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Coordinates: 37°52′10″S 145°00′03″E / 37.8695°S 145.0009°E / -37.8695; 145.0009
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{{unsourced section|date=January 2023}}
{{Short description|Chabad school}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2018}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox school
{{Infobox school
| name = Beth Rivkah Ladies College
| name = Beth Rivkah Ladies College
| logo =
| image = Beth Rivkah entrance.jpg
| image = Beth Rivkah entrance.jpg
| caption = The main entrance to the high school
| caption = The main entrance to the high school
| motto =
| motto =
| established = 1956
| established = {{start date and age|1956}}
| type = Independent, [[Single-sex school|Single-gender]], [[Day school]]
| type = [[Comprehensive School#Australia|comprehensive]] single-sex primary and secondary day school
| denomination = [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] [[Jewish]]
| denomination = [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] Jewish
| slogan = "Educating for life"
| oversight = [[Yeshivah Centre, Melbourne]]
| slogan = Educating for life
| principal = Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ybr.vic.edu.au/portfolio/rabbi-yehoshua-smukler-principal-yeshivah-beth-rivkah-colleges/ | title = Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler – Principal, YBR Colleges | work = YBR Website | accessdate = 29 January 2015 }}</ref>
| principal =
| city = [[East St Kilda, Victoria|East St Kilda]]
| state = [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]
| location = [[East St Kilda, Victoria|East St Kilda]], [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]
| country = Australia{{flagicon|Australia}}
| country = Australia
| coordinates = {{coord|-37.8695|145.0009|type:edu_region:AU|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates = {{coord|-37.8695|145.0009|type:edu_region:AU-VIC|display=inline,title|format=dms}}
|pushpin_map = Australia Melbourne
|pushpin_image =
|pushpin_mapsize = 240
|pushpin_map_alt =
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in [[Melbourne|greater metropolitan Melbourne]]
|pushpin_label =
|pushpin_label_position = top
|module = {{Infobox mapframe
|stroke-colour = #C60C30
|stroke-width = 3
|marker = school
|marker-colour = #1F2F57
|zoom = 13 }}
| enrolment =
| enrolment =
| num_employ =
| num_employ =
| products =
| grades = Kindergarten to [[Year 12]]
| grades_label = Years
| colours = Navy Blue <br>{{colour box|#000080}} {{colour box|#FFD700}}
| colours = Navy blue and yellow {{colour box|#000080}}{{colour box|#FFD700}}
| homepage = {{URL|ybr.vic.edu.au}}
| homepage = {{URL|ybr.vic.edu.au}}
}}
}}
'''Beth Rivkah Ladies College''' or '''[[Beth Rivkah]] Lubavitch''' is an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]], [[Comprehensive School#Australia|comprehensive]], [[Primary school|primary]] and [[Secondary school|secondary]] day school for girls, located on [[Balaclava, Victoria|Balaclava]] Road, [[East St Kilda]] in [[Melbourne]], Australia.
'''Beth Rivkah Ladies College''' or '''Beth Rivkah Lubavitch''' is a [[single-sex education|single-gender]] girls' K-12 [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] [[Jewish]] day-school on [[Balaclava, Victoria|Balaclava]] Road, [[East St Kilda]] in [[Melbourne]] run by the [[Chabad-Lubavitch]] movement's [[Yeshivah Centre, Melbourne|Yeshivah Centre]]. The school runs from kindergarten through to Year 12. By including a comprehensive secular curriculum it is geared in its approach to accommodating children from a non-religious background whose parents would otherwise not agree to enrol their children there. It also serves the purpose of providing an Orthodox Jewish day-school to Orthodox parents who also value a secular education. Most of its students come from non-Chabad families. It is known for its academic excellence, and its matriculants regularly score high in the [[Victorian Certificate of Education|VCE]].


