Beth Hatalmud Rabbinical College,[1] or in short known as Bais Hatalmud, is a small and selective Rabbinical college located in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York.
Founding and mission
Background
Bais Hatalmud was founded in 1950 by students of the Mir Yeshiva in Belarus, which survived the Holocaust by escaping to Japan and ultimately found refuge in Shanghai where the yeshiva spent the war years. One of the deans of the Mir Yeshiva in Poland, Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz, managed to escape to America in 1940 and established a yeshiva in Brooklyn in 1946 that he called the Mir yeshiva. However, when the Mir student body arrived in the U.S. from Shanghai, they did not join the yeshiva founded by Rabbi Kalmanowitz. Some of the most distinguished students of the yeshiva held that while the yeshiva established by Rabbi Kalmanowitz was called the Mir Yeshiva, that yeshiva was not the Mir yeshiva that existed in Poland, and that the actual Mir Yeshiva was the one that went to Shanghai and arrived in America after World War II. This was because the institution of the Mir Yeshiva was based on the student body and that a yeshiva was based on the culture and values that were established by the yeshiva and that the yeshiva demanded its students abide by. In fact the idea that the basis of a yeshiva are the values and way of life it demanded of its students was how the original Mir yeshiva in Poland defined itself as what it gave it its identity.
Within the walls
It was therefore decided by the students of the original Mir yeshiva to establish a new institution in America that would serve as the continuation of the original Mir yeshiva. The fact that the Mir yeshiva was the only yeshiva in Europe to survive the Nazi destruction of European Jewry in its entirety was a primary reason they held that there should be a continuation of the original yeshiva in Europe in America after World War II. They called this Yeshiva Bais Hatalmud, which means The House of the Talmud.
The mission of this yeshiva was to have it be to continue the ideals and values of the Mir yeshiva was in Poland, and to preserve and uphold the way that things were in the original yeshiva. A very important aspect of the original yeshiva was a concept that was called living within the proverbial “walls” of the yeshiva. The concept of the “walls” of a yeshiva is that a yeshiva is its own world and culture separate from the world outside it. What is held to be important and what is respected and strived for within the yeshiva, is completely different than that of the outside world. Thus the proverbial “walls” of the yeshiva separate the world of the yeshiva, and those within it, from the world outside.
Bais Hatalmud was established to be a continuation of the Mir Yeshiva in Poland. Unlike other yeshivas in America which were shaped and formed to fit the American mentality of its students, Bais Hatalmud stressed the fact that the yeshiva’s roots were the Mir Yeshiva in pre-war Europe and placed an emphasis on maintaining the spirit and values of that yeshiva.
Academics
Bais Hatalmud has an undergraduate division and a post graduate division. In the post graduate division students eventually move on from the subjects that are being studied in the yeshiva, which are limited to civil jurisprudence, and form groups where they study other parts of the Talmud. The school’s accreditation is from the Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools
History
A month after Rabbi Aryeh Leib Malin’s marriage in 1948, a meeting was held in his home to establish Yeshivas Beis Hatalmud.[8] The founding chaburah included, Rabbi Bezalel Tannenbaum, Rabbi Levi Krupenia (R”Y Toras Emes Kamenitz), Rabbi Leib Shachar, Rabbi Leizer Horodzhesky, Rabbi Simcha Zissel Levovitz, (Rabbi Yeruchom Levovitz’s son), Rabbi Shmuel (Charkover) Wilensky, Rabbi Chaim Wysokier, Rabbi Binyomin Paler, Rabbi Avrohom Levovitz, Rabbi Sholom Menashe Gottlieb, Rabbi Yisroel Perkowski, Rabbi Baruch Leib Sassoon Rabbi Aaron Zablotsky.
Rabbi Aryeh Leib Malin, along with Rabbi Chaim Wysokier served as the Roshei Hayeshiva. After the passing of Rabbi Malin, Harav Chaim Wysokier remained alone at the helm of the Yeshiva. Later, after Rabbi Wysokier died, the Yeshiva was led by its three remaining elders, including Harav Shalom Menashe Gotlieb, Harav Yisroel Perkowski and Harav Binyomin Zeilberger. After the passing of the Rosh yeshivah Rav Chaim Wyoskeir, there was a din torah to decide who will lead the Yeshiva. Many years of confusion and controversy followed. Today the hanhala is led by Rabbi Naftali Kaplan along with Rabbi Yehuda Zeilberger[9] and Rabbi Chaim Leib Perkowski, Rabbi Mendel Bromberg also plays a significant role. The highest shiur is given by Rabbi Chaim Weinstein followed by Rabbi Leib Weiss and Rabbi Moshe Baron. Weekly chaburos are given by Rabbi Yitzchok Rubnitz.
