Some 1,500 people gathered Wednesday night at the International Conference Center in Jerusalem for a festive jubilee marking 60 years since the founding of Har Zion Yeshiva by Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein, of blessed memory.
Among the attendees were community rabbis, educators, Torah scholars, and alumni from across generations, both from Israel and abroad. Additional alumni communities around the world participated simultaneously via closed-circuit broadcast.
Throughout the evening, documentaries and presentations chronicled the yeshiva's history. The highlight of the night was a musical medley recreating the yeshiva's melodies over the decades, performed jointly by veteran alumni alongside the current student generation.
Notable guests included the senior rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl, and guest of honor Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, who addressed the crowd in both Hebrew and English, blessed the yeshiva's supporters, and offered a special blessing to the yeshiva's dean, Rabbi Yitzchak Goldstein.
The event also highlighted the yeshiva's ongoing efforts to secure its legal status on Mount Zion - including a 100-year lease on the yeshiva's grounds and the resolution of pending legal challenges from various parties.