The Mayanot Blog

SHAVUOT WITH MAYANOT The Mayanot Shul is hosting all night Learning! A wonderful community atmosphere, with light refreshments served.  Commemorating the 50th Reunion of Jerusalem  WHEN & WHERE: Tuesday May 30th, 2017 28 Narkis Street, Nachlaot Jerusalem נרקיס 28, נחלאות ירושלים, בית כנסת מעיינות CLASSES: (Each Class is 45 Minutes) Workplace Halacha Rabbi Ari Wasserman 12:00 Midnight Jerusalem: From Conception To Resurrection Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Poupko  1:00 AM  Jerusalem: Through The Prism Of Chassidut  Rabbi Shlomo Gestetner 2:00 AM  ליקוטי מהר''ן  רבי אופיר שבח  12:00 - 2:00 AM בעברית  COMMUNITY FABRENGEN: "Making The Torah Real In My Life Time" Featuring: Rabbi Ami Weisz Dr. Yoni Stanleigh 2:30 - 4:00 AM NOTE: Shachrit at Mayanot begins at 9:15 AM  For inquiries or to sponsor, please contact: [email protected]  To join the Mayanot Shul Facebook Page and receive updates, click h

It was 1987 and six young Yeshivah students, who were Shluchim at Ohr Elchonon in Los Angeles, decided, one day, to skip the Yeshiva lunch and dine at the Milky Way Restaurant on Pico Boulevard.  The proprietor of the restaurant was impressed with the students, and in her signature generous spirit offered some special dishes ‘on the house’. However, she did more than just offer complementary delicacies to  the Yeshiva students;  she listened to them, discussed life with them and in general made these out-of-town young students totally welcome in her restaurant, as if it was her own home. What they soon learnt about Leah Adler , the proprietor of The Milky Way Restaurant, was that she was an extraordinarily kind, wise, and giving person. Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov , executive director of the Maynot Institute of Jewish Studies , was one of those six shluchim . “Leah, or Lee Lee as she was known, cared personally for her customers she listened to their stories, to their problems a

The  Mayanot Israel Alumni Women's Network  gathered on Tuesday May 23rd, for their second meeting. Graciously, Mrs.  Rivka Marga Gestetner , the Mayanot Women's Program  educational director, offered her home for the gathering.  It was fitting that the women's reunion occurred the evening of Yom Yerushalayim, celebrating the anniversary of 50 years of the reunification. The city was celebrating a reunion and so were the Mayanot women! It was a wonderful atmosphere, as all of the women who gathered,  have made Aliyah themselves, building a life here, in Jerusalem.   The group spanned several years of Mayanot alumni. Some students present had attended the very first year of the program, while others represented the most recent graduating class.  It was wonderful catching up, and being able to hear what everyone is doing in their life, building families, careers and doing it in Israel.  The new Scholar in residence,  Mrs. Freidy Yanover  shared Torah rel

Sharing what a Mayanot Women's Program student has learnt about this period of time, between Passover and Shavuot, and how it can impact our lives in a practical way.  Written by: Lauren Buckman We are currently in the period of S'firat Ha'Omer, the Counting of the Omer. The 49 day count starts on the second day of Passover and ends on Shavuot, the holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah. Back in Temple times, the seven weeks were counted from the day the barley offering was brought to the day the wheat offering was given on Shavuot. These 49 days also correspond to the seven expressions of our seven characteristics, which we work to strengthen in order to prepare ourselves to receive the Torah on the holiday of Shavuot.   Why? When we were slaves in Egypt we sank to the 49th level of spirituality (the 50th level being the lowest level of which there is no return). Let’s just say we were not people to be proud of... G-d gave us ten miracles (the Ten Plag

Some of the Birthright Israel: Mayanot students (L-R)  Aviel Yashar, Eli Polikar, Shahar Zuckerman, Emily Franklin, and Esther Amram.  There is something special about Birthright Israel: Mayanot trips to Israel After many months of anticipation, we were finally on our way on our trip to Israel through Birthright Israel: Mayanot. When word spread that our flight to Israel was delayed about 10 hours, a wave of frustration spread through our group. Israel was having its worst snowstorm in decades-at the very same time as our scheduled flight. There was talk that we'd be stuck at Kennedy airport in New York for those long hours, and that our new flight would be so early we wouldn't even have time to sleep. While the latter was true, Rabbi Chaim Lipskier stood in line for us at a service desk and after a couple of hours managed to get our whole group accommodations for the night, as well as vouchers for the hotel and airport. Seeing our rabbi's sincerity and concern

We are very proud to announce that Moishe Chakoff , our Mayanot Men's Program Alumni recently won first place in the Meaningful Life Center  MyLife Essay Contest, taking home $10,000 for his incredible and insightful chassidut essay. We offer him a heartfelt Mazal Tov for this wonderful accomplishment. We also want to include an honorable shutout to Hadassah Silberstein, our Mayanot Women's Program Alumna who won third place prize and took home $1,000. View her essay here. Please find Moshe's winning essay below, as seen via: MLC Trees and Maps: How to Stop Being a People Pleaser by Moishe Chakoff MyLife Essay Contest 2017 The expression “people-pleaser” may seem like an innocuous phrase to describe a very nice person. In truth, it describes a psychological disorder wherein individuals feel they must say “yes” when they really want to and should say “no”. The Giving-Tree by Shel Silverstein illustrates the mentality of people-pleasing very clearly.