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44-574: Established in the autumn of the Jewish calendar year 5762 (2002), the kollel opened with twenty young men. As of 2022, the Kollel maintained a student body of approximately 60 handpicked couples and had placed over 300 alumni in positions of community leadership throughout the world. The Dean of the Kollel is Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits , a respected advisor on contemporary halachic issues, especially for Jerusalem ’s English-speaking haredi community. Rabbi Berkovits

88-451: A "gathering" or "collection" [of scholars]) is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature . Like a yeshiva , a kollel features shiurim (lectures) and learning sedarim (sessions); unlike most yeshivot, the student body of a kollel typically consists mostly of married men. A kollel generally pays a regular monthly stipend to its members. Originally,

132-442: A dual- curriculum : Jewish day schools would provide a Judaic (Jewish or Torah religious) education for half the day and a good secular education in classical subjects, all in one building or complex. They planned for each new school to be guided by an ordained rabbi who would serve as the headmaster or principal. He would recruit a "general studies" associate principal (also known as the "English principal"), preferably someone who

176-512: A kollel was also established in Montreal . Other locations with community kollelim include Atlanta , Dallas , Jacksonville, Las Vegas , Miami Beach , Minneapolis , Pittsburgh , Philadelphia , Phoenix, St. Louis , and Seattle . In the past years about 30 Haredi community kollelim in North America have been opened by yeshiva-trained scholars to serve, in addition to the full-time study by

220-452: A million United States Jews had served in the US armed forces ; some participated in the liberation of the concentration camps, or worked with the millions of displaced people in camps after the war, including Jews trying to find out if any of their families had survived. Many American Jews were sympathetic to the rabbis' appeals to ensure a moderate Jewish education for their children, at least until

264-552: A number of Chassidishe Kollelim as well, such as the Chicago Chassidishe Kollel , the Los Angeles Kollel Yechiel Yehudah , and others. Unlike most community Kollelim that primarily focus on in depth Talmud study, Chassidishe Kollelim usually focus more on the study of Shulchan Aruch and poskim , including tests on the material by leading Poskim . Maimonides in his code of Jewish law,

308-701: A significant grant to support this effort, Partners in Torah successfully launched the first version of a technology platform in early 2020, just before the onset of Covid. The platform, which algorithmically matches participants with a suitable study partner, has a built-in follow-up system and provides real-time, transparent data on participation and satisfaction. Under Project SEED, yeshiva students (boys and girls in their teens and early 20s) are recruited and sent on two to six-week summer trips to distant smaller Jewish communities, where they teach classes or supervise children in summer day-camps. These may or not be accredited by

352-773: A year or two after they get married, whether or not they will pursue a rabbinic career. Modest stipends, or the salaries of their working wives, and the increased wealth of many families have made kollel study commonplace for yeshiva graduates. The largest United States kollel is at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey . More than 4,500 kollel scholars are attached to the yeshiva, which has 6500 students in total. Large kollels also exist in Ner Israel Rabbinical College , numbering 180 scholars, and in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin , with more than 100 scholars. In

396-452: Is "the children are the future," or in Hebrew , יש עתיד. The founders of Torah Umesorah wanted to establish a different model of education. At the time, Jewish parents generally sent their children to non-sectarian public schools during the day. In the afternoons or on Sundays they would send the children to Cheder or Talmud Torah -type Jewish-run schools for religious training, as had been

440-613: Is Rabbi David Nojowitz. Torah Umesorah, the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, was the first national Jewish organization in the United States to pioneer Jewish day schools within the country. It started to develop these in 1944, during World War II and at a time when the United States was at war with the Axis Powers and Europe's Jews were being consumed by the Nazi genocide of

484-403: Is very critical of those that study Torah without having a source of income and rely on charity, to the extent that he calls it a disgrace to God and to the Torah. However, the kollel system is both a popular and accepted one in many Orthodox Jewish circles, yet some maintain that a distinction must be made between a situation of mutual desire for such by both the learner and the supporter and, on

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528-553: Is willing to set up the infrastructure and host such efforts. Some young rabbis and rebbetzins (their wives) have taken full- and part-time positions as Jewish educators in the local day schools. They also frequently serve in local Orthodox synagogues as "pulpit rabbis." In some instances they have founded new Jewish day schools and synagogues of their own. By the 1980s and 1990s, some Modern Orthodox communities pushed to establish day school-type Jewish high schools. However, Torah Umesorah's rabbinical board of advisers, who are also

