Mercaz HaRav
Mercaz HaRav (officially, , "The Center of Rabbi [Kook] - the Central Universal Yeshiva") is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, founded in 1924 by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. Located in the city's Kiryat Moshe neighborhood, it has become the most prominent religious-Zionist yeshiva in the world and synonymous with Rabbi Kook's teachings. Many Religious Zionist educators and leaders have studied at Mercaz HaRav. Name. The yeshiva's official name is The Central Universal Yeshiva, indicating its role in Rabbi Kook's vision as a central institution for the spiritual revitalization of the Jewish people . Kook, however, lacked the financial backing necessary to establish a full-fledged academic institution. The yeshiva grew out of an evening program for young scholars who gathered to hear the recently appointed Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem lecture in Halakhah and Aggadah. Rabbi Yitchak Levi, a disciple of Rabbi Kook from his years in Jaffa, initiated this evening program in 1920, calling it "Mercaz HaRav" - "the Rabbi’s Center." History. Mercaz HaRav was founded in 1924 by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the chief Ashkenazi rabbi during the British Mandate. It was housed in Beit HaRav, built by the noted American philanthropist  Harry Fischel. Rabbi Kook's vision was to create a new yeshiva curriculum, integrating traditional Talmudic studies with Jewish philosophy, Bible, Jewish history, geography, and literature. The last three subjects, however, were never taught there. In 1925, Rabbi Kook invited the great European scholar (1867–1925) to serve as rosh yeshiva. Tragically, Rabbi Borstein died suddenly at age 58, nine months after taking up his duties. Kook died in 1935, and his student, Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlap, succeeded him as rosh yeshiva. After Charlap's death in 1951, Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's son, took up his  father's position. In 1982, after Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook died, Rabbi Avraham Shapira took the position and led the institution until his death in 2007. His son Rabbi Yaakov Shapira is his successor. In its first decades, the yeshiva had few students; at times it was not clear whether it would survive. The turning point came in the '50s, when graduates of Bnei Akiva religious schools and high-school yeshivas seeking higher religious education flocked to Mercaz Harav, the only Zionist yeshiva. Bnei Akiva leader Rabbi Moshe Zvi Neria, a disciple of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, encouraged students to  go to Mercaz Harav, then headed by Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook. In 1997, Rabbi Zvi Thau strongly opposed the introduction of an academic framework - plans to integrate a teaching institute - into Mercaz HaRav. As a result of the disagreement, he, together with six senior lecturers and many students, left the yeshiva and established the Har Hamor yeshiva. Today, the yeshiva has about 500 students, including 200 students in the yeshiva's "kollel" (post-graduate division). Mercaz HaRav massacre. On the night of March 6, 2008, a lone shooter from Jabel Mukaber in East Jerusalem, entered the yeshiva with a gun  and began firing indiscriminately, murdering eight students and wounding 15 others. The attack ended with the arrival of Yitzhak Dadon, a part-time student of the yeshiva, and David Shapira, an officer in the Israel Defense Forces, who shot and killed the shooter. Notable alumni. The list includes a number of Knesset members, rabbis, and community leaders.