✡ Yeshivat Tikkunei Ava

✡ יְשִׁיבַת תִּקּוּנֵי עַוָּא

Yeshivat Tikkunei Ava — An Educational Initiative of Ava Torah Judaism

The town of Ava, Missouri was renamed in 1881 after the ancient city of Ava, spelled עַוָּא, mentioned in Melachim (2 Kings) 17:24 — one of the cities from which the King of Assyria brought settlers to replace the exiled tribes of Israel.

Yeshivat Tikkunei Ava exists to fulfill a tikkun, a rectification of the distortion and avodah zarah signified by the ancient city of Ava. Therefore this site exists to educate ba’alei teshuvah and geirim to fulfill the tefillah that has been said billions of times by Jews, 3 times a day, for at least 2,000 years:

הָשִׁיבָה שׁוֹפְטֵינוּ כְּבָרִאשׁוֹנָה

“Restore our judges as at first”

At first there were judges from all tribes. Not only the recent exiles — the ba’alei teshuvah, Jews returning to Torah observance — but also the ancient exiles, the geirim, those souls scattered among the nations who are now finding their way home. And that’s what composes our community here in Ava, MO and the potential that surrounds it.

And lest we wonder what place these returning souls (maybe you — yourself) have among Israel, the prophet Yechezkel makes it unmistakable:

וְהָיָה תַּפִּלוּ אוֹתָהּ בְּנַחֲלָה לָכֶם וּלְהַגֵּרִים הַגָּרִים בְּתוֹכְכֶם, אֲשֶׁר הוֹלִידוּ בָנִים בְּתוֹכְכֶם; וְהָיוּ לָכֶם כְּאֶזְרָח בִּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, אִתְּכֶם יִפְּלוּ בְנַחֲלָה בְּתוֹךְ שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. וְהָיָה בַשֵּׁבֶט אֲשֶׁר גָּר הַגֵּר אִתּוֹ, שָׁם תִּתְּנוּ נַחֲלָתוֹ — נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי ה׳.

“You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the geirim who sojourn among you, who have fathered children among you. They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Yisrael; with you they shall receive an inheritance among the tribes of Yisrael. And it shall be, in whatever tribe the ger sojourns, there you shall give him his inheritance — declares Ado-nai Hashem.” — Yechezkel 47:22-23

This yeshivah exists to educate and equip these returning souls — ba’alei teshuvah and geirim — with the vocabulary, halakhic mind, middot, and Torah knowledge they need to prepare for semichah under qualified rabbinic authority. We do not grant semichah — we prepare you to earn it. All materials are presented in English with parallel Hebrew, and Russian and Spanish are in process of integration — so that language is never a barrier — you can begin serious Torah study right where you are.

Consider the precedent. In Divrei HaYamim (2 Chronicles) 2:16-17, Shlomo HaMelech conducted a census of the geirim in Eretz Yisrael. The number reached 153,600. He divided them into three categories of laborers for the construction of the Beit HaMikdash, and 3,600 of them were appointed נַצָּחִים — overseers and leaders of the work. The geirim didn’t just witness the building of the House of Hashem — they built it with their own hands, and their most prepared rose to lead. When the opportunity comes, preparation is what separates a laborer from a leader.

Dual-track: Rav u’Manhig (communal leadership) & Yoreh Yoreh (halakhic rulings)

Mussar: The Foundation of Character

The study of Torah demands refinement of character (middot). R. Yishmael teaches (Pirkei Avot 4:5): "One who learns in order to practice, it is granted to him to learn, to teach, to observe, and to practice." Study, teach, observe, and practice — a rabbi whose actions do not reflect the Torah he teaches constitutes a chilul Hashem.

"Man is fitting to emulate his Creator, and then he will be in the secret of the Supernal Form — image and likeness. For if he resembles Him in body but not in actions, he falsifies the Form, and they will say of him: 'A beautiful form whose deeds are ugly.' For the essence of the Supernal Image and Likeness consists in actions."
— R. Moshe Cordovero, Tomer Devorah, Ch. 1 (trans. Tomer Devorah — A Reflective Guide)

We encourage all students to study mussar works alongside halakhah: Orchot Tzaddikim, Tomer Devorah, Mesillat Yesharim, and other classics of character refinement.

Visit our Bookstore for recommended seforim →