Bnei Akiva

Bnei Akiva began its activities in the UK in 1939 with its first summer camps taking place in 1942. The movement's main aim is the promotion of Religious Chalutzik Aliyah and, for over fifty years, Bnei Akiva's record in this sphere has been unrivalled by any other Zionist youth movement.

Today our activities include summer and winter camps, hadrachah training courses, weekly meetings at over thirty centres around the UK, Shevet Weekends, Shabbatot Ha'lgrun, Israel Machanot, one-year programmes in Israel, and a number of Aliyah programmes designed to help our members make the difficult step to a life of Torah Va'avodah in Eretz Yisrael.

As the name translates - "the children of Akiva", the idea of Bnei Akiva relates directly to the story of Rabbi Akiva. At the age of 40 years old, after growing up tending flock, he changed his ways and decided that he needed to find out the essence of the Jewish faith.

The story is told of how it happened: One day while attending to his flock, he noticed a rock onto which droplets of water kept dripping. He thought that if something as soft as water can penetrate this solid rock and cause it to erode, so can the Torah penetrate into me - a shepherd who at this time was solid in his ways. Thus we strive to be like Rabbi Akiva for his three qualities: (a) his love of Hashem, his devotion to the Torah and his ultimate death at Kiddush Hashem (having been killed by the Romans), (b) his love of Israel and his fight for its independence, (c) his love of labour and his respect for it, remembering always his early life.

Each sviva runs its own weekly activities on a Shabbat afternoon. The thematic content of the weekly meetings are set down by the Educational Department of Bnei Akiva.

We have svivot in... Barnet, Belmont, Birmingham, Bushey,Cardiff, Cheadle, Chigwell, Edgware United, Edgware Yeshurun, Elstree and Borehamwood, Glasgow, Golders Green, Hale, Hampstead Garden Suburb, Hendon, Ilford, Kenton, Kinloss, Kinsgbury, Leeds, Liverpool, Mill Hill, Newcastle, Pinner, Sale, Salford, South Hampstead, South Woodford, Southgate, St Johns Wood, Stanmore, Wembley, Whitefield, Woodside Park.