Rabbinical Seminary of America

Brooklyn The Yeshiva was established in 1933 by Rabbi Dovid Leibowitz , a great-nephew of the Chofetz Chaim. Leibowitz was a disciple of Nosson Tzvi Finkel and he also studied under Naftoli Trop at the Yeshiva in Radun, Belarus . The yeshiva was named for Leibowitz's great uncle, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan , who had died that year. It is officially named Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen, but is often referred to simply as Chofetz Chaim [ 2 ] ( Hebrew : חָפֵץ חַיִּים ), which is commonly used as a name for Kagan, after his book with the same title . Chofetz Chaim means "desires life" in Hebrew . The Yeshiva's first building was in Williamsburg, Brooklyn .

In December 1955 it relocated to Forest Hills, Queens . Most recently, in the summer of 2002, the Yeshiva relocated to Kew Gardens Hills, Queens . [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 1 ]

After Leibowitz died in December 1941, he was succeeded as head by his son, Henoch Leibowitz , a role held in the 21st century by Dovid Harris, [ 6 ] Akiva Grunblatt, and Shaul Opoczynski. [ 7 ] The yeshiva houses a boys' secondary school or Mesivta , Yeshiva Preparatory High School, headed for many years by Rabbi Zechariah Fendel, an undergraduate yeshiva, and a rabbinical school that grants Semicha (ordination). Rabbinical students at the yeshiva often spend a decade or more there, studying a traditional yeshiva curriculum focusing on Talmud , mussar ("ethics"), and halakha ("Jewish law").

This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . ( Learn how and when to remove these messages ) This section needs additional citations for verification . ( February 2008 ) This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia . ( June 2022 ) The yeshiva is known for six primary characteristics that distinguish it from other schools: It places an emphasis on unpacking the latent processes of reasoning within the steps of the Talmudic sugya (section of text) being studied. It understands that the initial assumptions of the Talmud must have already been made after a highly rigorous process and therefore that the progression from that initial thought process (known as the hava aminah) to the final conclusion (known as the maskana) must be fully unfolded and understood. [ 8 ] It emphasizes rigor in its approach to ethical and Biblical texts and commentaries with the idea that a deduction from these texts should ideally be "logically and textually compelling." [ 9 ] It places a strong emphasis on the study of Mussar ("ethics"), both by attending and reviewing bi-weekly lectures and through daily individual study. This emphasis began with Dovid Leibowitz , who founded the yeshiva based on the doctrine of his rebbe , the Alter of Slabodka , and Rabbi Yisroel Salanter , the founder of the Mussar movement . The head of the yeshiva, Henoch Leibowitz would continually remind his students that as important as it is to become a lamdan ("analytical scholar") and a great pedagogue , it is even more important to become a mentch ("a good human being"). It places a premium upon involvement in Jewish education and on the propagation of the ideals and values of Judaism amongst the greater Jewish population.