Monday, August 27, 2007

NorthCentralFreeway

North Central Freeway (Washington, D.C.)

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North Central Freeway
Formed: 1959
Decomd.: 1977
Numbered highways in Washington, D.C.

The North Central Freeway was a planned freeway in the District of Columbia that would have run from the Inner Loop in D.C. to the Capital Beltway (I-495) at Silver Spring.

The entire route was canceled in 1977 amid vitriolic protest from D.C. residents, angered at earlier proposed alignments for the route through the northern suburbs. The cancellation of the route led to the truncation of Interstate 95 at the College Park Interchange and its subsequent rerouting onto the eastern half of the Capital Beltway, and the truncation of Interstate 70S (now I-270) at its current terminus at Bethesda.

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[edit] Route description

In the final plans published in the 1971 D.C. Interstate System program, the North Central Freeway, ten lanes wide, would have begun at the Union Station interchange (where the East Leg Freeway (I-295), North Leg Freeway (I-66/I-95) and New York Avenue (US 50) would meet) and run north, paralleling the B&O railroad corridor as far as the Brookland area, where it would have entered a 3/4-mile tunnel south of Rhode Island Ave., emerging to the north of Michigan Avenue. Running north it would have continued along the railroad corridor to Fort Totten, Washington, D.C., where it would have junctioned the eight-lane Northeast Freeway. I-95 would have joined the North Central Freeway from the North Leg Freeway and followed it to Fort Totten, where it would have turned east onto the Northeast Freeway and exited the District, eventually junctioning I-495 at the College Park Interchange.

The remainder of the North Central Freeway, now part of I-70S and six lanes wide, would have continued along the B&O railroad corridor, passing beneath Takoma Park, Washington, D.C. in a 1/2-mile tunnel, and terminated at a large wye junction with I-495. I-70S would have begun at the southern terminus of the Northeast Expressway and followed the North Central Freeway all the way to I-495, with I-70S following the western leg of the wye and a short section of the Beltway to its existing wye junction in Bethesda.

[edit] History

[edit] 1959 North Central Freeway

In 1959, the Mass Transportation Plan outlined a North Central Freeway routing that would parallel Georgia Avenue through northern D.C. However, no detailed studies into the feasibility or impact of this route were undertaken at the time. A later study conducted in 1964 included diagrams of the 1959 route, but with the roadway in a 4-2-4 configuration instead of a 3-3 configuration. [1]

[edit] 1962 North Central Freeway

In November 1962, the Kennedy administration released a document "Recommendations for Transportation in the National Capital Region; A Report to the President for transmittal to Congress by the National Capital Transportation Agency".

It replaced the 1959 concept of 3 separate northern radial mixed traffic highways with that of a 2 into 1 "Y" route for a North Central Freeway as inside-the-Beltway I-70S, joined by an I-95 North East Freeway near Fort Totten, and continue together as the I-95 North Central Freeway.

The I-70S and I-95 portions of the North Central would be routed along the existing B&O Metropolitan Branch RR (today's WMATA Red Line). Accordingly, this avoids "the substantial relocation of persons, loss of taxable property and disruption of neighborhoods that would result from construction of the Northeast, North Central and Northwest Freeways proposed in the 1959 plan. Further savings are realized by placing the rapid transit lines to Silver Spring and Queen's Chapel in this same railroad corridor."

This B&O "Y" route concept North Central Freeway was later politically undermined by planning that failed to follow it. [2]

[edit] 1963-64 North Central Freeway Study

In a series of proposals published in 1963 and 1964, the subsequent study of the North Central Freeway and Northeast Freeway indirectly ignored earlier suggestions regarding the use of the B&O railroad corridor; instead, no fewer than 17 separate alignments were proposed for the NCF south of the Northeast Freeway, and a staggering 35 were proposed for the NCF (I-70S) north of it, many of which did not make much use of the railroad alignment.

