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Revitalizing the Heart of the Yeshiva |
The Yeshiva is proud to announce many exciting changes for the new year. Most prominently, Rabbi Avraham Friedman has assumed the position of Rosh HaYeshiva. Rabbi Friedman-no stranger to our yeshiva-is proud to be our first Rosh HaYeshiva who is also an alumnus. He has been on staff as both a rebbe and mashgiac h ruchani for the past twenty-six years and brings a great deal of enthusiasm and experience to this position. Naturally, Rabbi Friedman is an expert on the yeshiva's glorious history and is often heard using anecdotes and lessons from this mesorah to inspire and remind our talmidim what they can accomplish on the global Torah scene. Rabbi Friedman is famous for his lively, exciting, and oftentimes entertaining shiurim, while putting particular emphasis on student participation-always encouraging them to jump into the action, instead of just merely observing from the sidelines.
We are also proud to announce the return of another distinguished Yeshiva alumnus, Rabbi Zvi Zimmerman, as Mashgiach Ruchani for our Beis Midrash. Rabbi Zimmerman is a true "Avreich" - Av B'Chochma and Rach B'Shanim - someone young in years, but knowledgeable in Torah. He also returns with a remarkable reputation in the Chicago community as a mechanech par excellence, a dynamic speaker and a true motivator. The entire Yeshiva community is thrilled to have Rabbi Zimmerman join us and we are confident that he will make a great and immediate impact on our Beis Midrash.
The Yeshiva is proud to introduce a new program called the Gedolim Initiative, a program which involves inviting renowned talmidei chachamim to the yeshiva to speak to our students.  The goal is to introduce the students to the greatness of Torah sages, while at the same time allowing them to be inspired to strive toward greatness themselves. On a regular basis, the students will be able to learn from two major local poskim, HaRav Gedalia Dov Schwartz , Av Beis Din of the CRC, and HaRav Shmuel Feurst, Dayan of the Agudas Yisroel Beis Din of the Midwest. In addition, HaRav Zev Cohen, will continue to give his popular Thursday afternoon halacha shiur in our Beis Midrash. HaRav Cohen's shiur has become a fixture in our yeshiva, and his lively and discussion-inspiring shiur on halachik process has been a weekly highlight for many years. The Yeshiva is honored to join a select minority of yeshivos that are able to offer such a unique, high-caliber educational experience. Additionally, we look forward to welcoming several Gedolei Yisroel who will deliver shiurim to our talmidim during the course of the year. These include, the Novominsker Rebbe, HaRav Doniel Lehrfield, HaRav Chanoch Friedman and HaRav Moshe Chaim Dimantman.
On a sad note, our yeshiva and Klal Yisroel suffered a tragic loss this past year, as our beloved Beis Midrash rebbe, Harav Hagaon Reb Zvi Menachem Teller zt"l passed away. He is, and will continue to be, sorely missed. While Rabbi Teller zt"l can never truly be replaced, his shiur was taken over by Rabbi Yirmiyahu Neuman, a tremendous mechanech and rebbe in his own right. Rabbi Neuman served the Yeshiva selflessly and wonderfully for the past decade as Mashgiach Ruchani. In addition to his guidance within the walls of the Beis Midrash, he and his Eishes Chayil are also known for opening their home to all, providing a warm and spiritual environment for the yeshiva's talmidim. Rabbi Neuman's beautiful insights into Chazal have inspired many, and we are confident that he will motivate his talmidim to attain greater levels of Yiras Shamayim and Torah understanding.
As always, Rabbi Yaakov Sussman continues to deliver brilliant shiurim, which are both deep and enlightening. Coupled with his concern for actualizing the potential of each and every talmid, we are confident that his talmidim will continue to grow in their learning.
Also this year, the Beis Midrash talmidim have the added benefit of our new shoel umeishiv, Reb Pinchus Zusis, who is a talented and knowledgeable talmid chacham. Reb Pinchus has already endeared himself to many students in his short time in our yeshiva, and his natural ability to teach and explain, combined with his genuine concern for others, make him a perfect fit for the position.
Our Yoreh Deah Semicha Program continues to be taught by Rabbi Chaim Twerski. Rabbi Twerski, a noted talmid chacham and posek, has been teaching in our high school for the past twenty-five years, and is known for his encyclopedic Torah knowledge and wisdom. While Rabbi Twerski has endeared himself to talmidim for years, he is arguably even more appreciated by the advanced students of the semicha shiur, who are oftentimes spellbound by his insights. Rabbi Twerski has inspired a special sense of commitment in his students; they didn't even break for summer vacation, instead choosing to study diligently in the Beis Midrash.
The Yeshiva is also pleased to announce a revamped and improved afternoon seder program. This includes a new afternoon kollel consisting of many of the yeshiva's talented and dynamic high school rebbeim, who are available to be chavrusas with Beis Midrash students. The seder focuses on bekius from the yeshiva's messechta, Bava Metzia, and the learning is supplemented with a shiur by Rabbi Elie Ginsparg. Rabbi Ginsparg, a true talmid chacham, has both studied and been on staff in our yeshiva for many years. During these years, our students have recognized his broad, yet deep understanding of Torah, and have utilized his expertise in the Beis Midrash in order to clarify difficult and complex sections of Torah.
New additions to our night seder program will keep our Beis Midrash lively through the late hours of the night. A new initiative will allow some of our finest kollel members to join our night seder program and be available for chavrusas with younger Beis Midrash students. This has been sponsored by The Buckingham Pavilion in memory of Mrs. Margaret Stern, Aleha Hashalom, who was a tremendous baalas chessed and supporter of Torah study. The Yeshiva is grateful for this contribution, which will certainly increase the Kol Torah in our Beis Midrash.
Our night seder program also includes a variety of shiurim. In addition to those given by our Rosh HaYeshiva and Mashgiach, Rabbi Binyamin Olstein delivers a nightly halacha shiur on Choshen Mishpat. Rabbi Olstein is a noted expert in many areas of Torah, and is also known for having studied under the world-renowned gaon, HaRav Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg. Rabbi Olstein patterns his shiurim based on the specific methodology that he received from his rebbe, and the yeshiva has always been privileged to tap into the valuable mesorah that he is able to present.
The Yeshiva is also quite active outside the walls of our Beis Midrash, as we seek to expand our community service involvement. Our Roshei Yeshiva recently participated in a highly successful Yarchei Kallah program at Kehilat Chovevei Tzion in Skokie. We would like to say thank you to Rabbi Shaanan Gelman, who delivered a beautiful shiur during the program, and also to all of the participants who helped make it a tremendous Kiddush Hashem.
Finally, much work is being done to physically beautify our campus, on both the inside and outside of our buildings, in an effort to continue to make the Yeshiva an even more exciting place to learn and grow.
We urge everyone to come and discover what is taking place here both physically and spiritually!
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