Religionיעקב מדן

Yaaqov Medan

Yaaqov Medan is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi who heads Yeshivat Har Etzion and co-wrote the Gavison-Medan Covenant.

born 1950Heading Yeshivat Har EtzionThe Gavison-Medan CovenantCommentary on the Tanakh

Born: 6 July 1950, Jerusalem
Occupation: rabbi
Education: Netiv Meir Yeshiva, Yeshivat Har Etzion, Michlalah Jerusalem College

Yaaqov Medan was born in 1950 in Jerusalem

Medan was born in Jerusalem on July 6, 1950. His father, Meir Medan, was a scholar of the Hebrew language. He studied at the Netiv Meir high school yeshiva in Jerusalem.

After the Six-Day War he joined the first class of Yeshivat Har Etzion in 1968. He later earned a B.Ed from Michlalah Jerusalem College and an MA from Touro College, and was ordained as a rabbi.

He did Hesder service and fought on the Golan Heights in the Yom Kippur War. He then returned to the yeshiva as a teacher.

In January 2006 he became a head of Yeshivat Har Etzion alongside Rabbi Baruch Gigi. He teaches Tanakh, Gemara and Jewish thought, and has published studies on the Book of Daniel, the Book of Ruth and the Bathsheba story. With Ruth Gavison he drafted a covenant on religion and state for religious and secular Israelis.

He opposed the Oslo Accords. In May 2023 he received an honorary doctorate from Bar-Ilan University. He is married to Ruth, has 7 children and lives in Alon Shvut.