Rabbi Dov Begun, founder and Rosh Yeshiva of the Meir Institute for Jewish Studies, talked with Arutz-7 today about the yeshiva's record registration this year of 300 students. Known as the flagship of religious-Zionist institutions for the newly-religious, the yeshiva - known as Machon Meir - "has students from all walks of life: Kibbutzim and moshavim, academia, 'regular' people - and just last week, we opened a new French-speaking division... Last year we had 'only' 200 students, and this year we had to turn some away; many are still waiting in line..."
Asked how he explained the phenomenon, Rabbi Begun said,
"Over the past few years, we have seen a great awakening of Jews in Israel, and in the Diaspora as well, looking for their roots... You see this throughout the whole country: Compare Eilat of 30 years ago to now, when you can barely find a bomb shelter that doesn't have a synagogue. The prophet Ezekiel says that when we return to the Land of Israel, there will first be a religious crisis, but then 'I will sprinkle pure water on them, I will give them a new heart, etc.' We are in the beginning of a period not only of a return to Zion, but also of a return to the Torah... It's more than just a phenomenon of 'returnees to Judaism;' you now see so many people who used to be so far from tradition but who are now returning to synagogues, to Jewish holidays and customs..." Rabbi Begun mentioned, in this connection, the great honor he was accorded recently in his hometown [non-religious] Kibbutz when his former classmate asked him to officiate at her daughter's wedding.
When reminded, however, that the daughter of another old Kibbutz friend of his - Ehud Barak - had recently become married in a non-traditional ceremony, Rabbi Begun said,
"The truth is that this brings me much sorrow, because I think that possibly, had I [tried a little more], I could have influenced her and her father not to take this path... There is certainly no vacuum. People are searching, and if we don't provide the right path, then someone else will provide them with the wrong path..."
Rabbi Menachem Listman, who runs the English-speaking program of Machon Meir, told Arutz-7's Josh Hasten today, "It's apparent that various parts of the Jewish People are now revealing their great thirst for their true Jewish selves... Foreign students, from Russia, North America, France, and elsewhere, are simply looking for an avenue to find their way back home... We have a student now, for instance, from Sacramento, who never studied in a Jewish school in his life - yet it turns out that he has a very thirsty Jewish soul wishing to be nourished."
Asked how he explained the phenomenon, Rabbi Begun said,
"Over the past few years, we have seen a great awakening of Jews in Israel, and in the Diaspora as well, looking for their roots... You see this throughout the whole country: Compare Eilat of 30 years ago to now, when you can barely find a bomb shelter that doesn't have a synagogue. The prophet Ezekiel says that when we return to the Land of Israel, there will first be a religious crisis, but then 'I will sprinkle pure water on them, I will give them a new heart, etc.' We are in the beginning of a period not only of a return to Zion, but also of a return to the Torah... It's more than just a phenomenon of 'returnees to Judaism;' you now see so many people who used to be so far from tradition but who are now returning to synagogues, to Jewish holidays and customs..." Rabbi Begun mentioned, in this connection, the great honor he was accorded recently in his hometown [non-religious] Kibbutz when his former classmate asked him to officiate at her daughter's wedding.
When reminded, however, that the daughter of another old Kibbutz friend of his - Ehud Barak - had recently become married in a non-traditional ceremony, Rabbi Begun said,
"The truth is that this brings me much sorrow, because I think that possibly, had I [tried a little more], I could have influenced her and her father not to take this path... There is certainly no vacuum. People are searching, and if we don't provide the right path, then someone else will provide them with the wrong path..."
Rabbi Menachem Listman, who runs the English-speaking program of Machon Meir, told Arutz-7's Josh Hasten today, "It's apparent that various parts of the Jewish People are now revealing their great thirst for their true Jewish selves... Foreign students, from Russia, North America, France, and elsewhere, are simply looking for an avenue to find their way back home... We have a student now, for instance, from Sacramento, who never studied in a Jewish school in his life - yet it turns out that he has a very thirsty Jewish soul wishing to be nourished."