Disguising Ourselves on Purim Why Do We Do It – And From Whom Are We Hiding? By Rabbi Yoav Ende The motif of masking identities is one of the main keys to understanding the Purim story. What is it...
Seminar on Religion and State The goal of this annual seminar is to expose Hannaton Mechina participants to the complexity of the overlap between religion and state in many areas of Israeli society, to help them learn in-depth the...
Rishe Groner Visiting Hannaton was the perfect way to kick off a full year of experiencing Israel through both study and community. As second year Rabbinical students, we had come to expect the highs and lows of this unique...
by Rabbi Yoav Ende The period from Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, to Yom HaZikaron, the Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers, and Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel Independence Day, is often referred to as “The Israeli High Holidays,” and some communities...
by Dr. Nurit Novis-Deutsch We are living in exciting times, perhaps even in an axial age, rich with opportunity, change and new directions for the human race. Changes-in-the- making include a substantial increase in human longevity; workforce shifts due...
Binymin Glicksman, Hannaton Mechina Graduate, Class of 2013 Following my experience as a participant of the Hannaton Mechina and while in active army service, I missed the meaningful experiences of my mechina days. After completing my army service in...
Halleli Bosri, a participant in the Hannaton Mechina this year, wrote the following reflections, after participating in a seminar on social activism: “One whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, to what is he like? To a tree whose branches are...
by Binyamin Glicksman While these memories of my experiences in Myanmar are from a few months back, they still resonate with me. Burma (or by its official name, Myanmar), is a poor country in the Far East, between...
אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם מְפַחֵד תָּמִיד וּמַקְשֶׁה לִבּוֹ יִפּוֹל בְּרָעָה. משלי כח יד Happy is the man that fears always; but he who hardens his heart shall fall into evil. (Proverbs 28, 14) It is just days before Tisha b’Av and...
by Elad Arnon Tisha b’Av is a national day of mourning, which sometimes appears to be a day for religiously observant Jews only. As a secular Jew, I know this day primarily as a figure of speech. As a...