The Yeshiva Blog
What should I look for in a Yeshiva?
Rabbi Saul Berkus, Ra"M - What should I look for in a Yeshiva?
Looking for the right Yeshiva is like looking for a shidduch. And like all shidduchim, it's hard to give guidelines without knowing the parties involved. Nevertheless, we can say a few general points that will hold true, because even in shidduchim there are certain things that are true for everyone.
Someone looking for a yeshiva generally has only a certain amount of time to immerse themselves in limmud haTorah and in the yeshiva environment. So primarily what they should be thinking about is, that at the end of this week or month or year or two years or however long it is that I’m going to spend in Yeshiva, I want to leave different than I came in. I wouldn't want to go there and have an experience and then have it be back to business as usual. I’d want it to be that I'm a different person at the end of this process than I was when I started. When I walk out of the yeshiva it will be with different glasses on, I'm different. I have grown. I see the world differently and my relationship with the Torah is different. And my relationship with Hashem is different.
Individually each person has something that they're looking for. Yeshiva is a tool to help people grow and to help people change. And like all tools, it depends what job it is that you're trying to do. I would advise that you look at the students that are currently in the yeshiva, and you have to ask them “how have you changed and grown since you came?” “If you're comparing yourself now to where you were when you came a year ago, are things different and what is different?” That will give you a pretty good picture of - is this a place that's really going to change things for me?
But that's not sufficient in and of itself, in my opinion. I have been in several different yeshivas since I came to Israel at the age of 17 – some American, some Israeli, some more yeshivish, some less so, and I was in one particular yeshiva that is a very good yeshiva, and the Rosh Yeshivas were Gedolei Yisrael. But for me it went terribly, and I was miserable. Here was this fantastic yeshiva, that people are growing and developing with world class Torah. People would come from neighboring towns to hear the Roshei Yeshiva give shiur and I was not evolving or changing in any positive way.
And B’H I had a relationship with Rabbi Schwab, who is the nephew of the famous mashgiach Rav Schwab. And he told me you're missing something here. He said you are not happy in this place and there's only so long you're going to be able do something that you're not happy with. There's only so long you can stay in a place where you're not happy. You need to look around at your peer group, look around at your friends and the guys that you know at yeshivas all over the country, and ask yourself not just who's growing, not just where is the place with the most dynamic shiurim, or the biggest Rosh Yeshiva - but where are they happy? where are they growing and learning and enjoying and where are they learning besimcha? And I looked around at that time and I found that all of the guys who I knew were happy, and they were all in one place. And I immediately moved to that yeshiva, and I was there B’H for many years, and it very much produced who I am now.
The lesson that I got is that of course we all want to grow, and of course we want to change, and of course we all want to develop, and we want to develop everywhere, and that's true and you need to find the yeshiva that's going to help you do that, find a yeshiva that has some kind of track record that they do that for people. And you also need to speak to the boys and get a feeling for the atmosphere of the place. Is this a place where there's joy? Are people enjoying? Are people happy to be where they are? Are they growing in a way that gives them satisfaction?
Testimonials and Endorsements
"Having had the privilege to be present at some of Rabbi Tagger's compelling shiurim—both on sugyos in Shas as well as in inyanei Hashkafa—I can attest firsthand to his unique ability to thoroughly engage his talmidim of all levels, provoking them to think honestly and be true to the nuance of the text, while at the same time encouraging creative solutions that can withstand rigorous critique. The process draws each talmid into the ever-expanding, magnificent worldof Hashem's Torah, and the conclusions penetrate the heart, excite the mind, and engender a pervasive love of Torah."
Rabbi Elysha Sandler
Mashgiach Ruchani, Yeshiva Sh'or Yoshuv
From his Haskama on the Rosh Yeshiva of Bircas HaTorah's Mussar Sefer
"I know Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah and Hagaon Rav Nissim Tagger. He is doing amazing work and producing wonderful Bnei Torah."
