The Mechinah Program
The Bnei David pre-army IDF preparatory yeshiva opened its doors 25 years ago in the settlement of Eli. The first institution of its kind, Bnei David has brought about a quiet revolution in Israel’s armed forces.

Bnei David’s G-d fearing young alumni, infused with the love of Torah, the Land of Israel and the Jewish People, today serve in their numbers in front-line units and IDF special-forces. Many go on to become career officers who devote many years of their lives to exemplary military service. By their dedicated adherence to Torah life and observance, and their outstanding professionalism, our graduates sanctify the Name of Heaven in word and deed.

Studies in the preparatory yeshiva are based on the traditional yeshiva curriculum: Talmudic learning in breadth and depth; Jewish law and jurisprudence; and study of the classics of the Jewish ethical literature. In addition, we give our students rigorous training in issues of philosophy and religious faith. Our staff focuses on instilling the unqualified love of Torah and deep-rooted fear of G-d in the hearts of our students. Our graduates are thus well-equipped to meet the spiritual challenges they will face after leaving the cloistered world of the study-hall.

Our students breathe an atmosphere of idealism, self-sacrifice, and fighting spirit. They see service in the Israeli army as a supreme privilege and longed-for opportunity to serve their nation and contribute to society.

Bnei David provides paramilitary training in advance of our students’ army induction. This includes map-reading in the field, physical fitness, and basic military discipline.

Career officers are invited as guest lecturers to share their army experience and counsel our students regarding halachic and ethical dilemmas that arise in the course of day-to-day military life.

Bnei David also rounds out our students’ education through exposure to fields of broad national interest, such as Middle Eastern Studies, The Media and Public Relations, Economics, Foreign Relations, and the like. Our goal is to raise a generation of public leadership qualified to carry Israel forward in the modern world.

Bnei David has set up a special program to provide our graduates with individual support and spiritual guidance throughout their course of army service.

To date, 24 classes of Bnei David graduates have completed the standard 3-year tour of duty in the conscript army. The statistics underscore this achievement: A total of 2500 enlistees of whom 35% served in elite units and 50% went on to become commissioned officers. More than 100 have chosen the army as their life-career and are steadily rising up the ranks of command.
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