Community Magazine July 2014

36 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Finding the “Back Home Atmosphere” Rabbi Haim Benoliel, founder and Rosh Yeshiva of Mikdash Melech, calls the institution “a vision come true.” The yeshiva was founded, he explains, to meet the needs of young Sephardic men who were coming to Israel after graduating high school looking for – in Rabbi Benoliel’s words – “a suitable place to learn, a real makom Torah .” At the time, there was no institution that provided Sephardic students with that “back home atmosphere,” an environment where they would feel comfortable following their families’ customs and traditions. As a result, many simply headed back to New York, losing the precious opportunity to learn and absorb the unique sanctity of Eretz Yisrael . “We felt that was a loss of an important resource,” Rabbi Benoliel recalls. “We thought these were men who could have a great influence on the community,” if only they had the chance to grow and develop in a suitable Torah environment. And so the rabbi decided to establish a new institution with the goal, as he describes, “of producing Torah scholars ready and able to reach out to our community and spread Torah values.” The new institution came into being in 1989, when Yeshivat Mikdash Melech, a trailblazing Torah institution that had been serving Sephardic young men in New York since 1972, opened its Jerusalem branch. A small cadre of 16 high school graduates were assembled and housed on Shaare Torah St. in Jerusalem’s Bayit Vegan neighborhood, where they were taught and cared for by a small, dedicated staff of rabbis. That first year was widely hailed as a resounding success, and the yeshiva’s reputation for excellence has steadily spread ever since. One of those 16 students was Nathan Rudy, now a prominent community member, who studied in Mikdash after graduating from Shaare Torah Boys High School (which, incidentally, was located at the time in the same building as Mikdash Brooklyn). Reflecting upon his experiences, Nathan says, “I spent less than a year at Mikdash East – as it was known then – yet when I meet my friends from then we still recall the fond memories of growth and learning in our own yeshiva in Israel.” “We are so gratified and thrilled with the results,” the Rosh Yeshiva enthuses. “We see that those who have had this experience, whether they came for a year or stayed for two or three, really transform into benei Torah . When they’re here, they gain the values, appreciation and skills that will enable them to lead a Torah life.” To date, over 1,000 young men have studied in Mikdash, and in recent years the yeshiva has begun seeing enrollment from sons of alumni. SILVER ANNIVERSARY, GOLD STANDARD: MIKDASH MELECH JERUSALEM Celebrates 25 years of Excellence The year 1989 saw a watershed moment in the history of the Syrian Jewish community: Yeshivat Mikdash Melech Jerusalem (MMJ) opened its doors for the first time, inviting Sephardic students from around the globe to experience the unparalleled joy of advanced Torah study in the holy city of Jerusalem, and sending them along a path of religious commitment and communal responsibility. Now, 25 years later, as our community celebrates the institution’s remarkable growth and success, we reflect upon Yeshivat Mikdash Melech’s transformative impact upon Sephardic Jewry and its bold vision for the future. DAVE GORDON