‫ב"ה‬
Request for Information about
Semicha Program
A talmid of your yeshiva has applied for membership in the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). As you
can see at http://www.rabbis.org/pdfs/ApprovedYeshivot.pdf, the RCA has not yet evaluated your yeshiva.
This is a neutral statement, meaning only that the RCA has not yet evaluated the semicha program, most
likely because no previous applicant for RCA membership presented it to us as a professional credential.
To help us learn about your yeshiva, please have a suitable administrator or other yeshiva representative
answer the following questions to the best of their ability. (If needed, please explain if a particular question
does not apply, and why.)
1) Name, title, and contact information (phone and email) of person answering these questions.
2) Yeshiva's complete name, address, phone number, website.
3) In what year was the yeshiva founded? In what year did it begin granting semicha? If no longer
granting semicha, when did it stop?
4) Names and contact information (address, phone, and email) for
a. those who sign the semicha
b. other rosh(ei) yeshiva
c. administrative head of semicha program
5) Please attach a photo of the main beit midrash at a time when semicha students generally study
there, and a second photo of the yeshiva's exterior.
6) Which yeshiva faculty members are usually available to guide talmidim as they study in the beit
midrash?
7) On average, how many students does the yeshiva have each year?
8) On average, how many semicha students does the yeshiva have each year?
9) On average, how long does a typical semicha student require to complete his studies and exams?
10) On average, how many individuals receive semicha each year?
11) What studies, degrees, prerequisites, references are required for admission to the semicha
program?
12) How many years of Torah study must a prospective musmach have in order to be admitted to the
semicha program?
13) Which sections of Talmud, Shulchan Aruch and commentaries must a prospective musmach
master in order to receive semicha?
14) Who teaches practical psak and hora’ah? How are these skills taught, and in what specific areas of
halacha?
15) Are bechinot oral or written? How many bechinot are required? How long do they take to
complete?
16) What formal language does the semicha document state (yoreh yoreh, rav u’manhig, rav b’Yisrael,
etc.) and why was that particular expression selected? What areas of hora'ah or p'sak, if any, does
it exclude?
We thank you and your yeshiva in advance for the time and effort we know it will take to submit answer to
these questions. In return, please note that after the RCA approves the yeshiva's semicha program, it will
be listed on our website, easing the way for the yeshiva's subsequent musmachim to obtain RCA
membership and access to our placement services and other benefits. Some yeshivot have found a letter
from the RCA can help the yeshiva attract quality candidates for its semicha program; we will be pleased to
provide such a letter upon request.
Please submit the answers to the question to Rabbi Barry Kornblau by email (bkornblau@rabbis.org), fax
(212 727 8452) or letter (Rabbinical Council of America, 305 7th Ave, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10001).
Email and organizational stationary are preferred but not required.
Sincerely yours,
The Rabbinical Council of America