Chofetz Chaim’s yeshiva reopens for students in Belarus for first time since WWII

The Radin Yeshiva, founded in 1869 by the Chofetz Chaim in Radun, Belarus, has reopened as a functioning yeshiva for the first time since World War II. The building had been converted into a theater after its history was obscured by the Holocaust and Soviet rule. Nonprofit Yad Yisroel purchased the building in 2025 and led restoration.

The Radin Yeshiva, founded in 1869 by the famed Lithuanian rabbi Yisrael Meir haKohen Kagan, known as the Chofetz Chaim, has reopened for students in Radun, Belarus, for the first time since World War II. The building had been converted into a theater after its history was obscured by the Holocaust and decades of Soviet rule. Canadian Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter discovered the building's use as a theater during a visit five years ago. Nonprofit Yad Yisroel purchased the yeshiva building from the municipality in 2025, spurring a year of restoration that included replacing the roof and windows, installing a new Torah ark, and recreating wooden lecterns and chairs. A library of books is being transported from Israel. The yeshiva closed after the Soviet occupation in 1939; Nazi Germany captured Radun in 1941. Some students escaped to Japan and the US, where the yeshiva was reestablished in New York. Hofstedter believes the yeshiva will draw interest from Jewish communities across Belarus and abroad.