572-489: The Bar Mitzvah age (12-13). In addition, most Jews in the United States felt pride when the new State of Israel was established, due in part to fierce fighting by the many European Zionist Jews who had immigrated there when it was Mandate Palestine. The United States was the first nation to officially recognize the new Jewish state. With a renewed commitment to Judaism, American Jews wanted to ensure that their children learned

616-558: The Hebrew language , connected with the core of Judaism and religious studies, and had the opportunity to learn secular subjects at a high level. The new Jewish days schools were believed to be a means to accomplish the new goals of all-day Jewish schooling—or, all-day schooling under Jewish religious auspices. Parents believed that having their children study in the Cheders and Talmud Torahs had failed to gain their commitment to Judaism and practicing as religious adults. After Torah Umesorah

660-555: The Israeli Haredi Jewish community, thousands of men study full-time for many years in hundreds of kollelim. Kollel has been known at times to cause a great deal of friction with the secular Israeli public at large. It has been criticized by the Modern Orthodox , non-Orthodox, and secular Jewish communities. The Haredi community defends the practice of kollel on the grounds that Judaism must cultivate Torah scholarship in

704-506: The ' Yissachar - Zebulun ' partnership, after the Midrashic legend that the tribe of Zevulun financially supported the tribe of Issachar so that they could occupy themselves with Torah study. The reward of the supporter in the World-to-Come is seen to be equal to that of the scholar's reward. Most kollels have a scholar serving as a rosh kollel , or head of the kollel. He decides on

748-633: The Holocaust . Challenging the prevailing mood of the times, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz and other rabbis founded Torah Umesorah to develop a network of Jewish day schools across North America. Rabbi Mendlowitz was born in Hungary and was then serving as the head of the Yeshiva Torah Vodaas in Brooklyn, New York . He selected Dr. Joseph Kaminetsky in 1945 as the first full-time Director; Kaminetsky

792-525: The Torah Educators Network (which also services yeshivish schools). Under the guidance of Rabbi Eli Gewirtz, Torah Umesorah began a new initiative to promote Jewish adult education . Partners in Torah matches Jewish men and women across the globe who want to study Jewish text or to know more about their heritage with a compatible study partners for up to an hour a week of interactive study by phone or Skype and, if possible, in person. By 2009,

836-657: The United States that promotes Torah -based Jewish religious education in North America by supporting and developing a loosely affiliated network independent private Jewish day schools . In the early 21st century, some 760 day schools teach more than 250,000 children. Torah Umesorah have established yeshivas and kollelim in every city with a significant population of Jews . Rabbi Joshua Fishman served from 1980 as executive vice-president until his retirement in June 2007. The current Menahel ("principal") or national director,

880-723: The core of the Haredi Agudath Israel of America rabbinic leadership, do not condone coeducation beyond the beginning of adolescence (or earlier). Although most Jewish day schools have both boys and girls as students, with some, but not all, classes conducted separately, the rabbis did not approve of co-ed high schools. The rabbis and the rosh yeshivas prefer that boys who graduate eighth grade continue in all-male traditional yeshivas (" Talmudical academies") and girls study at Beis Yaakov ("Beth Jacob") type schools. Modern Orthodox schools are served by Prizmah (which also services Community, Conservative and Reform day schools) and

924-449: The girls). These were combined with fervent Jewish worship . The new institutions thrived in their own right and mostly followed the guidelines of their own rosh yeshivas and rebbes . As noted, Dr. Joe Kaminetsky served from 1945 until 1980 as operational head of Torah Umesorah. In 1945 when there were few Jewish day schools outside New York City. In 1946 New York had an estimated 7,000 students in 27 yeshivos of various sizes, and there

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968-519: The international Partners in Torah had more than 30,000 members, as documented in Gerwitz's book. By July 2017 it had connected over 72,000 Jewish adults for weekly study. In 2017. Partners in Torah became an independent organization and continued to expand its scope. In early 2019, an anonymous donor challenged Partners in Torah to use technology to drastically increase its reach and impact, reduce costs, and collect data on participant activity. Blessed with

