. Harav Leibovitz died on February 2016.
History
Prior to the Holocaust the yeshiva was led by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, the "Ponovezher Rov", who functioned more as the president and chief fundraiser. Towards the end of the second world war, he re-established the yeshiva in Israel. He selected and appointed Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky as dean, and some years later appointed Rabbis Elazar Shach and Dovid Povarsky as co-roshei yeshiva.
Faculty
The Kahaneman faction of the yeshiva is led by Rabbis Gershon Eidelstein and Berel Povarsky, in addition to Rabbi's Chaim Shlomo Leibovitch and Chaim Peretz Berman. The Markovitz faction of the yeshiva is led by Rabbis Shmuel Markovitz, Asher Deutch and Dessler.
Internal disputes
During the 1990s leadership of the yeshiva was the subject of a public disagreement between two of its leaders, Rabbi Shmuel Markovitz (married to a granddaughter of the yeshiva's founder) and Rabbi Eliezer Kahaneman (a grandson of the founder) over the management of the yeshiva, that resulted in heated and even violent confrontations between students of the yeshiva.
Since then, the yeshiva has practically split, effectively resulting in two yeshivos in the same building, with the students occupying different dormitories though studying in the same learning hall and eating in the same dining room.
Famous teachers
- Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (1892-1953), Mashgiach ruchani, "Michtav me-Eliyahu"/"Strive for Truth"
- Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein (1895-1974), Mashgiach ruchani, author of "Or Yechezkel"
- Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach (1898-2001), Rosh Yeshiva
- Rabbi Dovid Povarsky, Rosh Yeshiva
- Rabbi Chaim Friedlander Mashgiach
- Rabbi Chaim Shloime Leibovitch (1931-2016), Rosh Yeshiva
Famous alumni
- Rabbi Asher Arieli
- Rabbi Aharon Bina, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh
- Rabbi Baruch Shmuel Deutch, teacher at Yeshivat Kol Torah
- Rabbi Yitzchak Dzimtrovski, maggid shiur in Yeshivat Sha'alvim and Yeshivat Kol Yaakov
- Rabbi Yehoshua Erenberg, the Rosh Yeshivot of "Kneses Yitzchok", Chadera and Kiryat Sefer.
- Rabbi Menachem Gelley
- Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt
- Rabbi Shraga Feivish Hager, Kosover Rebbe
- Rabbi Yitzchok Halberstadt, former deputy mayor of Bnei Brak, co-founder of Rav Wolf Seminary
- Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Halperin, Chief Officer of Medical Ethics for the Israeli Ministry of Health, director of the Dr. Falk Schlesinger Institute
- Rabbi Chaim Mordeche Hertz, Mashbak Kol Gedolei Yisroel befrat R' Michel Yehuda Lefkovitz
- Rabbi Meir Kessler
- Rabbi Ephraim Kirschenbaum, Rov, Pnei Shmeul, Ramat Beit Shemesh
- Rabbi Dov Landau
- Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel
- Rabbi Binyomin Moskovitz, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Midrash Shmuel
- Rabbi Yaakov Peretz, Rosh Yeshiva of Midrash Sepharadi
- Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, Torah scholar and author, senior lecturer at Yeshivas Dvar Yerushalayim
- Yisrael Segal, Israeli journalist
- Rabbi Dovid Stefansky, rosh yeshiva of Kol Yaakov Torah Center
- Rabbi Nissim Toledano, Rosh Yeshiva of Sheerit Yossef in Beer Yaacov
- Rabbi Yaacov Toledano, Rosh Yeshiva of Chazon Baroukh in France
- Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchok Ulman, rabbi of Ner Yisroel in Jerusalem, member of Jerusalem's Edah HaChareidis)
Artwork in the yeshiva buildings
The main study hall has an original 16th-century Italian wooden Aron Kodesh (Torah scroll arc). It was brought to the Yeshiva in the early 1980s and restored and regilded with 22 carat gild leaf work.
Institutions affiliated to Ponevezh Yeshiva
- 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 Leib Shteinman.
- Batei Avot — sheltered accommodation established by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman for children rescued form 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.
External links
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Coordinates: 32°4′59.49″N 34°49′58.09″E / 32.0831917°N 34.8328028°E