The Mayanot Blog

The Mayanot family has become extended once again! - Mayanot wishes newlyweds Joe and Ariella Craven Mazeltov on their recent wedding. Joe was part of our Executive Learning Program, and Ariella studied at the Women's Program. Mayanot wishes you health, happiness and much simcha in the coming years:)

Mayanot is beginning an exciting new venture, spearheaded by Mayanot Alumni Adam Weinstein , the chairman of the post-Birthright volunteer board, and Rachel Fertel . The 10 day trip to Israel with Mayanot Birthright is an exhilarating experience, connections and friendships are made. For many, the Birthright trip was their first chance to form relationships with other young Jewish adults. However, after the plane touches down on US soil, and the participants go their separate ways, it is often difficult to maintain that sense of togetherness and connection across the distances and the pull of everyday life. Mayanot Birthright is hoping to rectify this. Although Birthright does cater to the larger Birthright community through initiatives such as the “Jewish Enrichment Centre” and “Next”, Mayanot is offering, through this new program, a service which is smaller and which is tailored to foster connections within the Mayanot family, which will work in conjunction and affiliation with these

As a kid, my questions about "why do we do weird stuff on Passover?" extended well beyond Seder night and mostly revolved around the Chabad stringencies. "But why do we have to peel the tomatoes and apples?" "Why do we have to waste time shelling the almonds if we can buy them already shelled and ground?" and so forth. The answer was always the same "because the Rebbe said so." My family, baalei teshuva to Chabad from the FSU (former Soviet Union), never exhibited interest in the why. I suppose that's a generational gap. Notice that in the Hagadah, it's the child born post-exodus that asks the emancipated slave generation "why is this night different than all other nights?" The slaves never ask why because they do not have that right and it's actually perilous to their existence. They are programmed specifically not to think too much about the why because that could lead to other "dangerous" thoughts. The question