Over the past month, students at the Orthodox mechinot dedicated time day and night to studying Tractate Megillah in pairs and groups. This Thursday morning, those 1,000 students came to Jerusalem to celebrate completing the tractate 600 times. The effort was dedicated to the memory of the late Esther Pollard.
An animated Jonathan Pollard said in his remarks: “The power of the Torah is that it always connects and unites. We have to remember that we’re part of something larger, of Am Yisra’el. We are soldiers of Hashem, and we devote ourselves to the people of Israel, the Land of Israel, and the Torah of Israel.”
“The power of the Torah is that it always connects and unites. We have to remember that we’re part of something larger, of Am Yisra’el. We are soldiers of Hashem, and we devote ourselves to the people of Israel, the Land of Israel, and the Torah of Israel”—Jonathan Pollard
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira, Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, and mechina heads and teachers also attended the event, which was produced by the Joint Council of Mechinot. Joint Council of Mechinot CEO Dani Zamir said: “Seeing thousands of young people connecting to their Jewish world, to serious, deep learning that strives for meaning, with assiduity and heartfelt joy, is something that always kindles excitement and hope, because we cannot exist without a deep spiritual infrastructure, regardless of the kind of Jewish and Israeli home in which you grow up.”
“It’s an amazing thing that all the mechina students in the country are completing Tractate Megillah at once, and gaining a basic command of a lot of tractates is something that our guys find amazing. It gives them a lot of tools for during their military service and afterward”—Rabbi Eliezer Bar-On, head of the Ma’aleh Efrayim branch of Mechinat Bnei David
During the month in which the tractate was studied, the halls at the mechinot were full of a special atmosphere and students delving into the material. Rabbi Eliezer Bar-On, head of the Ma’aleh Efrayim branch of Mechinat Bnei David, said: “It’s an amazing thing that all the mechina students in the country are completing Tractate Megillah at once, and gaining a basic command of a lot of tractates is something that our guys find amazing. It gives them a lot of tools for during their military service and afterward.”
