chatzer strauss

Discover
Chatzer Strauss

Where past, present and future touch
In one timeless courtyard.

Step into a hidden corner of the Torah world of yesterday.

Right outside the walls of the Old City sits a forgotten historic jewel – the best-kept secret of Yerushalayim.

Over 100 years ago, Chatzer Strauss was the home and learning center of the greatest Talmidei Chachamim of Yerushalayim. As the heart of Eretz Yisrael’s Mussar movement, Torah and Mussar poured forth from this hallowed courtyard for decades.

Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld. Rav Yitzele Blazer. Rav Aryeh Leib (Leibtchik) Broide. Rav Simcha Zissel Broide. These and many other historic luminaries lived and learned their Torah in Chatzer Strauss.

Today, this illustrious Chatzer is once again in Jewish hands.
It is once again a vibrant center of Torah, as the home of Yeshiva Nesivos Aharon.

Now you can experience the Chatzer for yourself. Visit the rooms where our Gedolim learned and taught. Discover its rich history… and its legendary miracles.
The glory of our past. The strength of our present. The promise of our future.

The Gedolim of the Chatzer

Rav Itzele Blazer

(1837 – 1907)

One of the prime students of Rav Yisrael Salanter, Rav Itzele served as the Chief Rabbi of St. Petersburg and head of the Kovno Kollel and authored the Pri Yitzchak and the mussar sefer, Kochvei Ohr. Famed as one of the Gedolei Baalei Hamussar, Rav Itzele brought the Mussar movement to Eretz Yisrael when he moved there in 1904, settling in the Chatzer and founding its Beis Hamussar.

Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld

(1848 – 1932)

The chief rabbi of the Yishuv Hayashan, Rav Sonnenfeld was appointmented Nasi and Rosh Yeshiva of the Chatzer’s Beis HaTalmud and Yeshivas Ohr Chadash in 1899. While, unlike the Baalei Mussar, he didn’t live in the Chatzer, he would come every day to give shiur.

Rav Aryeh Leib (Leibtchik) Broide

(1834 – 1928)

The brother of the Alter of Kelm, Reb Aryeh Leib became head of the Kelm Talmud Torah after the Alter’s death. Upon moving to Eretz Yisrael in 1903, Reb Leibtchik settled in Chatzer Strauss with his entire extended family.

Rav Naftali Amsterdam

(1832 – 1916)

One of the primary talmidim of Rav Yisrael Salanter and leaders of the Mussar movement (together with Rav Itzele Blazer and Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv Broide), Rav Naftali moved to Yerushalayim in 1906, where he settled in the Chatzer and became one of the founders of the Mussar movement in Eretz Yisrael.

Rav Simcha Zissel Broide

(1912 – 2000)

The famed Rosh Yeshiva of Chevron, Rav Simcha Zissel, has been described as one of the great mussar educators of our generation. Son of Rav Chizkiyahu Avraham and great-grandson of Rav Aryeh Leib, Rav Simcha Zissel was born and raised in the Chatzer.

Rav Yitzchak Nasan Kuperstock

The author of Meoros Nasan and maggid shiur in the Tchebiner Yeshiva, Rav Kuperstock was another illustrious member of the Chatzer’s second generation, like Rav Simcha Zissel (with whom he was very close), having been born and raised there.

Beit Hamusar

In the media

Reb Shmuel Strauss

A wealthy German banker and philanthropist with a deep desire to own land in Eretz Yisrael,

Reb Strauss was encouraged by the Alter of Kelm to purchase a plot right outside the Old City walls to provide apartments for talmidei chachamim who would engage in the study of mussar.

In 1896, he purchased the courtyard that would become known as Chatzer Strauss.

Their Legacy Preserved
Their Legacy Continued.

The legacy of the glory days of the Chatzer is still preserved today in rich historical documents that
give us a captivating glimpse into the yeshiva world of yesteryear.

Read these documents and gain a fascinating understanding of
how our modern-day practices have their roots in the past.

Discover Chatzer Strauss