KBY Congregations Together | Kehillot B'Yachad

Megid Haruach
(The Progressive Reform Association in the Megiddo Region)

The Megid Haruach Initiative for Jewish Renewal in Megiddo

The progressive initiative set in the Megiddo regional area was established in 2013, is led by Rabbi Michal Ken Tor, and serves 1000 individuals from several local kibbutzim and small localities.

Rabbi Michal Ken Tor has established the following activities and services in order to provide a liberal alternative to Orthodox Judaism that allows room for Jewish renaissance among this population, which is characterizes as largely secular and disconnected from Jewish practice.

About Rabbi Michal Ken Tor

Rabbi Michal Ken Tor, spiritual leader of the Megiddo region congregation, has spent over 20 years in the field of Jewish education and in the art of opening minds and creating connections with Judaism. Within informal education Michal has led youth groups, dialogue sessions on coexistence and society, counselled youth and young adults at various institutions, and created mother and daughter programs. Her experience in formal education includes teaching at scholastic institutions, lecturing in various colleges, training educators and more. A particular achievement that she is proud of is the Torah Studies Education Center in the Leo Baeck Institution, Haifa, where she implemented learning of Israeli culture fused with Judaism. Michal also developed various materials and programs on Jewish life cycle ceremonies, social justice, and streams of Judaism in contemporary society.

“The Judaism that I wish to teach is respectful, meaningful, creative and deep,” says Michal, “I believe it is important to not only to talk about Judaism, but to experience it, and through this to understand our identity, to criticize, evaluate and to embrace the spirit of Judaism – turning it into a force that can inspire and create life.”

Megiddo Council Region

Michal’s model of activity in the Meggido council region is different than the classical congregational model implemented by most rabbis, since the members and participants are scattered in many localities that form the regional area of Meggido.

Instead, Michal established an organization for Jewish Renewal named “Megid Haruach”, a registered non-profit organization, which serves the families in Megiddo’s kibbutzim and localities in a way that suits their needs, and allows the forming of a non-traditional congregational model.

In the nine years that Michal has been developing Megid Haruach Jewish Renewal organization in Megiddo, she has developed partnerships and connections between various organizations, families and communities, in order to adapt Jewish experience to the local “voice” and make it accessible to the local audience. She has focused in the last to years on developing leadership skills and  strengthening the volunteers’ capabilities in the arena of Jewish pluralism, creating a core group of leaders who can take the field of Jewish renewal into deeper commitment in Megiddo via their work in the Megid Haruach Jewish Renewal organization.

Thus, in addition to the “classical” activities and work that happens in most congregational models, such as: Jewish life cycle ceremonies (progressive bnei mitzvah, weddings, britot, burials), Batei Midrash Jewish education, Shabbat and Holiday services, and Jewish family activities – Michal has also found the way to enter into the hearts of the Megiddo locals, by combining creativity, culture and art with Jewish renewal.

There is a great focus on music and dance, bibliotherapy, art and social justice within Judaism. She also focuses on working with the local educational institutions, and provides spiritual accompaniment and guidance for community members who are in need of assistance during challenging life circumstances, periods of transition and crises.

How to contribute:
1. Click on the link at the top of the page to donate online  OR

2. Please send a check made out to:
KBY Congregations Together
PO Box 23170
Brooklyn, NY 11202
(with a note stating it’s for the Reform Community in Megiddo)