Why Eretz?

Our Mission

By the time you finish high school, you’re probably familiar with the usual learning staples, halacha and hashkafa. But that doesn’t mean you’re ready to step into the world as a confident Jewish adult.

At Eretz, we empower you to develop your learning, observance, and beliefs. We expose you to the depth and breadth of different Torah disciplines so you can discover your interests and passions in all that Judaism has to offer. We encourage you to grapple with complex issues and support you with all the scholarship and experience at our disposal.

Ultimately, our goal is to help you enter the real world on your own two feet: thoughtful, knowledgeable, and self-confident in your approach to Torah and Mitzvot.

 

Our Students

If You...

 

  • Are interested in exploring the vast array of rabbinic thought and Torah disciplines
  • Want to find your own connection to Judaism and not be limited by someone else’s agenda
  • Are prepared to be self-motivated and responsible for your growth
  • Are looking for a balance of intense learning and fun experiences

Our Approach to Education

At Eretz, we challenge you to take an active role in deepening and broadening your own skills and knowledge. The highlight of the curriculum is of course the elite gemara shiurim, where our students develop their ability to learn at a high level.

At the same time, we empower you to develop your personal relationship with learning. We offer classes and host speakers on a range of topics, including the role of women as yoatzot halacha, the relationship between poetry and Midrash, and the implications of modern neuroscience for the matter of free will. We do this because we want to encourage you to discover your own areas of interest in Jewish scholarship and invite you to think critically about difficult issues.

Rather than giving you easy answers, we see it as our role to support you in your exploration of serious questions. Our staff is highly educated, and we provide you with a wealth of sources, information, and a variety of Modern Orthodox perspectives.

We also emphasize practical applications of halacha and provide resources to prepare you to handle real-life challenges.

We give you the tools to develop a rich personal investment in Torah that will serve as a strong foundation for the rest of your life.

Outside The Classroom

Learning at Eretz doesn’t just happen in the classroom. We also provide plenty of active, hands-on, up-close-and-personal opportunities for growth. Here are a few examples to give you a sense of our program’s broad and varied curriculum.

It’s a point of pride at Eretz that we host an exceptionally well-rounded and thought-provoking collection of guest speakers. These are a valuable vehicle for introducing students to aspects of Jewish life and thought that may be outside their experience or cutting-edge scientific discoveries with interesting implications from a Torah perspective.

Past events include a yom iyun focused specifically on women’s issues across the religious spectrum; academic discussions of Jewish poetry and Midrash; legal discussions of Israeli vs. Jewish law; and scientists from BIU discussing the work at the Brain Research Center in the context of understanding free will. We look forward to many more exciting speakers!

We know you didn’t come to Eretz Yisrael just to spend the whole year on campus. Every 3-4 -weeks, we take the whole student body out to explore some of the gorgeous scenery, historical sites, or modern spectacles available all around. In the past, we’ve gone one three-day trips to Eilat and Yam L’Yam; visited Chevron, Tel Aviv, and Gush Etzion; toured Ir David, the Supreme Court, the Knesset, Har Herzl, and the Old City; and even just spent a day at the beach.

We also offer courses designed for study outside the classroom, such as the introduction to the city of Jerusalem beyond the popular tourist hotspots.

This program is designed to thoroughly educate our students on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Speakers from across the political spectrum introduce participants to various differing perspectives on the history of the conflict and current political situation, a rigorous exploration of the topic that is supported by activities outside the classroom, such as a field trip to see a security checkpoint in person. The ultimate goal is to empower our students to develop their own views on this critical issue and be able to act as well-informed advocates on their college campuses.

Eretz is an American program with some Israeli flavor. For the most part, the staff and students are native English speakers, so you don’t have to worry about communication barriers or culture clash. At the same time, we do have Israeli staff members and offer classes in Hebrew. We also share a campus and a community with the Israeli students of Machon Lev – a great opportunity to get outside your bubble and experience some cultural exchange.

We also give you the chance to interact closely with various groups around Israel. We take students to celebrate Sigd with the Ethiopian community and on shabbatonim to Bnei Brak and Tzfat and arrange for students to spend Shabbat with different alumni families across the country.

At the same time that we introduce you to so many different flavors of Jewish learning, we expose you to different acts of service that we hope will also become meaningful to you. This is one of the founding principles of the yeshiva and is given a permanent place in the weekly schedule. We believe that taking ownership of your Jewish identity isn’t just about your personal interests but also your investment in the community. This is why Eretz alumni are often leaders on their college campuses and beyond.

We provide every student with a placement for their weekly volunteer hours and also run projects for the whole yeshiva together, such as packing parcels for Leket Israel, helping out at a Bar Mitzvah celebration held by the deaf community, and, more recently, packing hazmat, PPE, and COVID-19 testing kits for Magen David Adom.

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alumni

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Get In Touch

21 HaVaad HaLeumi Street
Jerusalem, Israel 
Phone: (972) 2-679-1424
Fax: (972) 2-648-3716

Admissions@eretzhatzvi.org