Machon Yaakov
 | |
| Founder(s) | Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Jacobs |
|---|---|
| Established | 2005 |
| Location | Har Nof, Jerusalem, Israel |
| Coordinates | 31°46′56″N 35°10′18″E / 31.782152°N 35.171696°E |
| Address | 10 Ibn Denan |
| Website | http://www.machonyaakov.org/ |
Machon Yaakov is a baal teshuva yeshiva for men located in Har Nof, Jerusalem, Israel. Its faculty and student body are all English speaking.
The program, which is designed for students with little or no formal Jewish education, has a one-year minimum and a two-year maximum. Enrollment is limited to about 35 students, generally weighted about 2/3-1/3 between the first- and second- year programs.
History
Machon Yaakov was founded in 2005 by Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld (Rosh Yeshiva) and Rabbi Avraham Yitzchok Jacobs (Director). Machon Yaakov has its roots in a sister institution, Machon Shlomo (also located in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem), which enjoys a more than 25-year reputation for excellence in developing exceptional students. Rabbi Gershenfeld has been deeply involved with Machon Shlomo since its inception, and continues to serve as dean of that institution as well.
Around the year 2000, it became evident that Machon Shlomo would no longer be able to handle the number of applicants it was receiving. To remain true to its hands-on, intimate, and intensive program, Rabbi Gershenfeld asked Rabbi Jacobs - a graduate of Machon Shlomo, and by then a senior Wall Street executive - to begin making preparations for another program that would effectively double Machon Shlomo's capacity without compromising its core philosophy or its commitment to excellence. The result was Machon Yaakov, which opened its doors in September 2005.
Student Body
Machon Yaakov accepts 30-35 students total between the 1st and 2nd-year programs.
Students are selected based on a strong desire and ability to learn and grow intellectually, spiritually, and individually. First-year program admissions are limited to 22 students annually.
The typical student possesses a strong character, a passion for growth, an intellectual curiosity, and a natural sense of leadership.
Although mostly from the United States, Machon Yaakov students hail from a wide range of countries, including Chile, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Russia, England, Germany, Australia, Lithuania, and Hungary. However, fluency in English is required, as all classes are conducted in English.
Though all texts are studied in the original Hebrew and Aramaic languages, many of our students arrive with little or no background in Hebrew. A Hebrew language program is provided to bolster vocabulary and grammar. Most students make tremendous progress in reading skills within a matter of months, if not weeks, as the program is highly intensive and motivating.
The average student age is about 24, ranging from 20-30 (with exceptions made on an individual basises).
Machon Yaakov students represent such universities as Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, Cornell University, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Rutgers University, University of Maryland, Cambridge, the London School of Economics, UCLA, and many others.
Beyond geographic diversity, the students hold a wide range of interests as well, including backgrounds in business, finance, consulting, medicine, the arts (with several accomplished musicians and actors), and professional sports. While some students arrive at Machon Yaakov with professional experience, others come just after university or graduate school (or after receiving deferrals from specific undergraduate or graduate programs).
Each student is encouraged to express the uniqueness he was given, with no absolute right or wrong path to growth. The vast majority of our students naturally establish themselves as businessmen, doctors, lawyers and academics, while a small percentage may find their calling as rabbis and teachers (see Alumni section).
The Program
The academic schedule roughly follows the standard university calendar. However, as it begins begin 2–3 weeks before Rosh Hashana, the start date can be as late as mid-September or as early as mid-August. Machon Yaakov's 2012-2013 year starts August 28, 2012, and finishes after Shavuot, on May 16, 2013.
Machon Yaakov is also affiliated with various summer programs for those students interested in continuing studies in Jerusalem during the 10-week summer period between 1st and 2nd years. Vacation times fall during select Jewish holidays, including longer breaks before and after Succot in the Fall, during Pesach in the Spring, and a shorter break over Chanukah. Many students choose to travel during these times off.
