Imagine stepping into a secluded Beis Medrash, where Jerusalem’s Torah giants of the last century came to sequester themselves from the world and dedicate their hearts and souls to Torah, tefillah, Mussar study and self-growth.

Picture a place where Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Rav Yitzele Blazer, Rav Aryeh Leib (Leibtchik) Broide, Rav Simcha Zissel Broide and countless other historic luminaries lived and learned their Torah, and forged their deepest connections to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. 

Now add to that the stories of miracles of healing that abound about this Chatzer, particularly its “Cellar of Miracles” and you can begin to get a sense of the holiness and power of the Chatzer Strauss.

Situated next to Shaar Shechem (the Damascus Gate) of the Old City, the Strauss Courtyard was built in 1896 by Reb Shmuel Strauss, a wealthy German banker who had a deep desire to own a piece of land in Eretz Yisrael.   At the encouragement of Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, the Alter of Kelm, he purchased a plot right outside the Old City walls to build apartments for talmidei chachamim who would engage in the study of mussar – as, according to Rav Simcha Zissel, learning mussar in Jerusalem would bring the Geulah.

The Beis HaMussar: The Center of Eretz Yisrael’s Mussar Movement

In the ensuing decades, this courtyard, known as Chatzer Strauss, would become the residence of the greatest talmidei chachamim and tzaddikim of Yerushalayim, and the heart of Eretz Yisrael’s mussar movement.  It was home to Yeshivas Ohr Chadash, founded in 1897 in the Torah and mussar spirit of Rav Yisrael Salanter and led by Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld.

The courtyard also housed the illustrious Beis HaMussar, founded in 1904 by Rav Yitzele Blazer. When Rav Naftali Amsterdam arrived from Kovno two years later, he joined Rav Yitzele in leading the institution. With such giants at the helm, the Beis HaMussar quickly became the spiritual focal point of Yerushalayim, the place where the Torah giants of yesteryear would come together and sequester themselves in order to intensely focus on their Avodas Hashem.

Chatzer Strauss became renowned as one of the holiest corners of the Holy City, where Torah, tefillah and mussar growth took place throughout the day and night.