Leading Torah Figures in the US Amazed by the Academic Level of Students from Moscow’s Yeshiva Ketana

With the conclusion of the academic year in the “Tomchei Temimim” yeshivas, as the summer days offer a break from the daily routine of the study benches, the students of the Central Yeshiva Ketana in Moscow reaped the fruits of their labor. After long months of an intensive study campaign and spiritual preparation, and after successfully passing the rigorous testing, the outstanding students merited to fulfill their ultimate aspiration: an uplifting journey to the court of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Immediately upon their arrival in New York, the students integrated into a unique ‘Yeshivas Kayitz’ program adjacent to the holy Ohel in the borough of Queens. The study sessions opened with a fascinating in-depth shiur by the Rosh Yeshiva, HaGaon HaChasid Rabbi Moshe Lerman, who devotedly accompanied the journey. This was followed by an uplifting Shacharis prayer, with the Chief Rabbi of Migdal HaEmek, HaGaon HaChasid Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, serving as the shliach tzibur. He subsequently showered the Temimim with impassioned words of encouragement. The students maintained their diligence and dedication every single day of their ten-day stay in the US, participating in Torah classes delivered by prominent rabbis and mashpiyim.

Ahead of the trip, the yeshiva’s founder, the Chief Rabbi of Russia, HaGaon Rabbi Berel Lazar shlita, suggested incorporating special visits to the residences of Admorim and rabbis across the United States. The goal was twofold: to encourage the Temimim to continue their diligent studies and reap the fruits of their labor, as well as to showcase to the Gedolei Torah the sheer magnitude of the Jewish revolution currently taking place in Russia. This initiative served as a historic full-circle moment, echoing the famous visit 55 years ago when the Rebbe sent a group of bochurim who had left Russia to be tested by the Posek HaDor, Maran HaGaon Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, zt”l. And now, decades later, on Monday, the yeshiva students from Moscow were welcomed at the home of his grandson, the Rosh Yeshiva of “Tifereth Jerusalem,” HaGaon Rabbi Reuven Feinstein. The Rosh Yeshiva was deeply moved to see these young Torah scholars answering accurately in Tractates Shabbos and Bava Basra, and was impressed that they are proudly carrying on their elders’ legacy of mesiras nefesh for Torah.

On Tuesday, this honorable Torah journey continued to the neighborhood of Boro Park, where the Bobover-45 Rebbe warmly received the students in his private room at his large Beis Midrash. The Rebbe tested the Temimim, expressed his great admiration for their refined character and evident diligence, and warmly bestowed a personal blessing upon each and every one. The following day, the students, along with their dedicated educational staff, were welcomed at the residence of the renowned Posek, HaGaon Rabbi Gavriel Zinner, author of the ‘Nitei Gavriel’ halachic series, who had merited rare closeness and instructions regarding the printing of his books from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. For two solid hours, the students were tested on their Talmudic studies, earning profound appreciation for the breadth of their knowledge and their toil in Torah at the yeshiva in Moscow.

The students—who are the sons of rabbis and shluchim in Russia and its neighboring countries—were presented to the Gedolei Torah by the educational staff members accompanying these visits, led by the yeshiva’s mashpia, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Vilensky, and its director, Rabbi Chaim Moshe Weber.

This historic journey to Chatzros Kadshenu and the rare encounters with the Gedolei Torah in America—made possible through the support of the ‘770 Russia’ foundation headed by Rabbi Yehuda Davydov—capped off a packed and empowering academic year. The spiritual experiences, the late-night farbrengens, and the long hours of study and prayer near the Ohel, provided the students with tremendous spiritual fortification. There is no doubt that, with God’s help, they will return to Moscow for the upcoming academic year strengthened and imbued with a sense of mission and Chassidic pride to continue their diligent studies that lead to action.

Photography: Itzik Roitman