Machon Yaakov www.machonyaakov.org is a baal teshuva yeshiva for men located in Har Nof, Jerusalem, Israel. Its faculty and student body are all English speaking.
The program, which is designed for students with little or no formal Jewish education, has a one-year minimum and a two-year maximum. Enrollment is limited to about 32 students, generally weighted about 2/3-1/3 between the first- and second- year programs.
Student ages range between 20 & 35. There are 16 faculty members with several of the faculty holding accomplished records in business, academia, psychology and sports. The Rosh Yeshiva is Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld; the director of the yeshiva and co-founder is Rabbi Avraham Yitzchok Jacobs. Rabbi Gershenfeld also serves as Rosh Yeshiva of Machon Shlomo (also a Har Nof-based baal teshuva yeshiva) as well as chairman of MEOR www.meor.org, which offers 10-week courses and Israel learning/touring trips to students on more than 20 US college campuses. Prior to Machon Yaakov, Rabbi Jacobs enjoyed a distinguished career on Wall Street, as a managing director at JPMorgan and partner at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. He was also an Emmy- and Pulitzer-nominated journalist. Rabbi Yosef Lynn serves as the yeshiva's Dean of Students; Rabbi Lynn served as captain of the USA's national and world running-cycling team, and competed in the Ironman Triathalon competition
According to its website Machon Yaakov aims to connect its students to classical Jewish texts and perspectives and to give its students independence and inspiration towards a lifetime of Jewish growth. The directions viewed as acceptable for its alumni include both religious (rabbis and teachers) and secular (businessmen, doctors, lawyers and academics) oriented careers.
The program include as subjects Talmud, Chumash, musar literature (character development and ethics), and Hebrew language (ulpan). The programs are housed in a 5-story building in Har Nof, Jerusalem which contains classrooms, offices, study hall, dining facilities, dormitories, student lounge, exercise facilities and a half-basketball court.