Mechinat Avnei Eitan ( he, מכינת אבנ"י אית"ן), also referred to as Leadership Yeshiva Academy in English, is a pre-military

mechina A Mechina Kdam-Tzvait ( he, מכינה קדם צבאית; "pre-military preparatory", plural Mechinot) is an autonomous unit of specialized educational institutions valuing non-formal education and pre-military training in Israel. Funded and supp ...

which combines classical

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

learning with the preparation for the service in the

Israeli Defence Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

and leadership functions in Jewish communities. The mechina, the first of its kind for English speakers, was founded in 2004, on Moshav

Avnei Eitan Avnei Eitan ( he, אַבְנֵי אֵיתָן) is an Israeli settlement organized as a moshavLeadership ...

in the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

annexed by Israel in 1981.

Campus

The campus, on the moshav, consists of sapartments, Beit Medrash and classrooms, a large Hebrew and English library, a student lounge, sports and workout facilities including a basketball court, a computer room with Internet access, a kitchen, and more.

The Students

The students come from the U.S., Canada, Israel, Switzerland, Ethiopia and other countries as well. They attend special programs including army training exercises, group dynamics, survival courses, treks, martial arts, etc. Students also undertake several courses that give them "an in depth understanding of contemporary Jewish and Israeli national issues. This will help them better understand and represent Israel to their peers and on college campuses."Official website
Leadership Yeshiva Academy
A high percentage of the students who have graduated from the mechina tend to serve in Sayerot, or elite units, in the Israeli army. While attending the mechina, students are urged to take upon themselves projects that they can work on throughout the year. Recently, students have taken up such projects as raising awareness for the imprisoned Israeli spy,

Jonathan Pollard Jonathan Jay Pollard (born August 7, 1954) is a former intelligence analyst for the United States government. In 1987, as part of a plea agreement, Pollard pleaded guilty to spying for and providing top-secret classified information to Israel. H ...

, and many other projects. Most notably is a very successful organization called ''Et'chem Kol Ha'derech'', run by Yaakov Yitchak Sullivan ('05), which coordinates visits to injured soldiers. During the

Second Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

, a crew that would rush to katyusha explosions to help clean up the devastation was organized.

References

{{coord, 32.827258, N, 35.762622, E, region:IL, display=title Mechina 2004 establishments in Israel Golan Regional Council