Yeshiva Gedola of Carteret
 | |
| Type | Yeshiva (Orthodox) |
|---|---|
| Established | 2006 |
| Location | Carteret, NJ, USA |
| Campus | Urban |
Yeshiva Gedola of Carteret (Hebrew: ישיבה תפארת יהודה אריה) informally, "YGOC", also called Yeshiva Tiferes Yehuda Aryeh, is a yeshiva and non-profit organization located in Carteret in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States.
History
The yeshiva was founded in 2006 by Rabbi Azriel Brown and Rabbi Yaakov Mayer, both graduates of Yeshiva of Far Rockaway, the Mir yeshiva in Jerusalem, and Yeshivas Ner Yisroel of Baltimore.[1][2] With the backing of Rabbi Aharon Feldman, Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, and Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky, among numerous others, Rabbis Brown and Mayer decided to open a yeshiva in the suburban north Jersey town of Carteret. Carteret had previously boasted a Jewish community with two synagogues in the 1950s but its Jewish presence had dwindled since then, to the point that it was no longer able to support the remaining synagogue, a Jewish community center, which closed in 2002. Garson Gruhin and Lou Raiman, remaining board members of the Jewish community center who worked to preserve Jewish life in Carteret, arranged to transfer the former synagogue and community center building and an adjoining five-bedroom rabbi's residence to the yeshiva.[2]
In 2014 Rabbi Heshy Fireworker became the Mashgiach of the yeshiva. In 2015 Rabbi Yaakov T. Biderman became the executive director of the yeshiva. Biderman is an alumnus of the Yeshiva, who was intimately involved in its operations as student and remained involved throughout the years in between. He leads most of the fundraisers, as well as founded the Alumni Association in August 2013.
The yeshiva opened in September 2006 with 14 students. Initially, Donya Brown and Chani Mayer, wives of the founders, handled the food preparation and bookkeeping for the fledgling institution, and each family hosted all the students in their home for one Shabbos meal. As enrollment grew and the students began staying in theyYeshiva full-time, the Browns and Mayers took an active role in each student's education, personal growth, helped them with shidduchim (marriage proposals), and even hosted their sheva brachos (festive meals held during the week after the wedding).[2]
Program
The yeshiva is an all-male Lithuanian (Litvish)-style Talmudic college. Currently, it consists of a beis medrash (undergraduate) program, as well as a kollel (post-graduate) division for its married students. The beis medrash program is divided into two groups: a post-high school constituency which consists of primarily first-, second-, and third-year students (followed by a common tradition for students to spend a year or more of study at yeshivas in Israel), and a senior group which consists mainly of students who have completed their study in Israel and who act as mentors for younger students.[2]
Curriculum
The yeshiva's studies are primarily Talmudic texts and rabbinic literature. The yeshiva has a cycle of various tractates it covers over a span of about eight years. Three large chunks of each day (sedarim, or sessions) are applied to the study of Talmud at varying degrees of depth. In addition to Talmudic study, small sections of time each day are allotted for mussar (Jewish ethical literature) and practical halacha (Jewish law). The primary focus of each day is the shiur (main lecture), which takes place at the end of first seder.
Faculty
- Rabbi Azriel Brown, Rosh Yeshiva
- Rabbi Yaakov Mayer, Rosh Yeshiva
- Rabbi Heshy Fireworker, Mashgiach
- Rabbi A.Y. Roth, Night Seder Shoel Umaishiv
- Rabbi Yisroel Daskal, First Seder Shoel Umeishiv
- Rabbi Yaakov Biderman, Executive Director
Hachnasas Sifrei Torah
In December 2008, the yeshiva celebrated a Hachnasas Sefer Torah, the traditional festivity upon the completion of a new Torah scroll. Several hundred guests came to Carteret for the procession, including several eminent Torah figures. Noe Street was barricaded off to outside traffic as the crowd wound its way to the yeshiva building accompanied by live music and dancing.[1]
In September 2011, the yeshiva held a kesivas osios (Torah scroll-writing ceremony) in Lakewood for another new Torah scroll, that was to be dedicated after Sukkos 2011. The Hachnosas Sefer Torah took place in Carteret.[3]
Alumni association
In August 2013, an alumni association was formed by a group of yeshiva alumni, spearheaded by Rabbi Yaakov Biderman (now executive director of the yeshiva), with the involvement and backing of the Roshei Yeshiva. Their motto is "By the alumni, for the alumni". The alumni association's primary goal is to keep the alumni together as group, in order to support each other and network in both personal life and beyond. They arrange get-togethers, share simchas, and keep the alumni connected with their rebbeim.
References
- 1 2 "Hundreds in Carteret for Hachnosas Sefer Torah". Hamodia. 7 January 2009.
- 1 2 3 4 Green, Miriam. "Catapaulted to Carteret: Detour to destiny". Binah Pesach supplement, 11 April 2011, pp. 24–29. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ↑ "Yeshiva Gedola of Carteret Holds Ksivas Osios in Lakewood". Lakewood Local. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
External links
Coordinates: 40°34′52″N 74°13′19″W / 40.5811°N 74.2219°W