Hadar Institute

I have attended several classes offered through Yeshivat Hadar (not on a full-time basis like the fellows, but in the evenings). The teachers are all inspiring, brilliant and engaging, and in my conversations with the full-time fellows I have been very impressed with their enthusiasm for the program. I have also taken advantage of the website resources of Mechon Hadar including resources to build a minyan and podcasts to learn when I cannot make it to classes.

Mechon Hadar is the most thoughtful and dynamic Jewish organization I have ever been involved with. My experience as a student at Yeshivat Hadar was transformational. The community I forged and the students I studied with were exceptional and the Torah that I was taught was powerful, personally persuasive, and very rigorous. As a leader of a minyan involved with the minyan project, Mechon Hadar has been a consistent resource and support for us. Mechon Hadar has a clear vision for a revived American Jewish community which drives it to inspire, support, and lead.

Mechon Hadar is one of the most exciting and inspiring Jewish organzations in the world. Over and over, they provide and facilitate inspring, authentic, empowering, and transformative Jewish experiences, through meaningful prayer and text study. They combine modern, egalitarian sensibilities and traditional Jewish practices. As someone who does not fully feel at home in any denominational setting, Mechon Hadar provides a spiritual home for me.

I spent this past summer at Yeshivat Hadar, and I can honestly say it's the first Jewish learning experience that seemed to truly fit me and my needs. The eight weeks were a gift- it was amazing to be both intellectually and spiritually engaged, and to be in a place where those two spheres informed one another rather than staying separate. Hadar equipped me and the other participants with tools, text-based and otherwise, to truly make an impact upon returning to our communities.

I have found everything that Mechon Hadar does to be done with extraordinary thoughtfulness and attentiveness to detail, and the integrity of the institution and the people who run it is apparent in much of what they do. Mechon Hadar efficiently and expertly provided incredibly helpful advice to my minyan. Elie gave as much time as we needed. He listened to fully understand our unique circumstances and the makeup of our organization, and fit his advice to our specific questions. He gave us a range of suggestions on any given question we had. We also attended a conference run by Mechon Hadar. Like the personal advice Hadar gave us, the conference was run in a way that was extremely attentive to detail, and ran efficiently. From the way the conference was run alone, I learned a lot about management. But the content contributed a lot as well. The range of topics covered was large, follow up has been wonderful, and I felt that, like everything I have seen Mechon Hadar do, it was a very successful operation.

Mechon Hadar is an exceptional organization in so many ways. Few others are able to combine such substance and sense of mission, with congeniality and efficiency. Not a moment is wasted at any Hadar event, and it's always exciting to be a part of their world--and see where they are going and pushing the Jewish people.

I am so glad that a place like Hadar exists in the Jewish world and I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to become involved. Hadar’s commitment to egalitarianism and halacha has meant that I don’t feel I need to compromise on my core moral values to lead a religious life, or vice versa. Hadar is an open environment in the best senses of the word, a place where religion is taken seriously, but faculty and learners are encouraged to be intellectually honest.

Mechon Hadar is a committed and energetic organization facilitates Jewish learning and prayer, while inspiring people to engage with Jewish texts and traditions. I have used the resources on their website many times - mainly to listen to podcasts of their classes, some of which I had the opportunity to participate with in person as well.

I studied at the Yeshiva of Mechon Hadar this past summer and am now studying there for the year. I love the school. It is the first time I am studying Talmud and the teachers are very engaging and they constantly study the material they are teaching us. We are constantly having meaningful discussions and the teachers are very supportive. The organization is run very well in terms of getting support and press and funding.

Mechon Hadar is an amazing and energetic organization that provides incredible and thoughtful Jewish learning, facilitates beautiful and spiritual Jewish prayer, and inspires people to engage deeply with Jewish texts and traditions. I've been nothing but impressed with every Mechon Hadar event or class I've attended, and have used the fantastic resources on their website many times - to learn to lead services, to listen to podcasts of their classes and to find answers to Jewish questions. Mechon Hadar is an exciting and inspiring face of the Jewish future in North America!

I attended the independent minyan conference sponsored by Mechon Hadar. It was a fantastic experience, getting to know people from like-minded communities, learning what they do similarly and what they do differently, and brainstorming about issues.

I spent this past summer at Yeshivat Hadar, and it was a life-transforming experience. From fantastic teachers, diverse and thoughtful students, and the fabulous food and conversations, Yeshivat Hadar helped me reevaluate what I most value about my Judaism. I am continuing my community outreach with Yeshivat Hadar this year.

Mechon Hadar provided me with a consistent, relevant, and meaningful framework for how to view the role of Judaism in both my life and the larger world. By not ignoring challenging sources, and embracing critique, it explored the difficult aspects of Judaism with openeness and faith. The faculty members relished objections because their goal was not to teach their opinion, but find truth. Questions were never shut down for this reason. Mechon Hadar seemed to be founded on the pure faith that Judaism is a force of good in the world, and it is our obligation to take this responsibility. I could not have been more profoundly affected or impressed by my interaction with this institution.

When working at Hadar I frequently came up against complex situations with lots of potential for either learning or disaster, and the regular staff were unfailingly committed to providing me with the support and reflective space I needed to turn these experiences into exciting, positive ones for everyone involved.

I was blown away by my experience at Yeshivat Hadar, where I had the privilege of studying for the past summer. The founders crafted an environment of learning, respect, curiosity, honesty, openness, and joy. Everyone involved brought their full selves to the experience. Mechon Hadar is incredibly well organized, with a set of classes and programs that encourage growth and recognize the unique value of each person in the community; and a concept of time and efficiency that is unprecedented (Hadar completely undermines the notion of 'Jewish Standard Time'). I have returned to Kehilat Hadar for spirited services and wonderful company since the summer, and have continued studying classic Jewish texts with my study partner from the summer, with the aid of the Rabbis and faculty of the Yeshiva, and the astounding online resources Hadar offers for free, providing educational materials (source sheets and lectures) to the general public. Mechon Hadar has inspired me to think differently about my potential in leadership positions, has helped me develop tools to approach Jewish texts, and has had a profound influence on the way I relate to Torah, to living Jewishly, and to God.

An innovative, dynamic environment approaching Jewish learning in a serious and engaging way. Not an overstatement to say it is the only egalitarian environment to provide text study at such a high level while also maintaining an open athmosphere of intellectual rigor.