Difference between revisions of "Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva"

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{{Chabad sidebar}}
 
{{short description|Hardline religious Zionist yeshiva in Yitzhar settlement, known for controversial teachings and links to settler extremism}}
 
{{short description|Hardline religious Zionist yeshiva in Yitzhar settlement, known for controversial teachings and links to settler extremism}}
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{{Infobox organization
 
{{Infobox organization
 
| name = Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva
 
| name = Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva
 
| native_name = ישיבת עוד יוסף חי
 
| native_name = ישיבת עוד יוסף חי
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| image =  
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| image = <!-- [[File:Name.jpg|250px]] — no cleared image yet -->
 
| caption =  
 
| caption =  
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| formation = 1982
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| formation = 1982 or 1983 (sources differ)
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| founder = Romem Aldubi
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| founder = Romem Aldubi; [[Yitzchak Ginsburgh]] (co-founder per ''Forward'')
 
| type = [[Yeshiva]]
 
| type = [[Yeshiva]]
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| headquarters = [[Yitzhar]], [[West Bank]]
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| headquarters = [[Yitzhar]], [[West Bank]] (formerly [[Joseph's Tomb]], Nablus)
 
| location = [[West Bank]]
 
| location = [[West Bank]]
 
| key_people = [[Yitzchak Ginsburgh]] (spiritual leader and president)<br>[[Yitzhak Shapira]] (former head)<br>[[Yosef Elitzur]]
 
| key_people = [[Yitzchak Ginsburgh]] (spiritual leader and president)<br>[[Yitzhak Shapira]] (former head)<br>[[Yosef Elitzur]]
 
| focus = Torah study, Kabbalah, Hasidic philosophy, religious Zionism
 
| focus = Torah study, Kabbalah, Hasidic philosophy, religious Zionism
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| website = [https://www.odyosefchai.org/ odyoesfchai.org]
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| website = [https://www.odyosefchai.org/ odyosefchai.org]
 
}}
 
}}
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'''Od Yosef Chai''' (Hebrew: עוד יוסף חי, "Joseph still lives") is a hardline religious Zionist yeshiva in the [[West Bank]] settlement of [[Yitzhar]], led by the Chabad-affiliated kabbalist [[Yitzchak Ginsburgh]].<ref name="JGive" /><ref name="Forward2016" /> The ''Forward'' describes it as "a West Bank seminary that has produced successive cohorts of radical students implicated in violence against Palestinians".<ref name="Forward2016" />
  
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'''Od Yosef Chai''' (Hebrew: עוד יוסף חי, "Joseph still lives") is a hardline religious Zionist yeshiva located in the [[West Bank]] settlement of [[Yitzhar]].<ref name="JGive">JGive, [https://www.jgive.com/new/en/ils/charity-organizations/1535 Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai] ''JGive'', accessed June 2026.</ref><ref name="TOI2023">Times of Israel, [https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/shift-shake-jewish-terrorism-from-hills-to-the-big-apple-skyscrapers/ Shift & Shake: Jewish Terrorism] ''Times of Israel'', 27 September 2023.</ref>
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It is known for radical interpretations of Jewish law, above all ''[[Torat HaMelech]]'' (2009), and for associations with settler violence, including "price tag" attacks linked to the [[Hilltop Youth]].<ref name="972Mag" />
  
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It is known for its radical interpretations of Jewish law, Kabbalistic teachings, and associations with settler violence, including "price tag" attacks linked to the [[Hilltop Youth]].<ref name="972Mag">+972 Magazine, [https://www.972mag.com/yitzhar-hilltop-settler-violence/ How one hilltop became an incubator for Israeli settler violence] ''+972 Magazine'', 2 January 2020.</ref>
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== History ==
 +
The yeshiva's own profile says it was founded in 1982 (5742) by Romem Aldubi and associates at [[Joseph's Tomb]] in Nablus (Shechem);<ref name="JGive" /> the ''Forward'' states that Ginsburgh "helped found" it in 1983.<ref name="Forward2016" />
  
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== History ==
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In May 1989 about 30 settlers, reported as students of the yeshiva, raided the village of Kifl Haris and a 13-year-old Palestinian girl was shot dead. Ginsburgh defended them, telling Israel Radio "Jewish blood and the blood of a goy (non-Jew) are not the same thing".<ref name="LAT1989" /><ref name="Forward2016" />
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The yeshiva was founded in 1982 (5742) by Romem Aldubi and associates at [[Joseph's Tomb]] in Nablus (Shechem).<ref name="JGive" />
 
