Quick Facts
Biography
Yaakov Bender (born 1950) is an American Orthodox rabbi. He is the rosh hayeshiva (dean) of Yeshiva Darchei Torah (Far Rockaway). He was appointed first as a seventh-grade rebbi (Hebrew teacher) in 1978 and less than a year later as principal. The school's enrollment has grown since then and now exceeds 2,500. Bender is a speaker, writer and adviser on Jewish education.
He is an active member of the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva - the governing rabbinic board - of Torah Umesorah – National Society for Hebrew Day Schools.
His parents, Rabbi Dovid and Basya Bender, were pioneering educators on the American Jewish scene. His paternal grandfather, Rabbi Avraham Bender, traveled in the 1930s within the United States to raise funds for yeshivas in New York and Israel.
In 1997 he was recognized as an outstanding Jewish educator by The Covenant Foundation.
COVID-19 vaccination advocacy
Bender encouraged people to get the COVID-19 vaccine, saying "We haven't lived through enough?"
Works
- Rav Yaakov Bender on Chumash
- Chinuch for Today
- Chinuch With Heart
- Chinuch With Chessed
- The Chinuch Haggadah
- Rav Yaakov Bender on Chumash Vol. 2
