Matnas
(Community Center)
A community center in a unique Israeli style.
It exists in every city, in every local or regional council.
The Matnas is a place people go to diversify their leisure time, enjoy hobbies, and enrich their body and soul.
It lives and breathes activities from morning until late at night and offers them to all ages—enrichment classes for children, bridge clubs for retirees, yoga for beginners and chess for advanced players, gymnastics and swimming, judo and taekwondo, painting and folk dancing, painting and sculpture, performing arts, a choir, and quality films… and much more, as long as the local management is dynamic and creative and the content is rich and diverse.
The Matnas is somewhat similar to the community centers that exist around the world, but it is unique to Israel.
In Israel, there is a Matnas (an acronym for a Merkaz Tarbut No'ar Sport - Youth, Culture, and Sports Center).
And all the Matnassim (the Hebrew plural of Matnas) are part of an independent organizational framework that is spread throughout the country. They operate with the encouragement of the state or the local authority and enjoy sponsorships and donations.
The activities are not free, but the prices are affordable for everyone and are much lower than all the equivalent options on the private market. And that’s the whole idea behind the Matnas—to make them accessible to every community.
A monthly activity board at the Matnas of the community settlement Matan in eastern Sharon (in Hebrew).
Click to enlarge.
The Matnassim are located in city neighborhoods, local councils, and rural communities. They cut across sectors and also operate in areas of sectoral concentration, such as Haredi and Arab communities.
In all of them, the nature of the activity is more or less the same.
There are those that use it for community building in the broadest sense, as in rural communities or regional councils, and offer a basket of activities for the entire family and for all ages. And there are Matnassim, especially in large cities where the community connection is weaker, where the activity is concentrated on different age groups separately.
The organizational model of the Israeli Matnas is what makes it unique and different.
In Israel, there is one company, Israeli Association of Community Centers, that operates under the patronage of the local government but is a national, independent body that allows all the Matnassim to operate uniformly but in a way that is adapted to the local needs of each community. The Matnas is connected to the Israeli experience and is an inseparable part of it.
It weaves creative parts of activities into the huge mosaic of different communities and unique interests of Israeli citizens, and it plays a central role in the culture that has been developing here for 75 years.
A Matnas is good raw material for architects, and they invest imagination, creativity, and functionality in it.
Most Matnassim were uniquely designed and built to characterize the activity that takes place within them—a building with activity rooms, a sports hall, a lecture hall, a library, and open spaces for outdoor activities. Some are built as a large complex that spans an extensive area, with a pool, sports courts, and unique facilities.
Ganei Agial Matnas in Tel Sheva.
Armon Hanatziv neighborhood Matnas in Jerusalem.
Harish City Matnas.
Historical bits
Before the Matnas, there was the Beit Ha'am (People's House)—a building that was established in the centers of cities and towns and was active during the period of the Hebrew Yishuv and after the establishment of the state, until the 1970s. The Beit Ha'am was a focal point for cultural activities, mainly for adults.
Children and teenagers at that time had the vibrant neighborhood space.
After school ended, they would go down from their apartments to meet the kids from the neighborhood.
The apartment buildings were low, up to 4 stories, surrounded by yards where flower beds and ornamental trees were planted, and small green lawns. On every street, there were open spaces and public parks that served as their ultimate meeting place. They played Israeli-style street games—"Stanga", G'ulim ׂ[Marble (toy)], and similar games in a wide and limited variety.
Those who wanted to engage in more formal, cultural, and diverse activities would go to a youth movement or to the public libraries, where small-scale clubs were sometimes held.
A well-to-do family could afford private classes for their children. Although the selection was not large, and the prices were expensive, what wouldn't you do to broaden your children's horizons—ballet classes and rhythmics classes, a music conservatory, private lessons in core subjects, gymnastics and sports, and many other fields of interest for children and teenagers whose parents were willing to invest in them.
The first Matnas in Israel was established in 1969. In the northern town of Kiryat Shmona, which was considered a "development town."
After that, Matnassim were established in Dimona, Yeruham, Sderot, Lod, Migdal HaEmek, and all the other development towns in the north and south.
These towns were established after the state was founded and the immigrant transit camps were dismantled. They were inhabited by new immigrants whom the state housed in housing projects, quickly and without long-term planning.
The immigrants received little attention from the Israeli establishment, did not understand what was happening, and were unable to integrate into Israeli society.
The Matnas that was established in each development town opened the first door for their connection to Israeli culture.
Its creation was intended to foster social and community cohesion—mainly for the younger generation, who hung around idly and couldn't find suitable leisure activities.
And along the way, it was also an opportunity for adult activities. The success of the Matnassim was beyond what was expected, and slowly they penetrated the cities—first into disadvantaged populations in distressed neighborhoods, and then they adapted themselves to well-off neighborhoods throughout the country, offering leisure activities for people of all classes and sectors.
The Migdal HaEmek Matnas, one of the first to be established, 1970
In the late 20th century, the urban landscape in Israel underwent a change.
The empty lots began to disappear—every empty lot was purchased by contractors and developers. And every available lot was used for the construction of tall buildings and apartment towers. The growth in car ownership led to the elimination of the yards of the old buildings, and in their place, parking lots were built around the buildings for the residents' cars.
The neighborhood space shrank significantly, until teenagers lost it completely and could not find a place for themselves in it. They were locked in the tall, multi-apartment buildings, and from their rooms in the family apartment, they held phone conversations with friends their age from school and watched TV shows that kept them at home.
Their cultural void was filled by the Matnassim that were built one after another in every neighborhood. This is the only place where they can meet and expand their circle of friendships. Even the few who go to the local branch of a youth movement will find a suitable class for themselves in one of the Matnassim close to their home.
From the outset, the Matnassim were designed to operate in a "closed economic circle"—without governmental or municipal support. The success of the Matnas and its ability to operate without a budget deficit depended on the ability of its managers to hold a variety of activities.
Activities for teenagers alone could not close the economic circle, and to ensure their success, they began to offer activities for adults as well.
In the 1980s, more potential "market segments" were found: the generation that built the state and retired, with plenty of free time and a budgetary pension and savings in the bank. For them, unique classes were adapted, and they began to visit the Matnas closest to their home. After them came the younger people, aged forty-plus, who found a variety of activities in the spirit of the 2000s—yoga classes, Pilates, Hafrashat Challah (separating the challah), singing groups, language studies, and more.
For six decades, the Matnassim made a crucial contribution to shaping Israeli culture and society.
They accompanied teenagers who became addicted to screens and offered them a variety of social activities and classes that contributed to their growth. They changed leisure culture and offered every person of every age and from every sector—a place for recreation, for thought, for creation, for meeting and creating social circles, and for personal empowerment.
This is part of The Israeli Story 1948-2025 project.
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