The Rabbi Jacob Joseph School is an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Jewish day school A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jews, Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiat ...

located in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

that serves students from nursery through twelfth grade, with another branch in

Edison, New Jersey Edison is a Township (New Jersey), township located in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central Jersey, Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan River, Raritan Valley r ...

. The school was founded in 1903 by Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchok Andron and named in honor of Rabbi

Jacob Joseph Jacob Joseph (; 1840 – July 28, 1902) served as chief rabbi of New York City's Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, a federation of Eastern European Jewish synagogues, from 1888 until his death in 1902. Born in Krozhe, a pro ...

, chief rabbi of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

's Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. After Rabbi Andron's death, his son Raphael and Samuel I. Andron obtained a charter from the

New York Board of Regents The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York is responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within New York State, presiding over the University of the State of New York and the New York State Education ...

in 1903 to establish a school in his name. The Rabbi Jacob Joseph School was known for its rigorous

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic curriculum and remains open to students from nursery age through the twelfth grade. Its founders originally established the school on

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Orchard Street Orchard Street is a street in Manhattan which covers the eight city blocks between Division Street in Chinatown and East Houston Street on the Lower East Side. Vehicular traffic runs north on this one-way street. Orchard Street starts fro ...

on the Lower East Side. It moved to Henry Street in 1907, and expanded to a second building in 1914.

Lazarus Joseph Lazarus Joseph (January 25, 1891 – May 23, 1966) was an American lawyer and politician from New York City. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a New York State Senator from 1934 to 1945, and was the New York City Comptroller from 1946 to ...

(1891–1966), grandson of Rabbi Jacob Joseph, and

New York state senator The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

and

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

, played an active role as a board member in the school.

1969–present

In 1969, it stopped its younger grades. Enrollment was low, and the neighborhood had become rough. In 1972, it made plans to open a new campus in Riverdale, but ultimately, in 1976, the school moved to the

Richmondtown Richmondtown is a neighborhood in the Mid-Island section of Staten Island, New York City. It is bounded by Arthur Kill Road on the northwest, Richmond Road on the north, Amboy Road on the east and southeast, and the United Hebrew and Ocean ...

area of

, where it maintained the boys' school campus until 2017 (they then moved to Amboy Rd); a girls division of the elementary school was established in Staten Island's Graniteville section. In 1982, a boys high school branch and Beis Medrash was opened in

. Although the school ("RJJ") is no longer an "advanced" yeshiva, it "produced hundred of rabbis and community leaders in the late 1940s, the 1950s and the 1960s, and was also an important feeder school for the Lakewood yeshiva, Beis Medrash Govoha". The school also produces a semi-annual scholarly publication, the ''

Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

'' ("The RJJ Journal"), edited by one of its rabbinic alumni. The purpose of the Journal is to "study the major questions facing Jews ... through the prism of Torah values," and "explore the relevant biblical and Talmudic passages and survey the halakhic literature including the most recent

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

. The Journal does not in any way seek to present itself as the halachic authority on any question, but hopes rather to inform the Jewish public of the positions taken by rabbinic leaders over the generations." Rabbi Dr. Marvin Schick served for over 30 years as the (unpaid) President of RJJ until his death in 2020; he had succeeded Irving Bunim.

Notable alumni

Robert Aumann Robert John Aumann (Yisrael Aumann, ; born June 8, 1930) is an Israeli-American mathematician, and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. He is a professor at the Center for the Study of Rationality in the Hebrew University ...

(born 1930), recipient of the

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (), commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics(), is an award in the field of economic sciences adminis ...

in 2005 *Rabbi

Reuven Bulka Reuven Pinchas Bulka (; June 6, 1944 – June 27, 2021) was a Canadian rabbi, writer, broadcaster, and activist. He was the spiritual leader of Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ottawa from 1967, first as Rabbi and then, starting in 2015, as Rab ...

(1944–2021), recipient of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

and Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation

Machzikei Hadas Machzikei Hadas may refer to: * Machzikei Hadas (synagogue), in Ottawa, Canada * Machzikei Hadas (organization), founded by Yehoshua Rokeach {{Disambiguation ...

Ari L. Goldman Ari L. Goldman (born September 22, 1949) is an American professor and journalist. He is professor of journalism at Columbia University and a former reporter for ''The New York Times''. Early life and education Goldman attended the Rabbi Jacob ...

