The Mayanot Blog

Seder niggunim may never be the same again. Before a full house at the Phoenix Theatre in Melbourne (Thursday night, 24 October 2013), a talented group of musicians and others delighted the crowd with an interpretation of a series of Chassidic nigunim, in support of Mayanot Institute in Israel. It was apparent early that this would be a special night indeed. The stage was setup with a farbrengen table to one side, and a giant empty canvas to the other. Before each of the niggunim, a short spoken word piece was delivered by   David Werdiger   and young local mashpi’im R’   Yirmi Caspi   and Rabbi   Dovid Tsap , to introduce and set the mood. Throughout the concert, local Sydney artist   David Asher Brook worked frenetically to deliver a masterpiece, inspired by the music. From niggun sholosh tenuos to a magnificent finale of rachamono d’onei featuring all the performers, the interpretations were intense, innovative, and had the audience enraptured. The lechatchila ariber ni

Written by: Ilana Ellison In 2008, I began attending the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City.  Being all alone in the big city, I was looking for a way to meet new people.  My search eventually led me to the FIT Chabad House.  What I ended up finding was a small 10’x10’office, and Mrs. Malka Werde.  Throughout my first year at FIT, I became very close with Malka, other Jewish students on campus, and Chabad. Everyone was so nice and welcoming; it was like an instant family. Even though I had little knowledge of observant Judaism, the Chabad Club gave me a chance to ask questions and learn more about Judaism. I slowly started keeping kosher, lighting Shabbat candles, and learning more in depth.  In the summer of2009 I decided to go on the Mayanot Israel Links trip for a chance to learn more and go back to Israel.  I had been on Birthright and lived in Israel, but had never experienced it like this.  With the help of Yehudis Bluming, shlucha to UNC and Duke

Avi-Natan Zadeka is our newest  Mayanot Men's Program  participant. We asked Avi to write about his experiences coming to Mayanot, being part of the Jerusalem community, and growing with the Mayanot family. In the upcoming weeks Avi will share his experiences and provide a glimpse into the Mayanot experience both on his  personal blog , and here. For regular updates follow the Mayanot Men's Program on  Facebook , and  Twitter .  SUKKOT IN JERUSALEM This is going to be a bit longer of a post – sorry! Instead of going into detail about each Hebrew word, I’ve made them all hyperlinks, so if you click on the word it will take you to the wiki page. Enjoy  This past week was spent celebrating the holiday of  Sukkot . I have never sat in more Sukkahs or danced at more parties in my life! Instead of going into the nitty-gritties of each night, I’m just gonna give an overview of the crazy happenings which I attended and participated in. Over Shabbat I went to the hous