Six Months at Yeshiva
And a request...
Last year I left my job and my life behind to attend full-time Jewish studies at an Orthodox Yeshiva.
Six months after arriving at Machon Yaakov, I'm a committed observant Jew and eager to continue my growth.
For 12 hours a day, I study the Torah and the Talmud, learning from some of the world’s best Rabbis.
Instead of unpacking economic releases, I learn to understand Rashi’s commentaries. Instead of interviewing top executives, I spend my Friday nights getting to know host families at Shabbat meals.
The Judaism I’m learning here promises a Torah-centered life filled with family, community, learning and observance. I keep Shabbat and only eat Kosher food. I can turn to the correct page in the prayer book and am comfortable in the synagogue. I see a pathway towards independent Talmud learning. When the time is right, I’m looking forward to being a husband and father of a Jewish family.
Last September, I wrote down a list of goals for my Yeshiva year:
Understand and embrace observant Jewish life.
Improve my character and personal habits.
Strengthen relationships with family and friends back home.
Develop a halachic framework for my life.
Learn to study Talmud independently.
Become proficient in reading Hebrew texts.
Learn how to pray, eventually in Hebrew, and enjoy it.
Build lifelong relationships with fellow students, rabbis and local families.
Explore different Jewish communities and ways of being Jewish.
Establish good habits:
Eat mindfully.
Exercise more.
Write daily.
Read daily.
Increase productivity.
Advance my career as a Jewish public intellectual/journalist.
Meet and connect with interesting people in Israel.
I’ve made real progress in every single goal. I get up earlier, pray three times a day and workout daily. I'm more productive than I’ve been in years, with regular audio posts, writing and learning. I'm excited to start my days here and every minute is a treasure. I haven’t opened Netflix once. I'm becoming less judgmental and more empathetic. I'm slowly starting to figure out my place in the Jewish world.
Before becoming observant, I was worried about how I could possibly pray for 90 minutes a day and keep my phone off for 26 hours every Shabbat. I now look forward to both.
Not everything is perfect. I continue to show up late to morning prayers and I am less confident in my language skills than I would like (but I’m slowly improving). I’m also working on my Emunah (faith).
Coming to Yeshiva was not an easy choice for me or for my fellow students. I left my job and the life I knew behind, traveling across the world to a country at war. Over the past six months, I've immersed myself deeply in my heritage, traditions and history. I put everything else on pause to debate dusty volumes, gain insights into the meaning of life and search for a better way of living.
All of this is only possible because of my Yeshiva. Machon Yaakov is a positive, inspirational environment for growth, where questions are encouraged and destinations are not predetermined. They want everyone to reach their full potential.
Machon Yaakov is one of only a handful of Yeshivas in the entire world that is devoted to educating Jews who weren’t raised observant.
And, today, Machon Yaakov is having its one and only fundraiser of the year.
We are trying to raise more than $500,000 so that we can continue our mission of creating the next generation of Jewish leaders. https://causematch.com/machon-yaakov/my25
Running a Yeshiva is expensive. They feed us costly Kosher food every day with lots and lots of chicken, meat and fish to keep up with bulking Yeshiva bochers. We have to support a building, including sleeping, living, eating and learning quarters for 3 dozen students, who cause constant messes and mayhem, requiring a lot of maintenance and utility costs.
Machon Yaakov has some of the top rabbis in the world, who delight us with their wisdom and knowledge. We know them as Rabbis but to everyone else, they are writers of some of the books that are the most popular in the Jewish world. Our teachers are sought-after speakers for events and Shabbatones. We have 35 students and 13 rabbis, an incredibly high student-to-teacher ratio.
Machon Yaakov has been shaping lives for over two decades, with nearly 325 alumni. The Yeshiva is changing the Jewish world, bringing new energy and life into communities across the globe. The first children of our graduates are now becoming Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and, in just a few years, we’ll see the first weddings of their next generation.
I believe deeply in Machon Yaakov’s vision of being both a Ben Torah and a working professional. Our sacred texts teach us to work diligently to better the world. Machon Yaakov empowers its students to do just that. I hope this Yeshiva continues for another 20, if not 200, years. Please donate today so we can continue this important work: https://causematch.com/machon-yaakov/my25
This essay is adapted from the voice memos I send to friends and family: