Machon Meir

Machon Meir
מכון מאיר המרכז ללימודי היהדות בישראל
Named afterEliezer Meir Lifshitz
Formation1974 (1974)
FounderDov Bigon
TypeYeshiva; Jewish outreach organization; Nonprofit organization
Legal statusRegistered nonprofit association
Location
ServicesYeshiva studies; Hebrew ulpan; women's seminary; conversion courses; online Torah media
FieldsJewish studies; Religious Zionism; Kiruv
Official language
Hebrew; English; French; Spanish; Russian
AwardsAgrest Prize for Jewish Culture, awarded to Arutz Meir (2010)
Websiteemeir.org.il
machonmeir.net

Machon Meir (Hebrew: מכון מאיר) is a Religious Zionist yeshiva and Jewish outreach organization in Kiryat Moshe, Jerusalem.

Founded in 1974 by Rabbi Dov Bigon following the Yom Kippur War, it became an early institution in the Religious Zionist teshuva movement. Its activities include a men's yeshiva, Hebrew-language instruction, conversion preparation, the Machon Ora women's seminary, and the Arutz Meir educational media platform.

History

Rabbi Dov Bigon

Machon Meir was founded in Jerusalem in 1974, following the Yom Kippur War (1973), by Rabbi Dov Bigon, who had studied for over a decade at Mercaz HaRav under Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook.[1][2] Bigon established the institute after consulting with Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook and Rabbi Haim Druckman.[1] It was named in memory of Eliezer Meir Lifshitz, a paratrooper reservist who was killed in the war.[3]

It was one of the Religious Zionist educational initiatives that developed after the war—a Torah-study institution shaped by the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and oriented especially toward chozrim b'teshuva (Jews returning to religious observance) from Israel and the diaspora.[2] Asaf Sharabi identifies the establishment of Machon Meir in the 1970s as an important early development in the rise of the Religious-Zionist teshuva movement.[4]

Educational approach

The yeshiva primarily serves students with limited prior Jewish education and provides Hebrew-language instruction alongside its Torah study courses.[5] Machon Meir encourages eligible students to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and to integrate into Israeli society.[6]

The institute provides personal guidance tailored to its students' different educational backgrounds. Educational activities seek to connect classroom Torah study with the land and history of Israel through trips to natural, biblical, and archaeological sites. Hebrew study and interaction with Israeli students are intended to help students integrate into Israeli society.[7]

Leadership and faculty

Machon Meir is headed by its founder, Rabbi Dov Bigon.[8][9] Longtime faculty include Rabbi Oury Amos Cherki, a lecturer at the institute,[10][11] and former Soviet refusenik and Prisoner of Zion Rabbi Yosef Mendelevitch, who has worked there for more than three decades.[12][13]

Rabbi Menachem Listman has taught at Machon Meir for several decades and serves as director of the English Speakers Department.[7][9] Rabbi Kenneth Cohen previously headed the department and teaches and counsels students.[7] Rabbi David Partouche headed the institute's French department and remains the listed contact for its French-language program.[14][15]

Programs

Men's yeshiva

In Jerusalem, the Machon Meir yeshiva offers full-time study programs for young Jewish men of various backgrounds and levels of knowledge.[16] Machon Meir is multilingual, with students speaking Spanish, French, English, and Hebrew.[7] Areas of study include Hebrew Bible, Talmud, the writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, musar, and Jewish philosophy, and the program also includes Hebrew ulpan studies.[17] Machon Meir's Ulpan Meir is a men-only Hebrew ulpan offered four afternoons a week.[18][7]

Women's seminary (Machon Ora)

Machon Ora is a Jerusalem-based women's seminary associated with Machon Meir.[19][20] Its educational outlook is influenced by the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook.[21] Serving women from a range of religious backgrounds, it offers studies in Jewish thought, halakha, Tanakh, ethics, and preparation for Jewish family life.[21] Its programs include full-year study, additional study frameworks, and one-day seminars.[21]

Conversion program

In 2018, Machon Meir operated a private conversion-preparation institute primarily in Jerusalem. Established approximately thirty years earlier, the institute accompanied about 100 students annually who appeared before conversion courts.[22]

Funding

The nonprofit association Machon Meir—The Center for Jewish Studies in Israel was established in 1983.[23]

In 2024, the association reported income of ₪27,971,255. This included ₪12,280,491 in donations from Israel, ₪8,036,404 from services, and ₪3,209,950 in government allocations and support.[24]

