Yeshiva-B.A. Gap Year
Experience Yeshiva Life, Earn Your Bachelors of Arts
Gap Year Time Well Spent
Our Gap Year program is for young Jewish men with or without a background in Torah, who have recently graduated high school and want to experience a year of yeshiva life and learning at the Old City of Jerusalem, deepening their connection to the Jewish people and the Torah, with the option of also earning a fully accredited Bachelor of Arts in the process, in record time and inexpensively.
Gap year Program Overview
Students come to us from a variety of backgrounds in Torah learning, from zero background to varying degrees of learning experience, so our Gap Year Program includes two to three seders of learning per day tailored to your needs and wants, from beginner to intermediate.
Gap Year students who want to also earn an accredited Bachelor of Arts degree while learning with us will use one seder per day to complete curriculum designed to guide students toward a B.A. from Excelsior College, Thomas Edison, or Empire State College, with a focus on Jewish Studies, in addition to secular requirements.
The Bachelor of Arts can then be used either to secure a solid position in your field of interest or for continued education at an institution of higher learning, such as to earn their Master’s degree, while those who are interested in continuing to learn Torah with us might also be invited to do so.
Programs that students who have earned their B.A. degree following this course of study have afterwards been accepted to include the following, for example:
- Bar Ilan University – MBA Program & School of Social Work
- Baruch School of Business
- Columbia University Law School
- Downstate Medical School
- NYU School of Business
- Wurzweiler School of Social Work
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Texas – Master’s Program in Sociology
- University of Toronto – Business School
Students who already know where they will want to continue their studies should contact that school directly about possible acceptance ahead of enrollment in this program.
Features of Yeshiva Life on Mount Zion
At the center of the Yeshiva campus, where we have weekly classes and special services, such as for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
Minutes to the Kosel
Right outside the Old City’s Zion Gate and just minutes to the Jewish Quarter and to the Kotel (Western Wall).
Close to the Center
Located right outside Zion Gate, a short walk or bus to the city, plenty of amenities, and to public transit across Israel.
Sports Pavilion
Overlooking the Temple Mount, the Yeshiva’s new Sports Pavilion provides a perspective to fitness like no other.
Regular Special Events
With regular Oneg Shabboses, Shabbos meals, Festival events, and simchas in general, a life of Torah is full of simchah.
Trips Across Israel
Trips trips across the Holy Land, from Tzfas in the North to Eilat in the South, learning about the Holy Land in relation to the Torah.
Regular Shabbos Dinners at the Yeshiva
Diaspora Yeshiva provides three full Shabbos meals for the students at the Yeshiva during regular learning (excepting bein hazmanim). As often as you prefer to stay put and rest on Shabbos with the Yeshiva, you are always welcome. You are also free to go out for Shabbos meals as often as you like.
Bachelor of Arts Curriculum
Torah
1. Genesis: An In-Depth Study
2. Exodus: An In-Depth Study
3. Leviticus: An In-Depth Study
4. Numbers: An In-Depth Study
5. Deuteronomy: An In-Depth Study
6. Comprehensive Genesis
7. Comprehensive Exodus
8. Comprehensive Leviticus
Jewish Law (Shabbos)
9. The Laws of the Sabbath: The Laws of Agriculture/ Making Bread
10. The Laws of the Sabbath: The Order of Garments
11. The Laws of the Sabbath: The Order of Construction
Jewish History
12. Jewish History 300: Orthodox Jewry in the United States
13. Jewish History 306: The Jews in Medieval Western Europe
14. Jewish History 307: The Spanish Expulsion -14th and 15th Centuries
Ethics
15. Ethics of Communication I
16. Ethics of Communication II
Philosophy
17. Principles of Moral Development II
Core Courses
18. English 101
19. English 102
20. Math 101
21. Science 101 – Biology
22. Science 102
Cost
Tuition for the Yeshiva is 4,000 NIS (1,100 USD) per month,* including daily learning, a shared room on Mount Zion, and three meals per day during times of regular learning, including Shabbos. Additional fees for the B.A. are approximately 650 USD per month.
*Ask us about subsidies for Yeshiva tuition if necessary.
Application
If you have reviewed the program details and think its right for you, apply below. Your application will be reviewed to ensure its completeness and your fitness for the program. An initial meeting will then be scheduled with the appropriate Rabbi.