Rabbi Avraham Jacobovitz (; born 1952) is an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i-born

Charedi Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

(ultra-orthodox)

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 ...

, who founded Machon L'Torahhttps://web.archive.org/web/20141217174055/http://machonltorah.org/ and Jewish Awareness America (JAAM), to educate Jewish college students about Jewish heritage and values.

Early life

Born in 1952 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

to Rabbi Yehuda Jacobovitz and Sheina Dvora, Jacobovitz studied in the Slabodka

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 ...

Bnei Brak Bnei Brak ( ) or Bene Beraq, is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an area of 709 hectares (1,752 acre ...

. When he was seventeen his family moved to

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 ...

, where his father lectured in the Mirrer Yeshiva. A few years later he married Bayla. After spending a few years in the Mirrer

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 ...

, he and his wife moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, where he studied in the Kollel Institute of Greater Detroit.

Career of Kiruv

Starting with lectures in the Kollel's basement, in the summer of 1980 he founded Machon L'Torah, the Jewish Learning Network of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. In the summer of 1988, Machon purchased its own building in

Oak Park, Michigan Oak Park is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Oak Park borders Detroit to the north, roughly northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 29,560. Hi ...

, and its weekly

Shabbos Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the cre ...

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

moved there. In 2001 he founded Jewish Awareness America (JAAM). In 2004, he launched the Yeshivalite program project, a yeshiva for those with a limited time in which to study. In 2010 Jacobovitz announced he was moving to Israel, where he lives and teaches in

Ramat Bet Shemesh Beit Shemesh () is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District. A center of Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodoxy, Beit Shemesh has a population of 170,683 as of 2024. The city is named after and located near the ...

References

External links

Machon L'Torah
- The Jewish Learning Network of Michigan
JAAM
- Jewish Awareness AMerica {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobovitz, Avraham 1952 births Living people Israeli Orthodox rabbis Clergy from Tel Aviv Mir Yeshiva alumni