Where Are the Sepharadi Yeshivot?

Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel, the first Sephardic Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, learning with young students in Jerusalem

A quick glance across the Jewish educational landscape reveals a startling reality: the absence of traditional Sepharadi yeshivot across America, Europe and Israel. Jewish schooling, higher education and rabbinic training for Sepharadim have almost been entirely outsourced to institutions which offer a distinctly Ashkenazi approach to Torah study, halakha and, often, life.

The Sepharadi Yeshiva—one in which Sepharadi halakha, pronunciation, and culture is the norm, one in which Sepharadi Hakhamim(1) are studied, one in which Bible literacy and Hebrew grammar is prioritised, and one in which Torah is harmoniously integrated with worldly wisdom—does not exist. The idea today is a mere relic of the past and figment of the imagination.

We have a choice though: to lament and indulge in nostalgia, or to channel our admiration of this illustrious heritage into concrete efforts to build, restore, and renew. To understand what we are missing—and why its absence matters—we must first reflect on the legacy of the Sepharadi Yeshiva. From the flourishing academies of Spain to the vibrant Yeshivot and Rabbinic schools of the Middle East, North Africa, Western Europe and across the Ottoman Empire. Obviously, there is no one ‘Sepharadi’ Yeshiva; there were many, each with its own unique focus and flavor. However, today—at least to my knowledge—there are no institutions that can truly call themselves such, aware of its own unique identity and history, embodying the ethos and core ideals of a classical Sepharadi yeshiva.* That void should deeply trouble the Sepharadi community.

The Sepharadi Yeshiva: Wisdom Woven Into Torah 

In Babylonia, the great metivtot of Sura and Pumbedita safeguarded the Oral Law and produced a long line of Geonim. In Mikhmanei Uziel, Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel—the first Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel—writes that it is “without a doubt that these great Hakhamim, studied all the innovations of the wise sages and philosophers of the nations… separating the kernels from the chaff.” He further states,“The Yeshiva is dedicated to Torat Yisrael, but Torat Yisrael is not just a book of statutes, laws, commandments, and testimony. It is a cluster of henna flowers,(2) in which everything is contained. It is impossible to understand it, let alone plumb its depths, without a wide and comprehensive knowledge of the wisdoms of the world and the sciences that are hidden and concealed within creation and its mysteries.”(3) 

This legacy and tradition moved westwards through Kairouan in Tunisia, then towards Al-Andalus, where Lucena, “the Jerusalem of Andalusia” became one of the most important centers of Jewish scholarship in the 11th and 12th centuries. The Yeshiva of Lucena was led by luminaries such as Isaac Ibn Gayyat who is described as “one of the most distinguished of the Hebrew poets in Spain–a philosopher, physiologist, cosmographer, and astronomer”. Ibn Gayyat was “well versed in Greek wisdom“ and “devoted himself to, and excelled in, three spheres of studies, Liturgical Poetry, Philosophy, and Talmud."(4) Talmudists like Isaac Alfasi and Joseph Ibn Migash introduced a systematic approach to Halakha that became the model for Sephardic legal scholarship. It was from this milieu that the great Maimonides emerged. Studying at the feet of these giants, mastering Miqra, grammar, and Talmud, we see he was also immersed in the works of Aristotle, and his Muslim interpreters. By his teenage years, he had completed a purely philosophical work on logic, Maqala Fi-Sinat Al-Mantiq. 

This rich intellectual environment and rounded education, which seamlessly blended Torah study with philosophy, science, and broader wisdom, exemplifies the archetypal Sepharadi Yeshiva—a place of learning that embraces both the Word and World of God, in the pursuit of wisdom, truth and the knowledge of God.

In Exile: The Survival and Disappearance of the Sepharadi Yeshiva

The expulsion from Spain and subsequent dispersion, devastated Sephardic communities and uprooted the bastions of learning in Spain but the tradition survived. Manifesting differently in each locale, this legacy continued to live on across North Africa, the Middle East, Italy, Ottoman Empire, and Western Europe. Salonica, famously became a thriving hub of Sephardic life, and we know its Yeshivot attracted scholars from across the Jewish world.(5) R’ Samuel Isaac Modiliano referred to Salonica as a “legendary city among Israel, praised since ancient times; a prominent city of world-class scholars from which halakhic guidance radiated to all the provinces of the world”. (6)

We have records of Ashkenazi rabbis visiting the Amsterdam yeshiva in the 1600s. Passing through, R. Shebatai Horowitz lamented, “I wept over this, wondering why we cannot do the same in our own lands.” A certain R. Pohovitzer from Pinsk witnessed in the Sepharadi community in Hamburg remarking, “Even the least among the Sephardim are experts in the Bible.” (7) Unfortunately, such institutions are no longer —חבל על דאבדין—Alas for what we have lost. 

Students and teachers of the Rabbinical College of Rhodes circa 1930

A couple of years ago I was in Rhodes and I of course visited it’s Jewish Museum, housed in the Kahal Shalom Synagogue. There I noticed remnants of the short-lived Yeshiva of Rhodes. (8) This institution built in 1928 aimed to train Rabbis to serve the Sephardic diasporas. I was struck by the diversity of books lined up on its shelves. Designed to train rabbis, teachers, hazzanim, and shohetim, the Seminary offered a broad curriculum that integrated traditional Jewish studies, such as Hebrew language and literature, halakha, biblical exegesis, and religious philosophy, with modern secular subjects like mathematics, sciences, history, and multiple European and regional languages. 

