Mabua - Israeli Beit Midrash

Mabua’s mission is to strengthen Israeli unity and democracy by cultivating a broad, active, and unifying Jewish-Israeli mainstream. Bringing together Israeli young adults of diverse backgrounds for shared Jewish learning, community building, and social activism, Mabua is modeling that more unites us than divides us. We are unique in our ability to utilize Judaism as the solution to the current divides. Although Judaism is much of what currently divides us, our model of Israeli Judaism – the study of it through our Beit Midrash and the shared practice of it through our community – strengthens our shared roots and shared sense of belonging to our tradition and country, and models to Israeli society an alternative, constructive, and inspiring way of living together. This power lies not just in the Beit Midrash and community as unifying methods but also as deep healing resources that can provide the antidote to the divisions within Israeli society. We are also unique in that, driven chiefly by word-of-mouth, we have become a magnet for young adults, Israel’s future changemakers. Our participants are in the stage of life which David Brooks calls ‘the Odyssey Years,’ post-army but before any major life commitments, both mature and open-minded. As a charismatic demographic in Israel, our participants are able to promote change effectively, thereby making an investment in them leverageable. While similar programs pay their participants, Mabua participants themselves pay to participate in our programming. Despite this, we have hundreds of interested applicants applying to our immersive programs annually and thousands more – program alumni and non-alumni peers – engaging in and identifying with our alumni community. Mabua is the embodiment of the thought leadership of its founder, Israeli intellectual, Dr. Micah Goodman. As a public intellectual and bestselling author, Goodman’s ability to reach masses of Israelis is significant – including Israel’s political and military leadership. Although there are serious divides within Israeli society, Mabua’s success tells another – equally true – story about Israel: there is more consensus than meets the eye. There is a critical mass of Israelis who are guided by values that are both Jewish and democratic, liberal and nationalist, and who share consensus with regard to so many of the fundamental questions about Israel’s future. What this mainstream group lacks is group awareness, a shared narrative, and leadership. Mabua is playing a significant and effective role in cultivating all three through the intersection of its four strengths: 1) Micah Goodman’s powerful thought leadership 2) Beit Midrash programs that have become a magnet for a critical mass of young Israelis 3) a network of communities practicing the values of the organization throughout the country 4) grassroots movements that grow out of and are supported by Mabua’s ecosystem.