The Ramailes Yeshiva was 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

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 ...

Šnipiškės Šnipiškės is a neighborhood in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Vilnius Central Business District is a part of Šnipiškės. Located on the north bank of the river Neris, it became the site of a modern business district with skyscrapers which ...

, Vilnius, Lithuania. It was established in the early nineteenth century, most likely in 1815.

Name

The yeshiva's commonly used name, ''Ramailes'', is based on the name of the building's donor who was known as Reb Mailes or Reb Maille. The official name may have been Yeshiva Tomchai Torah.

History

According to one source, the yeshiva was founded in 1815. Another source states that Reb Mailes had willed a building and courtyard that he owned to be a yeshiva around that time. Another source says the yeshiva was founded in 1827, and that Reb Mailes donated a building that he owned in 1831. A fourth source, like the first, says that the yeshiva was established in 1815, and like the third, says that it only moved to the building in 1831. The yeshiva's first

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 ...

(dean) was Rabbi Yoel Naftali Hertz who was later joined by Rabbi Eliezer Teitz, a student of Rabbi

Akiva Eiger Akiva Eiger (, also spelled Eger; , ), or Akiva Güns (8 November 1761 – 12 October 1837) was a Talmudic scholar, halakhic decisor and leader of European Jewry during the early 19th century. Eiger is considered one of the greatest Talmudic ...

. In 1840, Rabbi

Yisrael Salanter Yisrael ben Ze'ev Wolf Lipkin, also known as "Israel Salanter" or "Yisroel Salanter" (November 3, 1809 – February 2, 1883), was the father of the Musar movement in Orthodox Judaism and a famed Rosh yeshiva and Talmudist. The epithet ''Salante ...

was appointed rosh yeshiva. Salanter decided that his success in yeshiva was creating envy among other faculty members, and therefore left the yeshiva and began teaching in another

beis midrash A ''beth midrash'' (, "house of learning"; : ''batei midrash''), also ''beis medrash'' or ''beit midrash'', is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall". It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth knesseth''), although ...

. Other rosh yeshivas between Ramailes' founding and World War I included rabbis Mordechai Meltzer (Klecki), Dovid Klecki, Alexander Sender Epstein, Yitzchak Epstein, Meir Michel Rabinowitz (author of ''Meor Olam''), Yaakov Peskin, Shmuel Peskin, and Shmuel Isser HaKohen. After World War I, Rabbi Moshe Menachem Kozlowski became rosh yeshiva. Later Rabbi Meir Bassin, a member of the Vilna Rabbinate and the rabbi of the Vilna neighborhood of Shnipishok where the yeshiva was, became rosh yeshiva. Rabbi

Chaim Ozer Grodzensky Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (; August 24, 1863 – August 9, 1940) was a '' Av beis din'' (rabbinical chief justice), ''posek'' (halakhic authority), and Talmudic scholar in Vilnius, Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for over 55 years. ...

of Vilna oversaw the yeshiva and in 1927 appointed Rabbi

Shlomo Heiman Shlomo Heiman (1892–1944) known informally as "Reb Shlomo", was a rabbi, Talmudist, and rosh yeshiva. He led some of the most prominent yeshivas in Europe and the United States. Early life Shlomo Heiman was born in Paritsh, Minsk in Belar ...

to be rosh yeshiva. About a year later Bassin died. In 1935, Heiman left to America where he became rosh yeshiva in

Yeshiva Torah Vodaath Yeshiva Torah Vodaas (or Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Vodaath or Yeshiva Torah Vodaath or Torah Vodaath Rabbinical Seminary) is a ''yeshiva'' in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. History The yeshiva was conceived in 1917 and formal ...

. In 1935 Rabbi Yisroel Levovitz was appointed rosh yeshiva.

Merging with Yeshivas HaK'tzavim

Yeshivas HaK'tzavim, another yeshiva in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, was led by Rabbi Eliyahu Gershon Halperin. At some point before World War II, it merged with the Ramailes Yeshiva, with Halperin joining the Ramailes faculty.

Reestablishment After World War II

Rabbi Yisroel Zev Gustman was Rabbi Bassin's son-in-law. He lectured in Ramailes starting in 1935. Rabbi Gustman survived the Holocaust, and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, became rosh yeshiva of the

Lubavitch Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...

hasidic sect's main school, Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim at

770 Eastern Parkway 770 Eastern Parkway (), also known as "770" ("Seven Seventy"), is the street address of the World Headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, located on Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Th ...

in Brooklyn. After a few years, he opened a new school, ''Yeshiva Netzach Yisrael–Ramailes of Vilna''. In 1970 Rabbi Gustman moved to

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 ...

and moved the yeshiva there, under the same name. After he died in 1991, his son-in-law, Rabbi Michel Bernicker, became rosh yeshiva.

Notable alumni

* Rabbi Shmuel Brudny * Rabbi Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz *Rabbi Nochum Partzovitz

References

{{Authority control Yeshivas of Lithuania Jewish Lithuanian history Educational institutions established in 1815 19th-century Judaism Jews and Judaism in Vilnius Judaism in Vilnius Pre–World War II European yeshivas Orthodox yeshivas in Europe 1815 establishments in the Russian Empire Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania