Oholei Torah

Oholei Torah ("Tents of Torah"), and Talmudical Seminary Oholei Torah. is an Ultra Orthodox Jewish yeshiva for male students located in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.[1]

Oholei Torah's curriculum consists solely of torah study, with a strong emphasis on teaching that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson is the Jewish Messiah.[2] The curriculum has been noted for its exclusion of all secular studies, such as language skills and mathematics.[3][4][5]

The school has become known after an expose in Newsweek for its failure for years to fire teachers who physically abused and molested students.[6]

History

Oholei Torah, 2011

Oholei Torah was founded in early 1957 by Rabbi Michoel Teitelbaum, after Rabbi Elya Roitblatt was fired from the Central United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth for physically abusing children there. The curriculum focuses on torah study to the exclusion of all secular studies, such as mathematics, English language, science, social studies, and sports.[7][8]

The school opened in a synagogue in Brownsville with three (or four) students.

In 1958, the school expanded and a kindergarten for young boys was introduced. In 1964, Oholei Torah added a junior high school division, followed several years later by Oholei Torah Mesivta High School. The Beis HaMedrash, Talmudic Seminary Oholei Torah was founded in 1970, for post-high school Talmudic studies.

In 1975, the school began renting space for the elementary classes at the Brooklyn Jewish Center at 667 Eastern Parkway, built in 1920, and purchased the building outright in 1982. Beginning in 1997, the building underwent a major expansion, with a new wing (known as the Deitsch Campus, after the school's major financial patron Dovid Deitsch) and a study hall for the Talmudical Seminary.

In 1994, the elementary school was renamed "Oholei Menachem" in honor of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, though the old name persists in general usage.

In 2016, the school became the subject of an investigation by the New York City new york city department of education for its lack of secular curriculum.[9]

Today Oholei Torah enrolls approximately 1600 students in its various divisions.

Divisions

Educational Institute Oholei Menachem (Oholei Torah) consists of a preschool grade (Pre-1A) and 8 elementary grades. Each grade has an average enrollment of about 100 students, so there are four or five classes for each grade.

Oholei Torah's kindergarten elementary school and middle school are located in the Deitsch Campus at 667 Eastern Parkway. There is also a smaller kindergarten division at Cong. B'nai Abraham in East Flatbush, a synagogue where Rabbi Teitelbaum served as president until his death in 2005.

Oholei Torah Mesivta is located at 417 Troy Avenue (the Rabbi Jacob J. Reines Shul). The Beis Medrash, formally called Talmudical Seminary Oholei Torah, and colloquially as Oholei Torah Zal (Yiddish zal, [study] hall).

Controversies

Oholei Torah is the flagship messianic school in the Chabad movement, which believes that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson is the Messiah and that he is still alive. The schools mentors serve as the messianic movements foremost teachers.[10]

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.newsweek.com/2016/03/11/child-abuse-allegations-hasidic-ultraorthodox-jewish-community-brooklyn-432688.html
  2. ↑ http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/179435/berger-rebbe-messiah
  3. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/06/nyregion/so-far-from-the-brooklyn-bridge-yeshiva-spurns-the-secular-world.html
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  5. ↑ בטאון חבד No. 38 Shevat 5733 (1973) p. 113
  6. ↑ http://www.newsweek.com/2016/03/11/child-abuse-allegations-hasidic-ultraorthodox-jewish-community-brooklyn-432688.html
  7. ↑ http://www.newsweek.com/2016/03/11/child-abuse-allegations-hasidic-ultraorthodox-jewish-community-brooklyn-432688.html
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  9. ↑ https://nypost.com/2017/03/20/city-stalls-on-probe-into-secular-education-at-hasidic-schools/. Retrieved 2017-11-09. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ Identifying Chabad, ISBN 1411642414
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