This article is about the school in South Africa. For disambiguation, see
Yeshiva College.
The Yeshiva College of South Africa (Yeshivat Beit Yitzchak), commonly known as Yeshiva College - and formerly known as Yeshivat
Bnei Akiva - is
South Africa’s largest religious
Jewish Day School.
The school is headed by Mr Rob Long
[1] since 2018; the Rosh Yeshiva is Rabbi
Nechemya Taylor as of 2021.
Yeshiva College
Yeshiva College was established in 1953; it is located in the
Glenhazel area of
Johannesburg,
Gauteng, South Africa.
The school has around 500 pupils, between the ages of 3 and 18. It consists of a nursery school (up to age 6), a coeducational primary school (grades 0-6), and separate boys' and girls' high schools (grade 7-12).
The yeshiva was co-founded by Rabbi Michel Kossowsky, an
Eastern EuropeanTalmudic scholar who had settled in South Africa during
the Holocaust, and Rabbi Joseph Bronner, an alumnus of the
Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, New York, who had settled in South Africa after
World War II and was active in the business world. The yeshiva was named for Rabbi Kossowsky's father, Rabbi Yitzchak Kossowsky, who had preceded him and had served as one of the heads of Johannesburg's
Beth Din ("religious court".)
The first full-time instructor of Talmud at the yeshiva was Rabbi David Sanders (rabbi), who was brought out from the
Telz yeshiva in the United States to teach the young students Talmud in the traditional style of the
Lithuanian yeshivas.
Sanders helped to bring Rabbi
Avraham Tanzer, also an alumnus of the Telz, to teach at the yeshiva. Eventually Rabbi Tanzer was appointed the
Rosh yeshivah ("dean") of the school, a position which he retained until his death in 2020.
[2]. As above, the Rosh Yeshiva as of 2021 is Rabbi Nechemya Taylor.
Throughout Yeshiva College's history, it continued to grow in numbers and stature.
Here, Rabbi Tanzer brought out Rabbi
Azriel Goldfein[3] (again, a fellow Telz yeshiva alumnus) to be a co-Rosh yeshiva; Rabbi Goldfein eventually left to establish the
Yeshivah Gedolah of Johannesburg. In the 1980s Rabbi
Aharon Pfeuffer similarly taught at the school.
The staff includes Rabbanim from Israeli, American and South African yeshivot, and graduates of several
seminaries.
The school retains its close association with the
Bnei Akiva youth movement, extending to
Mizrachi, and its local
Kollel Bet Mordechai.
This article is about the school in South Africa. For disambiguation, see
Yeshiva College.
The Yeshiva College of South Africa (Yeshivat Beit Yitzchak), commonly known as Yeshiva College - and formerly known as Yeshivat
Bnei Akiva - is
South Africa’s largest religious
Jewish Day School.
The school is headed by Mr Rob Long
[1] since 2018; the Rosh Yeshiva is Rabbi
Nechemya Taylor as of 2021.
Yeshiva College
Yeshiva College was established in 1953; it is located in the
Glenhazel area of
Johannesburg,
Gauteng, South Africa.
The school has around 500 pupils, between the ages of 3 and 18. It consists of a nursery school (up to age 6), a coeducational primary school (grades 0-6), and separate boys' and girls' high schools (grade 7-12).
The yeshiva was co-founded by Rabbi Michel Kossowsky, an
Eastern EuropeanTalmudic scholar who had settled in South Africa during
the Holocaust, and Rabbi Joseph Bronner, an alumnus of the
Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, New York, who had settled in South Africa after
World War II and was active in the business world. The yeshiva was named for Rabbi Kossowsky's father, Rabbi Yitzchak Kossowsky, who had preceded him and had served as one of the heads of Johannesburg's
Beth Din ("religious court".)
The first full-time instructor of Talmud at the yeshiva was Rabbi David Sanders (rabbi), who was brought out from the
Telz yeshiva in the United States to teach the young students Talmud in the traditional style of the
Lithuanian yeshivas.
Sanders helped to bring Rabbi
Avraham Tanzer, also an alumnus of the Telz, to teach at the yeshiva. Eventually Rabbi Tanzer was appointed the
Rosh yeshivah ("dean") of the school, a position which he retained until his death in 2020.
[2]. As above, the Rosh Yeshiva as of 2021 is Rabbi Nechemya Taylor.
Throughout Yeshiva College's history, it continued to grow in numbers and stature.
Here, Rabbi Tanzer brought out Rabbi
Azriel Goldfein[3] (again, a fellow Telz yeshiva alumnus) to be a co-Rosh yeshiva; Rabbi Goldfein eventually left to establish the
Yeshivah Gedolah of Johannesburg. In the 1980s Rabbi
Aharon Pfeuffer similarly taught at the school.
The staff includes Rabbanim from Israeli, American and South African yeshivot, and graduates of several
seminaries.
The school retains its close association with the
Bnei Akiva youth movement, extending to
Mizrachi, and its local
Kollel Bet Mordechai.