Machon Meir ( he, מכון מאיר) is a

religious Zionist Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...

outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

organization and

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...

situated in the

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

neighborhood of Kiryat Moshe, close to

Givat Shaul Givat Shaul ( he, גבעת שאול, lit. (''Saul's Hill''); ar, غفعات شاؤول) is a neighborhood in West Jerusalem. The neighborhood is located at the western entrance to the city, east of the neighborhood of Har Nof and north of Kirya ...

. Machon Meir is one of the larger

organization in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and is strongly associated with nationalist politics and the settler movement.

History & Ideology

Beit Midrash da Yeshivá Machon Meir, Jerusalém

Machon Meir was founded shortly after the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

in 1973, by

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Dov Bigon DOV or Dov could refer to: ''דב'' or ''דוב'', a Hebrew male given name meaning "bear", from which the Yiddish name "Ber" (בער) was derived (cognate with "bear") which was common among East European Jews. People * Dov Ber of Mezeritch (1700 ...

. Rabbi Bigon himself was educated at

Mercaz HaRav Mercaz HaRav (officially, he, מרכז הרב - הישיבה המרכזית העולמית, "The Center of Rabbi ook- the Central Universal Yeshiva") is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, founded in 1924 by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Abraha ...

under Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook, and so while Machon Meir is not officially affiliated with Mercaz HaRav, the two have very similar ideologies. Machon Meir was founded as an

and as such is geared towards students with less formal Jewish education and/or little knowledge of the Hebrew language. Machon Meir encourages full participation in Israeli society and the Israel Defense Forces.

Programs

In Jerusalem, the Machon Meir

offers full-time, intensive study programs for young Jewish men of all backgrounds and levels of knowledge in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, English, French,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

languages. Areas of study include

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

, the writings of

Abraham Isaac Kook,

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, Musar literature, philosophy and a men-only

ulpan An ulpan ( he, אולפן), plural ''ulpanim'', is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. Ulpan is a Hebrew word meaning "studio", "teaching", or "instruction". The ulpan is designed to teach adult immigrants to Israel the b ...

.Ulpan Meir
/ref> See Yeshiva #Curriculum. Machon Meir is also a common destination for non-Jews from all over the world seeking an orthodox conversion to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

that will be recognised by the State of Israel. Machon Meir has a sister organization, Machon Ora, with study programs for young women in Hebrew, French, Spanish, and Russian.

References

External links

Official Machon Meir English Department website
{{coord, 31.7854, N, 35.1947, E, source:kolossus-hewiki, display=title Orthodox Jewish outreach Orthodox yeshivas in Jerusalem Religious Zionist yeshivot Educational institutions established in 1973 Baalei teshuva institutions 1973 establishments in Israel