  
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It operated there until the Second Intifada, when the IDF withdrew from the site in 2000. The yeshiva then relocated to the settlement of [[Yitzhar]], where it expanded to include a high school, yeshiva gedolah, kollel, and publishing activities.<ref name="JGive" /><ref name="TOI2023" />
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The yeshiva operated at Joseph's Tomb until the IDF withdrew from the site in October 2000 during the Second Intifada. It then moved to [[Yitzhar]], where it expanded to include a high school, yeshiva gedolah, kollel and publishing activities.<ref name="JGive" /><ref name="TOI2023" />
  
 
== Leadership ==
 
== Leadership ==
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Rabbi [[Yitzchak Ginsburgh]], an American-born rabbi affiliated with [[Chabad-Lubavitch]], serves as the spiritual leader and president. He has headed or influenced the institution since the late 1980s.<ref name="TOI2023" /><ref name="Forward2016">Forward, [https://forward.com/news/352016/the-kabbalist-who-would-be-king-of-a-new-jewish-monarchy-in-israel/ The Kabbalist Who Would Be King] ''Forward'', 14 October 2016.</ref>
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Rabbi [[Yitzchak Ginsburgh]], an American-born rabbi who regards himself as part of [[Chabad-Lubavitch]], is spiritual leader and president. He has headed or influenced the institution since the late 1980s.<ref name="TOI2023" /><ref name="Forward2016" />
  
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Other key figures include Rabbis [[Yitzhak Shapira]] and [[Yosef Elitzur]], who served as heads and authored controversial texts.<ref name="Haaretz2010">Haaretz, [https://www.haaretz.com/2010-01-22/ty-article/the-kings-torah-a-rabbinic-text-or-a-call-to-terror/0000017f-e58c-dea7-adff-f5ff8b080000 The King's Torah: A Rabbinic Text or a Call to Terror?] ''Haaretz'', 22 January 2010.</ref>
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Other key figures include Rabbis [[Yitzhak Shapira]] and [[Yosef Elitzur]], who served as heads and wrote ''Torat HaMelech''.<ref name="Haaretz2010" />
  
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== Teachings and Controversies ==
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== Teachings and controversies ==
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The yeshiva promotes a blend of Hasidic philosophy, Kabbalah, and hardline religious Zionism. Critics accuse it of fostering Jewish supremacism through interpretations distinguishing between Jewish and non-Jewish souls and permitting violence in certain contexts.<ref name="TOI2023" /><ref name="Forward2016" />
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The yeshiva combines Hasidic philosophy, Kabbalah and hardline religious Zionism. Critics accuse it of fostering Jewish supremacism by distinguishing between Jewish and non-Jewish souls and by permitting violence in some contexts.<ref name="TOI2023" /><ref name="Forward2016" />
  
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In 2009, rabbis associated with the yeshiva published ''Torat HaMelech'' (''The King's Torah''), which argued that the prohibition on murder applies primarily to Jews and outlined scenarios where killing non-Jews, including civilians and children, could be permissible if they pose a threat.<ref name="Haaretz2010" /><ref name="972Mag" />
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=== ''Baruch HaGever'' ===
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In 1994 Ginsburgh wrote ''Baruch HaGever'', an essay on [[Baruch Goldstein]]'s Hebron massacre. It includes the line "the best goy is a dead one".<ref name="Forward2016" /> See [[Yitzchak Ginsburgh#Baruch HaGever (1994)]].
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=== ''Torat HaMelech'' (2009) ===
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In 2009 Shapira and Elitzur published ''[[Torat HaMelech]]'' (''The King's Torah''). ''Haaretz'' summarised it as arguing "there are times when Jews are allowed to kill gentiles who pose no physical threat of violence", and noted that the book was "endorsed by leading Chabad Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg and Kiryat Arba Rabbi Dov Lior".<ref name="Haaretz2012" /> The ''Forward'' says it "justifies the killing of non-Jews, including infants, if there is reason to believe they will grow up to harm Jews".<ref name="Forward2016" /><ref name="Haaretz2010" /> It argued that the prohibition on murder applies primarily to Jews and outlined scenarios where killing non-Jews, including civilians and children, could be permissible if they pose a threat.<ref name="Haaretz2010" /><ref name="972Mag" />
  
