Tomchei Tmimim Melbourne - Yeshiva Gedolah 'Zal'

Tomchei Tmimim Melbourne (Rabbinical College of Australia & New Zealand) is the first Chabad yeshiva on the Australian continent, intended for Yeshiva Gedolah age students, which received special attention from the Rebbe.

History

The main building on the yeshiva campus houses the study hall - the 'Zal'.

After World War II, the Frierdiker Rebbe sent Chassidim who left Russia in the Russian exodus of 1946 to various settlement points around the world, with a group of six Chassidim being sent to Australia.

Shortly after their arrival, they began working to establish a branch of Yeshivas Tomchei Tmimim, which opened with three students in Cheshvan 1950. By the end of winter, several more students joined, causing great excitement that there was now a proper yeshiva in Australia. Rabbi Yaakov Eliezer Herzog headed the yeshiva at that time.

In practice, local residents did not send their children to the yeshiva, and after five years it was decided to invest efforts in establishing educational institutions for younger ages. The yeshiva closed and was replaced by "Yeshiva College" called 'Yeshivas Oheli Yosef Yitzchak - Lubavitch'. This institution developed gradually and additional classes were opened, until after ten years, towards the 1966 school year, when the senior class students needed to move on to a continuing institution and decide whether they wanted to study at university or leave Australia to study at a yeshiva abroad, Rabbi Yehoshua Shneur Zalman Serebryanski began working to re-establish the yeshiva.

Regarding the efforts to establish the yeshiva, the Rebbe wrote in a telegram: "Opening the Yeshiva Gedolah class as they write - is very, very necessary and correct."

The yeshiva officially opened on 11 Shevat 1966.

Following the Rebbe's instructions, the yeshiva was opened near existing institutions. For five years, the yeshiva had about twenty students, and at the beginning of the 1971 school year, Chabad askanim in Australia succeeded in purchasing land and a building three times larger than the yeshiva's needs. The Rebbe addressed this publicly and mentioned it at the Yud Tes Kislev farbrengen.

The Shluchim Students

About a year after the yeshiva opened, on 7 Adar I 1967, Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov called a group of bochurim from the central Tomchei Tmimim Yeshiva at 770 and offered them to join the group of shluchim students and go study at the yeshiva in Australia for two years, if they met certain conditions.

This group was the first group of 'shluchim students', and over the years the Rebbe sent additional groups to other yeshivas, as well as to the yeshiva in Australia - whom the Rebbe chose personally, dedicated private sichos to them, and gave them special instructions.

Development and Growth

As the number of students grew, there was a need to expand the spiritual staff of the yeshiva. Rabbi Avraham Belisofsky was appointed as spiritual director, and in 1974 Rabbi Binyomin Cohen joined the staff and was appointed to serve as Rosh Yeshiva.

In 1989, Rabbi Yaakov Weiner joined as the main mashpia in the yeshiva, and during these years the yeshiva began attracting students from overseas, in addition to students from the local community.

As of 2021, the yeshiva has approximately 50 students.

Yeshiva Staff

• Rosh Yeshiva - Rabbi Binyomin Gavriel Cohen
• Mashpia - Rabbi Yaakov Weiner
• Mashgiach - Rabbi Shalom Ber Engel
• Magidei Shiurim - Rabbi Mordechai Schmerling, Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Leshes
• Director - Rabbi Avraham Procel

Past Yeshiva Staff

• Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber Gutnick - Rosh Yeshiva
• Rabbi Yisroel Pinchas Weisberg - Teacher

Further Reading

• Iyei HaMelech, Australia 1992