Yeshivat Ateret Tzvi

ASHDOT 1973 – A SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL WASTE LAND

That year, HAGAON HARAV AVRAHAM ALTMAN, SHILIT”A , immigrated to Israel from his native homeland of Buenos Aires and searched for a place to establish Yeshivat Ateret Tzvi. He saw that there were many Yeshivot in Jerusalem and he sought to establish a Yeshiva in a place where there was the greatest need enable to expand the study of Torah. That search brought him to Ashdod, at the time a spiritual desert. There were thousands of immigrants arriving in Israel primarily from the Arab countries, and he saw the great opportunity to create a home for these immigrants to help them acclimate to their new surroundings. Rabbi Altman quickly established a Yeshiva where in his gently loving manner inculcated these young boys and men with a love of Torah and a sense of belonging. Over the years the Yeshiva grew and moved from home to home until it’s current location. For over 48 years, Rabbi Altman and Yeshivat Ateret Tzvi have had an enormous impact on the City of Ashdod and it’s residents, changing and transforming the lives of not just the students, but the families and community at large. What was once just a barren waste land has been transformed into a thriving Torah community in which hundreds of students study all aspects of Torah and Jewish subjects on many levels.