Founded in 1992 by the late Rabbi Michael ‘Mickey’ Rosen, Yakar is a unique member of the Jerusalem synagogue scene. The Yakar community, whose slogan is "tradition and creativity", has Anglo and Israeli members both, and brings together people from various backgrounds for spiritual prayer and study, as well as lectures on burning Israeli and Jewish societal and political issues.
Friday night services, especially, attract a broad range of worshipers, many of them young people drawn to the special energy and warm, uplifting atmosphere. Yakar, which located is in the neighborhood of Old Katamon, also offers several part-time study programs geared towards men and women in both English and Hebrew. Participants are encouraged to grapple with a variety of Jewish texts, with an emphasis on the exploration of existential issues.
The gallery at Yakar’s Center for Arts and Creativity often stages art exhibitions. Rabbi Rosen, who passed away in 2008, dedicated his life to exploring authentic Jewish feeling, always fervent in his attempts to distill from the texts he studied a genuine ethical perspective on the unique challenges posed by modern life. His work is carried on at Yakar by his wife, Gilla, a Jewish scholar in her own right, and several of their children, who have followed in their footsteps to become scholars and teachers.