One important aspect of the study was the consideration of consolidating the North Central Freeway (I-70S) and Northeast Freeway (I-95) into a single freeway that would run south to the Inner Loop (designated solely as I-95). Many different alignments, including ones paralleling Georgia Avenue and Sherman Avenue through northern D.C., were considered as part of a consolidated routing of the North Central Freeway south of the Northeast Freeway. [3]

The study as a whole generally rejected alignments paralleling Georgia Avenue in favor of alignments along the B&O railroad, primarily due to the residential nature of the former and the disruption that the route would engender if sent through it. However, it did not reject out-of-hand the concept of separate routings for the North Central Freeway and the Northeast Freeway due to concerns that the former would not be able to handle the traffic levels of both routes combined. Twelve of the alternate routes considered by the study had this separated route approach, with the North Central Freeway routed via Georgia Avenue and Sherman Avenue; the other 5 advocated the consolidated alignment. Many of the alignments proposed for the North Central Freeway north of I-95 would have resulted in wholesale neighborhood demolition, with hundreds of homes completely removed to make space for the freeway and the expansive interchanges planned for it. [3]

The study itself recommended the construction of a consolidated alignment, with the North Central Freeway following the B&O all the way through the District and outside it, within the Capital Beltway, before turning to follow 16th St. to the Beltway, which it would meet, and continue north of, near Sligo Park. Surprisingly, the study stated that the North Central Freeway north of the Beltway would not carry an Interstate designation throughout. [3]

[edit] 1966 Supplementary Study

The enormous opposition to the 1964 and 1965 alignments for the North Central Freeway led to a supplementary study being conducted in 1966 that more closely examined routings that paralleled the existing B&O railroad corridor. Most of the alternatives created during this study retained a six-lane configuration for the northern I-70S segment and an eight-lane configuration for the southern I-95 segment. Three major options were considered:

  • a high-level option, with the freeway elevated over the railroad, allowing most of the industrial properties to remain in situ
  • a low-level option, with the freeway directly adjacent to the railroad or slightly below it
  • a below-grade option, with the railroad and Metro facilities suspended over the freeway
  • a concealed-railroad option, with the railroad and Metro buried beneath the freeway alignment

The option chosen was the low-level option. Tunnels would be constructed in the vicinity of Montgomery College, and the freeway would be depressed in the Brookland area. However, in the Takoma Park, Washington, D.C. the freeway would be slightly elevated, yet the crossing of Georgia Avenue would be depressed instead of elevated in the 1964 proposal. [4]

The low-level option relocated the I-70S/I-495 wye interchange to a point 3/4 mile west of Georgia Avenue (MD 97), with the western wye of the interchange closely hugging the railroad alignment on its western edge; various short tunnels would be constructed to carry the freeway across parking lots and under the railroad, where it would join the eastern leg of the wye and continue south as a six-lane freeway. One major characteristic of this alignment, as compared to previous alignments, is its close companionship with the railroad; the separate carriageways would cross under/over it repeatedly to avoid housing developments and other areas; in Takoma Park, the railroad would be flanked by I-70S's carriageways, while south of Van Burean Street the southbound carriageway would shift to the northern side of the railroad and meet the Northeast Freeway near Riggs Road and New Hampshire Avenue. [4]

The 1966 plan included separate ramp connections to and from both freeways and North Capitol Street, but deleted 'round-the-corner' connections to and from southbound I-70S and northbound I-95. South of the Northeast Freeway, the North Central Freeway would run to the east of the railroad, after passing through a 950-foot tunnel in the Brookland area. At the point where the railroad curves to the southwest, the freeway would continue south and enter the site of the Union Station interchange, sparing 3 blocks near Jackson St. NE but removing 69 homes in the freeway's path. Also, the 196 plans for the North Central Freeway removed the reversible roadway that had been previously considered. [4]

