Chaim Brovender (; born 1941) is an Israeli

Modern Orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

and

Religious Zionist Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Biography

Brovender was born in 1941 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. He attended

Yeshivah of Flatbush The Yeshivah of Flatbush (YOF) is a Modern Orthodox private Jewish day school located in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, New York. It educates students from age 2 to age 18 and includes an early childhood center, an elementary school and a sec ...

, a coeducational Modern Orthodox day school. He later graduated from

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

with a BA in mathematics and

rabbinical ordination ''Semikhah'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal Oral Torah#Rabbinic thought, "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' cease ...

from Rabbi

Joseph B. Soloveitchik Joseph Ber Soloveitchik ( ''Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveychik''; February 27, 1903 – April 9, 1993) was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic ...

. In 1965, he and his wife made moved to Jerusalem, Israel. Until 1967, he studied in the

Kollel A kollel (also kolel) (, , , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced Torah study, study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features Shiur (Torah), shiurim (lectures) and ...

Yeshivas Itri Yeshivas Itri () is an Orthodox yeshiva in southeast Jerusalem. Founded in 1968 by Rabbi Mordechai Elefant, the yeshiva has several branches in Israel and the United States, and spawned several educational programs for Diaspora Jews. Name The n ...

(the Israel Torah Research Institute) under Rabbi Mordechai Elefant. In 1974, Brovender completed a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

from

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

. In 1967, on the advice of Rabbi

Menachem M. Schneerson Menachem Mendel Schneerson ( – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was an American Orthodox rabbi and the most recent Rebb ...

, Brovender founded Hartman College in Romema, Jerusalem (under the aegis of the Israel Torah Research Institute). Its purpose was to serve as a yeshiva for American students who wanted to study in Israel. In 1976, Rabbi Brovender founded

Yeshivat HaMivtar Yeshivat Torat Yosef - Hamivtar (ישיבת תורת יוסף - המבתר) was a men's yeshiva located in Efrat in the West Bank. The Roshei Yeshiva are Rabbi Yonatan Rosensweig and Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. The institution is primarily focused on pos ...

in French Hill, Jerusalem. That same year, Brovender established

Midreshet Lindenbaum Midreshet Lindenbaum (), originally named Michlelet Bruria, is an Orthodox midrasha in Talpiot, Jerusalem. It counts among its alumnae many of the teachers at Matan, Nishmat, Pardes and other women's and co-ed yeshivas in Israel and abroad. Hi ...

, originally named Michlelet Bruria, as the women's component of

Yeshivat Hamivtar Yeshivat Torat Yosef - Hamivtar (ישיבת תורת יוסף - המבתר) was a men's yeshiva located in Efrat in the West Bank. The Roshei Yeshiva are Rabbi Yonatan Rosensweig and Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. The institution is primarily focused on pos ...

. Brovender successfully ran Yeshivat HaMivtar alone until 1985, when he merged it with the network of educational institutions founded by Rabbi

Shlomo Riskin Shlomo Riskin (; born May 28, 1940) is an Orthodox rabbi, and the founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side of New York City, which he led for 20 years; founding chief rabbi of the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the Is ...

called

Ohr Torah Stone Ohr Torah Stone (OTS) () is an international Modern Orthodox organization that aims to develop Jewish life, learning, and leadership. The organization is led by Rabbi Kenneth Brander. OTS was founded by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin in 1983. As of 2020, OT ...

. In 2007, Rabbi Brovender launched

WebYeshiva WebYeshiva.org is a pioneering online yeshiva and midrasha. It is unique in that its classes are presented live, and are fully interactive, replicating the structure of a traditional ''shiur''. Its offering extends through ''Semicha'' (Rabbinic ...

.org, the first live and fully interactive online

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

. Rabbi Brovender served as a ''Rav Tzavai'' ( army rabbi) for more than 20 years.

2000 beating incident

In October 2000, Brovender was beaten by Palestinian police and protesters. At the time, he was the head of the

in the

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

Efrat Efrat (Hebrew: אפרת) is a name with Hebrew origins that can also refer to: * Efrat (given name), Israeli given name * Efrat (surname), Israeli surname *Efrat (Israeli settlement) Efrat (), or previously officially Efrata (), is an Israeli s ...

, and was driving from the yeshiva to his home in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

when he drove past a Palestinian village to bypass a road closed by recent unrest, and was pulled over by Palestinian police. Palestinian security forces managed to extract him from the scene after about an hour and hand him over to Israeli troops.Rabbi Brovender beaten by PA police
''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'', 6 October 2000 His vehicle was destroyed by the Palestinian mob.

References

External links

ATID WebsiteTerror at the Tunnels by Miriam Brovender

A Conversation with Rabbi Chaim BrovenderThe growing legacy of Rabbi Chaim Brovender
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brovender, Chaim American emigrants to Israel American Orthodox rabbis Israeli Orthodox rabbis Religious Zionist rosh yeshivas Yeshivah of Flatbush alumni Yeshiva University alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Jewish educators Living people 1941 births