Address Ha-Kotel St 1, Jerusalem | Phone +972 2-626-6333 | |
Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh is an Orthodox yeshiva located at the Western Wall Plaza in the Old City of Jerusalem. The yeshiva, which has a Religious Zionist ideology, was founded in 2003 by the current rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Aharon Bina. Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl, former chief rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem, is the senior rosh yeshiva. His son Rav Chizkiyahu Nebenzahl the current chief rabbi also serves as a rosh yeshiva.
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Yeshivat netiv aryeh grand siyum 5776 highlights
History
The yeshiva is named after Rabbi Bina's father, Rabbi Aryeh Bina. The yeshiva occupies a building that formerly housed the yeshiva of Rabbi Shlomo Goren, first head of the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces and fourth Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel.
The yeshiva opened in September 2003 following a split in the leadership within Yeshivat Hakotel and started with over 200 students. The majority of students are post high school, English-speaking students from the United States, with some students from England and Canada.
Students at the Yeshiva study a curriculum consisting of Talmud, Nach, Halacha, Jewish Philosophy, Zionism, and Chassidut. The Yeshiva prides itself with a high teacher to student ratio, which helps foster lifelong relationships between the students and the Rabbis. To help foster these relationships, the students also have a Shiur every Tuesday night at the house of the many staff members living in the Old City.
Criticism
Allegations of abuse have been levelled at the Yeshiva for years. Accusers claim that Rabbi Bina promotes a homophobic and racist culture within Netiv. He is alleged to "regularly yell at, humiliate and insult students in public; threaten to expel them for seemingly no reason; press psychologists he hires to share private information about the students he has sent them; and tell those in disfavor that they are cursed." The rabbi's supporters maintain that these are merely symptoms of his 'tough love', and that these behaviors are ultimately beneficial to the students.