The Ariel Institute
The Ariel Institute, located in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem, was founded in 1979 by Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi Emeritus and President of the rabbinical courts of Haifa, and current Chairman of the Board of the Fischel Foundation.
Ariel was established in order to provide a multi-faceted institute of higher learning, which would oversee the activities of Machon Harry Fischel, as well as create and supervise a number of additional enterprises, including:
- Machon "Nezer David", a program of study which delves into the writings of Rabbi Cohen's father, Rabbi David Cohen, zt"l;
- Biannual Study Seminars for hundreds of Rabbis across Israel, covering a wide range of topics relevant to the daily activities of members of the Rabbinate;
- Rabbinical Court, for deciding on matters of Jewish Law;
- Rabbinic training program, for certifying the next generation of rabbis and communal leaders, and preparing them to deal with modern questions and problems that arise in today's world;
- Rabbinical Judge training program, for advanced level learning of Jewish law and ultimately qualifying its participants as rabbinical judges.
Ariel's programs train the finest rabbis and rabbinical barristers, who serve as spiritual leaders in Israel, the IDF and throughout the Jewish world. Its graduates possess a level of spiritual leadership that inspires with acceptance and openness, building bridges between the world of Torah and the modern society of the State of Israel.
Over the years Ariel has developed numerous programs and activities, including a yeshivah equivalent to the Open University. It also publishes a wide range of books and periodicals. One of the significant works it has published is the "Rashi Hashalem" ("the complete Rashi") Chumash, which was produced after many years of research by a group of scholars at Ariel. This multi-volume work gathers the sources and alternative versions of Rashi's biblical commentary in effort to elucidate and shed new light on Rashi's remarks.
At Ariel, the combination of research and learning centers, conferences, seminars and publications, and cultural, charitable and social activities join together to strengthen the bonds to Torah values, Judaism and the unity of our people.
In addition to Rabbi Cohen's involvement, the Ariel rabbinical staff has comprised some of the greatest Torah authorities in the world today, including Rabbi Zalman Nehemia Goldberg and Rabbi Beztalel Ma'ayani zt"l.