Mesivta Tiferes Yisroel
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Mesivta Tiferes Yisroel (MTY) is an Orthodox yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. It was founded in the Fall of 1988 by Rabbi David Harris.
Beginning as a fledgling branch of the Rabbinical Seminary of America known as the Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim, (located in Queens, New York), it has evolved under the leadership of Rabbi Tzvi Turk (b. 1951?) into an established yeshiva.
It is primarily an American, Lithuanian-style Haredi but non-Hasidic yeshiva focusing on Talmud study.
Although, like the majority of Chofetz Chaim branches, it is run independently, it continues to retain strong ties with its parent institution (the Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim). It currently has over two hundred students on the high school level and about twenty at the post-high school Beth midrash level. Many of the latter will continue on a rigidly determined curriculum, eventually seeking rabbinical ordination through Chofetz Chaim or through other rabbinical schools.
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[edit] Founding
Rabbi David Harris had already had a long and distinguished career as an educator in the Chofetz Chaim system (he founded the Talmudic Institute of Upstate New York(TIUNY), its Rochester affiliate and, later, was principal and a 12th grade teacher in its flagship high school when the suggestion came from Rabbi Alter Chanoch Henoch Leibowitz to set up an affiliated school in the ultra-Orthodox stronghold of Brooklyn.
This move represented a major break from the typical Chofetz Chaim modus operandi, which tends to concentrate on areas not containing a strong Orthodox educational system. However, Brooklyn is a bastion of more traditional institutions such as Yeshiva Chaim Berlin and Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, and thus, for the first time, RSA would have to compete for a more committed student population and present its ideology as a coherent and compelling alternative.
The school opened up in the basement of a Modern Orthodox Judaism synagogue (Young Israel of Ave. K) with one ninth grade class and two elementary school classes, with about sixty students in all. Adding a class each year to both the high school and primary school, it soon outgrew its cramped quarters and moved into a new building in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn in the Fall of 1991. Property was bought in the surrounding area and a major wing was added in the Fall of 1998. By that time, the elementary school had exceeded 400 children, the high school had about 100 students, and its newly added Beit Midrash program, although fluctuating from year to year, attracted a dozen or two students. Its elementary school is known as Yeshiva Tiferes Yisroel.
[edit] Schooling
The Orthodox population of the Flatbush section of Brooklyn is paradoxical in many ways. David Berger, a Modern Orthodox scholar and professor of history at CUNY and Yeshiva University, once proposed naming the denomination representing the clientele of the local yeshivas as "Proud of their secular education but opposed to it" Orthodoxy. There is a very large segment of the population that is highly educated and/or successful in their careers. However, many, for various reasons, mostly having to do with perceived spiritual deficiencies and presence of bad influences, shun the local Modern Orthodox high schools, such as Yeshiva of Flatbush, and Yeshiva University High School for Boys (MSTA/MTA). It was precisely this population that MTY was most successful in recruiting.
It soon gained a reputation as having "good secular studies," primarily because of their attitude, in the words of the rabbis: "Once you're spending time on it, you may as well learn something." Many parents who would have otherwise sent their children to alternate yeshivas, were attracted by this compromise because of their general positive view of secular learning — and MTY offered a very strong religious environment.
The yeshiva gained a strong niche in the community as a school that was dedicated to full-time study of Torah and Talmud while simultaneously adopting its parent institution's tolerance for Americanization to a degree greater than typical of Haredi Judaism yeshivas. In its relatively short existence, it has had students pass who appear to be on the fast track to great accomplishment in the world of yeshiva studies, the sphere of career accomplishment, and, on rare occasions, the academic world, though the administration makes it abundantly clear that the latter two (especially the last one) are inferior to the first. The attitude towards those that do not commit to the rabbinate, or at least an extensive post high school course of study dedicated exclusively to Talmud study, has been in flux since the administration change of '97-'98.
This changing attitude has engendered criticism within the very Brooklyn community that it resides. While the Yeshiva used to seek a certain type of student (perhaps one that was slightly more secular than Yeshiva Torah Vodaas and Yeshiva Torah Temimah), it has since changed and is targeting a more religious element. With this change in focus and a "holier-than-thou" attitude, it has created some ill-will within the very community that assisted it in its swift rise.
[edit] Daily program
A typical day for a student in MTY is as follows:
- Morning prayers begin at 7 :40 a.m. with a strict check of attendance. The penalty for tardiness was detention.
- Prayers usually conclude around 8 :30 a.m. and are followed by breakfast until 9 a.m..
- The general schedule is about an hour of Jewish Law and Ethics (usually an intensive study of a 19th century text such as Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's "Path of the Just"), followed by about 2.5 hours of Talmud.