Rav Asher Weiss
World Renowned Dayan and Posek
"I have had the privilege of getting to know Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah and its great Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Nissim, along with many of the Yungelite and Bochurim. Bircas HaTorah is an outstanding Makom Torah, with talmidim who are serious, focused, engaged, and energized. I have spoken there for the talmidim and met many of them, and I see in the atmosphere—and in each of them—tremendous she'ifus for aliyah in Torah and ruchniyus, and a desire to serve Klal Yisrael. This reflects both the Rosh Yeshiva and the talmidim themselves, who create an atmosphere of real ruchniyus growth with a seriousness of purpose."
Rabbi Aharon Kotler
President Emeritus, Beth Medrash Govoha, Lakewood
"Valley Torah High School and Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah have had a deep relationship for many years. I personally have experienced the unique Torah atmosphere that permeates this yeshiva. The love, concern, and commitment to every talmid that they manifest—even after they leave the yeshiva—is nothing short of remarkable. For a young man mature enough to appreciate what Bircas HaTorah has to offer, there is no yeshiva like it!"
Rabbi Avrohom Stulberger
Menahel, Valley Torah, Los Angeles
"The student who enters the Yeshiva of Bircas HaTorah is not the same as the one who leaves. He is transformed into a disciple of another world—a world he never knew existed, a world he never dreamed of reaching.... Anyone who listens to the Shiurim of the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Tagger Shlita cannot remain in the same place— he is automatically lifted up. After a period of serious study, he will hardly recognize himself!"
Rav Avraham Ziskind, Rosh Yeshivas Keser Torah
Former Rosh Mesivta Yeshivas Beis Shmuel and Yeshivas Netiv Hadaas (Kaplans)
"Our South African Kehillah has benefited greatly from the graduates of Bircas HaTorah, who, I have found, emerge from years of learning at Bircas with a deep appreciation for the value of achrayus—responsibility—for Klal Yisrael. Their impact when returning home has always been, and continues to be, a source of chizuk for our kehillah."
Rabbi Warren Goldstein
Chief Rabbi of South Africa
"Many of our talmidim from Yeshiva Maharsha SA have learned under the guidance of the esteemed Rosh Yeshiva HaRav Nissim Tager shlita. I can only praise and endorse the Yeshiva, not only in terms of the level of learning but for the care, nurturing and love of the talmid which instills an ahavas haTorah in them. This stands with them forever."
Rabbi Menachem Raff
Rav of Kehillas Maharsha, South Africa
"I have had the privilege of visiting the Yeshiva on a number of occasions and have witnessed the warm, family atmosphere where the Rebbeim invest in their Talmidim. Bircas HaTorah excels in the personal attention they provide for each boy and they build them and nurture them to become real Bnei Torah with a love of learning. The Rosh Yeshiva opens their minds and challenges them in learning and on their outlook in life, which develops Talmidim that are thinking and growing in their Avodas Hashem."
Rabbi Ilan Halberstadt
Rav of Beir Knesset Machzike Hadath, Golders Green
"Rabbi Tagger brought his Sefer of Shiurim on Meseches Shabbos for me to see....he was bestowed with abundant talent to be able to delve deeply into the Rishonim and draw up pearls, with good understanding and straight sevara.. Since I recognize him, as he is my neighbour, and his fear of heaven precedes his wisdom, I bless him that the merit of his fathers and that of his own merit, should allow him to continue..."
Rav Sholom Cohen zt"l
Rosh Yeshivat Porat Yosef, Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah, Sephardic Gadol Hador
In his Haskama to the Rosh Yeshiva's Sefer on Meseches Shabbos
"I know very well the great toil and intensive effort that the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Tagger Shlita, invested in the study of Torah to reach this level... I want to publicly acknowledge that the Rosh Yeshiva makes his nights like days to raise up students to greatness in Torah and Yirah, until they are genuine Talmidei Chachamim... I am deeply impressed by this unbelievable investment that the Rosh Yeshiva puts in his students..."
Rav Shlomo Yedidya Zafrani
Rav of Kehillot Ameley HaTorah, Rosh Kollel and Av Beis Din Keter Torah
From his Haskama on the Rosh Yeshiva of Bircas HaTorah's Mussar Sefer