The class schedule is broad and intensive, containing significant exposure to Talmudic analysis, Jewish philosophy, Jewish Law (Halacha), Hebrew language skills, and character development (with significant one-on-one counseling from several senior staff members). What follows are descriptions of several of the first-year courses.
Gemara Shiur (Lecture)
The Gemara is the teachings passed down by the rabbis in the centuries following the destruction of Second Temple, and forms the core of what has come to be known as rabbinic Judaism. The most widely studied of these rabbinic teachings are known collectively as the Talmud, which has two parts: Mishna and Gemara. Every morning after each student has worked alongside his chavrusa (study partner), he attends class given by one of the rabbis at the yeshiva where he clarifies and builds on his understanding of the day's assigned text.
Gemara Chavrusa
At Machon Yaakov, each student is paired with a chavrusa, a fellow student with a similar level of prior learning. The chavrusa-style of learning challenges each person to analyze, question, and explain the material in order to help sharpen and refine each other's understanding. Through this process, students often arrive at entirely new insights into the meaning of the text.
Business Ethics Shiur
A great deal of Talmudic material deals with business law. Each day there is a short shiur for first-year students that focuses on specific real-world cases from everyday life, finance, business and damages/personal responsibility in order to study the application of Torah principles.
Chumash with Rashi
The Chumash are the five books of the Written Torah. Rabbi Sholomo Itzhaki—or "Rashi" as he is more commonly known—was a French rabbi during the Medieval period. He is the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Chumash, as well as the Talmud. Today, thousands of people study "Chumash with Rashi." Each first-year will have a daily Chumash with Rashi shiur to help appreciate the portion of the week. Rashi clarifies the "simple" meaning of the text so one can have easier access to fully understanding the depths and complexities Chumash.
Mesilas Yesharim
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto is best known for his classical work, Mesilas Yesharim (Path of the Just). This book is studied in many yeshivas, and Machon Yaakov is no exception. The book is centered on character development through simple steps towards the perfection of the self. Within each step, Rabbi Luzzatto explains the step itself, its elements, and how it can be acquired, as well as providing students with an insightful journey of introspection and character development.
Halacha Shiur
The word "Halacha" is usually translated as "Jewish Law," although a more literal translation might be "the path that one walks." The Halacha shiur gives students an insight and a deeper understanding of the Jewish laws and customs surrounding daily life and holidays.
Tutors
Each student has an opportunity for tutoring on a one–on-one basis with a rabbi at the yeshiva. This time gives each student the valuable opportunity to practice their reading and translation skills, or to discuss a challenging section of Gemara from his morning shiur.
Tuition
The cost of the program is $14,000 a year. This amount includes tuition, room, and board. There is an additional charge of $200 annually to cover outside yeshiva events and travel (such as annual trips to Northern Israel, to Masada, and to Ein Gedi, as well as numerous other group activities).
Outside of the program, other expenses may include round-trip air-fare, medical insurance (a popular plan starts at about $1 a day), primary books ($50–$100), laundry, and spending money. Students wishing to utilize internet access or the American phone lines are charged nominal annual fees.
Financial Aid
Financial aid is available to students on need-based merit. Students receiving tuition assistance—which is generally provided by philanthropists, many of whom are yeshiva graduates—are expected to make a moral commitment to repaying the funds when they begin or re-join their careers in order to make such opportunities available to future students.
Staff
Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld
Co-Founder, Rosh Yeshiva and Senior Lecturer, Rabbi Gershenfeld has been teaching post-college Jewish youth for over twenty years both in Israel and the United States. His areas of special interest include illuminating the relevance of Jewish ethical traditions to modern society by revealing the beauty and exactitude of Biblical texts and inspiring students to become the educated, passionate and sophisticated leaders of the Jewish community today.
He is also presently the Dean of Yeshiva Machon Shlomo in Jerusalem, Dean of Sinai Retreats in the United States (which provides two-week experiential learning programs for college and post college students), and Educational Director for Meor Israel, which provides outreach programs on over twenty college campuses (including Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and Yale). Rabbi Gershenfeld received a BA and MA from Trinity College in Hartford, CT (1976), Phi Beta Kappa, and won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Japan. He and his family live in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel.
