Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim (also known as the Rabbinical Seminary of America) is an Orthodoxyeshiva based in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York, United States. It is primarily an American, non-chasidic HarediTalmudic yeshiva.[1] The yeshiva is legally titled Rabbinical Seminary of America (RSA) but is often referred to as just Chofetz Chaim as that was the nickname of its namesake, Yisroel Meir Kagan. It has affiliate branches in Israel and North America.
The yeshiva was named for Leibowitz's great uncle, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, who had died that year. It is officially named Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen, but is often referred to simply as Chofetz Chaim[2] (Hebrew: חָפֵץ חַיִּים), which is commonly used as a name for Kagan, after his book with the same title. Chofetz Chaim means "desires life" in Hebrew.
After Leibowitz died in December 1941, he was succeeded as head by his son, Henoch Leibowitz, a role held in the 21st century by Dovid Harris[6] and Akiva Grunblatt.[7]
The yeshiva houses a boys' secondary school or Mesivta, Yeshiva Preparatory High School, headed for many years by Rabbi Zechariah Fendel, an undergraduate yeshiva, and a rabbinical school that grants Semicha (ordination). Rabbinical students at the yeshiva often spend a decade or more there, studying a traditional yeshiva curriculum focusing on Talmud, mussar ("ethics"), and halakha ("Jewish law").