The Drisha Institute for Jewish Education, which opened in 1979, is a center of high-level Jewish learning in the United States and Israel. In its effort to continue its mission to raise the bar of Jewish education, in 2018 Drisha expanded its full-time program overseas, opening a yeshiva in Israel to offer high-level, full-time learning for women, creating a unique community of advanced students who work closely together to deepen their engagement with Torah.

Yeshivat Drisha’s curriculum emphasizes Talmud and classical commentators. Students study Talmud b’iyun five sessions a week, as well as engaging in bekiut learning several times a week with more advanced chavrutot. Beyond offering stimulating shiurim in Tanach, Halacha, Machshava, and Aggadah, Yeshivat Drisha hosts a weekly shiur kelali (lecture to the entire yeshiva) delivered by the roshei yeshiva as well as some of Israel’s roshei yeshiva and scholars. Several times during the year, afternoons are dedicated to a Tanach intensive led by Drisha founder and director, Rabbi David Silber. All courses of study include a significant amount of independent learning in preparation for the shiurim.

Yeshivat Drisha is led by a pair of highly accomplished, revered Torah scholars: Rosh yeshiva Rabbanit Hanna Godinger (Dreyfuss), and assistant rosh yeshiva Rabbanit Yael Shimoni, both of whom have been learning for over 20 years.

Rabbanit Hanna began learning in Migdal Oz and was instrumental in starting and learning in the shana bet shiur, as well as the Gemara shiur taught by Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, z”l, and proceeded to learn with him for three years. She continued to the advanced Gemara program at Matan, which she eventually came to teach. She has additionally served as the rosh beit midrash of Midreshet Lindenbaum and as rabbanit beit sefer of the Pelech girls’ high school in Jerusalem.

Rabbanit Yael learned in Migdal Oz and Matan, and is a graduate of Midreshet Lindenbaum’s Halacha program. She has taught in Pelech and was a ramit in Migdal Oz. She is also the director of Meshivat Nefesh, the online responsa program of the rabbaniyot of Beit Hillel, see here: https://www.meshivat-nefesh.org.il/. They direct the six other members of the yeshiva faculty.

Both women are widely respected talmidot chachamot and are active members of Beit Hillel, the Torah organization for attentive spiritual leadership. They are chavrutot, and spend a significant portion of their day learning together.

Besides the rigorous courses offered in its normal schedule, Yeshivat Drisha also brings a wide range of Torah scholars and guest lectures to its beit midrash, such as Rav Yakov Medan, Rav Moshe Lichtenstein, Rav Elisha Aviner and Rav Yuval Cherlow, in order to engage the students with ideas they are confronting in the classroom.

Yeshivat Drisha has also made significant contributions to the new Daf Yomi cycle. It has partnerships with Matan and Hadran, and both Rabbaniyot Hanna and Yael have spoken at each of the siyums that have taken place at both of these institutions. Additionally, Yeshivat Drisha releases a weekly video on the Hadran website, in which they delve more deeply into one of the subjects that was learned that week (גפ”ת): https://hadran.org.il/he/author-post/gefet-ep1/ Yeshivat Drisha also provides learning opportunities for the wider community; it has hosted Friday morning learning sessions for couples, and is currently offering three online learning tracks for the general public in Gemara, Tanach, and Kabbalah.

Yeshivat Drisha is introducing an intellectually rigorous shana alef program that will open in the fall of 2021. This program is an outgrowth of the yeshiva that has existed for three years, and Yeshivat Drisha is now ready to extend this opportunity to shana alef students, who will join the yeshiva’s cohort of advanced learners to become an integral part of their beit midrash.

Yeshivat Drisha’s goal is to provide each motivated student with the tools and environment needed to progress far into her learning, giving her the opportunity to learn with true talmidot chachamot who see it as their mission to shatter glass ceilings and provide women with the opportunity to reach the highest levels of learning.

“Shana alef is an invitation for you to enter a yeshiva, a beit midrash, that will not only give you classes in Torah but will give you the tools to be able to learn Torah independently in the future. It is a tremendous gift, and anyone who wants the Torah to continue to accompany her throughout her life, who wants her avodat Hashem to continue to accompany her in a significant way, must acquire it.”—Rabbanit Hanna Godinger (Dreyfuss)

Yeshivat Drisha is now accepting applications from motivated high school seniors who wish to take their learning to the next level. The application can be accessed at www.drisha.org/forms.

Brooke Schwartz is a former Jewish Link intern and resident of Englewood studying at Midreshet Amudim in Modi’in, Israel, for her shana bet year.