Volozhin Yeshiva

Yeshivas Etz Ḥayyim (ישיבת עץ חיים), commonly called the Volozhin Yeshiva (וואלאזשינער ישיבה), was a prestigious Lithuanian yeshiva located in the town of Volozhin, Russian Empire (now Valozhyn, Belarus). It was founded around 1803 by Rabbi Ḥayyim Volozhiner, a student of the famed Vilna Gaon, and trained several generations of scholars, rabbis, and leaders. It is considered the first modern yeshiva, and served as a model for later Misnagedic educational institutions. The institution reached its zenith under the leadership of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, who became rosh yeshiva in 1854. In 1892, demands of the Russian authorities to increase secular studies forced the yeshiva to close. It re-opened on a smaller scale in 1899 and functioned until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. During the War German soldiers used the building as a stable, and it was subsequently converted into a canteen and deli. The site was returned to the Jewish community of Belarus in 1989. It is considered a cultural and architectural landmark, and in 1998, the Volozhin Yeshiva was registered on the State List of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Belarus. The Volozhin Yeshiva was founded around 1803 by Rabbi Ḥayyim Volozhiner. After his death in 1821, he was succeeded as head of the yeshiva by his son, Isaac. When Isaac died in 1849, Rabbi Eliezer Fried was appointed head of the yeshiva, with Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin as his assistant. Rabbi Fried died soon after, in 1854, whereupon Rabbi Berlin became the new head along with Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, Rabbi Ḥayyim Volozhiner's great-grandson who was the assistant rosh yeshiva. In 1865, Soloveichik left to become a rabbi in Slutsk. The Volozhin yeshiva closed in 1892, because of the Russian government's demand for a dramatic increase in the amount of time spent teaching certain secular studies. According to some, the pressure from the Russian government was due to the Maskilim accusing the yeshiva of being subversive. The biography of R.