Hitchin Yeshiva

Yeshivas Toras Chessed is a Jewish yeshiva or rabbinical school for Torah study, the study of Talmud, Rabbinic literature and Responsa. It is based in Wellbury House, Great Offley, near Hitchin in Hertfordshire. [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/JCR-UK/Community/Hitchin1_GO/index.htm] Jewish Communities and Records website]

Founded in about 1998, the yeshiva follows the Ashkenazi Orthodox ritual and is affiliated to the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. The yeshiva has about 200 students on a six-acre site.

Rabbi Ahron Cohen is a former lecturer at the school. [ [http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:e1Zo1ixQN-kJ:www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/dec/12/iran.israel+jews+hitchin&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=12&gl=uk] The Guardian 2006-12-12 Retrieved on 2008-10-08] The students from the yeshiva are a familiar sight on the streets of Hitchin, particularly on Friday afternoons before the start of Shabbat.

Following an unsatisfactory fire safety inspection in April 2002, that October the Charity Commission wrote to the Torath Chesed Yeshiva Trust, which runs the yeshiva, telling them not to re-open the school until vital building and safety improvement work had completed. Head of Investigations, David Rich, who visited the school, said,

"To my layman's eyes it seemed like a death trap. Conditions were shocking. We saw very little in the way of fire safety equipment or fire safety instruction. We did see a broken glass panel in a door, cracked floor tiles just waiting for someone to trip on them, bare wires and emergency lights dangling precariously from the ceiling. I'm no expert but I wouldn't want to send my own kids there." [http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=25226&NewsAreaID=2] News Distribution Service 2002-10-02 Retrieved on 2008-10-08]

Safety hazards included the lack of fire escapes, insufficient fire-fighting equipment, the lack of emergency lighting and fire signage, the absence of staff training and any emergency plan.

The yeshiva subsequently reopened and is currently still operating.

References

External links

* [http://www.jewishgen.org/JCR-UK/Community/Hitchin1_GO/index.htm The Yeshivas Toras Chessed on the Jewish Communities and Records website]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2294973.stm The Hitchin Yeshiva on the BBC News website 2002]
* [http://www.gov-news.org/gov/uk/news/charity_premises_3939a_deathtrap3939_says/29248.html The Hitchin Yeshiva on the United Kingdom Government News website 2002]