Yeshivat Har Etzion, known as “the Gush,” is a flagship Religious-Zionist yeshiva in Alon Shvut, in Gush Etzion, about 20 minutes from Jerusalem on a quiet day. It currently has an estimated 450 to 500 students and scholars, most in the hesder track, plus advanced kollelim, dozens of visiting students from abroad, mainly North America and Europe, and students with special needs in the tailored “Derechenu” program.
The yeshiva is known for its strong emphasis on Talmud study, especially deep analytical learning in the Brisk tradition, but it also promotes high-level Bible study and runs the dedicated “Tanakh website” through the nearby Herzog College. Its character is described as moderate, formerly centrist and in recent years more right-leaning, in part because of the Torah outlook of Rabbi Yaakov Medan. English is commonly heard in the study hall, while Hebrew dominates most other areas.
Since the deaths of its founders, Israel Prize laureates Rabbi Yehuda Amital and Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, the yeshiva has been led by three heads: Rabbi Yaakov Medan, Rabbi Baruch Gigi, and Rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein, son of Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein. Medan leads the distinctive Bible program and teaches Jewish thought, halacha and social issues, Gigi oversees Talmud and halacha study, and Moshe Lichtenstein continues the Brisk-style tradition. Other prominent lecturers include Rabbis Ezra Bick, Yair Kahn, Amnon Bazak, Yishai Yislzon, Chaim Navon, Shlomo Brin, Amichai Gordin, Daniel Schreiber, Pini Cohen and Asi Blanke.
Among the yeshiva’s many alumni are Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Rimon, Rabbi Chaim Navon, Rabbi Dr. Benny Lau, Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, Rabbi Tamir Granot, Rabbi Raem HaCohen and Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. Public figures who studied there include Supreme Court justices Noam Sohlberg and David Mintz, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman, former minister Ze’ev Elkin, MKs Moshe Tur-Paz and Moshe Solomon, Deputy Attorney General Meir Levin and retired major general Gershon Hacohen. The institution’s affiliated bodies also include Herzog College, the Virtual Beit Midrash, the Tvunos publishing house, an advanced halacha and rabbinics kollel, leadership programs and a high school attached to the main campus.
