Program details
Drisha’s Beit Midrash provides the opportunity for serious, open Torah study to individuals from across the spectrum of Israeli life.
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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.
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, 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.
Rabbanit Leah Sarna is the Associate Director of Education and Director of High School Programs at Drisha. She previously served as Director of Religious Engagement at Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation in Chicago, a leading urban Orthodox congregation.
She was ordained at Yeshivat Maharat in 2018, holds a BA from Yale University in Philosophy & Psychology, and also trained at the SKA Beit Midrash for Women at Migdal Oz, Drisha and the Center for Modern Torah Leadership. Rabbanit Sarna’s published works have appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Lehrhaus and MyJewishLearning.
She has lectured in Orthodox synagogues and Jewish communal settings around the world and loves spreading her warm, energetic love for Torah and Mitzvot with Jews in all stages of life.
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.
