We’re all familiar with the rifts in the Jewish world and Israeli society. We know that these cultural, religious, and socioeconomic divisions are accompanied by a political discourse that is getting worse and creating even more estrangement.
At the Joint Council of Mechinot, we do just the opposite. The Joint Council’s member mechinot reflect Israelis of all stripes. Some mechinot are religious, others secular. Some are coed, some are single-sex. Some skew right, some left. Some are in central Israel, others far afield. Some are urban, while others are rural.
Despite these differences, through the Joint Council of Mechinot, students and staff at all the mechinot join together as members of one people united in vibrant diversity—and the results are amazing.
Through the Joint Council, the mechinot work together to develop a new discourse of strong ties and eagerness to listen. Together, we cultivate a new generation of dynamic leaders with an ethical vision for our people.
Working together also allows the mechinot to take on additional missions, such as enrolling more disadvantaged students, individuals with special needs, at-risk youth, and young Jews from outside Israel, as well as building up communities in Israel’s periphery, strengthening ties with Diaspora Jewry, and other civic activities.
We have disagreements. That’s okay. When vastly different people have the goodwill and the willpower to work together, phenomenal things happen.
Our goal is to take our unity and our respectful disagreements to the next level. To develop more training programs, come up with more joint projects, and find more opportunities to interact with those who are different from us, as we continue to successfully bring our message of unity and mutual respect to all of Israeli society.
Dani Zamir, CEO of the Joint Council of Mechinot and founder of Mechinat Rabin
This campaign is about unity, despite and even because of the fact that these are not exactly days of unity.
The mechinot work together despite how different they are. Together they are cultivating a generation of engaged, active leaders, in spite of and alongside the arguments, because at the end of the day, our togetherness is far stronger and far more significant than our disagreements.
The vision that we are forging and that inspires our work comes from a recognition of the fissures among us and the need to work together with those differences, which are an integral part of our reality and of us.
Tens of thousands of young people, mechina students and alumni, are working continuously, humbly, on the basis of mutual empathy, with a sense of partnership and with the courage of their convictions, to build a society that is diverse, engaged, and united.
Rabbi Eli Sadan, founder of Mechinat Bnei David, the first mechina
This campaign’s goal is to help the mechinot continue accomplishing their vision of cultivating leaders who are driven by values. Despite our different perspectives, the world of the mechinot is successfully creating a discourse of understanding, partnership, and peace as we pursue our main mission: to make the State of Israel stronger and better.
