Although authorization for opening its doors has been granted, veteran rabbis at the flagship yeshiva of the national-religious sector are not doing so for now. The Jerusalem yeshiva of Mercaz Harav, named for the first chief rabbi of Israel Rabbi Avraham Kook, is delaying reopening until more time elapses and a thorough plan of action can be instituted without pressure.
One of the major issues to resolve is operating the yeshiva in the absence of the veteran rabbis who normally take responsibility for the learning of the students. The age of these rabbis makes their presence problematic at the moment. There is also the issue of students learning with distance between them and in small groups, new phenomena in the culture of the yeshiva that could stifle learning. Yeshiva learning is traditionally done in pairs, where the two students in close proximity to one another.