Rav Brus preparatory program
In addition to the undergraduate and post graduate divisions, Bais Hatalmud also has a two-year preparatory program for students that are sixteen and seventeen years old. This division was headed by Rabbi Shaul Brus who died in 2007, and is currently headed by Rabbi Brus’ son, R’Moshe Mendel Brus. Rabbi Brus studied under Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz in the Kamenitz Yehiva in Lithuania prior to World War II. Rabbi Shaul Brus had a unique approach to instructing young students in the talmud. Instead of training them how to study and analyze the text, his approach was to teach the students how to think. In place of studying the actual text he would discuss the general subject, introducing the students to the deeper concepts in talmudic theory and having them discuss these ideas using the Socratic Method.
Rabbi Brus would especially use the work of Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz, Birkas Shmuel, which covers in great depth and detail theories and approaches to understanding the Talmud and the Rishonim on areas of civil jurisprudence. The work Birkas Shmuel is very difficult to understand, even for accomplished Talmudic scholars. Students who studied under Rabbi Brus are of the select few that were trained to properly understand the Birkas Shmuel.
Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher Institute
Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher Institute seeks to inculcate its students with a broad understanding of Talmudic knowledge as well as the analytical skills needed to plunge the depths of Torah scholarship.
A student at Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher Institute is expected to immerse himself into the depth of Torah learning, with an emphasis on the Talmud. He is further expected to demonstrate a personal commitment to Torah study, which will result in a lifelong pursuit of Torah learning. The emphasis of the academic program on Talmudic study requires students to spend a major portion of their day engrossed in the study of the Talmud.
In addition to the student’s intellectual growth as a scholar, Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher Institute also focuses on his moral and ethical development. To this end, Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher Institute promotes the study of Mussar, or Ethics, based on the Aggadic sections of the Talmud, as well as classical literature of the last several hundred years exploring the philosophical and moral imperatives in ethical human behavior.
ADMISSIONS POLICY AND PROCEDURES
Admission to the Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher Institute is open to qualified men of the
Orthodox Jewish faith, without regard to age, race, color, national origin or physical handicap.
Application is based solely on a combination of criteria that include intellectual ability, academic
background, personal maturity and ethical behavior.
In addition, the admissions philosophy of the institution is to look beyond scholastic ability and
to judge the applicant’s potential integration into the Shaarei Yosher family of students.
Students applying to Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher must meet one of the following
requirements:
- Have graduated high school and provide evidence of high school graduation
- Have been homeschooled and provide documentation of homeschooling
- Meet one of the recognized equivalents. Recognized equivalents include:
a. GED/TASC/HISET
b. Successful completion of an associate’s degree program;
c. Successful completion of at least 60 semester or trimester credit hours or
72 quarter credit hours that does not result in the awarding of an
associate’s degree, but that is acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor’s
degree at any institution; or
d. Enrollment in a bachelor’s degree program where at least 60 semester or
trimester credit hours or 72 quarter credit hours have been successfully
completed, including credit hours transferred into the bachelor’s degree
program.
Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher Institute does not utilize an Ability to Benefit test for admitting
students.
Applicants to Beth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher Institute must also meet the following minimum
qualifications:
• Talmud: The ability to independently comprehend basic Talmudic text and the
completion of 150 folio pages of Talmud with the commentary of Rashi.
• Chumash (Bible): Completion of the entire Chumash with the commentary of Rashi.
• Language: The ability to read and write classical Hebrew; a working knowledge of the
Aramaic language of the Talmud; fluency in Yiddish, the language of instruction at Beth
Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher.
Beyond the basic requirements described above, the Shaarei Yosher Mesivta student is evaluated
on the basis of his performance during his senior year there. In addition to his written tests, the
faculty’s evaluation of the student’s maturity, diligence and deportment is the critical measure
that will determine his admission to the undergraduate program.
An applicant from a Mesivta other than the Shaarei Yosher Mesivta must first arrange for a
personal interview by contacting the Menahel, Rabbi Pinchus Kaff. At the time of the interview,
the applicant must provide references from his present school and submit to an oral examination
by the Rosh HaYeshiva. The applicant will be informed of the school’s decision within 30 days.
Applicants residing out-of-town may request an application to Shaarei Yosher by a fax to Rabbi
Rottenberg’s at 718-436-9045.
Students who require tuition assistance are advised to submit an application to the financial aid
office at 1630-41st Street. The school’s administrator, Rabbi Aaron Rottenberg, will assist the
student with the details of making tuition arrangements and applying for financial aid. Requests
for institutional scholarships should be addressed to either Rabbi Rottenberg or Rabbi Kaff.
Upon acceptance, students will be required to complete an admission form.
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