Established 1993 Bachurim 100 Founded 1993 | Affiliation Orthodox Phone +972 2-566-5302 | |
Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Binyomin Moskovits Address 32, Menahem Ussishkin St 30, Jerusalem, Israel | ||
Midrash Shmuel is a Charedi yeshiva catering to English-speaking students, located in the Shaarei Chesed neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israel. It was founded in 1993 by Rabbi Binyomin Moskovits who functions as its Rosh HaYeshiva (dean), and was named after his mentor, the late Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky.
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Educational goals
The yeshiva is designed for English-speaking post-high-school students from outside Israel. All classes are held in English. Midrash Shmuel also has an introductory program called Aliyos Shmuel for college graduates and older students who seek to learn at a beginner's level, and a kollel (post-graduate) program which enrolls approximately 150 married students.
History
Midrash Shmuel is part of the widespread trend since the 1970s of yeshiva Torah study programs in Israel for post-high-school students from the United States and other English-speaking countries. In the 1970s there were only a handful of such programs for overseas students at the Mir, Brisk yeshiva, and Ponovezh yeshiva. Today, there are dozens of such yeshivas.
Rabbi Moskovits opened Midrash Shmuel in the early 1990s at the urging of his students and with the heartfelt encouragement of Torah giants of the generation, HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l and HaRav Elazar Menachem Mann Shach zt"l, among others.
Educational activities
Midrash Shmuel recruits students from across the globe who have completed yeshiva high-schools and its dean is active in this regard.
Students in the rabbinic ordination program receive semicha directly from the rosh yeshiva Rabbi Moskovits. Students also develop personal relationships with the rosh yeshiva and rabbinic lecturers which continue after graduation, as alumni participate in reunions and yeshiva fund-raising events in communities where they settle.
Curriculum
Rabbi Moskovits' gemara lectures are heavily influenced by Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky, while his ethical lectures are influenced by Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein. Rabbi Moskovits emphasizes a strong textual reading of relevant sources. Every student in the yeshiva delivers, at a minimum, two chaburos ("informal lectures") per month.
Guest speakers
The yeshiva also invites noted rabbis from the international English-speaking Torah world to address the yeshiva. In past years, these have included Rabbi Avraham Chaim Feuer, formerly of Kehillas Beis Avrohom in Monsey, New York; Rabbi Harvey Belovski, rabbi at Dunstan Road Synagogue in England, and Rabbi Aharon Kaufman, rosh yeshiva of the Yeshiva Gedolah of Waterbury, Connecticut Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky Neve Yerushalayim].
Summer programs
Midrash Shmuel runs a summer program for high school students from England, Canada, the US and South Africa. The program combines in-depth gemara learning and Halakha, Mussar and hashkafah (Jewish philosophy) shiurim with recreational outings and activities.
College accreditation
College credits are offered through Touro College and Hebrew Theological College.
Women's program
In August 2010, actress and dancer Rachel Factor, whose husband studies at the Midrash Shmuel kollel, opened Midreshes Shmuel, a post-high school women's Torah learning and performing arts program, under the direction of Rabbi Moskovits. However, this branch of the school closed in 2012.
Notable alumni
Graduates of Midrash Shmuel have gone on to make their mark on the English-speaking Torah world. They include the well-known Rabbi Natan Slifkin, the "Zoo Rabbi", author of a dozen books on Torah and science. Slifkin's first book, Lying for Truth: Understanding Ya'akov’s Deception of Yitzchak, was initially published by the yeshiva with an approbation by Rabbi Moskovits.
Other rabbinic alumni include: Rabbi Jonathan Shooter, author of The Haftara Handbook: Lessons from the Prophets for the Contemporary Jew (Devora Publishing, 2010); Rabbi Yonoson Hughes, Rabbi of Richmond Synagogue, London and author of Understanding Reb Chaim: Reb Chaim Soloveitchik zt"l of Brisk (2010); Rabbi Hershel Brand, teacher at Yeshivat Ner Yaakov, Jerusalem, and author of On Eagles Wings: Moshiach, Redemption and the World to Come (Targum Press, 2002); Rabbi Scott Kahn, Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah, Moshav Zanoah, Israel; Rabbi Avrohom Zeidman, Assistant Rabbi of the Seed Programme in Edgware, London; Rabbi Josh Bennett, Rabbinical Coordinator at the London Beth Din; Rabbi Stephen Berger, Director of the NCSY Northwest Region, Vancouver, British Columbia; and Rabbi Yisrael Shaw, Torah educator at Machon Yaakov, Har Nof, and editor-in-chief of the Daf Yomi publications of Kollel Iyun Hadaf.