Mercaz HaRav Kook

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One of the yeshiva buildings

Mercaz HaRav Kook (Hebrew: מרכז הרב קוק‎) (lit. "The Rav Kook Center") is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1924 by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook.[1][2] It has become the most prominent religious-Zionist yeshiva in the world and synonymous with Kook's teachings.[3] Many Religious Zionist educators and leaders have studied at the Mercaz HaRav Kook. [3]


Mercaz HaRav Kook was founded in Jerusalem's Kiryat Moshe neighbourhood in 1924 by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, chief Ashkenazi rabbi during the British Mandate. It was established to serve as a beacon of Torah learning. Rabbi Avraham Borstein, who headed the yeshiva with him, died two years after taking up his duties. The yeshiva was renamed for Rabbi Kook after his death in 1935. His student, Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Harlap, succeeded him as Rosh Yeshiva.[4] After his death in 1951, Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, the son of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook 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 college had few students and 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.


Mercaz HaRav massacre[edit]

Main article: Mercaz HaRav massacre

On the night of March 6, 2008, an Arab from Jabel Mukaber in East Jerusalem, entered the yeshiva with a gun and began firing indiscriminately, killing eight students and wounding 15 others. The terrorists bloody rampage 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 him to death. Victims:

Neria Cohen, 15,Jerusalem, Yashlatz Segev Pniel Avihail, 15,Neve Daniel, Yashlatz Avraham David Moses, 16,Efrat, Yashlatz Yehonatan Yitzhak Eldar, 16, Shilo, Yashlatz Ro'i Roth, 18,Elkana, Mercaz Harav Yohai Lipshitz, 18,Jerusalem, Yashlatz Yonadav Chaim Hirshfeld, 18,Kokhav HaShahar,Mercaz Harav Doron Mahareta, 26, Ashdod, Mercaz Harav

Notable alumni[edit]



External links[edit]

Coordinates: 31°47′16″N 35°11′48″E﻿ / ﻿31.7879°N 35.1967°E﻿ / 31.7879; 35.1967