| Honorific-Prefix: | Rabbi |
| Nationality: | Israeli |
| Denomination: | Orthodox Judaism |
| Residence: | Alon Shevut |
| Birth Date: | July 6, 1950 |
| Birth Name: | יעקב מדן |
| Yaaqov Medan | |
| Yeshiva: | Yeshivat Har Etzion |
| Yeshivaposition: | Rosh Yeshiva |
| Dynasty: | Soloveitchik dynasty |
Yaaqov Medan (spelled Yaakov or Ya'acov) (Hebrew: יעקב מדן) (born 1950) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi, co-Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, a respected leader in the Religious-Zionist community, and a lecturer in Tanakh, Gemara, and Jewish philosophy.[1] [2]
Yaaqov Medan was a member of the first class at Yeshivat Har Etzion, and has lived in Gush Etzion since 1968.
He served in the Airborne Nahal Infantry unit during his Hesder army service. During the Yom Kippur War, he fought in the Golan Heights as a liaison officer in the Yiftach Brigade.[3]
Medan holds a B.Ed degree from Michlalah Jerusalem College, and an MA degree from Touro College.[4] In May 2023 he received an Honorary Doctorate from Bar Ilan University.[5]
Together with Rabbi Baruch Gigi, Rabbi Medan joined Rabbi Yehuda Amital and Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein as a Rosh Yeshiva on January 4, 2006.
His Biblical analysis does not shy away from nuanced analysis of the patriarchs and other Biblical figures in innovative commentaries on Tanakh, which combine lucid textual analysis with intimate knowledge of geographical and historical realia, and of a vast body of Jewish tradition. He has published book-length studies on Daniel, Ruth, and the Batsheva story. A much wider variety of lectures which he has given at Yeshivat Har Etzion have not yet been published in written form.
He was a partner in drafting the Gavison-Medan Covenant,[6] [7] a proposed constitution for the State of Israel which is intended to benefit Israel's religious and secular communities simultaneously (despite their disagreement on a number of issues).