Ponovezh Yeshiva Accepts 477 New Students After Nine-Hour Rabbinical Meeting
After a marathon nine-hour meeting of the rabbinical council that ended after 1 a.m., 477 students were accepted into the first-year class at the prestigious Ponovezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak for the upcoming academic year. The meeting, known as the 'Zitzen,' is a long-standing tradition held on the eve of the Hebrew month of Av, following a month of rigorous entrance exams for hundreds of candidates aspiring to join the yeshiva.
This year saw unprecedented demand, with nearly 650 top-tier students from across Israel, including groups sent from leading yeshivas in Bnei Brak, Jerusalem, and Kiryat Sefer, competing for admission. The entrance process involved multiple oral exams conducted by the yeshiva's distinguished rabbis, including Rabbi Chaim Peretz Berman, Rabbi David Levi, Rabbi David Miller, Rabbi Yehuda Shmuel Meller, Rabbi Yosef Kahaneman, Rabbi Rafael Shmuelevitz, and Rabbi Yaakov Epstein, all overseen personally by the yeshiva's president, Rabbi Eliezer Kahaneman.
The exams began in early Tammuz and concluded on Sunday, the 27th of Tammuz, coinciding with the yahrzeit of the yeshiva's founding head, Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky. The decisive rabbinical meeting took place the following day at Rabbi Kahaneman's home, chaired by the yeshiva head Rabbi David Povarsky, who emphasized the solemn responsibility of selecting students amid ongoing challenges facing the Torah world.
Following the meeting, the admissions team promptly notified each candidate of the results. Those not admitted, referred to as 'the giants,' are highly sought after by other top yeshivas, many of which have been established recently by former Ponovezh students. The yeshiva anticipates continued growth, expecting to reach around 3,000 students soon, and plans to appoint additional rabbis to maintain its high educational standards. The last rabbinical appointment was Rabbi Rafael Shmuelevitz earlier this summer, and the community eagerly awaits news of new appointments.
The process and results underscore Ponovezh's status as a leading institution in the Torah world, continuing the legacy of its founder Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman and the revival of Torah scholarship in Israel after the Holocaust.
