Yeshivat Maharat

What Yeshivat Maharat does

Yeshivat Maharat is a private nonprofit Orthodox Jewish educational institution founded in 2009 and headquartered at 3700 Henry Hudson Parkway in the Bronx, New York. It is the first institution to ordain women as clergy within the Orthodox movement, an outcome that began with the ordination of its co-founder Rabba Sara Hurwitz and has since grown into a four-year rabbinic ordination pipeline. The organization's core offering is the Core Semikha program, a four-year curriculum combining classical Jewish textual study (Gemara, Rishonim, Tur, Beit Yosef, Shulkhan Arukh, contemporary teshuvot) with pastoral education, homiletics, and leadership development delivered through centers including the Belz Center for Halakhic Studies, the Lindenbaum Center for 21st Century Rabbinic Leadership, and the Hear Her Voice writing and digital media center. Supporting products include the one-year Beit Midrash preparatory program, the Israel-based Tehila program operated in partnership with Midreshet Ein Hanatziv, fellowships (College Learning, Campus Ambassadors, Va'tichtov writing), the Emerging Scholars Award for high school seniors, the Revava alumnae network, and public community programs.

The business model is donation-funded philanthropy rather than tuition-based revenue. Maharat charges no tuition and instead provides full scholarships and living stipends to enrolled students, supported by individual donors, foundation grants, and fellowships from partners including the UJA Graduate Fellowship, the Nachshon Project, Hillel's Office of Innovation, and the Hebrew Free Loan Society. Annual revenue is not publicly disclosed. Operating costs are tied to a small, highly credentialed faculty and administration, with programs delivered in-person at the Riverdale campus, through hybrid formats, and fully remote.

As of 2025, Maharat had ordained 100 women through its Core Semikha and Advanced Kollel tracks, with 41 additional leaders through the now-sunset Advanced Kollel program and 70+ students through Beit Midrash since 2019. Graduates serve as pulpit rabbis, chaplains, educators, and communal leaders across eight countries and five continents. The Advanced Kollel track was sunset in 2025, and Tehila was launched in 2024 as the institution's Israel-based ordination pathway. The organization is led by President and Co-Founder Rabba Sara Hurwitz, Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Jeffrey Fox, and EVP Liz Offenbach, with scholarly oversight by Posek Emeritus Professor Daniel Sperber (Israel Prize laureate) and Co-Founder Rabbi Avi Weiss.

Name

Yeshivat Maharat

Legal name

Yeshivat Maharat

Website

https://yeshivatmaharat.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Yeshivat Maharat is a private nonprofit Orthodox seminary in the Bronx, NY that educates and ordains Orthodox women as rabbis, chaplains, and communal leaders through a four-year Core Semikha program plus preparatory and fellowship tracks, funded entirely by donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bronx

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Philanthropy: The organization relies primarily on donations from individuals, foundations, and supporters. Tax ID: 01-0954142. Various giving options including one-time donations, sponsoring days of learning, weekly parsha newsletters, and pledge payment schedules.
2. Financial Support for Students: Maharat provides full tuition scholarships and living stipends to students, not charges them. Funded through donor support and fellowship programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Yeshivat Maharat educates, ordains, and invests in Orthodox women for rabbinic, chaplaincy, educational, and communal leadership roles. Its core offering is the four-year Core Semikha ordination program, supplemented by preparatory programs, fellowships, writing programs, and an alumnae network. Students attend tuition-free with full scholarships and stipends funded by donations.