Rabbi Avraham Yitzhok Jacobs
Rabbi Jacobs is Co-Founder, Director and a Senior Lecturer at Machon Yaakov. Originally from Ocala, Florida, Rabbi Jacobs was until 2003 a senior managing director at JP Morgan, where he oversaw global stock research on telecommunications and provided strategic advice on some of the largest mergers in media/telecom history. Prior to that, he was a partner and senior telecom analyst at Sanford Bernstein, and was three times elected to the Institutional Investor All-American Analyst team. He has acted as a frequent commentator on network television and in leading newspapers and magazines, and has testif ied several times before the U.S. Congress.
His credits in print and broadcast journalism include nominations for both the Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism and the Emmy Award. Rabbi Jacobs holds an MS in Journalism from Columbia University (1985) and a BA in History from Northwestern University, where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa (1983). Rabbi Jacobs left Wall Street in the Summer of 2003 to move his family to Israel to pursue full-time his interest in studying and teaching Jewish law, philosophy and business ethics.
Rabbi Yosef Lynn
Rabbi Lynn is Dean of Students, Mashgiach (Spiritual Advisor), and a Senior Lecturer at Machon Yaakov. Originally from Palm Beach, Florida, Rabbi Lynn graduated as valedictorian from the University of Colorado at Boulder, College of Architecture, with Phi Beta Kappa honors. An avid athlete, Rabbi Lynn served as captain of the US National & World running-cycling team, as well as competing and finishing the International Ironman Triathlon competition.
Rabbi Lynn is currently pursuing a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a believer that true personal greatness results from understanding and building one’s strengths. He is also the founder and director of the Greatness Within Seminars, a successful approach to personal growth. Rabbi Lynn currently lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Regine, and four daughters.
Rabbi Jonathan Taub
Rabbi Taub was born and raised in London, England. He studied economics at Cambridge University where he obtained a master's degree, and subsequently worked as a chartered accountant. He pursued his Torah studies in the Mir Yeshivah and in the Kollel of Yeshivas Merkaz HaTorah. Rabbi Taub has been teaching in yeshivot in Israel for over twenty-five years, and is currently lecturing in a number of yeshivas and women's seminaries.
Together with Rabbi Yisroel Shaw, he translated and annotated the popular Malbim Haggadah, and subsequently the Malbim Esther. Rabbi Taub has a deep appreciation for the Malbim's style and close textual analysis, and tries to incorporate this into his teaching. Rabbi Taub is noted for his energy and excitement, aiming to reveal the “wow” in Torah. He is also an enthusiastic hiker, squash player, & enjoys writing humorous songs. He lives in Har Nof, Jerusalem with his wife and family.
Rabbi Immanuel Bernstein
Rabbi Bernstein teaches the highest Talmud shiur for the second-year students at Machon Yaakov while also lecturing on Chumash (the written Torah) and Hashkafa (Jewish philosophy and outlook). Born and raised in London, Rabbi Bernstein came to Israel following high-school, where he studied for a number of years in Yeshivas Ateres Yisrael in Jerusalem, receiving Rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Chaim Walkin in 2001.
Rabbi Bernstein is a distinguished author of both Hebrew and English books, publishing many works on Chumash, Talmud, and Tefillah (prayer). Additionally, Rabbi Bernstein offers weekly lectures that are open to the public on the weekly Torah portion, and other Talmudic topics. Rabbi Bernstein has taught Talmud in Yeshivat Ateres Yisrael, as well as lectured for a number of years at Michlala Jerusalem College for Women. He currently resides in Jerusalem with his family.
Rabbi Aharon Kronengold
Known for his exuberance and passion, Rabbi Kronengold has been connected to Machon Yaakov since in 2006. Rabbi Kronengold serves as a second-year Gemara rebbe and teaches first-year students about relevant Talmudic topics.
