Connecting

To Jewish Israeli Culture

And the song’s glory is when the voices differ from each other,
 and that is the essence of their melodies.

R. Yechiel Michel HaLevi Epstein

And the song’s glory is when the voices differ from each other, and that is the essence of their melodies.

R. Yechiel Michel HaLevi Epstein

Spirit of Life

Since October 7, we can no longer find the words. We find ourselves repeatedly engulfed with grief, pain, and confusion in the face of the most challenging period we have known since the establishment of the State of Israel.
In the search for consolation and for our lost words, we approached women and men from the fields of the humanities, culture, and community and asked them about the Jewish-Israeli words that give them strength in these difficult times.
We called this initiative "Ruach Chayim" Spirit of Life, out of the hope that it can restore, even partially, the spirit and inner strength so needed now by Israeli society.

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Talmudic Tales

The author Haim Be'er met for conversations with Israeli intellectuals. Starting with an ancient Talmudic story, each encounter featured a discussion that progressed toward profound and existential issues for our lives in the 21st century, thereby creating a contemporary and surprising dialogue.

Ancient Jewish wisdom unfolds within modern Israeli interpretation in a series of 20 fascinating discussions. The series is available via videos and on various podcast platforms.

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Israeli Judaism Studies Database

For more than three decades, Israel has been home to the activity of numerous organizations, women and men promoting the development of Jewish Israeli culture that grows from both the ancient tradition and the diverse identities and challenges of Israeli society. Over this period, multifaceted empiric research has examined aspects of, and issues relating to, the field of Israeli Judaism. This database is intended, for the first time, to assemble in one place these high-quality studies, reports, and analyses. The database is in Hebrew but also includes English articles.
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Mahanaim

The 'Mahanaim' Journal was one of the first publications that sought to make Jewish culture more accessible to general Israeli society. It was first published in 1949 by the IDF Chief Rabbinate and was renewed in the 1990s by the Sapir Center. The editor for most of this period was Rabbi Menachem Hacohen, the founder and President of the Sapir Center for Jewish Education and Culture. Together with the National Library, all the journal's editions have been uploaded to the Library's website in order to preserve this special asset. Our website features a detailed list of all the articles and the links to each of them. The journal was published in Hebrew.
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Areas of Activity

Jewish-Israeli Community Culture
Developing the Field of Israeli Judaism
Russian-Israeli Jewishness
Connecting Israeli Jews to World Jewry