Who We Are

List of 3 items.

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  HARAV GEDALIAH ANEMER, Z"TL, FOUNDER & ROSH HAYESHIVA

  HaRav Gedaliah Anemer, ZT”L, was the founder and Rosh HaYeshiva, a position that he held until his passing more than 40 years later. He concurrently served as the Rov of Young Israel Shomrai Emunah for half a century. As one of the preeminent talmidim of the Telshe Yeshiva under Rav Elya Meir Bloch, ZT”L, and Rav Chaim Mordechai Katz, ZT”L, Rabbi Anemer possessed both the knowledge and the insight necessary to teach – and to reach – every student.
  
  Rabbi Anemer imbued the yeshiva with unshakeable values and passion as he guided the institution – and the Greater Washington Jewish community – with Daas Torah and wisdom. Starting with a class of six students in 1963, the yeshiva quickly grew to a full high school and then added a junior high school. The YGW umbrella expanded to encompass the Yeshiva Gedolah in 1994 and Kollel Zichron Amram in 1997.
  
  Today, the founders’ uncompromising standards – and the love of learning – remain unchanged. YGW bears Rabbi Anemer’s stamp of excellence as well as his name: upon the Yeshiva’s 50th anniversary, it was named “Tiferes Gedaliah” in honor of our inimitable founder.
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  RAV AHRON LOPIANSKY, ROSH HAYESHIVA

  Rav Ahron Lopiansky is the current Rosh HaYeshiva of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington – Tiferes Gedaliah. He studied and received rabbinic ordination from the Mir Yeshiva of Jerusalem and continues the mesorah of his rebbeim, Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz ztz”l and Rav Nachum Partzovitz ztz”l. In Israel, Rabbi Lopiansky taught at Aish HaTorah from 1983-1990, and then taught at the Mir for five years before assuming the post of Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva Gedolah here in 1994.
  
  Rav Lopiansky is a prolific author, having written more than 20 works on Torah thought, liturgy, and philosophy, and lectures widely both nationally and internationally. He has contributed to Encyclopedia Talmudis, is a founding editorial board member of Klal Perspectives, and an editorial board member of Dialogue.
  
  He was active in many broader outreach activities such as the Hishtalmut program of Israeli Army officers and the dissemination of Torah to Soviet Jewry, having been one of the teachers to travel and teach in Soviet Russia. He was then active in helping their physical and spiritual relocation to Israel. The ultimate goal of our Rosh HaYeshiva is to inspire every student toward leading a life of Torah learning, by instilling passion and dedication into the Bnei Torah in our care.
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  RABBI YITZCHOK MERKIN, HEADMASTER

  Rabbi Yitzchok Merkin spent numerous years in the yeshiva and kollel of Yeshivas Chaim Berlin and was fortunate to learn under the previous Rosh HaYeshiva Rav Yitzchak Hutner zt”l, and the current Rosh HaYeshiva Rav Ahron Schechter shlita, A master mechanech, he is a world-renowned chinuch expert. As a preeminent leader of Torah U’Mesorah, Rabbi Merkin has devoted decades to training and advising rabbeim and menahelim nationwide. 
  
  He holds an MA in Psychology and Education and spent several years in a special graduate training program in educational theory and instruction under legendary theorists Ernie Stokowski and Madeline Hunter. For nearly four decades, Rabbi Merkin has helped bring the yeshiva to its current status as a highly respected Jewish educational institution.