Mechinat Chosen Peduel

I would recommend the Mechina to any friend without hesitation

If your looking for a mechina to connect to Israel and get ready for the army and build mental resilience, this is the place

With this it's always going to depend on the person, I believe that for most people this on average amazing. Especially if you can't see yourself in any of the normal program than this is perfect for you.

It really depends on what he was looking for

My connection to Eretz Israel grew exponentially over the year. I want to live in this land, and raise my kids here and I want to build this land with my own hands.

well, im in the army now.. so i think that answeres the question

Tours, navigation, trips and experiences you’ll never forget

It's such an important part of the mechina to build your connection to Israel on the land.

My Hebrew improved dramatically.

i can speak hebrew fluently, if you are in an evnviornment where everyone is speaking hebrew, naturally your hebrew is going to improve

Mainly hebrew speakers, forces you to improve.

My Hebrew was already really really good. So there's a limit. But, just talking in Hebrew everyday all day long really helps!

It's kinda in the middle of nowhere, no real ability for nightlife. And not that I ever felt like I was missing out either we still had fun.

obviously some staff members knew more or less english, but overall - they all made an effort to explain things i didnt understand

The rabbis are the best ever. However, they chang often. Which also means the it's very energetic people that still have energy for our troublesome selves.

You get different responsibilities

The beauty of the staff is that every single staff member are Alumni from the program. They know exactly what you're going through and no exactly how you want to be treated.

Everything is done by the students. Cooking, cleaning, fixing.

You really don't need a heavy background at all to keep up here. Anyone can learn regardless of where they are starting from, as the staff and environment meet you right at your level.

didnt need anything, they taught everything from zero so there wouldnt be a problem or need for prior knowlege

There are people from all backgrounds

We even had someone who wasn't religious whatsoever come. Gave him the opportunity to really see what his roots are.

You chose how much to participate.

i chose howo to spend whatever time i had

The schedule is built by you. If you decided you don't want to learn. Then you don't learn. There are classes going on all day long, you get to decide which classes you go to, what times you're working on yourself, your projects, Chavrutas and so on and so forth. Of course if you feel like you need more of a push you can always ask the staff to push you into more classes.

The program have ideal for "LESHAVEU GDUDIM"

The top third of our cohort mostly drafted into Gdudim. Some people mad it into Sayarot. And we even had someone that made it into a top elite unit.

The majority drafted into the Gdudim. A good bunch to Commando and a few into anything else. There is also a hesder program here to draft together.

Sadly I drafted right after the start of the war and at least half of the staff was called up for Miluim so they were already spread pretty thin. However, my Rabbi gave me Chatan classes during my service!

I felt like I had there support in anyway I needed whenever I needed. But they also gave me a ton of space to do anything I needed to.

gotta love Moshe the cook

It's genuinely up to the students. We order the ingredients, make the food, serve the food. If the students showed up on time showed their interest in making good food. Then, the food was the best. However, there were times here and there that no effort was put in.

Depends on how much everyone put a hand into the preparations

i didnt expect much, it was what i needed

I found them more than suitable

I believe I did, but I'm also not very much a private person so it's possible that people who needed more space struggled

Not the focus, most guys are israeli

I'm not so sure as I was not in need of anything of the sort.

Obviously you can speak in English with other English speakers there. Most of the time though we didn't want to.

I even contemplate leaving for vacation nowadays

The people from my year still hangout almost every weekend

Years later and I still hangout and speak to my closer friends there

It was a genuinely transformative experience. I grew more than I ever expected during my year there.

the program was awesome, from day one htey helped me with everything i needed. and things i didnt konw i would need.

Great for personal development and getting to experience all different kinds of Israeli culture

It wasn't really what I was looking for

It was quite different from what I originally had in mind, but in the best possible way

on one hand it was harder than expected but they helped me through the whole process.

Personally I wasn't planning on coming here. But, last minute other plans fell through and I found myself with this as the only option. And it was just everything I personally needed to become better.

Absolutely. It translated into habits that I still maintain every day. Beyond Torah study, the self discipline carried directly into keeping up with working out and continuing to practice guitar.

The army preparation was extremely meaningful to me on both a physical and mental level. We worked on so many skills, and me and friends of mine who are serving right now constantly say how grateful they are for that foundation.

Very meaningful with the best possible people for it.

I was pushed completely out of my comfort zone in every dynamic—language, physical training, and personal responsibility.

There a few weeks of physical preparation for the army which completely take you out of your comfort sone

Withought spoiling, you won't be able to stay in a comfortable zone while here. Unless your comfortable zone is meant to be uncomfortable.

plenty

I think the program gave me so many tools that I still use to this day 3 years later

I thought I was ready for the army before. But only after going into the army I realized how much Peduel helped me. And throughout my service I can see the lessons learned still in me.