Since February 2005, Project Mechina received official recognition from the Ministry of Defense, allowing participants to defer their military service for a year, and opening up the program to a much greater number of students. The significance of this recognition is that the program will be able to receive official governmental support following its first two trial years, of which 2005-6 will be its first.
Background
The IMPJ’s “Project Mechina” offers young Israelis the opportunity to intensively study their Jewish heritage and Israeli identity. The participants put Jewish values into practice by working in community service projects. We believe that leadership training, the social contribution and the intense experience of living in a close community with program members will endow these young people with the skills and commitment to become future leaders in the Progressive Jewish community in Israel.
All participants (health permitting) will subsequently perform national service in the Israel Defense Forces following the Mechina year. The interpersonal and leadership skills developed during the year will enhance the participants’ ability to perform their military service in a manner that is purposeful, patriotic and moral. The IDF welcomes the participation of young people in such programs and has agreed to delay their draft in order to facilitate this.
The Location
The program’s location in the Lev-Yaffo neighborhood in Jaffa plays a significant part in shaping the character and quality of the Mechina experience. The Mechina is based in a diverse neighborhood, whose residents include Jews from an extremely wide range of religious and ethnic backgrounds, as well as Muslim and Christian Arabs and migrant laborers from around the world. Placing the Mechina in Jaffa serves one of the fundamental pillars of the IMPJ: working in outlying areas and aiding people in need through a locally-based IMPJ community.
The Mechina has the good fortune of being assisted in its work by the vibrant Beit-Daniel IMPJ congregation in Tel Aviv. Beit-Daniel is now in the process of building an $11 million community center and hostel in Jaffa. The Mechina will thus serve as part of the social infrastructure to support the physical presence of the Beit Daniel congregation in Jaffa.
Objectives
Participants will study Jewish sources, both traditional and modern, in the critical and open manner that characterizes the Progressive Jewish movement’s pluralistic approach to Judaism.
Working on a volunteer basis with the Institute for the Advancement of Education in Jaffa, participants will become engaged in the local Jaffa community, gaining sensitivity and understanding of the challenges confronting Israeli society. A positive experience in serving others will help develop a passion for the task of Tikkun Olam.
Participants will become ambassadors for a Jewish life that successfully integrates tradition and modern Jewish culture, Jewish values and current lifestyles, commitment and freedom of Jewish expression.
Participants’ experiences will help them develop the capacity for leadership in Israeli society in general and in the IMPJ in particular.
Project Structure
This year’s group of participants constitutes of 25 participants in the Mechina’s 4rd year’s course, beginning September 2006.
During their Mechina year these student will study their Jewish heritage, the IMPJ manifestation and values, and grapple with issues of Jewish and Israeli identity. Along side this they will work to provide for their daily livelihood, volunteer in the Jaffa community and work closely with the Institute for the Advancement of Education in Jaffa.
Social action is one of the basic fundaments of the project. The activities in this field will be managed by the Israeli Religious Action Center (IRAC), the public and legal advocacy arm of the IMPJ, in cooperation with the Institute for the Advancement of Education in Jaffa. Twenty of the participants will volunteer through the Institute, contributing their time and energy to the local Jaffa population.