 
The book drew widespread condemnation, led to investigations for incitement, and prompted funding cuts from Israeli ministries.<ref name="TOI2023" />
 
The book drew widespread condemnation, led to investigations for incitement, and prompted funding cuts from Israeli ministries.<ref name="TOI2023" />
  
 
Rabbi [[Yitzchak Ginsburgh]] has faced multiple detentions and accusations of incitement, including for statements describing Arabs as a "cancer" and endorsing related texts.<ref name="Forward2016" />
 
Rabbi [[Yitzchak Ginsburgh]] has faced multiple detentions and accusations of incitement, including for statements describing Arabs as a "cancer" and endorsing related texts.<ref name="Forward2016" />
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Security services raided the yeshiva in 2010.<ref name="Forward2016" /> Shapira and Elitzur were detained and questioned, and the rabbis who endorsed the book were also investigated; their arrests in 2011 "led to violent protests".<ref name="JTA2012" /> In May 2012 Attorney General [[Yehuda Weinstein]] closed the case. He cited "insufficient evidence to put the authors on trial for incitement to racism or incitement to violence", and added that his decision was "not in any way an expression of acceptance" of statements he called "deserving of condemnation and denunciation".<ref name="JTA2012" /><ref name="INN2012" /><ref name="Ynet2012" />
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== State action ==
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* '''Funding.''' In 2011 the Education Ministry stopped funding after accepting a Shin Bet assessment that "leading teachers" at the yeshiva "foster violence by their students against the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinians". The same report records ministry allocations of about $221,000 in 2007 and $293,000 in 2010.<ref name="Forward2016" />
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* '''Military seizure, 2014–15.''' Settlers destroyed an IDF post near Yitzhar in April 2014. A Border Police company then took over the building, and classes were "suspended indefinitely". The IDF justified this on "security needs to prevent violence and vandalism targeting security personnel and the adjacent villages originating from the yeshiva".<ref name="TOI2014" /> Prime Minister Netanyahu called the attackers "a bunch of barbarians".<ref name="TOI2014b" /> In June 2014 Defence Minister [[Moshe Ya'alon]] extended the seizure, saying it had "a positive and restraining influence".<ref name="TOI2014c" /> Forces withdrew in June 2015.<ref name="TOI2015" /> The yeshiva called the seizure "a desecration of a holy place".<ref name="TOI2014" />
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* '''2015 restraining orders.''' After the [[Duma arson attack]], the Shin Bet and police issued restraining orders against two Od Yosef Chai students.<ref name="TOI2015b" />
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== Connections to Hilltop Youth and price tag attacks ==
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Od Yosef Chai is widely regarded as an ideological incubator for the [[Hilltop Youth]]. This radical settler milieu is known for unauthorised outposts and "price tag" attacks, meaning retaliatory violence against Palestinians and Israeli forces, including arson, vandalism, and killings.<ref name="972Mag" /><ref name="BBC2012" /> In 2014 ''Haaretz'' cited security officials who blamed vengeance attacks on about 100 radical activists in Yitzhar "who based their actions on Ginsburgh's teachings".<ref name="Forward2016" /> Students and alumni have been implicated in such attacks. Israeli security services have linked the yeshiva's teachings to encouragement of violence, leading to raids, funding suspensions, and temporary seizures.<ref name="972Mag" /><ref name="TOI2023" /> [[Meir Ettinger]], Kahane's grandson and alleged leader of "The Revolt", is described as "a prize student of Ginsburgh".<ref name="Forward2016" /> In a 2015 doctoral study, Tessa Satherley calls her survey "the first comprehensive exploration of linkages between Od Yosef Chai and vigilante violence". She concludes that the yeshiva and Ginsburgh "have a substantial influence in shaping the worldview of some Hilltop Youth, although the youths do not necessarily accept them as halakhic authorities".<ref name="SatO195">Tessa Satherley, ''Unity and Opposites in Israel's Settler Movement: Rabbi Tzvi Yisrael Tau and Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh'' (PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2015), p. 195.</ref> She describes Od Yosef Chai and Ginsburgh's "brand of Hasidism" as one of two streams, alongside Kahane's followers, that filled the void left when the youth rejected mainstream religious-Zionist rabbis.<ref name="SatO183">Satherley (2015), p. 183.</ref> In late 2011 the Shin Bet recommended cutting the yeshiva's state funding on the grounds that "Prominent rabbis in the yeshiva support and/or are involved in this violent activity". She adds that the yeshiva "continues to operate (without the yeshiva ketanah), thanks to private donors".<ref name="SatO193">Satherley (2015), p. 193.</ref>
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:''Editor's note: Satherley (2015, pp. 180–83) describes the Hilltop Youth as seeing themselves as heirs of Gush Emunim, with no formal organisation. Their mentors come from two streams, Od Yosef Chai and the Kahanists. Od Yosef Chai is one important centre, not proof that the movement is a Chabad one.''
  