- Lunch is for about an hour, and one will commonly find students playing with great gusto, energy, and, on not-such-rare occasions, acerbity on the basketball courts.
- The students spend about another 1.5 hours on a second round of Talmud (now more breadth oriented than depth oriented) and end with the standard Jewish curriculum with about 45 minutes of Biblical commentaries (concentrating on 11th-13th century commentators).
- It is 2:45 and the entire school now joins for the afternoon prayers.
- Students take the course load mandated by New York State for its Regents diploma, and students take a total of ten Regents Examinations during their four year study. Especially in the first two years, there can be some very demanding combinations of teachers and courses.
- 6:30 p.m. (3.5 hours a day of secular studies, as compared to a public school's six and a Modern Orthodox day school like MSTA's 4.5), students stay as late as 9PM from two to four times a week for a supplemental Talmud study session.
- On Sunday, there is a regular schedule until 3PM (the day ends after afternoon prayers).
[edit] Methodology
Like its affiliate, Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim, there are three primary characteristics of this Yeshiva's methodology of study that distinguish it from others in its genre:
Firstly, there is an emphasis upon unfolding the latent processes of reasoning within the steps of the Talmudic sugya. The methodology employed by this Yeshiva places emphasis on the notion that the initial assumptions of the Talmud must be highly rigorous, and that the movement between the initial thought process (known as the hava aminah) of the Talmudic sugya to the final thought process must be fully unfolded and understood.
Secondly, their approach to ethical and biblical texts and its commentaries emphasize a rigour that other Yeshivos of their genre generally reserve to halachic or Talmudic texts alone. The term "muchrach" is often employed when discussing what may be learned from biblical commentaries. This term means "logically and textually compelling." Theoretically, this approach yields a much more compelling discourse on Torah. In practice, however, the fact that the logic and textually compelling aspects of the discourse are themselves subjective rather than objective in standard, often the ideal of "muchrach" is not reached.
The third distinguishing characteristic is the emphasis placed upon propagating the ideals and values of Judaism. Students are encouraged upon completion of a rigorous term of study, to seek employment in the field of Jewish education, often launching their own educational institutions themselves or with a partner.
[edit] Faculty-student relationships
One of the factors that has been cited by many MTY graduates as what makes this institution unique is the close ties the administration and higher-ranked Jewish Studies faculty have with the students (as opposed to the secular studies faculty, who are discouraged from forming bonds with students, and the adjunct Jewish Studies faculty, who, teaching disciplines less in vogue than Talmud, didn't really have enough time or "pull" to form relationships). Students have cited the willingness of some of MTY's senior rabbis (such as Rabbis Harris, Turk, and Yehuda Jacobson, dean of MTY's primary school satellite) to learn personally with individual students. Although such a relationship is usually limited to the brightest and most motivated students, the general perception that rabbis "know your name and a good deal more than that" has proven attractive to many potential students. Class sizes are relatively small (20-25), and RSA in general encourages a more interactive style of learning, often leading to many close relationships between students and Rebbeim (as students call their Jewish Studies teachers- all of whom are male and ordained rabbis- most within the RSA system).
[edit] Codes of conduct
On the first day of classes each year, it is customary for a senior rabbi (it was generally Rabbi Harris until his departure) to introduce students to the school and lay out some of the key rules and regulations governing student conduct. In the past, students were told that the two direct routes to expulsion were "going to movies" and "talking to girls." To those who did not engage in these activities, it is difficult to say with what degree of rigidity these edicts were applied in practice.
[edit] Socializing by students
The issue of communication between the sexes looms large in the "Yeshiva" Orthodox community. As evidenced by the threat of expulsion, all social (i.e. non-family) encounters with the opposite sex are banned at MTY. Indeed, Rabbi Henoch Leibowitz, head rabbi of the RSA network, once came to MTY and expounded for some time on the ills of socializing. Nonetheless, it is known that some students have, in fact, initiated and maintained contact with Orthodox young women. Such rendezvous are often facilitated by and sometimes restricted to the domain of the Internet, although genuine, real-life relationships have been known to occur. Still, the administration tries to curtail all opportunities for social contact between the sexes, often by prohibiting the patronization of specific off-campus establishments at certain times when young Orthodox women are known to congregate there.
[edit] Dress code
The MTY dress code is known for deviating slightly from the traditional garb of the yeshiva student -- a white dress shirt and dark (usually black) slacks. In the words of Rabbi Harris, students were expected to conform to a "conservatively elegant" standard. In practice, this seems to translate to neutrally-colored button-down shirts and casual pants. Shirts must be tucked in while inside the school building, and those who are negligent in this respect can be fined.