The final length of the NCF would have been 7.71 miles, cost approximately $193 million to build, and would have displaced 535 homes and 159 businesses. Ultimately, the plan was doomed by further opposition as a direct result of indecisiveness on the part of D.C. and Maryland transportation officials. [4]

[edit] 1968 Major Transportation Plan

In 1968, the U.S. National Capital Planning Commission released an updated Major Transportation Plan for the D.C. area which deleted the North Central Freeway and Northeast Freeway from the city's freeway grid. Traffic that would have made use of these freeway corridors was expected to either use the local street grid or the Capital Beltway. I-70S would have terminated on the Capital Beltway (as I-270 does now), and I-95 would have followed New York Avenue to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, then continued north to its original routing, possibly via the Capital Beltway. [5]

The justification used for this deletion, as recorded in the NCPC's "Red Book", was that traffic with destinations beyond the District should not be permitted to travel through the District, but instead bypass it via the Beltway. Traffic with destinations within the District, as noted above, were expected to use the street grid; the NCPC further justified this by stating that the Interstate Highway System as defined did not guarantee direct inner-city access. Furthermore, the NCPC also baldly stated that the construction of the North Central Freeway would simply provide another way into the District for commuters, which was seen as undesirable and unnecessary. [5]

[edit] 1971 De Leuw-Weese Study

In 1971, a study released by DeLeuw retained the I-70S/I-95 North Central Freeway configuration. The study's various alternatives differed little from one another; one major similarity was the I-70S/I-95 wye junction, with the six-lane I-70S and the eight-lane I-95 (narrowing to six lanes, with the remaining two forming off ramps to North Capitol St.) merging into a 12-lane freeway that would quickly narrow to 10 lanes within the Union Station interchange. The plans included the 3/4-mile Rhode Island Ave.-Michigan Ave. tunnel, as well as revisions to an earlier 1970 proposal that would reduce the number of homes required to be removed from 69 to 34. [6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Willinger, Douglas. A Trip Within the Beltway: 1959 North Central Freeway URL accessed 13:57, 13 February 2007.
  2. ^ Willinger, Douglas. A Trip Within the Beltway: 1962 North Central Freeway
  3. ^ a b c Willinger, Douglas. A Trip Within the Beltway: 1963-64 North Central Freeway Study URL accessed 13:33, 13 February 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d Willinger, Douglas. A Trip Within the Beltway: 1966 North Central Freeway Supplemental Study URL accessed 15:15, 8 February 2007.
  5. ^ a b Willinger, Douglas. A Trip Within the Beltway: And so does the US National Capital Planning Commission URL accessed 14:45, 8 February 2007.
  6. ^ Willinger, Douglas. A Trip Within the Beltway: 1971 DeLuew URL accessed 14:56, 8 February 2007.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Central_Freeway_%28Washington%2C_D.C.%29"
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Telshe yeshiva

Telshe yeshiva

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Old photo of Telshe yeshiva, Telšiai, Lithuania
Old photo of Telshe yeshiva, Telšiai, Lithuania

Telshe yeshiva was a famous Eastern European yeshiva founded in the Lithuanian town of Telšiai. After World War II the yeshiva relocated to Wickliffe, Ohio in the United States and is currently known as the Rabbinical College of Telshe, (commonly referred to as Telz Yeshiva or Telz in short.) It is one of the most prominent Haredi institutions of Torah study.

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[edit] History

The yeshiva was founded in 1875 in the town of Telšiai ("Telshe" in Russian or "Telz" in Yiddish) to provide for the religious educational needs of young Jewish men in Telshe and its surrounding towns.

The yeshiva was established by three important Orthodox rabbis and Talmudists - Rabbi Meir Atlas, later the Rabbi of Shavel and the father-in-law of Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, Rabbi Zvi Yaakov Oppenheim who later became the Rabbi of Kelm and Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Abel, the brother-in-law of Rabbi Shimon Shkop. They received financial assistance from a Jewish banker in Berlin - Mr. Ovadyah Lachman.