Established in 1956 and managed by the [[Chabad-Lubavitch]] movement's [[Yeshivah Centre, Melbourne|Yeshivah Centre]], it goes from [[kindergarten]] to [[Year 12]]. Most of its students come from non-Chabad families.
== Early history ==
The school was founded in 1956 by Moshe Zalman Feiglin, [[Yehoshua Shneur Zalman Serebryanski]], and others)
In mid-1956 Rabbi Schneerson sent a letter "To Chabad activists in Melbourne," urging:
:“A girls’ school is extremely crucial. It is surprising that there are doubts about this among those who contemplate the talks of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, and several of his letters. He emphasised the vital need to educate girls tens of times, and at least no less than [he emphasised] educating boys."<ref>From a letter of 18 Av, 5716 [1956]</ref>


In 2017, the school had the distinction of having the Chief Rabbi of Israel come and address students. Rabbi David Lau was visiting Melbourne on his Australia tour.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Rebecca |last2=Zlatkis |first2=Evan |title=Chief Rabbi Lau tours Australia |url=https://www.australianjewishnews.com/chief-rabbi-lau-tours-australia/ |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=www.australianjewishnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
Two days later, on 20 Av 5716 [1956],<ref>Sichos Kodesh 5716, p. 338</ref> Moshe Zalman Feiglin and his son, Dovid, attended a ''[[Farbrengen]]'', a Chassidic gathering, in the court of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Rebbe addressed them, saying:
:“The [Previous] Rebbe established an institution to educate boys in Australia, and through his prayers for abundant divine mercy it is led with enormous success, and Reb Moshe Zalman Feiglin and his son Reb Dovid Feiglin, along with the entire family, are among those at the head. Since we have discussed that educating girls is no less important than educating boys, and even more [important], they should establish an institution to educate girls as well, and the Feiglin family should be among those at the head.”


Shimon Waronker became the principal in 2020.
Afterwards the Rebbe wrote to Ya’akov Eliezer Herzog:
:“You are surely aware that the Chossid who has accomplished much, Reb Moshe Zalman Feiglin and his son Reb Dovid Feiglin are now here. I have received the impression from my conversation with them that it is crucial to immediately establish a girls’ school according to the Chabad approach (with the name Beis Rivkah or Beis Sara) ... I have even told them that they should not wait to found a girls’ school until they find a building or a house—and certainly not until they build a building. Rather, since rumour has it that there is an empty room in the Yeshiva building, in the woman’s section, or the like, they should make a separate opening for entry and departure for the girls (and also a fence in the courtyard, to prevent mixing) and as soon as they [the Feiglins] return to Melbourne successfully, studies should commence."<ref name="ReferenceA">From a letter of 29 Av, 5716 [1956].</ref>

The Rebbe made clear what the philosophy of the school was to be. In a letter to Mendel New he wrote of "the vital necessity not only to expand the Yeshivas Oholei Yosef Yitzchok Lubavitch in Melbourne, but also to found, open up, and expand a girls’ school, Beth Rivkah, according to the philosophy of Chabad education."<ref name="ReferenceA" />

The Rebbe regarded himself as a direct partner in this enterprise:
:“Since I too am entering into a partnership ... I wish to take part in the financial side as well. I hereby enclose a check as participation in the founding and bolstering of the Lubavitcher Beth Rivkah School of Australia.”<ref>From a letter of 7 Tishrei, 5717 [1956], to Moshe Zalman Feiglin.</ref>

The Rebbe allayed the concerns of those who thought the financial burden of maintaining the school too great:
:“As for what you write concerning the founding of the Beth Rivkah, and the concern that it not harm the Yeshiva [financially] ... [you should remember the words of the Previous Rebbe regarding the] importance of educating girls, of Jewish education in general, and of Chasidic education in particular. ... No room remains for doubt as to whether there should be a Beth Rivkah, or not, G-d forbid. ... The doubt is only how to establish the income such that it will be independent. In fact, the situation in this respect is better [for Beth Rivkah] than for the [[Yeshivas Oholei Yosef Yitzchok Lubavitch]]."<ref>From a letter of 7 Kislev, 5717 [1956], to Shmuel Betzalel Althaus.</ref>

Mrs. Suzi Herz had founded the Herz kindergarten and primary school in 1950. When Rabbi Schneerson called for a girls' school, Zalman Serebryanski and Moshe Feiglin approached Mrs. Herz, and offered to join forces, expanding her school and dubbing it Beth Rivkah, with Mrs. Herz as its headmistress. She accepted the offer, and remained headmistress until she immigrated to the [[Land of Israel]] in 1971.

