Bircas HaTorah

Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah is an orthodox yeshiva for Talmud professionals located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, founded by Rabbi Shimon Green in 1989, and currently is headed by Rabbi Nissim Tagger and Rabbi Asher Baruch Wegbreit.

History

The yeshiva was founded in 1989 with two goals: To make high-level talmudic skills more widely accessible, and to allow students of all ages to study in an intensive yeshiva atmosphere. Bircas HaTorah began as a yeshiva for adults with academic and professional backgrounds. It quickly established itself as the place for adults to learn Torah in a rigorous and academically challenging environment. The yeshiva started in the building of the original Etz Chaim Yeshiva, located in front of the Old City's Hurva Synagogue, with only a few students. As the number of students grew steadily, the Yeshiva moved, in 2000, to its current location on Ohr HaChaim Street just above the Cardo in the Jewish Quarter. Located just minutes away from the Kotel Ha'Maaravi as well as Jaffa Street, the main yeshiva building combines the historic beauty of the Old City with a modern ambiance.

In 2005, the Yeshiva became a major attraction to Shana Bet students who were looking for a Yeshiva that could offer them an intensive, student-centered program of learning in an atmosphere of genuine warmth and as the popularity and success of the Shana Bet program spread, the Yeshiva launched its Shana Aleph program in 2009 with students hailing from the United States, Canada, Europe and South Africa

Methodology of Talmudic analysis

Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah uses a unique methodology for studying Talmud developed by Rabbi Green.

This methodology is based on a combination of the teachings found in the works “The Ways of the Gemara” by medieval Spanish scholar Rabbi Isaac Canpanton, and "The Way of Understanding" and “The Book of Logic” by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto.

Rabbi Green developed this system at the behest of Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein of Jerusalem. Rabbi Goldstein felt that there was an urgent need for a systematic approach to the teaching of Talmud, and urged Rabbi Green to invest effort into its development.

Programs and students

Today, Bircas HaTorah has students of all ages and backgrounds.

All of the yeshiva's programs are rigorous and include mandatory exams.

Many of the yeshiva's alumni have gone on to become teachers and rabbis. Some have become part of the Bircas HaTorah staff, while others have taken positions in other communities.

While the yeshiva does not have a school for women, every two months, one-week seminars for women are held.

References and Press


    External links

    Coordinates: 31°46′30.79″N 35°13′49.6″E / 31.7752194°N 35.230444°E