General Information
Elul is a non govermental organization led by it's board of directors of r non paid people. Run by Roni Yavin who is the executive director for the last 8 years.
Number of emloyees - Full time staff:2, Part time staff:33, Freelancers:2, Volunteers:2. Eluls' budget is approximatly $500,000 per year. Our main supporters are: foundations from abroad and the rest devides: a small amount from the Israeli government, participant payments, selling of service.
The “Beit Midrash,” forms the centerpiece of programming and action at Elul. Beit Midrash has been a part of Jewish learning and history for thousands of year. What is unique about the Beit Midrash, is how modern the methodology is and how easily it has been adapted for modern usage.
So what is the Beit Midrash? The term itself means “Study House”. However the word midrash refers to modern commentary on ancient texts. For thousands of year, Jews have been using this methodology to transform and harmonize the laws found in the ancient texts and the ever-changing reality.
The commentary produced in these processes is recorded in many books, beginning with the mishna from the 1st century, Talmud from the 3rd to 7th centuries, through modern books such as a recently published book on commentaries by women for women.
In the Beit Midrash, the texts we study draw from both classical and modern Jewish sources: Bible, Midrash, Talmud, Kabbalah, Hassidism, philosophy, and modern Israeli literature, as well as sources from other cultures and traditions.
Likewise, Elul approprates a common ancient form of dialogic study, the Chevruta methodology, which takes place in small study clusters (chevrutas) and in facilitated circle discussion. Based on the belief in the power of the Jewish sources to inspire deep exploration of life's dilemmas, we invite participants to develop a personal and refreshing reading of the sources, uninhibited by interpretive authority and prior readings.
The intimate atmosphere encourages participants to bring their inner, personal world to the study, and invites them to be partners in the creation of midrash and to add their voices to past generations methodology incorporating, encouraging and validating a multiplicity of interpretations developed by the students. Participants reignite the sparks that flew when previous generations encountered the text, setting off forces of creative interpretation. In addition, a rich assortment of voices and perspectives are laid out before the participants, revealing the inter-generational dialogue of Jewish literature from different genres and periods.
Main partners: Elul is an active member of the Forum of Batei Midrash, a nation-wide umbrella organization of 22 organizations that empowers and strengthens pluralistic Batei Midrash (Study Centers) in Israeli society which Elul’s director chaired for two years.Israel Association of Community Centers, Gesher, Bamidbar, Zayit etc.
Elul and Paideia have been using this methodology respectively for 22 and 12 years. During this time, this methodology has flourished in Israel, and although Elul was the first organization to adapt this methodology, it can now be found all over the country in organization of different sizes, and from different backgrounds, as well as being adapted by schools and other educational institutions.
One of the results has been that Batei Midrash have all ready created a new language; a language that is employed by groups seeking to bridge gaps between religious and secular Jews, between populations from different from backgrounds, and this methodology has even been used to bridge gaps and create dialogue between people with different political viewpoints. The language created by these efforts, has been employed by Jewish religious institutions of all persuasions.
