While most students have finished college within a few years of coming to the Yeshiva, we have also had many older students who have decided to take mid-career breaks and come to Israel for a year of learning. Some of our students come to Israel with their spouses and children. There is a vibrant community atmosphere at the Yeshiva. Students have Shabbat meals together as well as at the homes of staff members. During breaks students often travel together.
Most students find that over the course of the year they have made close friends.
The Conservative Yeshiva opened up a universe of Jewish texts to me. Parts of my tradition which seemed foreign and inaccessible have become familiar and filled with meaning. The Yeshiva has allowed me to begin a process of serious intellectual growth through real engagement with Jewish texts. James Maisels, of Bloomfield Hills, MI, graduated from Brown University in 1997 with a degree in Philosophy and went on to receive an M.A. in Modern Jewish Studies from Oxford University. He studied for two years at the Yeshiva in 1999-2001.