1012-493: The kollel, in which members are subsisting on support from others, is part of an overall philosophy of some Orthodox Jews, that God desires that the children of Israel primarily occupy themselves in this world with the study of the Torah , and gave certain Jews more of a propensity to work with the intention that they should support the 'learners'. In Orthodox Judaism this has become known as

1056-574: The largest yeshiva in the US) and Rabbi Elazar Shach , one of the most prominent leaders of the Jewish community in Israel until his death in 2001. The community kollel movement was also fostered by Torah Umesorah , the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools. Currently, the term is applied in America to any stipend given for yeshiva study and is now a general term for the yeshivah approach to life. The philosophy of

1100-609: The latter part of the twentieth century, Torah Umesorah officials found that teachers and rabbis from the Haredi and Hasidic schools were consulting with its staff for training to improve classroom management , enhance classroom discipline and learn up-to-date teaching skills and techniques which they often did not receive during yeshiva training. They began to set up regular classes for training of teachers and principals. Torah Umesorah has worked to find funding to establish kollelim ("post-graduate" Talmudic schools) in any community that

1144-456: The leaders of Agudath Israel of America . The current Menahel ("principal") or national director, is Rabbi David Nojowitz . He returned to the United States to take this position after having served as Rosh Kollel in Melbourne, Australia , for 25 years. In 2008 Torah Umesorah had an annual budget of $ 39 million; this was "the last year for which it made its tax documents public." Toward

1188-499: The members of the kollel, as centers for adult education and outreach to the Jewish communities in which they located themselves. Topics include everything from basic Hebrew to advanced Talmud. In addition to imparting Torah knowledge, such kollels function to impart technical skills required for self-study. Many Modern Orthodox communities host a Torah MiTzion kollel, where Hesder graduates learn and teach, generally for one year. In recent years there have been established

1232-422: The other hand, communities that put pressure on the learner to join and remain in a kollel while simultaneously putting pressure on the community to support such an individual. Some other criticisms of the modern kollel system include: Torah Umesorah Torah Umesorah – National Society for Hebrew Day Schools (or Torah Umesorah תורה ומסורה ‎) is an Orthodox Jewish educational charity based in

1276-477: The religion so that it could continue. For instance, the Lithuanian Mir yeshiva had no wish to emulate the educational goals of secular (Jewish) society. They sent their children of high school age to yeshivas (for the boys) and Beis Yaakovs (for the girls); most of the curriculum was devoted entirely to Talmud and rabbinical literature (for the boys) and study of Tanakh and Jewish laws and customs (for

1320-569: The rest of their lives. The kollel was the umbrella organization for all their needs. The first examples were Kolel Perushim (students of the Vilna Gaon who established the first Ashkenazi Jewish settlement in Jerusalem) and Colel Chabad for the Russian Hasidim . The Polish Jews were divided into many kollelim: Kolel Polen (Poland), headed by Rabbi Chaim Elozor Wax ; Kolel Vilna Zamość

1364-455: The same way that the secular academic world conducts research into subject areas. While costs may be high in the short run, in the long run the Jewish people will benefit from having numerous learned laymen, scholars, and rabbis. (See also: Religious relations in Israel ) Yeshiva students who learn in kollel often continue their studies and become rabbis , poskim ("deciders" of Jewish law ), or teachers of Talmud and Judaism. Others enter

The Jerusalem Kollel - Misplaced Pages Continue

1408-487: The subject matter studied by the kollel. In many cases he also has to spend considerable time fund-raising to support the kollel. Many kollels employ former students – avrechim ( אברכים ), sg. avrech ( אברך ) – as fundraisers, often giving them titles such as Executive Director or Director of Community Programming. Fundraising projects may include sponsorships of specific events or "day(s) of learning." Many Orthodox Jewish yeshiva students study in kollel for

1452-557: The tradition in Europe. Parents feared that in North America, this approach was failing to transmit Judaism in a compelling and lasting manner. Students went to Jewish classes when tired in the afternoons. They were subject to the secularizing forces in their mixed communities, encountering the larger American society and culture in public school, on the street, and at home. There were only four or five Jewish day schools outside New York City. The rabbis intended their new school system to have

