Founder of Tzivos Hashem

Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, was sought after by top political figures, successful business people and the finest professionals for his sage advice on matters of grave importance. He was mentor and spiritual leader to hundreds of thousands of everyday people in all corners of the globe, no one was turned away. Yet, amidst his awesome schedule, the Rebbe busied himself with the lives of children, and set out to harness their great potential.

With a vision that has been unfolding and mushrooming for twenty years, the Rebbe called for the establishment of Tzivos Hashem in the fall of 1980. Children were a top priority for the Rebbe. Rather, each Jewish child was a top priority for the Rebbe. From his vantage point as world leader and spiritual giant, he understood the intrinsic promise held by children, and he founded Tzivos Hashem to cultivate and nurture them so that they could grow to be strong and healthy in body, mind and soul.

The Rebbe himself would hold communal meetings, which he called rallies, with thousands of children at a time. And it was the Rebbe himself who spoke to the children directly and put great responsibilities on their shoulders. Not only did the Rebbe see children as the promise of a better tomorrow, the Rebbe saw children as the promise for a better today.

Judaism stresses that chinuch, Jewish education, should begin at an early age to prepare for adulthood. The Rebbe emphasized that not only are children’s mitzvos for the sake of practicing for the future, but that their mitzvos, now, while they are young, have significance in and of themselves. Through his confidence in them and his expectations, the Rebbe actually confirmed a child’s self esteem and challenged children to use their inborn strengths and talents for good.

The Tzivos Hashem relationship did not flow in just one direction, of commander to commandee. The soldiers of Tzivos Hashem gave nachas to the Rebbe as he watched them increase their mitzvos and perform them with greater care. And it was the children who were able to identify with and express the Rebbe’s passion to bring the world to peace and goodness, as they would sing for him their theme song: We want Moshiach Now!

Tzivos hashem chanuka play

Rav Shimon Nosson Nota Biederman. Born in Tiveria to Rav Yaakov Yitzchak, the Admor of Lelov, a descendent of the first Lelover Rebbe, Rav Dovid, who himself was a talmid of the Chozeh of Lublin. When his father was niftar in 1981, Rav Shimon Nasan Nota became Admor and opened Mosdos Ohr Yaakov in his father’s memory; these included kollelim and chessed organizations. (1930-2004)

YBA Netivot Chaim aims to provide a Torani educational option for boys from northern Jerusalem and nearby settlements. Pisgat Zev is the largest neighborhood in Jerusalem with a working class population that resembles the socioeconomic level of a development town. The school places an >emphasis on sports, in which the boys excel, together with a strong Jewish education. The students have earned numerous trophies in a variety of sport competitions.

YBA Netivot Chaim maintains an open registration policy, which means that many students come from traditional, rather than religious families, and that a high proportion cannot afford to pay tuition and fees. As a result, the yeshiva has a greater need for scholarship funding than other YBA schools to maintain YBA’s high educational standards. Matriculation tracks include biology, computers, art, geography and Land of Israel studies.

Due to budgetary constraints, the yeshiva reduced the number of teaching hours this year to just six hours per day, and opened an afternoon Beit Midrash program staffed, in part, by rabbinical students studying in a Kollel Yeshiva located within the yeshiva’s building. Students volunteer every week by delivering food to the needy, working with the Citizen’s Alert Patrols, and visiting the sick and elderly in the community, as well as engaging in outreach work to help bridge the gap between observant and non-observant neighborhood residents.

Some of the Yeshiva’s most urgent needs:

1. Scholarship Fund (for increase of 2 hours per day) – $125,000
2. Beit Midrash furniture and Torah library – $50,000
3. Upgrading of Educational Environment and Landscaping – $50,000
4. Upgraded of Computer Laboratory – $20,000

Sulam was established in 1981 with the goal of advancing children with special needs, who suffer from a variety of difficulties including: developmental delays, Autism Spectrum Disorder, physical, emotional, sensory-integrative, behavioral and learning disorder, and combinations thereof.

At present 358 children aged 3 months to 17 years attend 39 different classes in Sulam under the dedicated professionalism of 363 staff members in 7 branches.

