Mercaz Ha-Rav

Rabbi Mintz on Jewish History - Glimpses into the religious Lives of Early Modern European Jewry

In 1921, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Ha-Kohen Kook was appointed the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Modern Israel. In that same year, he founded Mercaz Ha-Rav which he designed as the "Universal Yeshiva" to which students would come from around the world and after six years of study would return to provide rabbinic leadership for their communities. This lecture will explain several aspects of this yeshiva including the proposal to merge Mercaz with the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. We will also explore Rabbi Kook's legacy and discuss why his legacy and his yeshiva developed as they did.