In 2024, the Ministry of Education approved ₪2,435,899 in support for the association through a program supporting Torah institutions. Of this amount, ₪2,409,013 was paid in 2024 and ₪26,884 in 2025.[25] In 2021, the Prime Minister's Office approved ₪232,265 for the association through a conversion-support program, of which ₪27,410 was paid in 2022.[26]

Media and online resources

Machon Meir established Arutz Meir around 2004 as an internet television channel. It streamed live classes from the institute and maintained an archive of more than 10,000 video lessons in Hebrew, English, French, Spanish, and Russian.[27]

Arutz Meir received the Israeli Ministry of Education's Agrest Prize for Jewish Culture in 2010. The award committee cited its production of programs on Jewish subjects, dissemination of the heritage of the Torah and the Land of Israel, and contribution to Religious-Zionist media.[27]

Arutz Meir also operates Arutz Meir Kids, an online children's channel.[28] In 2011, it launched a Passover series for children in English.[29]

References

  1. 1 2 "עניין אישי והפעם עם הרב דב ביגון - העיתון בשבע". ערוץ 7 (in Hebrew). 9 September 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 Leon 2015, p. 51.
  3. ↑ "Eliezer Meir Lifshitz". Izkor. Israeli Ministry of Defense. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  4. ↑ Sharabi 2012, p. 288.
  5. ↑ "About The Program". Masa Israel Journey.
  6. ↑ "What is Machon Meir?". Machon Meir.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Martin, Bradley (13 January 2022). "Machon Meir: An inside look at Israel's premier Torah-outreach org". The Jerusalem Post.
  8. ↑ "דמעות כותבות ספרים". Kan (in Hebrew). 20 June 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Our Team". Machon Meir English Department. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "'Jews are the backbone of history'". Israel Hayom. 19 September 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "רבנים" [Rabbis]. Arutz Meir (in Hebrew). Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  12. ↑ Brenner, Bayla Sheva (2013). "Up Close with Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich". Jewish Action. Orthodox Union. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "Former Prisoner of Zion: 'The Law of Return is bringing in non-Jews'". Israel National News. 25 December 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  14. ↑ "Surge in French aliyah spurred by start-up nation". Ynetnews. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "Machon Meir". Masa Israel Journey (in French). Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  16. ↑ "Machon Meir English Department". Masa Israel Journey.
  17. ↑ "Learn. Live. Connect". Machon Meir.
  18. ↑ "Ulpan". Machon Meir.
  19. ↑ ""נרצחי הפיגוע - הרוגים על קידוש השם"". Ynet (in Hebrew). 13 March 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  20. ↑ Lambert Adler, Rivkah (26 October 2025). "Dressed for 'aliyah' success: How a Chicago woman became a self-made fashion designer in Israel". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  21. 1 2 3 "מכון אורה". פורום המדרשות התורניות לבנות (in Hebrew). Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  22. ↑ Nissim, Moshe (2018). הגיור בישראל: טיוטה – דו"ח והמלצות [Conversion in Israel: Draft Report and Recommendations] (PDF) (Report) (in Hebrew). p. 61. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  23. ↑ "מכון מאיר המרכז ללימודי היהדות בישראל (ע"ר)". מפתח התקציב (in Hebrew). Public Knowledge Workshop. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  24. ↑ "מכון מאיר המרכז ללימודי היהדות בישראל (ע"ר) — נתונים כספיים". גיידסטאר (in Hebrew). Israeli Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  25. ↑ "תמיכה במוסדות תורניים". מפתח התקציב (in Hebrew). Public Knowledge Workshop. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  26. ↑ "תמיכות-גיור". מפתח התקציב (in Hebrew). Public Knowledge Workshop. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  27. 1 2 Avraham, Efi (5 October 2010). "פרס אגרסט לתרבות יהודית לשנת תשע"א הוענק ל"ערוץ מאיר"" [Agrest Prize for Jewish Culture for 5771 awarded to Arutz Meir]. Srugim (in Hebrew). Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  28. ↑ "חוות דעת מקצועית לאישור מיזם משותף" (in Hebrew). Government of Israel. 7 December 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  29. ↑ Mandel, Jonah (8 April 2011). "Machon Meir launches kids TV series on Pessah". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 14 July 2026.

Bibliography

  • Leon, Nissim (2015), "The Significance of the Yom Kippur War as a Turning Point in the Religious-Zionist Society", in Lebel, Udi; Lewin, Eyal (eds.), The 1973 Yom Kippur War and the Reshaping of Israeli Civil–Military Relations, Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, pp. 37–54, ISBN 978-1-4985-1371-5
  • Sharabi, Asaf (2012), "'Teshuvah baskets' in the Israeli teshuvah market", Culture and Religion, 13 (3): 273–293, doi:10.1080/14755610.2012.706227
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