[edit] Rabbi Eliezer Gordon

Rabbi Eliezer Gordon
Rabbi Eliezer Gordon

In 1884, Rabbi Eliezer Gordon was appointed as both the rav (head rabbi) of Telz and its rosh yeshiva ("dean/head of the yeshiva"). Rabbi Gordon was a brilliant Talmudist and expert in Torah law. A student of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, Rabbi Gordon had been appointed by Rabbi Salanter as a maggid shiur (lecturer) in Rabbi Salanter's yeshiva at a young age. He also served as rabbi in Kelm, and for a brief time in Slabodka.

Rabbi Gordon was not satisfied with a yeshiva that served only the younger students in Telz and the vicinity, and set himself to the task of expanding it.

In 1884 Rabbi Gordon added his son-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch to the faculty and in 1885 he acquired the talents of Rabbi Shimon Shkop.

Both Rabbi Bloch and Rabbi Shkop were innovators in the field of Jewish education, each pioneering new methods and approaches to the study of the Torah (Hebrew Bible), Talmud and Halakha (Jewish law). Together, their methodical formulae set down the foundation for what became known in the world of Torah study as the Telzer Derekh ( the "Telzer approach").

Rabbi Gordon instituted various innovations, which were cause for a rapid increase in the student body. Among them were designating lectures for specific student levels. Whereas other contemporary yeshivas provided one level of study for all students, Telz, provided students with lectures commensurate with a student’s age and understanding. When a student’s standard had advanced, he would advance to the next level of classes. The benefits of such a system are self-explanatory and this system was soon integrated into the structure of almost all yeshivas and remains the accepted structure in most yeshivas worldwide. There were five different levels of classes and Rabbi Gordon delivered the highest one.

The yeshiva was originally housed in a building provided by the Telz community; however, student numbers increased so dramatically that larger premises were called for. Subsequently, in 1894 the yeshiva moved into a new purpose-built building. In the same year, the yeshiva added a new subject of study - mussar ("Jewish ethics"). Prior to this, the study of mussar had been a students’ personal prerogative; now, it was a part of the yeshiva curriculum. A new faculty position was created: mussar mashgiach (teacher of ethics). The yeshiva’s first mussar mashgiach was Rabbi Ben Zion Kranitz, a student of Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv. Rabbi Kranitz was very mild mannered, and did not force his students to accept the mussar approach. In 1897, however, Rabbi Gordon engaged a new mussar mashgiach - the dynamic Rabbi Leib Chasman, who instituted a very strict mussar regime in the yeshiva. Many of the students opposed this approach, which caused dissent among the student body. Rabbi Chasman later achieved world renown as the senior mussar mashgiach at the Hebron yeshiva in Jerusalem.

In 1902, Rabbi Shimon Shkop left the yeshiva to fill the position of rabbi to the community of Breinsk, Lithuania. In 1905 Rabbi Chaim Rabinowitz joined the yeshiva to fill the void left by Rabbi Shkop’s departure. Prior to his appointment at Telz, Rabbi Rabinowitz had served as rabbi to the town of Meishad, and later as a maggid shiur ("lecturer") at the Knesses Beis Yitzchak yeshiva in Kovno, Lithuania. As with his predecessor, Rabbi Rabinowitz innovated a unique style of Talmudic analysis, which further added to the yeshiva’s reputation.

In 1910, whilst fundraising for the yeshiva in London, Rabbi Gordon suffered a heart attack and passed away. His twenty-nine years as head of the yeshiva had seen a small town institution grow into a world famous center of Talmudic study. He had stamped his imprint onto the lives of hundreds of young men, many of whom were great Talmudists in their own right. Among his students were: Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, Rabbi Zvi Pesach Frank and Rabbi Yehezkel Abramsky and others who in turn left their imprint on Jewish society and culture.

[edit] Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch

Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch
Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch

Following Rabbi Gordon’s passing, his son-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch assumed the mantle of leadership as both rabbi to the community and rosh yeshiva.

