Machon Shlomo

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Machon Shlomo is an Orthodox yeshiva for men located in Har Nof, Jerusalem, Israel. Its faculty and student body are mostly American, and the yeshiva is geared towards "tinok shenishba" (a person who was raised in an environment that was assimilated or non-Jewish). May of the students are called baalei teshuva (Jews who have returned to Torah Observance). Also, some students have come from a religious background but lacked the capability to learn in a formal, Torah-learning environment (yeshiva institutions are generally only found in communities which have a large, Jewish population).

Students usually come from the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, and South Africa. The Rosh Yeshiva is Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld.

Machon Shlomo offers a stimulating religious environment that operates from a Torah and Talmudic based philosophy. Machon Shlomo blends Torah study and commandments with the realities of the modern professional environment, preparing students for life in the professional working world that most of its graduates will return to. The emphasis is on mussar (self discipline and refinement) based character development as well as development of text-based Torah learning skills.

Name and Brief History

Machon Shlomo is named after Shlomo Rosenberg, former head of the OU (Orthodox Union), in charge of American kosher food supervision. He was known as the epitome of a sincere and honest businessman, able to live a life of balance, loyal to his religious obligations as an Orthodox Jew and also successful and honest in his business dealings. The first Rosh Yeshiva was Rabbi Yaakov Rosenberg (1929-1999), Shlomo's son. Rabbi Rosenberg's dream was to produce similar types of alums, sincere in all aspects of leading a balanced life. The yeshiva has been producing hardworking leaders for 25 years.

Full-time Staff

RABBI BERYL GERSHENFELD - Rosh Yeshiva, Chumash teacher. Rabbi Gershenfeld serves as the Dean of Machon Shlomo. He graduated valedictorian of his high school and received a BA and MA from Trinity College in Hartford, CT (1976), serving as President of his Phi Beta Kappa chapter. He also won a Fulbright Scholarship and studied in Japan. Rabbi Gershenfeld has previously taught at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Columbia University, and The University of Pennsylvania. In his daily Chumash class Rabbi Gershenfeld takes his students through the Torah with primary emphasis on the commentary of Rashi (a medieval commenter) and The Maharal of Prague (The Gur Aryeh), as well as commentaries from Rambam (Maimonides), Ramban (Nachmonides), Ibn Ezra, the Zohar, and other Midrashic sources and also later commenators. Additionally, Rabbi Gershenfeld leads classes for second-year students on topics of personal growth and self-introspection and gives a weekly Pirkei Avos (Ethics of our Fathers) class for all students.

RABBI NOACH ORLOWEK - Character Development, Philosophy. Rabbi Orlowek lectures on relationships and character building. He also serves as mashgiach (Spiritual Dean of Students) in Yeshivas Torah Ohr in Jerusalem. He lectures on five continents, mostly in the areas of parenting, teaching and relationship issues. He is the author of 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 MEIR TRIEBITZ, PH.D. - Gemara (Talmud), Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed, and Topics on Kaballah and the Vilna Gaon. Rabbi Triebitz attended the Juilliard School of Music before receiving his Ph.D. in mathematical physics from Princeton University at 22 years of age. He did a post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University and then taught mathematical physics at Queens College and Stonybrook. He received rabbinical ordination before moving to Jerusalem. He is currently working on a book compiling and commenting on Rav Soloveitchik's teachings.

RABBI MEIR PARKER - Gemara, Ramchal's Derech Hashem, Halacha, Topics in Jewish History. Rabbi Parker received his BA from Yeshiva University in Social and Intellectual History and Philosophy and later received his Masters Degree in Jewish History. Aside from having an extensive background in psychology, he also studied at the prestigious Ner Yisrael Yeshiva in Baltimore. Rabbi Parker has studied under some of the most widely-respected Kabbalists of this generation. He is an expert in learning Gemara as well as Kabbalah, and his specialty is on the works of the Ramchal, Rabbi Chaim Moshe Luzzato. Rabbi Parker's primary responsibility at Machon Shlomo is to teach first year students how to understand and appreciate the logical flow of Talmudic reasoning. In his Derech Hashem class he exposes his first year students to the Ramchal's Kabbalistic ideas presented in the model of philosophical analysis. Occasionally he also gives classes dealing with topics in Jewish history.

RABBI YONASAN SIGLER - Director, Summer Program. Rabbi Sigler holds degrees in engineering from Princeton and MIT and worked as an aerospace engineer for NASA before coming to Jerusalem to study in yeshiva. He studied at several yeshivas including the Mir and Pressburg and received his Semichah from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. He taught Talmud at Yeshivas Midrash Shmuel and also currently teaches during the regular school year at Machon Shlomo.

Student Body

Machon Shlomo students represent a diverse group of talented and accomplished young men who have shown exceptional academic and professional accomplishment on the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as in the business world. The average student comes to Machon Shlomo for one (minimum) or two years (maximum) and then returns to the world of academia or the work force. Current students and recent alumni hold degrees or are in the process of earning degrees from such schools as Princeton University, Cambridge University, Oxford University, University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley, The American University, George Washington University, UNC Chapel Hill, Harvard University, McGill University, University of Michigan, and Juilliard School of Music, to name a few. Over 90 percent of the alumni of Machon Shlomo are actively involved in careers in academia, jurisprudence, medicine, government, finance, and the like. Alumni of the program comprise a strong network throughout the world and are committed to the further maintenance and growth of the yeshiva. Most alumni live in cities throughout the United States and Israel and are leaders and highly regarded lay people within their respected communities.