Merkaz Yeshivot Bnei Akiva seeks to train Israel’s next generation of leaders, steeped in Jewish learning while totally involved in modern Israeli society.
Graduates of YBA educational institutions will be committed to serving Jewish Peoplehood and the State of Israel, and will strive for excellence and leadership in all their endeavors, guided by the eternal Jewish values of the Torah.
WHO WE ARE
Since the first Bnei Akiva yeshiva high school was founded at Kfar Haroeh in 1939 by Rabbi Moshe Zvi Neriya, Merkaz Yeshivot Bnei Akiva has grown to become the largest religious Zionist educational network in Israel, with 63 schools and 22,000 students from the Golan Heights to Eilat. Former Member of Knesset, Rabbi Chaim Drukman, presently serves as Chairman of Merkaz YBA in Israel.
YBA schools provide a modern Orthodox approach to Zionist education based upon the Jewish philosophy of Rabbi A.Y. Hacohen Kook, the father of modern religious Zionism. Rabbi Kook stressed that the Jewish People must merit their eventual redemption by practicing Ahavat Yisrael – the unconditional love of Israel. According to Rav Kook, also known by the acronym 'Haroeh', this concept encompasses loving all members of Am Yisrael [the Nation of Israel], as well as Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel] and Torat Yisrael [the Torah of Israel] as one inseparable entity.
The 60,000 graduates of YBA educational institutions in Israel can be found in positions of leadership in every industrial, academic and professional sector of Israeli society; YBA alumni include leading artists, scientists and industrialists, officers and generals in the IDF, municipal mayors, Supreme Court justices, Knesset members and Cabinet ministers and even Israel Prize and International Prize winners.
YBA institutions are Israel's pioneers in educational integration and social integration while achieving educational excellence, historically combining students from stronger and weaker economic backgrounds, Sephardim and Ashkenazim, and in recent years integrating Russian and Ethiopian olim with Israeli born students of all social strata.
YBA high school yeshivot for boys and ulpanot for girls train their students to practice the Jewish values of Tikun Olam and Gemilut Chasadim through weekly community involvement, social action, and chesed activities, affecting the lives of thousands of needy Israelis.
While maintaining its traditional base of residential schools, in the past 12 years Merkaz YBA has established many non-residential schools in development towns such as Beit Shean, Netivot, Ofakim, Or Akiva and Eilat, to answer the need for quality Jewish education in Israel’s peripheral areas.
All YBA schools maintain an open enrollment policy – no child is turned away due to the parents’ inability to pay tuition; nearly 50% of YBA students receive full or partial educational scholarship. Additional support comes from donations and contributions from donors in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and Europe.
YBA schools strive to help every student realize his or her maximum potential, academically, socially, ethically and spiritually; 75% of YBA graduates achieve full matriculation for college entrance – well above the national average, and many schools have received national awards for educational excellence and leadership development.
Virtually all YBA yeshiva and ulpana graduates go on to proudly serve in the Israel Defense Forces and in the Sherut Leumi [National Service] – the kipa sruga (knitted skull cap) worn by YBA graduates has come to symbolize the best-motivated and most patriotic Israeli soldier – with a high proportion of YBA alumni volunteering for elite units and officer training in the IDF.
The Merkaz YBA educational network in Israel includes ten institutions at the forefront of innovative post-high school education in Israel, including eight Yeshivot Hesder. Hesder yeshivot combine advanced Talmudic Studies with five years of army service. Many of these yeshivot also offer a Kollel programs for advanced rabbinic training. YBA's Orot College for Women grants teacher's certification and academic degrees, in Jewish Studies, Land of Israel Studies, and various therapeutic fields. The one year-long Mechina program prepares marginal youth, who would otherwise not serve in the IDF, for successful integration into combat units in the Israeli army.
Historically, Yeshivot Bnei Akiva has been linked to the Bnei Akiva Zionist Youth Movement in Israel, and to the Mizrahi and Hapoel Hamizrahi, National Religious Party (NRP) and Habayit Hayehudi political parties in Israel.
“YESHIVOT BNEI AKIVA – ON THE FRONT LINES FOR ISRAEL'S SURVIVAL; IN THE FOREFRONT OF JEWISH EDUCATION”