Product overview

Yeshivat Maharat is the first Orthodox institution to ordain women as rabbis, offering a comprehensive portfolio of educational programs centered around rabbinic ordination and Jewish textual education. The core offerings include the four-year Core Semikha ordination program (with in-person, hybrid, and remote options) and the Tehila advanced semikha program in Israel. These are supported by the one-year Beit Midrash preparatory program. Additional programs include College Learning Fellowship and Campus Ambassadors for college students, the Va'tichtov writing fellowship for Jewish women's scholarship, and the Emerging Scholars Award for high school seniors. The Revava alumnae network provides ongoing career support to graduates. Public programs including weekly parsha classes and bat mitzvah leadership labs extend Maharat's educational reach to the broader community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Core Semikha A four-year Orthodox rabbinic ordination program for women offering full scholarships and learning stipends, available in-person, hybrid, and remote formats with full and part-time options.
• Tehila: Ein Hanatziv-Maharat Advanced Semikha A four-year in-person ordination program located in northern Israel, designed for women with 4-5 years of prior beit midrash experience who are working as Jewish professionals in Israel.
• Beit Midrash Program A one-year immersive preparatory program (mekhina) for Orthodox women designed to enhance prospective semikha students' Jewish textual literacy, fluency, and skills before applying to the four-year ordination program.
• College Learning Fellowship A weekly online halakha and/or gemara shiur for college students with a four-day intensive onsite at Maharat in New York.
• Campus Ambassadors Program A leadership program for college students who represent Maharat at their colleges through Maharat-sponsored programming and recruitment efforts, receiving a stipend and one-on-one mentorship.
• Va'tichtov: She Writes Fellowship A year-long writing fellowship that elevates Jewish women's scholarship, operating on a three-year cycle focusing on teshuvot, op-ed/popular writing, and essay/long-form pieces.
• Revava: Alumnae & Torah Leader Network Career support, networking, and high-level education program for Maharat graduates and similarly qualified leaders, offering professional coaching, resource access, and pastoral support.
• Public Programs Community-facing educational programs including weekly Torah classes, bat mitzvah leadership labs, and public events open to the broader Jewish community.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100 women ordained as Orthodox rabbis by 2025
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Midreshet Ein HanatzivcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint program (Tehila: Ein Hanatziv-Maharat Advanced Semikha) offering four-year ordination in northern Israel. Combines Ein Hanatziv's advanced Torah learning with Maharat's rabbinic training including Jewish law, leadership, and pastoral Torah. One day per week in-person learning supplemented by chevruta and annual intensives.
• Hebrew Free Loan SocietyminorOthersOffers interest-free training and certification loans to defray costs for students residing in New York City while studying in-person at Maharat.
• UJA Graduate FellowshipminorOthersMulti-year fellowship for rabbinical and other students enrolled in Jewish graduate programs dedicated to pursuing careers in Jewish Federation or communal organizations in North America.
• Nachshon Project Graduate FellowshipminorOthersMulti-year fellowship for rabbinical students with 3-10 years Jewish professional experience pursuing careers serving North American Jewish community. Fellows required to work in Jewish community for 1.5x length of graduate program.
• Hillel's Office of Innovation - Fellowship for Rabbinic EntrepreneursminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne-year fellowship for students in final two years of Core Semikha rewarding creativity and innovation in the rabbinate with coaching to assist fellows in actualizing their projects.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Emerging players

• SVIVAH: Network of Orthodox women Jewish professionals and scholars with HerTorah learning communities. Comparable as a platform elevating Orthodox women's Jewish scholarship and leadership; alumni of Maharat (e.g., Aliza Sperling) lead SVIVAH programming.
• Mechon Hadar: New York-based egalitarian yeshiva offering intensive Torah learning, seminars, and rabbinic training programs. Comparable as a graduate-level advanced Jewish learning institution developing Jewish leaders, though it is egalitarian rather than Orthodox-specific.

Direct peers

• Yeshivat Chovevei Torah: Open-Orthodox rabbinical school founded by Rabbi Avi Weiss, Maharat's co-founder, which ordains men as Orthodox rabbis. Closely comparable as a parallel Orthodox rabbinic ordination institution sharing leadership DNA and overlapping faculty (e.g., Rabbi Jeffrey Fox is its first graduate).
• Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC): Reconstructionist movement rabbinical school that ordains women and men. Comparable as a smaller graduate seminary ordaining Jewish clergy with progressive gender norms, though serving Reconstructionist rather than Orthodox contexts.
• Midreshet Lindenbaum: Jerusalem seminary for Orthodox women offering advanced Talmud and Tanakh study. Highly comparable as an Orthodox women's post-secondary learning institution; Rabba Sara Hurwitz is a Midreshet Lindenbaum alumna and it sits at the front of the same Orthodox women's educational pipeline.
• Drisha Institute for Jewish Education: Brooklyn-based institute offering advanced women's Torah study and leadership programs, including the Drisha High School Program and July Kollel. Highly comparable as a women's advanced Jewish learning institution feeding the Maharat applicant pipeline; shares faculty lineage (Wendy Amsellem was Drisha's director before joining Maharat).
• Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies: Jerusalem-based co-ed institute for advanced Jewish text study, with parallel beit midrash and rabbinic training tracks. Comparable as an immersive graduate Jewish learning environment; shares faculty (e.g., Daniel Reifman teaches at both Pardes and Maharat).

Regional players

• Migdal Oz: Israeli women's yeshiva offering advanced Torah and Talmud study for Orthodox women, with a strong emphasis on Talmudic scholarship. Comparable as an Orthodox women's seminary, though primarily serving Israeli-resident students rather than the diaspora-focused Maharat.

Broad incumbents

• Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS): Major Conservative movement rabbinical school that ordains women and men as rabbis with extensive graduate programs (List College, Davidson School). Comparable as a denominational seminary offering rabbinic ordination, though its movement (Conservative) differs from Maharat's Orthodox orientation.
• Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC): Reform movement's primary rabbinic ordination seminary, ordaining women since 1972 and offering graduate Jewish professional degrees. Comparable as a graduate theological seminary granting rabbinic credentials, but serving the Reform movement rather than Orthodox women.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCZny_72J1FMYA0VvT075gmg
• Facebookfacebook.com/wearemaharat
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yeshivat-maharat
• Instagraminstagram.com/wearemaharat

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Yeshivat Maharat