Born and raised in Manhattan, Rabbi Kronengold attended Yeshiva University High School before matriculating to Israel Yeshivas Be’er Yaakov and the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Before joining Machon Yaakov, Rabbi Kronengold taught advanced Talmudic logic at institutions including Meor HaTorah and the Mir Yeshiva, and received his rabbinic ordination from Yeshivas Be’er Yaakov from the esteemed rosh yeshiva, Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro.
Rabbi Kronengold and his family live in Har Nof, where students are often guests for Shabbos. The atmosphere is always lively and filled with conversation around Torah topics discussed both inside and outside the classroom.
Rabbi Noach Orlowek
Rabbi Orlowek is a world-renowned Jewish educator, lecturing on five continents, predominantly in the areas of parenting, teaching and interpersonal relationships. At Machon Yaakov, he lectures on relationships and character building, as well as advising students privately on a weekly basis. In addition to his work at Machon Yaakov, Rabbi Orlowek serves as mashgiach (Spiritual Advisor of Students) in Yeshivas Torah Ore in Jerusalem.
In more than 30 years of working with parents and students alike, Rabbi Orlowek has developed an approach to parenting and life that has been successfully applied with the students that he teaches. He is the author of My Child, My Disciple, practical advice on discipline in the home; My Disciple, My Child, practical advice on discipline in the classroom; and Raising Roses Among the Thorns: Bringing up Spiritually Healthy Children in Today's Society.
Rabbi Mattisyahu Rosenblum
As an afternoon and night rebbe at Machon Yaakov, Rabbi Rosenblum is a tremendous resource for the students who wish to deepen their connection to Torah outside of the classroom. In addition to learning one-on-one with students, Rabbi Rosenblum offers shiurs on Chumash and philosophy.
After graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa at Yale University in 1985, Rabbi Rosenblum spent 2 years at Machon Shlomo in Jerusalem before he decided to devote his life to learning, teaching, and connecting students to Torah.
Rabbi Rosenblum spent several years studying in Yeshivas Merkaz HaTorah and Yeshivas Heichal HaTorah. He currently resides in the community of Kiryat Ye'arim with his family.
Rabbi Yisrael Shaw
Rabbi Shaw learns one-on-one with Machon Yaakov students in the afternoons. Since 1997, Rabbi Shaw has learned and taught Torah with Kollel Iyun Hadaf, where he has served as the editor-in-chief of its Dafyomi (1 page of Talmud per day) publications. He has translated, edited, and published dozens of Jewish books and publications.
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Rabbi Shaw studied under eminent Torah scholars at Ner Israel (Baltimore), Merkaz HaTorah (Jerusalem), Midrash Shmuel (Jerusalem), and Yeshivat Ofakim. He attended the Universities of Georgia and Maryland, and graduated with a B.A. summa cum laude from S.U.N.Y. His wife is a senior lecturer at Darchei Binah Woman's College. Their children love to host Machon Yaakov students for Shabbos at their home in Har Nof.
Rabbi Hadar Margolin
Rabbi Margolin is a well-known author of nearly a dozen books on a wide variety of Torah topics. He studied under the renown Torah scholars Rabbi Abba Berman and Rabbi Aharon Feldman. Originally from New York City, he has taught Jewish law, philosophy, and Talmud in Jerusalem for the past 15 years.
Rabbi Yitzchak Becker
Rabbi Becker holds a unique position at Machon Yaakov, offering highly specialized, one-on-one learning with students during the evenings. Rabbi Becker moved to Israel with his family in 1992 from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended the Chevron Yeshiva, and later the Mir Yeshiva where he studied under Rav Eliyahu Baruch Finkel, zt’’l.
Professionally trained as a teacher in the Ner L'elef institution of Jerusalem, Rabbi Becker has been working with students at Machon Yaakov for over 4 years, vastly improving their skills in reading and comprehension while establishing confidence for learning beyond yeshiva.
Rabbi Becker currently studies in The Jerusalem Kollel under Rav Yitzchak Berkowitz shlita, and resides in Har Nof with his family.