Mizrachi South Africa

Mizrachi is the global Religious Zionist movement, spreading Torat Eretz Yisrael across the world and strengthening the bond between the international Jewish community and the State of Israel. Mizrachi inspires people with a sense of commitment to the Torah, the Jewish people and the Land of Israel. 

Based in Jerusalem and with branches across the globe, Mizrachi – an acronym for merkaz ruchani (spiritual center) – was founded in 1902 by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines and was officially founded in South Africa in 1997 on the Yeshiva College Campus. 

Rav Doron Perez is the Chief Executive of the Mizrachi World Movement, a position he has held since he returned to Israel in 2014 from Johannesburg, South Africa. 

During his 15-year shlichut in South Africa, Rav Perez fulfilled multiple leadership roles, as Executive Director of Mizrachi South Africa, the Senior Rabbi of the Mizrachi Shul, and Head of the Yeshiva College school, the first and largest Torah school in Southern Africa. 

Rav Perez was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, and made Aliyah at the age of 18. He studied for 10 years in some of Israel’s leading Yeshivot, served in the IDF as part of the Hesder program, and completed his rabbinic ordination and a Bachelor of Education majoring in Jewish Philosophy. He is currently studying for an MA in Jewish History. He is the author of the book Leading the Way, and a sought-after speaker and scholar-in-residence in communities in Israel and around the world. 

At World Mizrachi, Rav Perez’s major focus is on organisational transformation and invigorating the global Religious Zionist movement with its dual focus on Jewish and Zionist identity and destiny. 

Rav Perez lives in Yad Binyamin with his wife Shelley and four children.

Yeshiva College
South Africa

Yeshiva College is the first and currently the largest Torah school in Southern Africa and amongst the largest in the southern hemisphere. Yeshiva has over 900 students and a staff complement of 170 professionals spanning across 5 schools: playschool; pre-primary school; primary school; girls high school and boys high school. 

Yeshiva College was founded by Rabbi Avraham Tanzer Z”l. Rabbi Tanzer was born in Brooklyn New York, U S A in October 1935. He was educated at the Yeshiva Torah Ve d’as in New York, and at the Telsher Yeshiva in Cleveland, Ohio. After he received smicha, he continued as a fellow at the Post Graduate Institute Kollel Yad Eliyahu Meir, and was also a graduate at the Kaufman Teaching Institute in Cleveland. 

As Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva College of South Africa since 1963, the schools developed under his jurisdiction include: Yeshiva College Boys High School, Yeshiva Leila Bronner Girls High School, Yeshiva Menora Primary School, Yeshiva Menora Primary School and Yeshiva Pre-Grade and I E Goldberg Nursery Schools. 

At Yeshiva College, we are driven by a passion for Torah learning and living. We focus on academic excellence evident in our consistently outstanding matric results and 100% pass rate. Zionism and a deep commitment to the People, Land and State of Israel are at the heart of our ethos. Sport is central to our curriculum and Yeshiva continues to excel across all sporting arenas. 

Our mission is to create a nurturing environment in which the school partners with parents to provide excellence in Torah Chinuch (education) and General Studies, in order to prepare children for life and its responsibilities as Torah Jews, with values in line with the core values of our school. 

Yeshiva’s vibrant, warm and energetic culture focuses on educating the whole person, nurturing individuality and leadership qualities of each and every student. 

The result: a value based, well-rounded and confident individual equipped to face the challenges of life ahead.

Facts

Established in 1953, Yeshiva College is a Co-educational, Private and independent school located in Glenhazel, Johannesburg. With over 900 pupils and 170 staff members it has a Playschool, Pre-primary school, Primary school, Girls high school and a Boys high school and has four terms per year.

Mission Statement

To create a nurturing environment in which the Yeshiva partners with parents to provide excellence in Torah Chinuch (education) and General Studies, in order to prepare children for life and its responsibilities as Torah Jews, with values in line with the core values of our school.

Core Values

Ahavat Hashem

nurturing a meaningful relationship with Hashem.

Commitment To Halacha

striving to live according to Torah values.

Talmud Torah

pursuit of Torah learning.

Derech Eretz

approaching all endeavours with responsibility and integrity.

Gemillut Chassadim

respect, sensitivity, tolerance and concern for all.

Love of Eretz Yisrael

and appreciation of the State of Israel.

Emunah Beit Midrash

Over the past twenty years the Emunah Beit Midrash has established itself as the centre for spiritual growth, Torah inspiration and the promotion of religious Zionist ideals for women in the broader South African Jewish community. All types of Jews can acquire their rightful stake in Torah through regular weekly shiurim, study programmes and community events and activities. 

Emunah South Africa mirrors the Emunah organisation of Israel which emphasises issues of social welfare and education. Standing out amongst Emunah’s projects in South Africa is its fundraising drive for Achuzat Sarah Orphanage in Israel in Bnei Brak providing a home for many children who have no other. 

The Emunah Batmitzvah programme is designed to provide girls with in-depth Torah knowledge and spiritual growth as they embark on this exciting new chapter of their lives into adulthood.

Bnei Akiva
South Africa

Bnei Akiva South Africa is a branch of the World Bnei Akiva Youth Movement, an education focused worldwide community, providing Jewish education, Israel education, life changing programmes and camps for over 125 000 members throughout the world. Originally founded in 1929, Bnei Akiva is currently the largest youth movement in the world. Over the last seven decades, Bnei Akiva South Africa has formed into the largest and most active youth movement in our country. Through love and dedication, the Bnei Akiva Madrichim continue to instil within our community’s youth a strong love for Judaism, a passion for Israel and a sense of responsibility to ones fellow man, which are the core values of the organisation. 

Bnei Akiva annually uplifts the lives of more than 2 500 of our youth across South Africa. We have centres in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban where weekly activities take place and where our dedicated madrichim bond and create connections with our chanichim while educating them in an informal and enjoyable way about Torah, Judaism and of course Eretz Yisrael! 

The summer camp in beautiful Mossel Bay attracts around 1 000 campers each year in December for a truly life-changing experience for the Jewish identity of its channichim and madrichim. Bnei Akiva’s short and long-term programmes to Israel are also part of the movement’s greatest achievements. 

Bnei Akiva’s continued success is built on two foundations. Firstly, the selfless dedication of its many madrichim and counsellors. And secondly, Bnei Akiva’s ideology of “Eretz Yisrael, le’am Yisrael, Al pi Torat Yisrael – a love for the Torah, land and people of Israel.”