Mizrachi inspires people with a sense of commitment to the Torah, the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.
Mizrachi is the global Religious Zionist movement, spreading Torat Eretz Yisrael across the world and strengthening the bond between the international Jewish community and the State of Israel.
Based in Jerusalem and with branches across the globe, Mizrachi – an acronym for merkaz ruchani (spiritual center) – was founded in 1902 by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines, and is led today by Rabbi Doron Perez.
Our Founder
Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines was one of the first rabbinic supporters of Herzl’s Zionist movement. He founded Mizrachi – the first institutional body of Religious Zionism and believed that a Jewish state could provide a “spiritual center” for the Jewish people.
Born in Karolin, Belorussia, he studied at yeshivot in Eishistok and Volozhin before becoming a rabbi in Lithuania. His last post was in Lida, where he was the rabbi from 1885 until his death. In 1902 Rabbi Reines published a book, Or Hadash al Tzion (A New Light on Zion) which countered the claims of the anti-Zionist rabbis. The same year he organized a conference in Vilna, where the Mizrachi movement was founded.