KISHINEV, MOLDOVA

A few years after the Vaad started to send shlichim to teach Torah, a formal Yeshiva was opened in Kishinev in 1990. The city, which was made infamous by the pogroms at the beginning of the 1900’s, was also the home of over seventy shuls at the brink of World War II. Yet under the Soviet regime, Yiddishkeit was all but obliterated.

The Yeshiva and the Bais Yaakov, which followed soon after, became a beacon of hope, and a place where young teenagers could connect with their Jewish roots. Students came from Kishinev, many of the small communities in Moldova and even as far away as the Ukraine, Crimea and Byelorussia.

Both the boys and girls high schools were established with dormitory facilities to allow the students to live and absorb Yiddishkeit on a continuous basis. The learning programs, kodesh as well as secular, are intensive and the results have been impressive. In addition kiruv work such as lectures and programs are organized for college students and adults as well as special events for seniors.

Over the past fifteen years the Yeshiva has sent out well over one hundred talmidim to Yeshivas, Bais Yaakovs and seminaries in the United States, Israel, Canada and Europe. Today many of these students are married with families of their own and carrying the torch of Torah to future generations.

At present the Yeshiva has affiliated with “Or Dessa” of Odessa with the goal of building a kehilla in Kishinev. There are very good prospects that this too will be successful.

Boys Welcoming Rabbi Lieber	Bais Yaakov Girls	Bais Yaakov Kishinev Building