(Courtesy of Yeshivas Ohr Yehoshua) As Ramat Beit Shemesh’s Yeshivas Ohr Yehoshua expands its spiritual outreach to the community under the tutelage of revered Rosh Yeshiva Rav Yosef Rubinstein, shlita, the yeshiva gedolah (post 11th grade and up—ages 16-22) has literally run out of apartment space to house the talmidim.
The yeshiva, which is home to 85 talmidim, has earned a stellar reputation as a serious makom Torah that builds and develops top bachurim by giving each bachur personal attention by fostering the rebbe-talmid relationship. The success of the yeshiva has caught the attention of Harav Aviezer Piltz, shlita, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Tifrach, one of the “Ivy League” yeshivos in Eretz Yisrael. Rav Piltz sends bachurim to Ohr Yehoshua, where he thinks they would benefit in a smaller environment with more personal attention. One such student was the great-grandson of Hagaon Harav Elyashiv, zt”l! Yeshivas Ohr Yehoshua is also under the guidance of Hagaon Harav Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, shlita, rosh yeshivas Slobodka in Bnei Brak.
The yeshiva had been renting seven apartments scattered around Ramat Beit Shemesh at a cost of 30,000₪ per month (just under $10,000/mo.) to house the yeshiva’s 85 bachurim. The yeshiva’s seven leases expired after Sukkos, and rather than commit to paying 30,000₪ a month for the next year and raise money to pay rent, the yeshiva’s hanhala decided it made more sense to raise the same money and spend it on construction of expanded dorms. The yeshiva moved 54 bachurim in the partially completed dorms (there are currently nine rooms with three bunk beds in each room), seven are in a shiur room that was converted into a dorm room, while renting one apartment for 25 bochurim through this coming Pesach. Having their own dorms will save the yeshiva 25 percent of its operating expenses by eliminating that rental expense. More importantly, since the dorms are next to the beis midrash, the bachurims’ hasmada would be enhanced tremendously!
To underscore the love and dedication the bachurim have for their rosh yeshiva, one graduate wrote to Rav Rubinstein, “How great is the debt of gratitude that I owe the Rosh Yeshiva! First and foremost—for allowing me to settle in this elevated, magnificent place… a place that has given me so much in life—or, to be more precise, it has changed my life for the better! It is a place that has given me a better appreciation of myself, it has given me inner strength, it has taught me the concepts of ahavas Torah, good middos, tefilla… the list goes on and on. Special thanks must be given to the Ribono Shel Olam, not just for bringing me to this place, but for enabling me to develop a close relationship with the Rosh Yeshiva. Just the closeness has given me so much, and it is something I did not get to experience in other places. It stems from [the Rosh Yeshiva’s] simplicity and nobility, both one and the same. Among the dividends that I have reaped are the wonderful shiurim, full of depth and clarity; the fact that I have learned how to view a sugya from an honest, accurate perspective; the amazing, powerful lomdus—that I heard here from the Rosh Yeshiva. Likewise, phenomenal shiurim that have given me chizuk, as well as lots of straight hashkafa—pathways to life, to learning, to yiras shamayim and good middos. How fortunate am I to have gained all this!”
Now all these bachurim need is a roof over their heads.
American Friends of Nesivos Hatorah
P.O. Box 945, Lakewood, NJ 08701
TIN 46-1580901