1496-464: The word was used in the sense of "community". Each group of European Jews settling in Israel established their own community with their own support system. Each community was referred to as the "kollel of [place-name] " to identify the specific community of the Old Yishuv . The overwhelming majority of these Jews were scholars who left their homelands to devote themselves to study Torah and serve God for

1540-520: The world of business. If successful, they may financially support the study of others while making time to continue their own learning. In the late 20th century, community kollelim were introduced. They are an Orthodox outreach tool, aimed to decrease assimilation and propagate Orthodox Judaism among the wider Jewish population. In the early 1990s community kollelim (or kollels) in North America were functioning in Los Angeles , Toronto , and Detroit ;

1584-615: Was a student of the Mir yeshiva (Jerusalem) and served as Menahel Ruchani of Yeshivas Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem for 16 years, before helping to start the JK. The Women's Program is headed by Rebbetzin Chana Kalsmith. This yeshiva or kollel article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kollel A kollel ( Hebrew : כולל , pl. כוללים ‎, kollelim ,

1628-501: Was also loyal to the traditions of Judaism. The associate would recruit, assist, supervise and guide the teachers who would teach the secular subjects generally taught in the public schools. American Jews were shocked as they learned the overwhelming scale of Jewish deaths due to the Holocaust of World War II ; six million Jews had been killed, and the great European Jewish communities and Torah centers destroyed. Many American Jews had lost relatives in Europe. In addition, more than half

1672-463: Was deemed "failing to transmit Yiddishkeit in a compelling manner to students who arrived tired in the afternoons and were constantly subjected to assimilationist influences in American culture." By the end of the twentieth century, Torah Umesorah had developed more than 600 yeshivas and day schools in the United States and Canada, enrolling more than 170,000 Jewish students. The organization's motto

1716-636: Was established, and its affiliated schools were attracting students, the parents of its students were encouraged to enroll them in Jewish high schools, to maintain students' commitment to Judaism. Transferring Jewish students to public high schools in adolescence was considered a risk, as they were subject to many outside influences. In the New York - New Jersey metropolitan area, particularly in many areas of Brooklyn , various Hasidic and Haredi groups (such as Satmar , Bobov , Vizhnitz and many others) also attracted many new supporters for yeshiva education, which

1760-582: Was founded by Rabbi Yisrael Salanter and directed by Rabbi Isaac Blaser . The ten students enrolled were required to separate from their families, except for the Sabbath , and devote themselves to studying for the Rabbinate. There was a four-year limit on one's membership in the kollel. Two people can be considered to have spearheaded the kollel philosophy and outgrowth in today's world: Rabbi Aharon Kotler (founder of Beth Medrash Govoha , Lakewood, New Jersey ,

1804-469: Was given the mandate to fulfill the vision of the founding rabbis. He served until 1980, overseeing the establishment of Orthodox day schools at hundreds of sites across the country; he is considered the most influential leader of Torah Umesorah. He had a doctorate from Columbia Teachers College . In 1944 there were few Orthodox Jewish day schools in the United States, let alone authentic yeshivas or Beis Yaakov schools. The afternoon/Talmud Torah system

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1848-548: Was more intensively Torah-based than the Jewish day school model being promoted by Torah Umesorah. Notable was Merkos L'inyonei Chinuch , which was founded in 1942 by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson , the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the United States in the postwar years were often strong supporters of the Orthodox Jewish day schools. They wanted their children to identify as Jews and practice

1892-400: Was one yeshiva in each of Baltimore, Chicago, and Jersey City. By the time of his death in 1999, Kaminetsky had set up hundreds of Jewish day schools across the country, in which 160,000 children were enrolled. Rabbi Joshua Fishman succeeded Kaminetsky, and served as executive vice-president until retiring in June 2007. He was a disciple of Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner (1906–1980), who was among

1936-718: Was under different leadership; and the Galicians were incorporated under Kolel Chibas Yerushalayim . The last initially included the entire Austro-Hungarian Kingdom , but as each subparty looking for more courteous distribution, the Hungarians separated into Kolel Shomrei HaChomos . The first kollel – in the modern sense of the term – in the Jewish diaspora was the Kovno Kollel ("Kolel Perushim" ) founded in Kovno (Kaunas, Lithuania) in 1877. It

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