 
== Links to Chabad ==
 
== Links to Chabad ==
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While not formally part of the [[Chabad-Lubavitch]] network, [[Yitzchak Ginsburgh]] has deep ties to the movement. He studied in Chabad institutions, developed a relationship with the [[Lubavitcher Rebbe]], and incorporates Chassidut and Kabbalah into teachings at the yeshiva. Chabad students have attended classes there.<ref name="Forward2016" /><ref name="TOI2023" />
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Od Yosef Chai is not formally part of the [[Chabad-Lubavitch]] network. Still, Ginsburgh studied in Chabad institutions, developed a relationship with and studied with the [[Lubavitcher Rebbe]], lived in [[Kfar Chabad]], and draws on Chassidut and Kabbalah in his teaching. The ''Forward'' reports that since 2011 he has held an annual 19 Kislev event "in cooperation with the Chabad Hasidic sect". Chabad students have attended classes there.<ref name="Forward2016" /><ref name="TOI2023" /> Satherley notes that "although Ginsburgh is affiliated with Chabad, Od Yosef Chai is not". She writes that the yeshiva is "neither mainstream religious Zionist… nor formally affiliated with the Hasidic movement, despite Ginsburgh's own affiliation with Chabad and despite his teachings being steeped in its Kabbalistic inheritance".<ref name="SatO175">Satherley (2015), pp. 175, 186 n. 26.</ref>
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== Connections to Hilltop Youth and Price Tag Attacks ==
 
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Od Yosef Chai is widely regarded as an ideological incubator for the [[Hilltop Youth]], a radical settler movement known for unauthorised outposts and "price tag" attacks—retaliatory violence against Palestinians and Israeli forces, including arson, vandalism, and killings.<ref name="972Mag" /><ref name="BBC2012">BBC, [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19601311 'Price-tag' tactics of West Bank Jewish settlers] ''BBC'', 17 September 2012.</ref>
 
  
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Students and alumni have been implicated in such attacks. Israeli security services have linked the yeshiva's teachings to encouragement of violence, leading to raids, funding suspensions, and temporary seizures.<ref name="972Mag" /><ref name="TOI2023" />
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:''Editor's note: Chabad supporters online often claim that Chabad has disavowed Ginsburgh, but no official Chabad statement or primary source documenting such a disavowal could be found.''
  
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==
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== External links ==
 
