December 4, 2008 / 7 Kislev 5769

Within the framework of MASA visits, the Lions of Judah, an elite donor group, recently visited the Budokan training center, near Netanya, which was founded by Yona Melnik, one of Israel's best and highest graded Judoka.

During the visit, the donor group learned about the MASA program in general and about Budokan in particular. Budokan originated from an incubator for hatching new initiatives and sprouted into a full-blown program that opened only last November. 

After watching a routine training session of MASA participants guided by Yona Melnik and Danny Hakim, the Lions of Judah joined in on the mat for basic exercises. They then experienced a live Kendo demonstration and talked to the participants about Budokan and their personal stories that brought them to both the program and to Israel.