Not only was Rabbi Bloch an innovator in the realms of Talmudic analysis, he also possessed a unique approach to Torah study and Jewish philosophy. During Rabbi Gordon’s lifetime, Rabbi Bloch had left the yeshiva’s direction to him, however, with his elevation to dean of the yeshiva, Rabbi Bloch was free to guide the school in the direction and manner of his choice.

Rabbi Bloch did not regard his obligation to enhance educational standards as being limited to the yeshiva itself, and in 1920, he established in Telz primary schools for both boys and girls. In the same year, Rabbi Bloch added a mechina ("preparatory school" ) to the yeshiva. Previously, older students would tutor younger students who entered the yeshiva but were not up to the standard of the lowest class. The mechina was structured in the same fashion as the yeshiva itself with four levels of classes commensurate with the different levels of student advancement. At the time, the notion of a yeshiva possessing its own preparatory school was novel. Today, however, it has become an accepted norm, something Rabbi Bloch pioneered.

In addition to studying an easier version of the yeshiva curriculum, the mechina also featured secular studies, another innovation at the time. This was cause for opposition from the ranks of many rabbis, who were unaccustomed to the idea of secular studies occupying a position in any form of yeshiva. In 1924, however, the Lithuanian government announced its decision to accredit only those rabbinical colleges that possessed a secular studies department. The Rabbinical College of Telshe was the only such institute. It is to be stressed, though, that secular studies did not occupy a place in the yeshiva itself, but only in its mechina.

1922 saw the founding of a kollel ("postgraduate institute"), the aim of which was to train graduates for the rabbinate. Admission was not easy; a student had to display great promise and the institute soon became known as an exclusive school for higher studies. Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Katz, a son-in-law of Rabbi Bloch served as dean (rosh hakollel).

In 1918, a teachers training institute had been established in Kovno; however, the seminary did not achieve much success. The faculty of the academy turned to Rabbi Bloch, renowned for his pedagogical prowess, to take it over, and, in 1925 The Yavneh School for the Training of Teachers reopened in Telz under the auspices of The Rabbinical College of Telshe. This served as a postgraduate institute, with the charter of producing teachers for Jewish schools. The curriculum at the teacher’s institute included educational skills, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, the Hebrew language and literature and mathematics. The school succeeded in supplying qualified and trained teachers of a high caliber not only to the communities of Lithuania, but also to those of greater Europe.

Yavneh Girls High School Building in Telz, Lithuania.
Yavneh Girls High School Building in Telz, Lithuania.

For many years the Jewish community in Lithuania had lacked a structured educational system for teenage girls. Rabbi Bloch felt that such a concept was called for and in 1927 a high school department for girls was established in Telshe. The school found immediate praise and support from many rabbis and community leaders who saw the immense value that such an institute had to offer.

In 1930, a sister institute to The Yavneh Teacher’s Training Institute was opened, offering a two year course to young women who wished to enter the field of education. Like its counterpart, the female division of the school succeeded in producing many high quality teachers who branched out across Europe.

These various schools were all incorporated as a part of The Rabbinical College of Telshe. Thus, under Rabbi Bloch’s leadership, the yeshiva grew to include young primary school students through to qualified professionals, ready to embark on careers in the rabbinate and Jewish education.

A committee was established for the publication of the lectures (shiurim) delivered in the yeshiva and subsequently, the lectures of Rabbi Bloch and Rabbi Rabinowitz were circulated and studied in other yeshivas. The popular acceptance of their novellae in the yeshiva world today, is due much to their circulation in the pre-Holocaust yeshiva world.

In October of 1930, Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch died, and his second oldest son, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch succeeded him as both Rabbi to the community and rosh yeshiva.

[edit] Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch

At the time of Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch’s passing, his son Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch was only thirty eight years old; however, he had been lecturing in the yeshiva since 1926 and had already acquired a name as one of the greatest minds in the rabbinic world.

Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Bloch’s two brothers: Rabbi Zalman Bloch and Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch also occupied positions within the yeshiva. All remained dedicated to continuing with their father’s educational methods and approach.

In 1931, a committee was established in the yeshiva for the furtherance of Jewish education. The committee’s goal was to ensure that traditional Jewish education was available to as many Jewish children as possible. The committee saw the organization of schools in small towns where there had previously been little or no structured system of schooling. Older students in the yeshiva were selected to teach for periods of time at these schools, following which, they would return to continue their studies at the yeshiva. In addition to providing many communities at large with new educational options, these schools also gave Telzer students another opportunity for self-development and growth.

Exactly one year and a day after the passing of Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch, Rabbi Chaim Rabinowitz died. Following Rabbi Rabinowitz’s death, his son, Rabbi Azriel Rabinowitz was appointed as a rosh yeshiva. Rabbi Azriel Rabinowitz was only twenty-six years old and was already an acclaimed illui ("genius").

In 1933, the yeshiva built a new building to house the mechina ("preparatory school"). Until the onset of World War II, the yeshiva continued to offer traditional Jewish education to all ages. The establishment of schools outside of Telz had furthered this goal.

[edit] The Holocaust

During the early years of the Holocaust Rabbi Elya Meir Bloch and Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Katz were in the United States on a fund raising mission. As the war broke out, their original intention was to transfer the whole yeshiva on American soil. Within a short time they established the yeshiva in Cleveland, Ohio. The original faculty, their families and most of the student body left behind in Europe, were killed in Lithuania by Nazi forces and Lithuanian collaborators.

In 1939 when the Russians enter Lithuania, they eventually closed down the yeshiva. Most of the students dispersed with only about a hundred students remaining there in Telshe. The learning was done in groups of 20-25 students studying in various batai medrashim ("small synagogues") led by the rosh yeshivas.

In June 1941, a group of students led by Rabbi Chaim Stein escaped from war-ravaged Lithuania as it was overrun by the Nazis. Escaping to Russia they were sent to Siberia. In 1944 they were freed and after the war many of them came to Cleveland to join up with the yeshiva.

[edit] Telshe in the United States

The yeshiva was transplanted to the United States during World War II, when two of its rosh yeshivas ("deans") chose to re-establish it in Cleveland, Ohio where it still remains. The yeshiva was opened in Cleveland in the house of Yitzchak & Sarah Feigenbaum on 20 Cheshvan 5702 (1941). It is affiliated with the Agudath Israel of America (the Haredi) movement.

The yeshiva again became a well-respected center of Talmudic study, incorporating the distinct methods of the historic institution.

In the United States the yeshiva was led by a strong faculty. Among the faculty were, Rabbi Boruch Sorotzkin, Rabbi Mordechai Gifter, Rabbi Chaim Stein, Rabbi Aizik Ausband and Rabbi Pesach Stein. Today the yeshiva is led by the senior deans Rabbi Chaim Stein and Rabbi Aizik Ausband and Rabbi Yitzchok Sorotzkin and the associate dean Rabbi Shlomo Eisenberger. Associate dean Rabbi David Barkin died December 20, 2006.

Telshe has a strong alumni base. Some of the leaders of Orthodoxy in the United States and in the international Orthodox Jewish community are graduates of the college. Some well known alumni are: Rabbi Zev Leff - Israel, Rabbi Gedaliah Anemer, Washington, DC - Silver Spring, MD, Rabbi Moshe Leib Rabinovich, Rebbe of Munkacs - Brooklyn, NY, Rabbi Avraham Ausband – Riverdale, NY, Rabbi Moshe Silberberg – Israel, and the late Rabbi Mordechai Weinberg of Montreal, Canada.

Telshe yeshiva, being a residential institution with students from around the world, also has a department of secular studies. Students can earn a high school diploma studying Ohio-based history, science, English, and mathematics.

[edit] Branches

[edit] External links

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