== External links ==
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[https://www.odyosefchai.org/ Official website]
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* [https://www.odyosefchai.org/ Official website] (primary source)
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
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<references/>
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<references>
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<ref name="JGive">[https://www.jgive.com/new/en/ils/charity-organizations/1535 Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai], ''JGive'' (yeshiva's own fundraising profile – primary source), accessed June 2026.</ref>
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<ref name="TOI2023">[https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/shift-shake-jewish-terrorism-from-hills-to-the-big-apple-skyscrapers/ "Shift & Shake: Jewish Terrorism"], ''Times of Israel'' blogs (opinion), 27 September 2023.</ref>
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<ref name="972Mag">[https://www.972mag.com/yitzhar-hilltop-settler-violence/ "How one hilltop became an incubator for Israeli settler violence"], ''+972 Magazine'' (left-wing), 2 January 2020.</ref>
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<ref name="Forward2016">Natan Odenheimer, [https://forward.com/news/352016/the-kabbalist-who-would-be-king-of-a-new-jewish-monarchy-in-israel/ "The Kabbalist Who Would Be King of a New Jewish Monarchy in Israel"], ''Forward'', 14 October 2016.</ref>
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<ref name="Haaretz2010">[https://www.haaretz.com/2010-01-22/ty-article/the-kings-torah-a-rabbinic-text-or-a-call-to-terror/0000017f-e58c-dea7-adff-f5ff8b080000 "The King's Torah: A Rabbinic Text or a Call to Terror?"], ''Haaretz'', 22 January 2010.</ref>
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<ref name="Haaretz2012">Tomer Zarchin, [https://www.haaretz.com/2012-05-29/ty-article/israels-ag-closes-probe-into-authors-of-allegedly-racist-book/0000017f-ecdd-d639-af7f-eddf20ce0000 "Israel's AG Closes Probe Into Authors of Allegedly Racist Book"], ''Haaretz'', 29 May 2012.</ref>
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<ref name="JTA2012">Marcy Oster, [https://www.jta.org/2012/05/28/israel/case-closed-against-the-kings-torah-authors "Case closed against 'The King's Torah' authors"], ''JTA'', 28 May 2012.</ref>
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<ref name="INN2012">[https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/156296 "Case Closed Against Authors of 'The King's Torah'"], ''Arutz Sheva'' (settler-aligned outlet), May 2012.</ref>
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<ref name="Ynet2012">[https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4235125,00.html "No indictment against King's Torah authors"], ''Ynet'', 28 May 2012.</ref>
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<ref name="LAT1989">[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-03-mn-829-story.html "Army to Curb Rampaging Israel Settlers"], ''Los Angeles Times'', 3 June 1989.</ref>
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<ref name="TOI2014">[https://www.timesofisrael.com/border-police-force-takes-up-position-in-yitzhar-yeshiva/ "Border Police force takes over Yitzhar yeshiva"], ''Times of Israel'', April 2014.</ref>
 +
<ref name="TOI2014b">[https://www.timesofisrael.com/teen-charged-with-attacking-police-in-yitzhar/ "Teen charged with attacking police in Yitzhar"], ''Times of Israel'', April 2014.</ref>
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<ref name="TOI2014c">[https://www.timesofisrael.com/yaalon-extends-idfs-seizure-of-yitzhar-yeshiva-by-3-months/ "Ya'alon extends IDF's seizure of Yitzhar yeshiva by 3 months"], ''Times of Israel'', June 2014.</ref>
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<ref name="TOI2015">Tamar Pileggi, [https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-lifts-seizure-of-radical-west-bank-yeshiva/ "IDF lifts seizure of radical West Bank yeshiva"], ''Times of Israel'', 2 June 2015.</ref>
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<ref name="TOI2015b">[https://www.timesofisrael.com/alleged-jewish-extremists-banned-from-west-bank-jerusalem/ "Alleged Jewish extremists banned from West Bank, Jerusalem"], ''Times of Israel'', August 2015.</ref>
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<ref name="BBC2012">[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19601311 "'Price-tag' tactics of West Bank Jewish settlers"], ''BBC News'', 17 September 2012.</ref>
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</references>
  
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[[Category:Yeshivas in the West Bank]]
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[[Category:Yeshivas in the West Bank|Od Yosef Chai]]
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[[Category:Religious Zionism]]
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[[Category:Religious Zionism|Od Yosef Chai]]
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[[Category:1982 establishments in Israel]]
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[[Category:1982 establishments in Israel|Od Yosef Chai]]
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[[Category:Chabad-Lubavitch]]
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[[Category:Chabad-Lubavitch|Od Yosef Chai]]
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[[Category:Jewish extremism in Israel]]
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[[Category:Jewish extremism in Israel|Od Yosef Chai]]
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[[Category:Controversial religious groups]]
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[[Category:Controversial religious groups|Od Yosef Chai]]

Latest revision as of 10:47, 16 October 2026

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Hardline religious Zionist yeshiva in Yitzhar settlement, known for controversial teachings and links to settler extremism

Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva

Type Yeshiva
Founder(s) Romem Aldubi; Yitzchak Ginsburgh (co-founder per Forward)
Headquarters Yitzhar, West Bank (formerly Joseph's Tomb, Nablus)
Location West Bank
Key people Yitzchak Ginsburgh (spiritual leader and president)
Yitzhak Shapira (former head)
Yosef Elitzur
Website odyosefchai.org

Od Yosef Chai (Hebrew: עוד יוסף חי, "Joseph still lives") is a hardline religious Zionist yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, led by the Chabad-affiliated kabbalist Yitzchak Ginsburgh.[1][2] The Forward describes it as "a West Bank seminary that has produced successive cohorts of radical students implicated in violence against Palestinians".[2]

It is known for radical interpretations of Jewish law, above all Torat HaMelech (2009), and for associations with settler violence, including "price tag" attacks linked to the Hilltop Youth.[3]

