Mir yeshiva

This article concerns the post-war Mirrer yeshiva in Jerusalem. For the pre-war Mirrer yeshiva in Poland, see Mir yeshiva (Poland) and for its sister campus, see Mir yeshiva (Brooklyn).

The Mir Yeshiva Simchas Beis HaShoeivah in 2006

The Mir yeshiva (Hebrew: ישיבת מיר‎, Yeshivas Mir), commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, is an Orthodox yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. It is presently distinguished as the largest yeshiva in the world, with its student body numbering close to 6,000 post-high school students, mostly from the United States. Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel is the present rosh yeshiva of the Mir yeshiva in Jerusalem.

History

See also Mir Yeshiva (Poland).

The original Mirrer yeshiva was founded in 1814 by one of the prominent residents of the quiet and small Polish town of Mir, Belarus Rabbi Shmuel Tiktinsky. After Rabbi Shmuel's death, his youngest son, Rabbi Chaim Leib Tiktinsky, was appointed rosh yeshiva. He was succeeded by his son, Rav Avrohom, who brought Rabbi Eliyahu Boruch Kamai into the yeshiva.

In 1903, Rabbi Kamai's daughter married Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, son of the legendary Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel who in time became the rosh yeshiva of the Mir. The yeshiva remained in that location until 1914.

With the outbreak of World War I, the yeshiva moved to Poltava, Ukraine. In 1921, the yeshiva moved back to its original facilities in Mir, where it remained until Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 marking the beginning of the Holocaust.

Although many of the foreign-born students left when the Soviet army invaded from the east, the yeshiva continued to operate, albeit on a reduced scale, until the approaching Nazi armies caused the leaders of the yeshiva to move the entire yeshiva community to Keidan, Lithuania.

Establishment in Jerusalem

At about this time, the rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Leizer Yudl Finkel. traveled to Palestine, with the intention of obtaining visas for the members of the yeshiva and resettling the yeshiva in the Land of Israel. However, the war prevented the yeshiva from following, and Rabbi Leizer Yudl was to be separated from the main yeshiva for the next seven years. In 1944 Reb Leizer Yudel started a branch of the yeshiva in Jerusalem with ten talmidim, among them Rabbi Yudel Shapiro (later to become Rosh Kollel Chazon Ish), Rabbi Chaim Brim (later rosh yeshiva of Rizhn-Boyan, and Rabbi Chaim Greineman^[1].

As the Nazi armies continued to push to the east, the yeshiva as a whole eventually fled to (Japanese-controlled) Shanghai, China, where they remained until the end of World War II. Following the end of the war, the majority of the Jewish refugees from the Shanghai ghetto left for Palestine and the United States. Among them were the survivors from the Mir Yeshiva, many of whom rejoined the yeshiva in Jerusalem under Rabbi Leizer Yudl in 1947.

After Rabbi Leizer Yudel died on the 19th Tammuz 1965, his son, Rabbi Beinish Finkel and Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz (his brother-in-law) became joint Mirrer rosh yeshivas. Reb Chaim was considered the main Rosh Yeshiva and when he died, his son in law Rabbi Nachum Partzovitz replaced him. Rabbi Beinish Finkel became rosh yeshiva after Reb Nachum died. With Rabbi Beinish's passing in 1990 the reins were taken over by Rabbi Beinish's sons-in-law, with the current rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, at the helm.

Shiurim

There are many different shiurim for a student to choose from in the yeshiva. Currently Rabbi Asher Arieli, who gives shiurim in Yiddish, has approximately six hundred students in his shiur, making it the biggest daily shiur in the world.

Brachfeld

In recent years the yeshiva has opened a branch in Brachfeld primarily for Israelis which also includes a Kollel. It is currently under the leadership of HaRav Aryeh Finkel.

Prominent alumni

Prominent faculty