Midreshet Torah v'Avodah
MTVA
Jerusalem · Year after high school
Midreshet Torah V'Avodah 2022
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A gap-year midrasha run by Bnei Akiva of the United States and Canada that combines Torah learning, apartment living in Jerusalem, a period on a religious kibbutz, and volunteering or internships.
At a glance
- Outlook, in its words
- Religious Zionist (run by Bnei Akiva of the US and Canada) Source: the school's website pages listed under Where this comes from
- Program
- Year after high school; a second year (Shana Bet) is offered Source: the school's website pages listed under Where this comes from
- Location
- Jerusalem Source: the school's website pages listed under Where this comes from
- Housing
- Apartments in central Jerusalem; part of the year is spent living and working on a religious kibbutz. Source: the school's website pages listed under Where this comes from
- Price
- $41,500 for 2026-27 (Masa). Source (opens in a new tab)
Not on their website when we checked: founding year, class size.
Learning, cost and credit
- What's taught
- Tanach, Gemara, Halacha, Jewish Philosophy, Chassidut
- Who runs it
- Rabbi Aaron Bayer, Director; Rabbanit Dr. Tamara Spitz, Rosh Beit Midrash and Mashgicha Ruchanit
- Also on their site
- Kibbutz period living and working alongside Israelis
- Service learning through Kedma
- Optional month-long internship track
- Optional Poland trip
- Shana Bet / TVSTAY
- Financial aid available
- Price
- $41,500 for 2026-27, as published by Masa. List price on Masa's program page, before any Masa grant. See the source (opens in a new tab)
- Masa grants
- Their website doesn't say. Most year programs are registered with Masa, so ask. How Masa works
- College credit
- Their website doesn't say. It is on Yeshiva University's list of Israel Program schools. How credit works
Photos and videos
We don't copy pictures from the school's website, so their own galleries and social pages are linked instead.
Where it is
Address on their website: 32 Yossi Ben Yo'ezer Street, Jerusalem
See it on the map
The map loads its pictures from OpenStreetMap, a free public map. When it loads, OpenStreetMap sees your device's internet address. Everything on the map is also written out on this page.
Pin placed at the address on their website.
Open this spot in Google Maps (opens in a new tab) · See every seminary on the map
Nearby
Straight-line distances, to give a sense of the area. Walking and driving routes are longer.
- Malcha Mall1.8 km · 1.1 mi
- Israel Museum2.1 km · 1.3 mi
- Emek Refaim Street2.2 km · 1.4 mi
- The First Station2.3 km · 1.4 mi
- Hebrew University, Givat Ram2.3 km · 1.4 mi
- Ben Gurion Airport41.4 km · 25.7 mi
The area in pictures
These show the neighborhood, not the school itself.
The year in detail
As described on the school's own website. A missing heading means their site didn't say.
- Dates
- 2026-27 (5787): group flight departs Monday August 24, 2026; arrival/welcome August 25; final banquet Monday June 14, 2027; dorms close Tuesday June 15, 2027.
- A typical day
- The calendar shows a weekly chessed afternoon, two weeks during the year of kibbutz volunteering or teaching English in development towns, and roughly alternating free and programmed Shabbatot, with breaks at Sukkot, Chanukah and Pesach.
- Shabbat
- A "Shabbat Midrasha" (programmed, mandatory Shabbat) is held about every other week, a few on campus and most in communities around Israel, plus Shabbatot in staff homes. The other Shabbatot are free. The apartments never close and students may stay for all free Shabbatot and chagim, in coordination with staff.
- Trips
- An opening tiyul, multi-day trips in the north and the south, a choice of a Poland trip or "Masa Shivat Tzion" through Israel, plus day trips.
- Chesed and volunteering
- Weekly chessed (hospitals, old age homes, Holocaust museums, communal gardens, women's shelters, special-needs institutions, Friendship Circle), a partnership with the Kedma organization, kibbutz work weeks, teaching English in development towns, an October 7 service day, and an optional Magen David Adom training course.
- Campus and housing
- Student apartments in central Jerusalem.
- After the year
- Shana Bet has two tracks: a Bet Midrash track with a schedule built for second-year students, and a Sherut Leumi (National Service) track where students are housed and supported by MTVA. Opt-in internships run May 13 - June 2, 2027.
- Staff named on their site
- Rabbi Aaron Bayer - Director
- Sarina Novick - Assistant Director
- Rabbanit Dr. Tamara Spitz - Rosh Beit Midrash, Mashgicha Ruchanit
- Rabbanit Atara Segal - Mashgicha Ruchanit
- Rav Mordy Friedman - Gemara Ra"m, Director of Shana Bet
