The Mayanot Blog

Parshat Lech Lecha  With Rabbi Shlomo Gestetner,  Dean of the Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies, in Jerusalem Click on the link below to hear about Avraham Aveinu and his life:  https://soundcloud.com/mayanot/mayanot-moment-lech-lecha-at

At a recent breakfast event, well-known philanthropist  David Schottenstein  explained why he supports Mayanot.  David and  Eda Schottenstein  have been partnering with Mayanot for over a decade. At a recent breakfast in Jerusalem, in support of Mayanot, David responded to a question that many ask. Why do you give to Mayanot, an educational organization, when there is so much need and you can give directly to poor people? Schottenstein explains, “An organization like Mayanot takes people who may otherwise not have a connection to yiddishkeit, and they become completely involved. These same people end up being huge donors to a number of organizations. People, who otherwise may have been donating to an art museum or to the symphony come through Mayanot and they raise their families with Jewish commitment…To me, Mayanot is really one of the best investments Eda and I have ever made. We have been fortunate enough to be involved in many organizations, many of which are amazi

Let's share some Torah and increase Am Yisroel's merit in these dark times.  A Mayanot Moment on Parshat Noach! https://soundcloud.com/mayanot/mayanot-moment-parshat-noach 

Many of you know me as an owner of Mike's Place in Jerusalem, or someone who volunteers his time running the Mayanot Shul.  But I too am a volunteer in ZAKA, not only a volunteer but a proud Officer. Today, as terror hit the streets of Jerusalem in two separate, almost simultaneous attacks, I jumped out of bed to help in the streets.  I exchanged my pajamas for my ZAKA T-shirt and a yellow vest.  First, I arrived at the site of the car ramming and stabbing attack in Malchei Yisrael Street in which one Israeli was killed and several others wounded. But there were already many ZAKA volunteers working on the site and help was needed at the Armon Hanatziv site. I jumped into the ZAKA ambulance, taking a few members with me and start to drive towards Amon Hanatziv. I felt a sense of horror and déjà vu as we approached the area and saw a bus with fellow ZAKA volunteers, on their hands and knees, clearing human remains and blood from the bus and the sidewalk. These scenes a

Mayanot has just launched the 'Mayanot Moment Series'.  The first sound cloud snippet for the first Parshah of the year, given over by Rabbi Shlomo Gestetner, Dean of the Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies.  This series is dedicated to all of our alumni and friends! https://soundcloud.com/mayanot/mayanot-moment-breishit-5776 Shabbat Shalom!

Interviewed By: Chelsea Shar, Mayanot Women's Program Alumni 2015 One of the hardest things in life is being truly open and authentic with oneself. Most of us will fail to admit this to ourselves let alone to anyone else. We constantly hide behind shields, defense mechanisms, quirks, humor, anger-management issues etc etc etc. Some of us even hide behind psychologists thinking we know who we are; thinking we are being open with ourselves. But the truth is we are all just playing the game; some trying their best to follow the rules, others to break them. Mayanot is one of those special places where you get to redefine the game completely. Mayanot, in some way or other, forces you to be open and authentic with yourself – whether this clarity is experienced immediately while studying at Mayanot or subsequently in the self-reflection aftermath. Not only was I honored to experience this redefinition personally, but during my 5 months at Mayanot I was privileged enough to wit