The size and composition of students' yarmulkes are strictly regulated. In the late 1990's, the minimum yarmulke diameter was set at seven inches. Yarmulkes are implicitly required to be made of black velvet. Other materials, such as suede, are seen as being "too modern" for the school's religious outlook. Knitted yarmulkes ("kipot serugot") are absolutely unacceptable, as they imply allegiance to the Mizrachi school of thought.
Students are required to wear fedoras and blazers to all prayer sessions.
[edit] Extracurricular activities
there are quite a few extracurricular activities at MTY. they include, extra learning programs ( beis medrash bekeiyus for 11th and 12th grades, mishmar/chulent program on Thursday nights, shev smaitza shiurim by r' jacobson and other hanhala members, and other such programs) inter-school basketball games (as arranged by individual classes), rosh chodesh mesibos with damcing and a kumzitz to follow, shabbatons twice a year- in the fall it is held in yeshiva w/ activities on Friday, a concert by Jewish singers on motzai shabbos, besides spending shabbos w/ your classmates and rabbeim in yeshiva. the spring shabbaton is usually the last weekend in may and is held on the beautiful campgrounds of ACH located in the Catskill Mountains. Activities over the 4 day weekend include learning, leagues, swimming, and a motzai shabbos bbq and kumzitz.
[edit] Metamorphosis
Much of the goings-on in MTY must be seen in the light that it is part of the large and organic Chofetz Chaim system, and must respond to changes within the larger organism. Chofetz Chaim is headed by Rabbi Henoch Leibowitz, and as he had advanced in age, the manifestations of his gradually encroaching retirement have cause major ripples throughout his entire educational empire. The most drastic effect this had on MTY was when, in April 1997, Rabbi David Harris announced that he had been summoned to RSA's flagship campus in Forest Hills, Queens (the institution has since moved to Kew Gardens Hills, Queens) to ease Rabbi Leibowitz's teaching and lecturing burden. Implicit, but left unsaid, was the clear indication that Harris was being anointed as Leibowitz's successor.
[edit] Student body
Traditionally, students who attended MTY came from a variety of backgrounds. A typical MTY class consisted of students primarily from Yeshiva Torah Temima and the Kaminetz yeshiva, and the latter, also known as Yeshiva Toras Emes Kaminetz, attracted a more mixed population (with regard to adherence to the norms of Yeshivishe Orthodox) . Recently, as a result of its new location closer to the homes of most MTY recruits, the number of Kaminetz students transferring to MTY has dwindled. Instead, MTY now recruits mostly Yeshiva Tiferes Yisroel (YTY) students and Yeshiva Torah Temima students. As the size of YTY's elementary school continues to grow, MTY has been attracting larger class sizes than ever before.
[edit] Israel
Over the past two decades, it has become customary for graduating students of Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva high schools to spend a year in Israel at a post high school Yeshiva institution. Until Fall 2000, many MTY graduates spent that year in Chofetz Chaim in Jerusalem, Israel. Chofetz Chaim in Jerusalem (CCJ) is an affiliate of RSA. It has traditionally attracted Chofetz Chaim students from all across North America. Its emphasis on Mussar resembles MTYs, and as such, the students adjust very readily and smoothly. In fact, as the proportion and number of MTY graduates remaining in the RSA educational framework increased through the 1990's, CCJ's student body boomed, to a peak of almost a hundred in 1999. However, in the course of the major reorganization of the global RSA structure over the past half-decade, in 2000, a popular rabbi, Binyomin Luban, was transferred from CCJ to the RSA branch (Yeshiva Toras Chaim - YTC) located in Miami, Florida. This transfer, which took place on the suggestion of Rabbi Leibowitz, would lead to many students from RSA branches heading to destinations other than CCJ - particularly YTC - for their post high school year.
[edit] College
MTY's official policy about colleges is that they are potentially hazardous, but always necessary. The administration recognizes that a good deal of students expect to attend college for career purposes, but has stopped short of condoning the practice. Some students have gone on to receive degrees at various colleges and universities. Some have even pursued advanced degrees. According to one estimation there are currently 20 graduates in college and graduate school, with the majority of them attending Touro College or Brooklyn College, both in Brooklyn, NY. Touro seems to be the preferred choice of the administration, presumably because the college caters to Orthodox students and is gender-segregated. A very small number of graduates have also gone on to attend Yeshiva University in Manhattan. YU has in the past attracted MTY graduates and other students attending CCJ through its Joint Israel Program, which awards college credits for Talmud study in Israel. Although many students who go on to attend post-secondary institutions tend to be those who were considered "less successful" (i.e. not rabbinically inclined) during their time at MTY, others have proved to be exceptions to this rule.