Unfortunately, Sepharadi institutions of higher education suffered a serious decline by the early 20th century - or sooner, for a whole host of reasons. Another Sephardic Chief Rabbi Hakham Yaakov Meir, lamented the state of the Rabbinate, arguing that Torah scholars must also be people of science, capable of bridging worlds. He stated:

“We must not separate ourselves from anything; rather, we must absorb everything and make it part of who we are. If our God-fearing sages were more roundly educated, we could produce a generation that bridges the worlds of Torah and wisdom.” (9)

Today, this model is absent. What exists are yeshivot which are ‘Sepharadi’ in name alone but not in substance or in thought. In The Other Jews, Prof. Daniel J. Elazar lamented that Sepharadi yeshivot have been replaced by imitations of Ashkenazi institutions, which focus narrowly on Talmud study at the expense of Tanakh or broader intellectual engagement. 

“In the Israeli religious sphere, there are now dozens of small Sephardic yeshivot but no great metivta (institute of higher Torah learning) in which the Sephardic way of Torah is expressed. Instead, each of these small yeshivot imitates one or another Ashkenazi model in ways that inevitably cause them to be inferior to the Ashkenazi yeshivot. Efforts to establish an institution of higher torah learning that would reflect the broad Sephardic approach, combining the study of halakha and classical texts with Jewish history and thought, rhetoric, and languages, have failed for lack of proper support - moral support from Sephardic chief rabbis, monetary support from the Sephardic rich, or intellectual support from sephardic academic world”.  (10)

This was written in 1989, it would hold true today. This article, however, is not a lamentation, but a call to action.

Reclaiming the Sepharadi Yeshiva 

It is time to correct course. We need institutions that are deeply rooted in Miqra, Sepharadi halakha (lema'ase) and the customs, melodies, and rich cultural heritage of the Sephardic tradition. At the same time, these institutions should integrate Judaic studies and worldly wisdom, producing leaders who are not only steeped in rabbinics but who can also serve as eloquent ambassadors of Judaism to the wider community.

In an era that demands sophistication and nuance, we need leaders of whom the nations—and perhaps more importantly, Jews themselves—can say: עַם־חָכָ֣ם וְנָב֔וֹן הַגּ֥וֹי הַגָּד֖וֹל הַזֶּֽה "a wise and discerning this great nation is". (11)

We deserve rabbinic leaders who inspire us with their Torah, and who can stand as dignified, articulate representatives of our tradition and people. Without institutions we cannot expect to produce such individuals. We must create spaces that reflect the depth, wisdom, and beauty of the Sepharadi tradition—places the best and brightest will be proud to attend.

As Theodor Herzl famously wrote, “If you will it, it is no dream.” We must first recognize what we are missing first. Once we will it—then God-willing—this dream can turn into a reality. 

Let us reclaim the legacy. Let us reignite this old flame. Let us rebuild—for the sake of the Sephardic tradition we love, for Israel, and for a brighter Jewish future. (12)

Endnotes

(1) In particular the great Sepharadi Rabbis who lived in the four centuries between the two great Marans: Yosef Qaro and Ovadia Yosef.

(2) Reference to Shir Hashirim 1:14

(3) Mikhmanei Uziel, 405-406

(4) Rev. Dr. Chaim Zwi Taubes, Ph.D., Lekutay R. Isaac Ben Judah Ibn Gayyat to Tractate Berachoth

(5) Hakham Zevi Ashkenazi, one of the foremost Ashkenazi sages of his era, studied in Salonica where he became well-versed in the Sephardic approach. According to his son, the famed Rabbi Yaacov Emden, Hakham Zevi learnt Judeo-Spanish. This broad Sephardic training may have contributed to Hakham Zevi’s ability to serve as a fair arbitrator when Hakham David Nieto faced accusations of Spinozism in London. See She’elot Teshuvot Hakham Zevi #18

(6) Ne’eman Shemuel, no.31

(7) Yosie Levine, Hakham Zevi and the Battlegrounds of the Early Modern Rabbinate Littman Library, 2024 p.151

(8) As Aron Rodrigue highlights in The Rabbinical Seminary in Italian Rhodes, 1928–38 (Jewish Social Studies, Fall 2019), the seminary relied on funding and scholarships from the Italian Government and the Jewish community. Its closure in 1938 was ultimately due to insufficient investment and financial instability.

(9) Lucien Gubbay, Memorable Sephardi Voices (Montefiore Endowment, 2020)

(10) Daniel J. Elazar, The Other Jews: The Sephardim Today (New York: Basic Books, 1989). p201

(11) Devarim 4:6

(12) Micah Goodman, The Wandering Jew (Yale University Press, 2020), discusses how Sephardic traditionalism and can help bridge the divide between secularists and isolationists and help mend Israel's fractured society and address many of the difficult halakhic dilemmas of the day.

*There are some Sephardic Rabbinical colleges such as the Montefiore College which reopened in 2005 and the Syrian community’s Sephardic Rabbinical College based in Brooklyn that try to embody these ideals and play an important role, but these are semikha graduate schools not Yeshivot in the traditional sense. Yeshivat Moreshet Yerushalayim may be one exception, although it describes itself as a post-high school one year gap year program for young Syrians.