== Current administration and policies ==

The school, as a branch of the Yeshiva Centre umbrella, was under the administration of Rabbi [[Yitzchok Dovid Groner]deceased in 2008], and Mr. [[Shmuel Gurevitch]] However, in 2013 Rabbi Smukler took over as principal of the college as Mr Gurevitch was resigning after 42 years of principal-ship.

Although the students at the school are mostly [[Ashkenazi Jews]], with a large element of [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidim]] and other [[Haredim]], Mr. Gurevitch introduced that when Hebrew is spoken it should follow the [[Modern Hebrew]] pronunciation. He claimed that this would make the school more attractive to as yet non-observant or minimally-observant Jews, whom he argued would identify more with that form of pronunciation. He claimed that he told this to Rabbi Schneerson, who consented to this.<ref>See [http://www.chabadtalk.com/forum/attachment.php3?attachmentid=334&d=1070933168 transcript of Gurevitch's private audience with the Rebbe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006081736/http://www.chabadtalk.com/forum/attachment.php3?attachmentid=334&d=1070933168 |date=6 October 2007 }}.</ref>

The school is part of the larger network of facilities of the Yeshivah Centre, which include a youth movement, Jewish studies classes, day camps, and many other initiatives that benefit Melbourne's wider Jewish community.


==See also==
==See also==
*[[Hasidic Judaism]]
{{Portal|Schools|Judaism}}
*[[Torah study]]
*[[Torah study]]


== References ==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.ybr.vic.edu.au/ Official School Site]
* {{Official website|url=http://www.ybr.vic.edu.au/}}

{{Secondary schools in Victoria}}
{{Chabad}}
{{Chabad}}
{{Jews and Judaism in Australia}}
{{Jews and Judaism in Australia}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Chabad schools]]
[[Category:Chabad schools]]
[[Category:Girls' schools in Australia]]
[[Category:Girls' schools in Victoria (state)]]
[[Category:Judaism in Australia]]
[[Category:Hasidic Judaism in Australia]]
[[Category:Orthodox Jewish schools for women]]
[[Category:Orthodox Jewish schools for women]]
⚫
[[Category:Jewish schools in Australia]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Melbourne]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Melbourne]]
[[Category:Private schools in Victoria (Australia)]]
[[Category:Jewish schools in Melbourne]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1956]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1956]]
[[Category:1956 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:1956 establishments in Australia]]
⚫
[[Category:Orthodox yeshivas in Australia]]
[[Category:St Kilda East, Victoria]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in the City of Port Phillip]]

Latest revision as of 04:07, 30 May 2024

Beth Rivkah Ladies College
The main entrance to the high school
Location
Map
East St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria

Australia
Coordinates37°52′10″S 145°00′03″E / 37.8695°S 145.0009°E / -37.8695; 145.0009
Information
Typecomprehensive single-sex primary and secondary day school
DenominationOrthodox Jewish
Established1956; 69 years ago (1956)
OversightYeshivah Centre, Melbourne
YearsKindergarten to Year 12
Colour(s)Navy blue and yellow   
SloganEducating for life
Websiteybr.vic.edu.au
Map

Beth Rivkah Ladies College or Beth Rivkah Lubavitch is an Orthodox Jewish, comprehensive, primary and secondary day school for girls, located on Balaclava Road, East St Kilda in Melbourne, Australia.

Established in 1956 and managed by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement's Yeshivah Centre, it goes from kindergarten to Year 12. Most of its students come from non-Chabad families.

In 2017, the school had the distinction of having the Chief Rabbi of Israel come and address students. Rabbi David Lau was visiting Melbourne on his Australia tour.[1]

Shimon Waronker became the principal in 2020.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Davis, Rebecca; Zlatkis, Evan. "Chief Rabbi Lau tours Australia". www.australianjewishnews.com. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
[edit]
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