History

The yeshiva's own profile says it was founded in 1982 (5742) by Romem Aldubi and associates at Joseph's Tomb in Nablus (Shechem);[1] the Forward states that Ginsburgh "helped found" it in 1983.[2]

In May 1989 about 30 settlers, reported as students of the yeshiva, raided the village of Kifl Haris and a 13-year-old Palestinian girl was shot dead. Ginsburgh defended them, telling Israel Radio "Jewish blood and the blood of a goy (non-Jew) are not the same thing".[4][2]

The yeshiva operated at Joseph's Tomb until the IDF withdrew from the site in October 2000 during the Second Intifada. It then moved to Yitzhar, where it expanded to include a high school, yeshiva gedolah, kollel and publishing activities.[1][5]

Leadership

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, an American-born rabbi who regards himself as part of Chabad-Lubavitch, is spiritual leader and president. He has headed or influenced the institution since the late 1980s.[5][2]

Other key figures include Rabbis Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef Elitzur, who served as heads and wrote Torat HaMelech.[6]

Teachings and controversies

The yeshiva combines Hasidic philosophy, Kabbalah and hardline religious Zionism. Critics accuse it of fostering Jewish supremacism by distinguishing between Jewish and non-Jewish souls and by permitting violence in some contexts.[5][2]

Baruch HaGever

In 1994 Ginsburgh wrote Baruch HaGever, an essay on Baruch Goldstein's Hebron massacre. It includes the line "the best goy is a dead one".[2] See Yitzchak Ginsburgh#Baruch HaGever (1994).

Torat HaMelech (2009)

In 2009 Shapira and Elitzur published Torat HaMelech (The King's Torah). Haaretz summarised it as arguing "there are times when Jews are allowed to kill gentiles who pose no physical threat of violence", and noted that the book was "endorsed by leading Chabad Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg and Kiryat Arba Rabbi Dov Lior".[7] The Forward says it "justifies the killing of non-Jews, including infants, if there is reason to believe they will grow up to harm Jews".[2][6] It argued that the prohibition on murder applies primarily to Jews and outlined scenarios where killing non-Jews, including civilians and children, could be permissible if they pose a threat.[6][3]

The book drew widespread condemnation, led to investigations for incitement, and prompted funding cuts from Israeli ministries.[5]

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh has faced multiple detentions and accusations of incitement, including for statements describing Arabs as a "cancer" and endorsing related texts.[2]

Security services raided the yeshiva in 2010.[2] Shapira and Elitzur were detained and questioned, and the rabbis who endorsed the book were also investigated; their arrests in 2011 "led to violent protests".[8] In May 2012 Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein closed the case. He cited "insufficient evidence to put the authors on trial for incitement to racism or incitement to violence", and added that his decision was "not in any way an expression of acceptance" of statements he called "deserving of condemnation and denunciation".[8][9][10]

State action

  • Funding. In 2011 the Education Ministry stopped funding after accepting a Shin Bet assessment that "leading teachers" at the yeshiva "foster violence by their students against the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinians". The same report records ministry allocations of about $221,000 in 2007 and $293,000 in 2010.[2]
  • Military seizure, 2014–15. Settlers destroyed an IDF post near Yitzhar in April 2014. A Border Police company then took over the building, and classes were "suspended indefinitely". The IDF justified this on "security needs to prevent violence and vandalism targeting security personnel and the adjacent villages originating from the yeshiva".[11] Prime Minister Netanyahu called the attackers "a bunch of barbarians".[12] In June 2014 Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon extended the seizure, saying it had "a positive and restraining influence".[13] Forces withdrew in June 2015.[14] The yeshiva called the seizure "a desecration of a holy place".[11]
  • 2015 restraining orders. After the Duma arson attack, the Shin Bet and police issued restraining orders against two Od Yosef Chai students.[15]