(born 1949), author and former religion reporter for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' *

Louis Henkin Louis Henkin (November 11, 1917 – October 14, 2010) was an American legal scholar. He was considered one of the most influential contemporary scholars of international law and the foreign policy of the United States. He was a former president o ...

(1923–2010), human rights law scholar *

Marvin Hier Marvin (Moshe Chaim) Hier (born 1939 in New York City) is the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, its Museum of Tolerance and of Moriah, the center's film division. He has been a Track II diplomacy contributor to the genesis of t ...

(born 1939), founder of the

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating antisemitism, tolerance educati ...

*Rabbi

Moshe Hillel Hirsch Moshe Hillel Hirsch (; born Milton Hirsch October 26, 1936) is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Slabodka in Bnei Brak, Israel. He is a native of the United States who studied at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood under the Talmudic tutelage of Rabbi Ah ...

, rosh yeshiva of Slabodka *Rav Aaron Lopiansky, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva of Greater Washington - Tiferes Gedaliah, Halachic authority (

posek In Jewish law, a ''posek'' ( , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the application of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah, in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities are incon ...

) *Rabbi

Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg (;‎ 1 October 1910 – 20 March 2012) was a Polish-born, American-raised, Israeli Haredi rabbi and rosh yeshiva who, from 1965, made his home in the Kiryat Mattersdorf neighborhood of Jerusalem.Zuroff, Avraham. ''Ra ...

(1910–2012), founder and head of

Torah Ore Torah Ore (, "Torah is Light") is an American Orthodox post-high-school yeshiva and kollel located in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Mattersdorf. It was founded in 1960 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York, by Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Sche ...

yeshiva in the

Kiryat Mattersdorf Kiryat Mattersdorf () is a Haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem. It is located on the northern edge of the mountain plateau on which central Jerusalem lies. It is named after Mattersburg (formerly ''Mattersdorf''), a town in Austria with a long Jewis ...

neighborhood of

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 ...

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 ...

,Zuroff, Avraham. ''Rabbi Wittow, Behind the Wheel With Harav Scheinberg''. ''Hamodia'' Magazine, 2 June 2011, pp. 26–27. Retrieved 16 June 2011. world-renowned educator and decisor of Jewish law, and member of

Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (, "Council of great Torah ages) is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually ...

of Israel *

Sheldon Silver Sheldon Silver (February 13, 1944 – January 24, 2022) was an American Democratic Party politician, attorney, and convicted felon from New York City who served as Speaker of the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 2015. A native of Manhattan' ...

(1944–2022), former speaker of the New York State Assembly.McKinley, Jr., James C
"Silver Is an Albany Strongman, And It's Not Because He's Flashy"
''

'', February 11, 2003. Accessed October 23, 2010. *Rabbi Meir Stern, rosh yeshiva of Passaic *Rabbi Dovid Trenk (1941–2019),

Rosh Yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

, Yeshiva Moreshes Yehoshua *

Tzvi Hersh Weinreb Tzvi Hersh Weinreb (born 1940) is an American ordained rabbi and psychotherapist who is the Executive Vice President Emeritus of the Orthodox Union, the largest Orthodox Jewish organisation in North America; a position he has held since 2002. We ...

(born 1940), Executive Vice President Emeritus of the

Orthodox Union The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs f ...

*Rabbi

Mordechai Willig HaRav Mordechai Yitzchak HaLevi Willig (born April 25, 1947; 5th of Iyyar, 5707 on the Hebrew calendar) is an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University in Washington Heights, Manhattan. He is often known to his students as the Ramu ...

(born 1947),

RIETS Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS ) is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (YU). It is located along Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Named after Yitzchak Elchanan ...

Meir Zlotowitz Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz (13 July 1943 – 24 June 2017) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, author and founder of ArtScroll Publications. Early life A native of Brooklyn, Meir attended Yeshivas Rabbi Jacob Joseph ( RJJ) on the Lower East Side of New ...

(1943–2017), founder of Artscroll publications

References

External links

Yeshiva Merkaz HaTorah of Staten Island
{{Coord, 40.50052, -74.39837, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NJ, display=title Jews and Judaism in Staten Island Universities and colleges in Staten Island Jewish day schools in New York (state) Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools in the United States Modern Orthodox Judaism in New Jersey 1903 establishments in New York City Educational institutions established in 1903 Private schools in Manhattan Private elementary schools in Staten Island Jewish organizations based in New York City High School Yeshivas