- Machanaim
Machanaim is a word from book of
Book of Genesis (32:3) meaning "two camps".It is also a name of organization dealing with spiritual absorption of
Jewish people from the formerUSSR inIsrael . The organization produced many books, classes, especially for conversion. Main proponent ofReligious Zionism in the middle of Russian speaking Jews.Machanaim began behind the iron curtain in '79, in Moscow during
Brezhnev stagnation , as a group of young people who gathered to study Jewish history and tradition and pass on this knowledge to their fellow Jews. Over time it developed into an organized underground network for studying Torah, philosophy, and Jewish law. Almost all the group members were refuseniks. Classes were sometimes interrupted byKGB .In 1987 most of the Machanaim activists received permission to emigrate to Israel. There they set two main goals: to work with new immigrants and to provide assistance in Jewish education for those Jews still in the CIS. The movement's work and its goals spawned the name Machanaim, a term from theBook of Genesis meaning "two camps": Jerusalem and Moscow. SinceGlasnost Russian speaking Jews are spread all over the world, and therefore, this world-wide web site affords Machanaim great potential toward realizing its goals. Currently Machanaim's main projects include book publishing, teaching Judaism via the media, running asynagogue and other activities inMa'aleh Adumim .Machanaim founders are Dr. Zeev Dashevsky, Dr. Pinchas Polonsky, Dr. Michael Kara-IvanovMachanaim is also the name of a popular game played at Jewish camps and schools. It is sometimes spelled
Machanayim .References
* [http://www.machanaim.org/ Machanaim] online
* [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/64173265.html?dids=64173265:64173265&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+17%2C+1997&author=Dan+Izenberg&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=08&desc=From+Russia+with+Faith From Russia with faith] , Dan Izenberg, Jerusalem Post, 17.10.1997
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