For many young men and women returning from one or two years of study in Israel post high school, referred to as their “gap year(s),” difficult decisions await them. Coming off their Israel experience, many realize that they wish to make their lives in Eretz Yisrael, or even just stay a little longer, but the practicality and possibility seems undoable. They feel compelled to follow the course of study they chose before their years in Israel.
Realizing that this quandary is a reality for a large number of young men, Rabbi Michoel Feder and Rabbi Moshe Plaut created a program that thoughtfully and successfully addresses this situation. One year ago, they established Yeshivas Mishkan HaTorah, which during its first year of operation enabled outstanding students to continue learning within a formal setting while pursuing their professional studies in Israel. Located in the Musrara neighborhood of Jerusalem, just outside the Old City walls, Yeshivas Mishkan HaTorah provides its students with a high level of Torah learning as well as the ability to attend many of the top undergraduate and postgraduate programs for English speakers in Israel.
Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Feder and Menahel Ruchani Rabbi Plaut are American olim. Both rebbeim reside with their families in Beitar Illit. Both have backgrounds in psychology, which they utilize in this new endeavor to assist the young men in their program to acclimate and plan effectively for their futures. They are talmidim of HaRav Yaakov Friedman shlit”a, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Birchas Mordechai, where they both studied for over a decade, and continue to benefit from his guidance.
Rabbi Feder is a native of Woodmere, Long Island. He attended HAFTR High School and Yeshivat Shaalvim. His received semicha from Yeshiva University and completed graduate work in clinical school psychology at the CUNY Graduate School. In Israel, he has served as a maggid shiur in Yeshivas Nesivos Ahron in Yerushalayim for nearly a decade. In addition, he runs a private clinical practice in the greater Yerushalayim area.
Rabbi Plaut hails from Hillcrest, Queens. After graduating from Yeshiva University’s MTA High School, he attended Yeshivat Sha’arei Mevaseret Tzion in Israel. He returned to the U.S. where he learned at Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim in Queens and earned a BA in psychology from Touro College. In Israel, he has taught at Yeshiva Aish Hatorah, both in the Beis Midrash and Gesher programs.
Coming from similar backgrounds, Feder and Plaut understood the needs of young men who were serious about their continued learning within a high-level Torah environment and their desire to live in Eretz Yisrael. They proceeded to create a program that would address both needs within a fitting and nurturing environment. Thus they established Yeshivas Mishkan HaTorah.
The yeshiva is minutes away from the light rail and the City Center. It provides a dormitory residence, healthy meals, sports facilities, a state-of-the art computer lab and designated study areas. Shabbat and Yom Tov meals are provided either within the yeshiva building or through local hospitality. This all-inclusive and friendly ambience provides a secure and positive environment for its students who are living far from home.
Within its newly-renovated beit midrash, these highly motivated students are provided with in-depth shiurim by an experienced and warm staff of mechanchim on a daily basis. Mishkan HaTorah’s daily schedule has been designed to enable maximum Torah study along with adequate blocks of time allotted for academic pursuits. To date, Mishkan HaTorah has talmidim attending programs such as Touro College and Machon Lev, which accommodate their daily sedarim of learning. In the coming years, as their enrollment increases, Rabbis Feder and Plaut hope to expand their academic and professional relationships with top-level institutions in Israel.
Rabbi Feder will be in the U.S. from June 20 through July 1. He welcomes those interested in hearing more about the innovative Mishkan HaTorah program and its plans for the coming year by contacting him at [email protected] or by visiting www.yeshivamishkanhatorah.org
Rabbi Feder will be in the Five Towns on Shabbat, Parshat Shelach, June 28-29. He will be addressing the kehilla at Congregation Bais Tefillah of Woodmere, 409 Edward Avenue, on Shabbat morning, June 29, at 9 a.m. On Sunday, June 30, he will be addressing a parlor meeting hosted by Elliot and Atara Blumenthal, 401 Woodmere Boulevard, at 8 p.m.
By Pearl Markovitz
