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.
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.
The Kahaneman faction of the yeshiva is led by Rabbis Gershon Eidelstein and Berel Povarsky son of the rosh yeshiva rabbi Dovid Povarsky, in addition to Rabbi's Chaim Shlomo Leibovitch and Chaim Peretz Berman a grandson of the steipler, rabbi Yaakov kanievsky, and a son in law of rabbi kahanamen. The Markovitz faction of the yeshiva is led by Rabbis Shmuel Markovitz, Asher Deutch and Dessler.
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.
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 YeshivaRabbi Dovid Povarsky, Rosh YeshivaRabbi Chaim Friedlander MashgiachRabbi Chaim Shloime Leibovitch (1931-2016), Rosh YeshivaRabbi Asher ArieliRabbi Aharon Bina, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Netiv AryehRabbi Baruch Shmuel Deutch, teacher at Yeshivat Kol TorahRabbi Yitzchak Dzimtrovski, maggid shiur in Yeshivat Sha'alvim and Yeshivat Kol YaakovRabbi Yehoshua Erenberg, the Rosh Yeshivot of "Kneses Yitzchok", Chadera and Kiryat Sefer.Rabbi Menachem GelleyRabbi Pinchas GoldschmidtRabbi Shraga Feivish Hager, Kosover RebbeRabbi Yitzchok Halberstadt, former deputy mayor of Bnei Brak, co-founder of Rav Wolf SeminaryRabbi Dovid Kraus, Senior Talmudical Lecturer in Gateshead, EnglandRabbi Yehuda Leib Wittler, esteemed and experienced Mashgiach, Manchester - EnglandRabbi Dr. Mordechai Halperin, Chief Officer of Medical Ethics for the Israeli Ministry of Health, director of the Dr. Falk Schlesinger InstituteRabbi Chaim Mordeche Hertz, Mashbak Kol Gedolei Yisroel befrat R' Michel Yehuda LefkovitzRabbi Meir KesslerRabbi Ephraim Kirschenbaum, Rov, Pnei Shmeul, Ramat Beit ShemeshRabbi Dov LandauRabbi Israel Meir Lau, former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of IsraelRabbi Binyomin Moskovitz, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Midrash ShmuelRabbi Yaakov Peretz, Rosh Yeshiva of Midrash SepharadiRabbi Yoel Schwartz, Torah scholar and author, senior lecturer at Yeshivas Dvar YerushalayimYisrael Segal, Israeli journalistRabbi Dovid Stefansky, rosh yeshiva of Kol Yaakov Torah CenterRabbi Nissim Toledano, Rosh Yeshiva of Sheerit Yossef in Beer YaacovRabbi Yaacov Toledano, Rosh Yeshiva of Chazon Baroukh in FranceRabbi Avrohom Yitzchok Ulman, rabbi of Ner Yisroel in Jerusalem, member of Jerusalem's Edah HaChareidis)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.
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 Yehuda 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.