Sulam’s approach to therapeutic intervention and education is holistic as it aims to enable children to realize their individual potential, and to achieve maximum independent functioning levels and readiness for successful integration into society. Approximately 25% of Sulam’s children are ultimately able to integrate into a regular classroom.

Sulam pioneers in implementing new and unique methods of treatment for special children. Its highly professional paramedical and psychological staff provides a wide range of therapies and intervention techniques in an all-encompassing program with state-of-the art equipment, along with support and guidance to the children’s families.

Sulam’s Influence

Short-term: Sulam provides a one-stop service where all the helped need for special children is available under one roof, thus sparing parents the need to run to and from a variety of institutions and costly private therapies at the expense of their hours at the workplace and home.

Long-term: Sulam’s intensive investment in cutting-edge therapeutic and educational intervention significantly increases the likelihood that children with a wide range of disabilities can be mainstreamed into the normative educational system. This is not only of immeasurable emotional and social benefit to the children and their families, but serves to save the State, and the taxpayer, major expenses.

What Are Learning Disabilities?

There are a seven types of yeshivot:

1. Yeshiva ketana (“junior yeshiva”) – Many yeshivot ketanot in Israel and some in the Diaspora do not have a secular course of studies and all students learn Judaic Torah studies full time.
2. Yeshiva High School – Also called Mesivta or Mechina or Yeshiva Gedolah, combines the intensive Jewish religious education with a secular high school education. The dual curriculum was pioneered by the Manhattan Talmudical Academy of Yeshiva University (now known as Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy) in 1916.
3. Mechina – For Israeli high-school graduates who wish to study for one year before entering the army.
4. Beth Medrash – For high school graduates, and is attended from one year to many years, dependent on the career plans and affiliation of the student.
5. Yeshivat Hesder – Yeshiva that has an arrangement with the Israel Defence Forces by which the students enlist together in the same unit and, as much as is possible serve in the same unit in the army. Over a period of about 5 years there will be a period of service starting in the second year of about 16 months. There are different variations. The rest of the time will be spent in compulsory study in the yeshiva.
6. Kollel – Yeshiva for married adults. The kollel idea, though having its intellectual roots traced to the Torah, is a relatively modern innovation of 19th century Europe. Often, a kollel will be in the same location as the yeshiva.
7. Baal teshuva yeshivot catering to the needs of the newly-Orthodox. The best-known are Ohr Somayach, Aish HaTorah, and Hadar Hatorah.

A unique aspect of the program is the presence of role models who are deaf or hard-of-hearing themselves, including Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Kakon, the Dean and Rosh Yeshiva, and co-founder Dr. Hart Bressler, MD. In addition to trained and qualified rebbeim and teachers, sign language interpreting services, speech pathology, audiology services and an array of recreational activities all complement the program. Upon graduation, the students receive an internationally recognized Ontario Secondary Diploma. Since its inception, YND’s current home base at the Yeshiva Gedolah of Toronto only serves to further integrate the students with hearing peers and the community at large.

Rabbi Kakon earned his Master’s Degree in Talmudical Law and s’micha (rabbinical ordination) from Ner Israel Rabbinical College of Baltimore, Maryland. He also holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland. As a licensed therapist, Rabbi Kakon provided clinical therapy services for several years.

While in Baltimore, he also founded and directed the only overnight camp for deaf and hard-of-hearing Jewish adolescent boys at Ner Israel Campus for seven summers. The success of the program and the necessity for a year-around education for this population resulted in Rabbi Kakon and his family’s relocation to Toronto to co-found YND.

Rabbi Kakon, a descendant of the Ropshitzer Rebbe and a ninth generation descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, is a charismatic teacher whose unique experiences and achievements inspire people from all backgrounds and walks of life.

Dr. Bressler, Canada’s first deaf medical physician, is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine. As a full-time family physician, he also maintains a clinic that specializes in chronic pain management.

A past president of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Hearing Society, Dr. Bressler has spoken widely for both professional and lay audiences on topics dealing with deafness and hearing loss. He is uniquely qualified to provide support from a medically objective perspective as well as personal insight into the myriad of issues that impact those with deafness and their families. He studied at Yeshivas Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem and Yeshiva University of Los Angeles.

Dr. Bressler was instrumental in working with Rabbi Kakon to establish the Yeshiva in Toronto.

