Ierusalim, Mahanaim

HOW IT ALL BEGAN What later became known as "Mahanaim" appeared in pre-perestroika Moscow in the late seventies. Of course, it was not an official organization at the time - all such organizations were banned. In essence, the activity was banned, but it still existed, underground, secretly, under threats and surveillance by the KGB, but gradually it developed into a whole system of informal lessons in Jewish history, philosophy and tradition. The lessons united everyone interested in Judaism in the broadest sense of the word, without dividing into "religious", "non-religious", "traditional" and so on, and of course, we had not heard of different currents within Judaism at the time. Thus, "Mahanaim" was by its nature a pluralistic, open group, giving everyone the opportunity to find their place in Judaism and in Jewry in general. We were sure of one thing: in order to find this place, we had to study, make up for what we had missed in childhood – after all, under Soviet rule, there was no talk of any Jewish education. Most of us were “refuseniks” and wanted to move to Israel. When the Iron Curtain opened in 1987 and refuseniks began to receive permits to leave for Israel, the entire core of the Mahanaim group, with the exception of Zeev Dashevsky, moved to Israel. Zeev Dashevsky had not yet been released, and he joined the group only in 1990. In 1987, the group was already registered in Israel as an official organization, and that was when the name “Mahanaim” appeared. The name “Mahanaim” is taken from the Torah (Bereshit 32:3) and means “two camps, two camps.” This name reflects the dual focus of the organization’s work: Jewish education for Russian-speaking Jews around the world and Russian-speaking repatriates in Israel. MACHANAIM TODAY Since the organization moved to Israel, it has been strengthening the connection between all layers of the population in the State of Israel, between new immigrants and Russian-speaking old-timers. "Machanaim" works with great success in many areas of education - various Jewish educational programs in Russian in Israel, preparation for conversion, Jewish schools in the CIS, distance learning, book publishing, exhibitions, excursions, seminars, development of community life, etc. CONTACT US machanaim@gmail.com (02) 625-60-06 fax (02) 625-71-17 Facebook Instagram Jerusalem, Hillel St. 24, 3rd floor, office 10 Mailing address: MACHANAIM, POB 1465 Jerusalem, 9101401