IDF explores Jewish identity in the Baltics
A delegation of 38 IDF officers ranking from captain to colonel and senior NCOs explored Jewish heritage sites in Lithuania and Latvia last week as part of the sevenday-long MAHUT project to strengthen army commanders’ Jewish and Israeli identity, and increase their motivation to reenlist.
Each year, MAHUT – a collaboration between the IDF Education Corps, the Genesis Philanthropy Group, and the American Friends of the IDF (FIDF) – sends a delegation of IDF officers to Eastern Europe to explore their Jewish background. The project aims to expose the IDF’s future leadership to the cultural heritage of Russian-speaking Jewry and the contemporary life of Jewish communities in the FSU.
This year’s delegation visited synagogues, Jewish historical landmarks and Holocaust sites, and met with members of the Jewish communities in Vilnius and Riga.
Upon their return, participants join or create projects for new immigrants and their children, as well as populations with special needs, to facilitate their service in the IDF.
Lt. Col. Hadar Harel, who is responsible for the delegation on behalf of the IDF, said “The Education Corps sees MAHUT delegations as part of the educational activity for IDF officers, the purpose of which is to strengthen their sense of mission and their Jewish-Israeli identity.”
Natalie Shnaiderman, director of Global Grantmaking at the Genesis Philanthropy Group, explained that “direct contact with Jewish history and Jewish communities in the Diaspora is an important tool in building the Jewish identity of the younger generation of Russian-speaking Jews in Israel, and we are proud of our partnership with the IDF in this unique project, which has proven itself over the years.”
The New York-based Genesis Philanthropy Group’s mission is to develop and enhance a sense of Jewish identity among Russian-speaking Jews worldwide.