With a vision that has been unfolding and mushrooming for twenty years, the Rebbe called for the establishment of Tzivos Hashem in the fall of 1980. Children were a top priority for the Rebbe. Rather, each Jewish child was a top priority for the Rebbe. From his vantage point as world leader and spiritual giant, he understood the intrinsic promise held by children, and he founded Tzivos Hashem to cultivate and nurture them so that they could grow to be strong and healthy in body, mind and soul.

The Rebbe himself would hold communal meetings, which he called rallies, with thousands of children at a time. And it was the Rebbe himself who spoke to the children directly and put great responsibilities on their shoulders. Not only did the Rebbe see children as the promise of a better tomorrow, the Rebbe saw children as the promise for a better today.

Judaism stresses that chinuch, Jewish education, should begin at an early age to prepare for adulthood. The Rebbe emphasized that not only are children’s mitzvos for the sake of practicing for the future, but that their mitzvos, now, while they are young, have significance in and of themselves. Through his confidence in them and his expectations, the Rebbe actually confirmed a child’s self esteem and challenged children to use their inborn strengths and talents for good.

The Tzivos Hashem relationship did not flow in just one direction, of commander to commandee. The soldiers of Tzivos Hashem gave nachas to the Rebbe as he watched them increase their mitzvos and perform them with greater care. And it was the children who were able to identify with and express the Rebbe’s passion to bring the world to peace and goodness, as they would sing for him their theme song:
We Want Moshiach Now.

Over the years, its attention has turned to more complex problems, including how to counter the missionary threat. Israel has attracted some 100 missionary congregations and cults because it offers a large concentration of Jews, many of whom are prime targets due to their economic distress and unawareness about Judaism. Fighting the missionaries, who have millions of dollars a year at their disposal, has long been one of Yad L’Achim’s top priorities.

Another focus of attention is assimilation. Though it was once thought that this could not be a problem in a Jewish country, not even for the secular, the tragic facts show an increasing number of Jewish girls getting involved with foreign workers and, even more so, with Arab men. Indeed, Yad L’Achim gets some1,000 calls a year reporting such cases.

Our Anti-Assimilation department responds to all such calls. In some cases, this means launching military-like rescues from hostile Arab villages and setting the women up in “safe” houses around the country, where they can build new lives for themselves.

Yad L’Achim has other departments as well, including one devoted to the spiritual absorption of immigrants from the CIS and one that helps register children in Torah schools.

Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah is a dynamic, innovative and unique institution which has quickly established its reputation as the yeshiva for students who want to learn how to learn on their own. By merging the Torah ideals of a traditional yeshiva with the cutting-edge educational methodology, Yesodei HaTorah is proud to have become an exemplary yeshiva, acclaimed by students, parents, and educators alike.

Discover one of the finest yeshivot in Israel – a yeshiva where you learn how to learn, where you analyze the classics of Torah Judaism, where your individual talents and goals are respected and celebrated, where you study with top-notch educators who give unmatched personal attention. Discover Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah.

“Yesodei HaTorah” means “Foundations of the Torah.” Our carefully designed, systematic skills development curriculum builds the foundation of a life of independent Torah study. Without skills, independent learning is impossible.
We impart the Foundations of Torah – the skills and knowledge on which a Torah life is built.

Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah is the yeshiva in which you become an independently skillful ben Torah. In addition to Gemara, you become closely acquainted with the other foundational texts of Torah Judaism. Our outstanding faculty will teach you the classics of Jewish Philosophy, Chumash with Rashi and Ramban, Nach, Mishnayot, and the central works of Halacha, enabling you to become a knowledgeable, skillful, and well-rounded Jewish adult.

Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah is also well-known for its strong emphasis on your individuality. Every student at Yesodei HaTorah is treated as an individual who has his own unique Torah path, whose independent personality will be celebrated. The yeshiva’s goal is to help you become the finest, most educated Torah Jew you can be, while remaining true to your own individuality and personality.

Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah boasts an exceptionally talented faculty, which prides itself on giving personal attention to every student, and on establishing lasting relationships with each individual in the yeshiva. Our small shiurim and extraordinary faculty-to-student ratio ensure that you become an integral part of the Yesodei HaTorah community.