About Us

The teachings of the Land of Israel are inexorably connected with the Jewish People and its Land. These native teachings imprinted by the Land of Israel are at the core of our Jewish Consciousnesses and are crucial instruments in raising our self awareness as a People and strengthening our ties with our Holy Land.

About Our Mission

The teachings of the Land of Israel are a source of a wealth of Jewish Wisdom and Ideas. As Jewish history progresses toward our ultimate redemption, opening up the hitherto  closed doors of the teachings of the Land of Israel is a very crucial project. We are researching the halakha, hashkafa and character of the teachings of  the Land of Israel and are bringing to light their rich and unique substance, ultimately giving them a prominence of their own. We are poised at making a mark on our People by producing and disseminating materials targeting all kinds of audiences, enriching and inspiring them in away appreciable by each one in their own way. From the broader audience to the Israeli legal system, the teachings of the Land of Israel have yet to make their contribution!

After spending many years in the study of the Talmud Yerushalmi and inquiring into its structure and composition I came to the realization that an entire field of Torah Study remains to be unveiled. The Gaon of Vilna once said that Messianic times will be marked by a renewed interest in the study and analysis of the Talmud Yerushalmi. The last few years of my own inquiry into the character of the Talmud Yerushalmi have yielded more than one thousand observations on phenomena related to the redaction, composition, and character of the Talmud Yerushalmi. These observations, combined with a continued study of the Talmud Yerushalmi can serve as the raw material for a myriad of studies each having the potential of bringing to light much important information about the Talmud Yerushalmi. Each study is just a piece of a much larger puzzle.

In order to realize this mission, Rabbi Michael Linetsky founded the Talmud Yerushalmi Institute with the help and guidance of Dr. Norman Lamm. Highlights of Studies that are currently in progress include Earlier Strata in the Talmud Yerushalmi, which researches the composition and various stages of the Talmud Yerushalmi. It also includes Textual Borrowings, which identifies and explores a variety of discourses which were evidently copied from one location and inserted into a completely different context where the discourse has a significantly different meaning. The study attempts to place the activity of the redactor/redactors within the history of the Talmud Yerushalmi based on their preference of avoiding tampering with the text at the expense of creating an extremely difficult to read pericope. 

Board of Directors

Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, Chancellor of Yeshiva University

Board of Directors Emeritus

Rabbi Michael Linetsky

Institute Founder & Board President

Dr. Joshua Weiss, PhD

Treasurer

Steering Committee

Rabbi Dr. Zvi Hirsch Weinreb

Executive Director Emeritus Orthodox Union

Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Cohen

Assistant Dean Bernard Revel Graduate School

Rabbi Shmuel Goldin

Former President, Rabbinical Council of America

Research Team

Rabbi Dr. Elazar Hurvitz

Halakhic, Midrashic & Geonic Literature & Genizah Research

Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Milgram

Talmud and Rabbinics

Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman

Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

In The Press

The Talmud Yerushalmi Institute’s Board President and Founder, Michael Linetsky, is a contributing author on the Jewish Press.

The Sages of the Land of Israel thousands of years ago gave us insights into the historical swings in the attitudes of the Nations towards the Jewish People. Their insights may help us make sense of what is going around us today in Israel and the world of anti-antisemitism! Click here for the full article.

Israel & The Nations

Unity among the Jewish People definitely exists, perhaps more often than among other people. When the life of a fellow Jew is at risk, Jews of all backgrounds come together to try to save him. Click here for the full article.

Jewish Unity

The Torah introduces the code of law that the Priest was to use in order to determine the ritual status of objects stricken with Leprosy, “to pronounce it pure, or to pronounce it impure” (Lev. 13:59).  Click here for the full article.

Leprosy: Stringency & Leniency

God commands Aaron and his children to observe God’s watch for seven days at the opening of the Tent of Meeting. The meaning of “God’s watch” here is not entirely clear. In what sense is this watch God’s? Click here for the full article.

All Death & Mourning Are Felt by the Cosmos