Program details

Drisha’s Beit Midrash provides the opportunity for serious, open Torah study to individuals from across the spectrum of Israeli life.

Who?

Israelis aged 22-30 committed to serious Torah study. This Beit Midrash program is co-ed.

Where?

The Beit Midrash Drisha Summer Program has taken place in multiple locations throughout Israel, including the Yemin Orde Youth Village and Beit Israel, an urban kibbutz in Jerusalem.

When?

Summer Intensives, and programming throughout the year.

Year-round programming

Drisha’s Beit Midrash provides the opportunity for serious, open Torah study to individuals from across the spectrum of Israeli life. Its signature program is an intensive, two week summer program of Torah study,  prayer, and exploration; in this program, a diverse cohort of young Israelis, ages 22-30, gather together, united by their commitment to honest, rigorous, and meaningful Torah study. The Summer Beit Midrash program integrates immersive learning of Jewish texts and intentional prayer with an exploration of critical social issues, and participants are challenged to bring insights from their learning into their work and lives throughout the year.

Throughout the year, the Drisha Beit Midrash hosts several programs including a weekly Friday open Beit Midrash for chevruta learning, a weekly Gemara course in person and online, and tefillah and learning for the Holidays. Check out the Beit Midrash website for more details on the year-round programming. 

Meet the faculty

Dr. R. Jon Kelsen is the Chief Education Officer at Drisha. He previously served as Dean at YCT Rabbinical School and taught Talmud and Pedagogy, and has taught and lectured around the world for nearly two decades.  He earned a doctorate in Education and Jewish Studies from New York University, where he studied as a Wexner Graduate Fellow, and was ordained by Rabbis Daniel Landes and Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg.

Keren Rosenberg Greenwald
Keren Rosenberg Greenwald

Keren Rosenberg Greenwald, an alumnus of Yeshivat Drisha, teaches Talmud in Drisha’s Israel Beit Midrash. She has also learned at Midreshet Lindenbaum, and currently teaches Talmud at the Hartman High School for Girls in Jerusalem. She is  pursuing a MA in Talmud at Tel Aviv University. 

 

Dr. Chanan Gafni teaches at the Rothberg International School at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. After receiving his Ph. D. from Harvard University in 2005 he studied as a postdoctoral fellow at the Kreitman School of Advanced Graduate Studies of Ben-Gurion University.

Programming

Tefillah

At Drisha, we view Tefillah as a core feature of every learning environment. Over the course of Beit Midrash Drisha programs, we engage in regular daily tefillah; students choose the form of tefillah which matches their individual commitments. Students are also exposed to a variety of ways of preparing for and practicing tefillah, especially through daily hachanah l’tefillah (preparation for prayer).

Morning, Afternoon, and Evening Seder

Morning Seder in Beit Midrash Drisha is dedicated to in depth Talmud study, typically focused around a given chapter of Talmud. Afternoon and evening seder are populated by classes on a wide variety of topics (e.g. Tanakh, Halakha, Hassidut) which complement and are in conversation with the material studied in the mornings. Expert guest lecturers correlate the textual learning with its real world applications and implications, modeling a mode of learning which is connected to lived experience. There is also ample space for open learning and student-led electives.

Shabbat

Celebrating Shabbat together is a highlight and centerpiece of Beit Midrash Drisha intensives. Students and faculty celebrate Shabbat together through tefillah, shiurim, song, delicious meals and wonderful company. The joyful and rich religious experience of celebrating Shabbat together influences all other aspects of the program.

Food and Residence

In order to maximize the opportunity for joint programming Drisha provides local housing and delicious, healthy meals during Beit Midrash intensives.

Program application

If you’re interested in applying to our Summer Intensive, please fill out an application. Relevant applicants will be invited to interview for the program.

Contact us

Contact Dr. R. Jon Kelsen at jkelsen@drisha.org or use our general contact form.

What’s next?

Check out our year-round courses both in-person and online.

Beit Midrash participant
“Drisha is a beit midrash connected to life. Students in all kinds of occupations and stages of life [gather there], and the Torah at Drisha was able to connect the language of the beit midrash and the language of life…”