Machon Chana
Encyclopedia
Machon Chana is a private religious college for Jewish women affiliated with the Chabad
Hasidic
movement and geared toward Baalot Teshuva
– women from non-orthodox backgrounds seeking religion. The school is located in the Crown Heights
neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
backgrounds about their heritage in an authentic Jewish environment.. The school is open to women of any age, and focuses on Torah
study.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem M. Schneerson, saw this institution as a way to introduce young Jewish women from secular backgrounds to observant Judaism through academic means.
The goals of Machon Chana as described in its mission statement
are:
.
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
movement and geared toward Baalot Teshuva
Baal teshuva
Baal teshuva or ba'al teshuvah , sometimes abbreviated to BT, is a term referring to a Jew who turns to embrace Orthodox Judaism. Baal teshuva literally means, "repentant", i.e., one who has repented or "returned" to God...
– women from non-orthodox backgrounds seeking religion. The school is located in the Crown Heights
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The main thoroughfare through this neighborhood is Eastern Parkway, a tree-lined boulevard designed by Frederick Law Olmsted extending two miles east-west.Originally, the area was known as Crow Hill....
neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
History
The school was founded in 1972 as an institution educating women from non-OrthodoxOrthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
backgrounds about their heritage in an authentic Jewish environment.. The school is open to women of any age, and focuses on Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
study.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem M. Schneerson, saw this institution as a way to introduce young Jewish women from secular backgrounds to observant Judaism through academic means.
Leadership and goals
Sara Labkowski is the founder and executive director of Machon Chana.The goals of Machon Chana as described in its mission statement
Mission statement
A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making...
are:
- ...Provide comprehensive Torah educationTorah studyTorah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...
with high academic standards for women of all ages and backgrounds... and imbue them with an appreciation and understanding of Torah and Judaism through the study of Chassidic thought and lifestyle... tools for lifelong personal growth and fulfillment as Jewish women in the family and in society at large.
Student body
About 50 women from all over the world study at the school annually . The backgrounds of the women attending the school vary with some arriving not knowing the Hebrew alphabetHebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet , known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two...
.
See also
- Bais Chana Women InternationalBais Chana Women InternationalBais Chana Women International is a Chabad non-profit organization that works to provide a non-judgmental, supportive environment for Jewish girls and women, ages 15 and up and from all backgrounds, to explore Jewish teachings and traditions....
- Baal teshuvaBaal teshuvaBaal teshuva or ba'al teshuvah , sometimes abbreviated to BT, is a term referring to a Jew who turns to embrace Orthodox Judaism. Baal teshuva literally means, "repentant", i.e., one who has repented or "returned" to God...
- Baal teshuva movementBaal teshuva movementThe Baal Teshuva movement is description of the return of secular Jews to religious Judaism. The term "baal teshuva" is a term from the Talmud literally meaning "master of repentance". The term is used to refer to a worldwide phenomenon among the Jewish people...
- Bais RivkaBais RivkaBais Rivka is a network of Beis Yaakov-type private girls' schools affiliated with the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement....
- Chabad outreachChabad outreachChabad Hasidic outreach is today the biggest organised phenomena in the Kiruv world. They actively bring Jews to adopt Orthodox Jewish observance all over the world, even in the most unlikely places....
- Jewish feminismJewish feminismJewish feminism is a movement that seeks to improve the religious, legal, and social status of women within Judaism and to open up new opportunities for religious experience and leadership for Jewish women...
- MidrashaMidrashaA refers to an institute of Jewish studies for women. In Israel, it is often an Orthodox institution that caters solely to women, and roughly the equivalent of a yeshiva for men. The term is often translated as 'seminary'. In the United States, the term has also been used to refer to...
- Orthodox Judaism outreachOrthodox Judaism outreachOrthodox Jewish outreach commonly referred to as Kiruv or Keruv , is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism that reaches out to non-Orthodox Jews to believe in God, engage in Torah study, and practice the Mitzvot in the hope that they will live according to Orthodox Jewish law...
Sources
- Morris, Bonnie. "Female education in the Lubavitcher community: The Beth Rivkah and Machon Chana schools" in Women in spiritual and communitarian societies in the United States Wendy Chmielewski, et al., eds. Syracuse, NY, 1993
- Srinivasan, Gita. "Women and Personal Empowerment in Lubavitcher Hasidism" in Encounters with American Ethnic Cultures: Interpretation of Gender and Ethnicity: The Lubavitcher Experience: Strategies for Strength: Kilbride, et al., eds. Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1990.