A new Pre-Military Academy (Mechina) is seeking high quality young men from English speaking countries to join its inaugural class of students interested in growing personally and spiritually as they prepare to enter IDF service.
The purpose of a Mechina is to build each student’s spiritual-emotional-physical personality prior to military service through a deep connection to Torat Yisrael, Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael. The Bet El Mechina is designed to address the specific needs of English speakers – it will serve as their physical and spiritual home throughout their time in Mechina, during their army service and afterwards.
The Mechina will be located in the Yishuv of Bet El, 20 minutes from Jerusalem, home to over 6,000 permanent residents and thousands of other yeshiva and high school students. It will be run under the auspices of the Bet El Yeshiva Gavoha, one of the largest and most established yeshivot in Israel.
Students’ daily schedule will include tefillah, chevruta learning, shiurim in Tanach, Gemara and Machshava. In addition to Torah study, academic lessons and discussions will be dedicated to Jewish history in Eretz Yisrael and the military history of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Students will be integrated into shiurim, as well as Shabbat and Yom Tov tefillot, at the Yeshiva Gavoha. Learning will take place in the Yeshiva’s Beit Midrash as well as in separate classrooms. Certain activities will also be run jointly with the flourishing Mechina that already exists in Bet El for native Hebrew speakers.
The Mechina will include an ulpan to strengthen students’ Hebrew comprehension and conversational abilities.
In addition, the Mechina will emphasize physical preparations for military service. A weekly and annual exercise regimen will be developed for students, including hikes and other trips throughout Eretz Yisrael.
Mechina students will live in their own apartment suites in a building on the campus of the Yeshiva Gavoha. Three hot meals a day will be catered by the Yeshiva, whose food is prepared to a high standard. Students will also have the option to be “adopted” by a family in the Yishuv to experience home hospitality on a regular basis.
The Mechina’s course of study will last one to 1.5 years. Afterwards, the Mechina will assist graduates with selecting and joining the IDF unit of their choice or finding an alternate path (e.g., Hesder).
The Rosh Mechina will be Rav Yishai Klein. Rav Klein grew up in Bet El and studied at the Atzmona Mechina in Gush Katif and later at the Otniel Hesder Yeshiva. He serves as a Deputy Commander in the IDF reserves. He holds a master’s degree in Torah She-be-`al Peh from Herzog College and has years of educational experience in Israel and the U.S.
The Mechina’s staff will include another Ram and a Madrich. Students will also benefit from the broader environment and rabbanim of the Yeshiva Gavoha.
For more details and information on how to register, please contact Rav Klein at yishai613@gmail.com
