It was established in 1890, outside the walls of Jaffa.[1] One of the first public institutions, built in 1895, was Sha'arei Torah, the beit midrash of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, which included a synagogue, a primary school, a high school and craft workshops. In addition to religious studies, the students learned carpentry and metalwork. In 1905, Rabbi Kook's brother-in-law, Raphael Rabinowitz-Teomim, established a girls' school that became an important center of Hebrew culture and language-learning.[2]