Yeshivat Har Etzion

Yeshivat Har Etzion (YHE), (Hebrew: ישיבת הר עציון) commonly known as "Gush," is a Hesder Yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, a settlement in Gush Etzion near Jerusalem, Israel.

There are over 450 students enrolled in YHE, making it the largest Hesder Yeshiva in Israel. Most of these students are Israelis in the Hesder program, which integrates intensive yeshiva study with at least 15 months of active army duty, often in front line combat units. The remainder consists primarily of post-high school overseas students. Many return to YHE after university, preparing to become rabbis and Jewish educators through the Yeshiva's Semicha Program (Semicha given by the Israeli Rabbanut) and affiliated Herzog College. Over 550 alumni from overseas have made aliyah and a high percentage are involved in Jewish education.

YHE has benefited from the continuity of leadership of the Roshei Yeshiva, Rabbi Yehuda Amital and Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, both of whom are known for a combination of traditional advocacy of intensive Torah study with a pragmatic approach to the modern world. On January 4, 2006, Rabbi Yaaqov Medan and Rabbi Baruch Gigi joined Rabbis Amital and Lichtenstein as Roshei Yeshiva.

YHE has a faculty of renowned Torah scholars whose diverse styles, backgrounds and approaches complement one another in an effort to create an open and challenging environment for students. The Rabbeim serve as exceptional role modes who view themselves as mentors striving to imbue students with passionate, authentic, and religiously intense lifestyle.

History

In 1968, after the re-capture of Gush Etzion during the Six Day War, a movement to resettle this region and reestablish its settlements ensued. The leaders of this movement, among them Chanan Porat and Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun, asked Rabbi Amital, a prominent religious and military figure, to head a yeshiva in one of the nascent settlements. Rabbi Amital agreed, and with help from the Israeli government, Yeshivat Har Etzion was founded in Kfar Etzion. Soon after this the small yeshiva moved to Alon Shvut, a settlement established concurrently with YHE's move, that has since blossomed with YHE at its center. ["Lonely man of faith", Larry Derfner, Jerusalem Post, December 22 1995]

In 1971, upon hearing that Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, a renowned disciple of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, intended to move to Israel, Rabbi Amital invited him to join as co-Rosh Yeshiva. Since then, the two luminaries have shaped the character of YHE, today a thriving institution of higher Judaic study. On January 4, 2006, Rabbi Yaaqov Medan and Rabbi Baruch Gigi joined Rabbis Amital and Lichtenstein as roshei yeshiva in anticipation of Rabbi Amital's upcoming retirement.

In 2002, an overseas student studying at the Yeshiva for a second year, Yoni Jesner from Glasgow, was killed in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. ["Lone Soldiers", Yocheved Miriam Russo, Jerusalem Post, August 13 2004]

Values

YHE advocates intense spirituality and religious striving, tempered with a message of moderation and openness. Following the example of the Roshei Yeshiva, YHE encourages serious study, creative thought, intellectual rigor, and a true sense of fellowship with all Jews, regardless of level of observance or political outlook. YHE believes that this philosophy enables the teachers and rabbis trained at the Yeshiva to bring to the communities they serve a deeper commitment to Torah, a genuine love of the Jewish people, and an unwavering bond to the State of Israel.

YHE attempts to gird its students with a mastery of Torah, a love of the Jewish people, and the ability to engage the contemporary world and be enriched by it. YHE has received praise for producing students who are strong in their beliefs and uncompromising in their commitment to serving both Israel and the Jewish people.

Libraries

Two libraries are housed at Yeshivat Har Etzion. The Torah Library has over 70,000 volumes, as well as CDs, microfilms, a collection of rare Judaica and an antique book facility. The state-of-the-art Pedagogic Resource Center of the Herzog College supplements the central Torah library, providing a wealth of audio-visual material for teachers of Judaic studies in Israel and worldwide.

Faculty

* Rabbi Yehudah Amital - Rosh Yeshiva
* Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein - Rosh Yeshiva
* Rabbi Baruch Gigi - Rosh Yeshiva
* Rabbi Yaaqov Medan - Rosh Yeshiva
* Rabbi Shlomo Levi - Head of Kollel
* Rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein - Ra"m ("Rav Mechanech", "teaching rabbi")
* Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Rimon - Ra"m
* Rabbi Amnon Bazak - Ra"m
* Rabbi Yair Kahn - Ra"m
* Rabbi Shlomo Brin - Ra"m
* Rabbi Uzi Freidlich - Mashgiach Ruchani
* Rabbi Yitzchak Levi - Mashgiach Ruchani
* Rabbi Hillel Rachmani - Mashgiach Ruchani
* Rabbi Ezra Bick - Ra"m
* Rabbi Eliakim Krumbein - Ra"m
* Rabbi Amichai Gordon - Ra"m
* Rabbi Moshe Taragin - Ra"m
* Rabbi Mordechai Friedman - Ra"m
* Rabbi Menachem Leibtag
* Rabbi Pini Cohen - Ra"m
* Rabbi Moshe Aberman - Ra"m
* Rabbi Doniel Schreiber - Ra"m
* Rabbi Daniel Rhein - Mashgiach Ruchani
* Rabbi Binyamin Tabory - Ra"m

The Virtual Beit Midrash

In more recent years, YHE established the Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash, which provides yeshiva-style courses and shiurim (Torah lectures) in Torah and Judaism to students of all ages outside the Yeshiva walls, in an effort to open to the greatest extent possible a window into the Beit Midrash. Over 18,000 subscribers in every continent throughout the world subscribe to weekly shiurim, in English, Hebrew,and Cyrillic in Tanakh, Gemara, Halakha, Jewish Philosophy and various other Jewish topics.
* English language: http://www.vbm-torah.org
* Hebrew language: http://www.etzion.org.il/vbm
* Russian language: http://www.etzion.org.il/rvbm

K.M.T.T.

KMTT is a daily Torah study Podcast, from Yeshivat Har Etzion in Israel. Every day, five days a week, one 30-40 minute shiur is sent. The MP3 file can be played on your computer or transferred to your portable MP3 playing device. See http://www.kimitzion.org (English), http://www.etzion.org.il/keshet (Hebrew).

Related institutions

*Herzog College
*The Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women (Migdal Oz)

ee also

*Hesder
*Yeshiva
*Gush Etzion
*Aharon Lichtenstein
*Yehuda Amital
*Torah study
*Migdal Oz

Citations

External links

*YHE Official Site ( [http://www.etzion.org.il/yeshiva Hebrew] / [http://www.haretzion.org English] )
*Virtual Beit Midrash ( [http://www.etzion.org.il/vbm Hebrew] / [http://www.vbm-torah.org English] )
* [http://www.herzog.ac.il Herzog College Official Site (Hebrew)]
* [http://www.skamigdaloz.org The Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women (English)]