Machon Alte:
a building with a history
This vibrant institute for young Jewish women is housed in what was once the most magnificent structure in Safed, the mystical focus of Northern Israel's Galilean Hills. It's elegant chandeliers have long gone, but the spiral staircases still hint at the hundred-year-old grandeur of the former Central Hotel, which later became the renowned Herzliya Hotel.

In one of it's rooms James Michener wrote part of “The Source”; other rooms served Menachem Begin as the Northern Headquarters of the Irgun Zvai Leumi. One suite hosted the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, when he visited Safed in 1929, and the blessing of his presence still abides here.

Machon Alte: a school with a soul
What has made hundreds of young women converge on this institute over the years?
True, it offers academic skills in classical Judaism and a balanced guide to it's practices. But its most compelling attraction is the fact that, in the spirit of Safed itself, all of this is enlivened by a taste of the Chassidic tradition which lies at the very soul of Jewish study and practice.

The joy and warmth of Chabad Chassidism are experienced not only through textual study, but also through music, art, dance, and other creative avenues, in addition to the mellow interpersonal dynamic that distinguishes student life in Machon Alte.

Machon Alte:
Students with a Vision
Many young women, having completed the brash and shallow college education that their well meaning society offers, are left disenchanted. They often feel that they have been cheated of their rightful Jewish heritage; that they have not learned to find meaning in their lives; that they lack the basic approaches to living happy and productive lives, whether as individuals, or as marriage partners, or as part of a community. Some of these intelligent, young idealists trek thirstily through exotic lands in their search for spiritual contentment and peace of mind. Many of them, through no fault of their own, are forever lost to the Jewish people. Others, more fortunate, find their joyful tranquility in the companionable classrooms of Machon Alte, in the tranquil hills of Safed.

Machon Alte: Supporters who like Reality
Our supporters are practical men and women who realize that a building with a hundred years of history needs renovation.

They realize that a school with a soul . needs …….a body That means, for example, teaching and dormitory facilities, a library, a kitchen, and running expenses.

They realize that students with a vision need ……..teachers who can enable that vision to crystallize into a lifelong fact .
The Lubavitcher Rebbe gave his blessing to Machon Alte – that its students become lamplighters. And, indeed, many of its alumni today occupy positions of leadership in communities throughout the Jewish world. Our supporters realize that lamplighters need to be……. fuelled .

In a word, our supporters like…….. reality .

We invite you to join them.