The Yeshiva Gedolah Rabbinical College of Greater Miami was founded in September of 1972 and opened its doors the following year. The initial student body consisted of eleven students from the Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim-Lubavitch in New York, all selected by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Rabbi Yehuda Leib Schapiro, a leading graduate of the parent school, was selected as the first Rosh Yeshiva.

The college was initially located in a small, stucco house. In spite of its woefully inadequate facilities, the enrollment steadily increased until it reached 30 students in the 1980’s from around the United States, Canada, Israel, Latin America and the former Iron Curtain countries. At the end of the 90’s enrollment fluctuated between 30 and 55 Bochurim. Many applicants have been rejected because of the limited physical space, but the Yeshiva has generally been able to maintain a high faculty-student ratio of less than 10:1. In October, 1974, the Yeshiva moved to its $2 million facility in Miami Beach, opposite Flamingo Park. From 1978 through 1984, the Yeshiva operated a postsecondary-level preparatory program (New Directions-Yeshivas Tifferes Bochurim) in an adjacent facility. Its students were primarily college graduates and transfer students who lacked sufficient Hebraic knowledge and Talmudic study skills to be admitted to the Yeshiva’s regular course of study. Students who completed that program transferred to the regular rabbinical program or to other rabbinical programs in the United States and Israel.

In 1984, Rabbi Abraham Korf, upon assuming the position of Dean, combined the Yeshiva Gedolah and Landow Yeshiva/Lubavitch Educational Center under the corporate umbrella of Friends of Lubavitch Florida Inc, which had hitherto exercised only general, supervisory authority. Friends of Lubavitch of Florida is the ecclesiastical supervisory authority for all Lubavitch institutions in the State of Florida. In 1987, Rabbi Joseph Abrahams, formerly the mashpia and senior lecturer in Chassidic thought at Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim-Lod (Israel), was selected to teach here.

In February 1998 the Yeshiva Gedolah Rabbinical College was separated from its parent company (Friends of Lubavitch of Florida, Inc.) and was incorporated as a Not-for-Profit Corporation under the name of Yeshiva Gedolah Rabbinical College. Additional faculty was added and changed over the ensuing years. The Yeshiva’s many graduates serve as deans, lecturers, congregational rabbis and educators at Lubavitch and other Orthodox institutions around the world. Some have entered business or sought advanced training in other professions.