Jewish Records: What is the Largest Yeshiva in the World?

The Mir Yeshiva was established in the city of Mir, Belarus by Rabbi Shmuel Tiktinsky in 1815. The yeshiva initially had a small number of students, and by 1899 it served approximately 120 students. In the period between the two World Wars, the yeshiva grew and became renowned in the Torah world. By World War II, the yeshiva had a student body of 400, and was known as "The Yeshiva of Roshei Yeshiva" (Heads of Yeshivas), as many yeshiva leaders emerged from it.

During World War II, after many tribulations, many of the Mir Yeshiva's students received entry visas to Japan. These visas, which saved them from the clutches of the Nazis, were distributed by Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul in Lithuania. Later, Sugihara received the title "Righteous Among the Nations" for saving hundreds of yeshiva students and their teachers. After about 9 months in Japan, the students were exiled to Shanghai, where they were welcomed by the local Jewish community.

After the war, the Mir Yeshiva students immigrated to the United States, though many eventually made their way to Israel with their rabbis and teachers. In 1944, the yeshiva was re-established in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood by Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel.

Today, the yeshiva has close to 10,000 students from around the world, and classes are held in five languages: Hebrew, Yiddish, French, English, and Russian.