Connections to Hilltop Youth and price tag attacks

Od Yosef Chai is widely regarded as an ideological incubator for the Hilltop Youth. This radical settler milieu is known for unauthorised outposts and "price tag" attacks, meaning retaliatory violence against Palestinians and Israeli forces, including arson, vandalism, and killings.[3][16] In 2014 Haaretz cited security officials who blamed vengeance attacks on about 100 radical activists in Yitzhar "who based their actions on Ginsburgh's teachings".[2] Students and alumni have been implicated in such attacks. Israeli security services have linked the yeshiva's teachings to encouragement of violence, leading to raids, funding suspensions, and temporary seizures.[3][5] Meir Ettinger, Kahane's grandson and alleged leader of "The Revolt", is described as "a prize student of Ginsburgh".[2] In a 2015 doctoral study, Tessa Satherley calls her survey "the first comprehensive exploration of linkages between Od Yosef Chai and vigilante violence". She concludes that the yeshiva and Ginsburgh "have a substantial influence in shaping the worldview of some Hilltop Youth, although the youths do not necessarily accept them as halakhic authorities".[17] She describes Od Yosef Chai and Ginsburgh's "brand of Hasidism" as one of two streams, alongside Kahane's followers, that filled the void left when the youth rejected mainstream religious-Zionist rabbis.[18] In late 2011 the Shin Bet recommended cutting the yeshiva's state funding on the grounds that "Prominent rabbis in the yeshiva support and/or are involved in this violent activity". She adds that the yeshiva "continues to operate (without the yeshiva ketanah), thanks to private donors".[19]

Editor's note: Satherley (2015, pp. 180–83) describes the Hilltop Youth as seeing themselves as heirs of Gush Emunim, with no formal organisation. Their mentors come from two streams, Od Yosef Chai and the Kahanists. Od Yosef Chai is one important centre, not proof that the movement is a Chabad one.

Links to Chabad

Od Yosef Chai is not formally part of the Chabad-Lubavitch network. Still, Ginsburgh studied in Chabad institutions, developed a relationship with and studied with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, lived in Kfar Chabad, and draws on Chassidut and Kabbalah in his teaching. The Forward reports that since 2011 he has held an annual 19 Kislev event "in cooperation with the Chabad Hasidic sect". Chabad students have attended classes there.[2][5] Satherley notes that "although Ginsburgh is affiliated with Chabad, Od Yosef Chai is not". She writes that the yeshiva is "neither mainstream religious Zionist… nor formally affiliated with the Hasidic movement, despite Ginsburgh's own affiliation with Chabad and despite his teachings being steeped in its Kabbalistic inheritance".[20]

Editor's note: Chabad supporters online often claim that Chabad has disavowed Ginsburgh, but no official Chabad statement or primary source documenting such a disavowal could be found.

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai, JGive (yeshiva's own fundraising profile – primary source), accessed June 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Natan Odenheimer, "The Kabbalist Who Would Be King of a New Jewish Monarchy in Israel", Forward, 14 October 2016.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "How one hilltop became an incubator for Israeli settler violence", +972 Magazine (left-wing), 2 January 2020.
  4. ↑ "Army to Curb Rampaging Israel Settlers", Los Angeles Times, 3 June 1989.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "Shift & Shake: Jewish Terrorism", Times of Israel blogs (opinion), 27 September 2023.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "The King's Torah: A Rabbinic Text or a Call to Terror?", Haaretz, 22 January 2010.
  7. ↑ Tomer Zarchin, "Israel's AG Closes Probe Into Authors of Allegedly Racist Book", Haaretz, 29 May 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Marcy Oster, "Case closed against 'The King's Torah' authors", JTA, 28 May 2012.
  9. ↑ "Case Closed Against Authors of 'The King's Torah'", Arutz Sheva (settler-aligned outlet), May 2012.
  10. ↑ "No indictment against King's Torah authors", Ynet, 28 May 2012.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Border Police force takes over Yitzhar yeshiva", Times of Israel, April 2014.
  12. ↑ "Teen charged with attacking police in Yitzhar", Times of Israel, April 2014.
  13. ↑ "Ya'alon extends IDF's seizure of Yitzhar yeshiva by 3 months", Times of Israel, June 2014.
  14. ↑ Tamar Pileggi, "IDF lifts seizure of radical West Bank yeshiva", Times of Israel, 2 June 2015.
  15. ↑ "Alleged Jewish extremists banned from West Bank, Jerusalem", Times of Israel, August 2015.
  16. ↑ "'Price-tag' tactics of West Bank Jewish settlers", BBC News, 17 September 2012.
  17. ↑ Tessa Satherley, Unity and Opposites in Israel's Settler Movement: Rabbi Tzvi Yisrael Tau and Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh (PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2015), p. 195.
  18. ↑ Satherley (2015), p. 183.
  19. ↑ Satherley (2015), p. 193.
  20. ↑ Satherley (2015), pp. 175, 186 n. 26.