meor
MEOR is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2005 that delivers Jewish educational, leadership, and heritage programming on 21 prominent US college campuses, serving over 35,000 students cumulatively through fellowships, Israel and Poland trips, and summer internships.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2005
- HeadquartersSilver Spring, United States
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What meor does
MEOR is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2005 and headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, that provides Jewish educational and leadership programming for college students and young Jewish adults. It operates on 21 prominent US college campuses including Harvard, Columbia, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, NYU, and Tufts, staffed by dedicated Rabbis and educators who deliver coursework in classical Jewish texts, one-on-one mentorship, Shabbat experiences, and community-building programming. MEOR's product portfolio includes the Maimonides Leaders Fellowship (a two-tier flagship program), MEOR Vision (experiential personal development), MEOR Israel and MEOR Poland (heritage trips), MEOR JInternship and MEOR JLM (8-week Israel-based summer leadership and internship programs), MEOR Prosemitism Fellowship (anti-Semitism and Israel advocacy), and MEOR Solidarity (volunteer trips). A post-university alumni program established in 2016 extends the lifecycle beyond graduation.
MEOR's revenue model is rooted in charitable donations rather than commercial pricing. US donations are received as a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 51-0430002), Israeli Shekel donations flow through the affiliated Israeli nonprofit MEOR Israel Moreshet Yahadut, and stock donations are processed via DonateStock.com. Program fees are modest and largely subsidized (e.g., MEOR JInternship costs $400 plus airfare, or $500 when combined with another Olami-sponsored program). A secondary revenue stream is merchandise sales through a Shopify storefront (shop.meor.org) fulfilled by Printful, with items priced between $17.50 and $55. The organization is led by President Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld and Vice President of Education Rabbi Yehoshua Styne, supported by a 12-member Board of Directors and an Advisory Board of prominent Jewish-American figures. To date, MEOR has impacted over 35,000 students across 19 years of operation.
meor firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- meor
- Legal name
- MEOR Inc.
- Website
- https://meor.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2005
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- MEOR is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2005 that delivers Jewish educational, leadership, and heritage programming on 21 prominent US college campuses, serving over 35,000 students cumulatively through fellowships, Israel and Poland trips, and summer internships.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
meor industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Jewish Religious Education and Student Engagement
- NAICS
- Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Jewish Theological Seminaries & Rabbinical Colleges (EDAHAKAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Third-Party Short-Term Academic Program Providers (Multi-Discipline) (EDAIAIAB)
Keywords
Where meor is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Silver Spring
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
meor business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Program Fees: MEOR charges program fees for educational experiences including MEOR JInternship ($400 + Airfare), with additional pricing for combined programs with partner organizations.
- Merchandise Sales: MEOR operates an e-commerce store (shop.meor.org) selling branded merchandise including apparel, accessories, and novelty items with prices ranging from $17.50 to $55.00.
- Donations: MEOR accepts USD donations payable to MEOR Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity (Federal Tax ID 51-0430002), as well as Israeli Shekel donations through their affiliate MEOR Israel Moreshet Yahadut, and stock donations through DonateStock.com.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | MEOR JInternship - 8-week immersive summer experience |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | MEOR Israel - Heritage trip to Israel |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Merchandise - Baby Onesie |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Merchandise - Unisex Half Zip Pullover |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Merchandise - Stainless Steel Water Bottle |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
meor product offering
Product offeringCore offering
MEOR delivers Jewish educational and leadership programs to college students across 21 prominent U.S. universities, combining traditional text-based Jewish study with on-campus community events (Shabbat experiences, discussions), immersive summer fellowships in Israel (JInternship, JLM), and heritage travel to Israel and Poland. The organization also sells branded merchandise (apparel, accessories, novelty items) through a Shopify online store as a supplementary offering.
Product overview
MEOR is a Jewish educational organization operating on 21 prominent U.S. college campuses. Its product portfolio centers on educational programs including the Maimonides Leaders Fellowship (a two-tiered program with Maimonides I and II), MEOR Vision (experiential leadership development), MEOR Israel and Poland heritage trips, MEOR JInternship/JLM (Israel-based summer internships), MEOR Prosemitism Fellowship (anti-Semitism education), and MEOR Solidarity (volunteer programs). The organization also operates a Shopify-based merchandise store (MEOR Merch Store) selling branded apparel and accessories. Programs are offered at campuses including Baruch, Berkeley, Binghamton, Boston University, Brandeis, Columbia, Cornell, Drexel, Emory, George Washington, Harvard, Hunter, Maryland, NYU, Northeastern, Penn, Princeton, Rutgers, Stanford, Temple, and Tufts.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- MEOR Merch Store: Online merchandise store selling branded clothing, accessories, and novelty items
- MEOR Maimonides Leaders Fellowship
- MEOR Vision
- MEOR Solidarity
- MEOR Israel
- MEOR JInternship
- MEOR Poland
- MEOR Prosemitism Fellowship
Products and services
- Maimonides Leaders Fellowship (Maimonides I)
- Maimonides II
- MEOR Vision
- MEOR Israel
- MEOR Poland
- MEOR JInternship
- MEOR JLM (Jewish Leadership Mentorship)
- MEOR Prosemitism Fellowship
- MEOR Solidarity
- MEOR Merch Store
Quantifiable outcome
- 35,000+ students impacted over 19 years of operation
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use meor
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
meor technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
meor partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- OlamicoreOlami is a partner organization for MEOR JInternship. Students who combine MEOR JInternship with another Olami sponsored program receive a discounted rate of $500 (vs $400 base). MEOR JInternship is part of the Olami network of Jewish engagement programs.
- MEOR Israel Moreshet YahadutcoreMEOR Israel Moreshet Yahadut is MEOR's Israeli affiliate organization, registered as a nonprofit (ID #580570406) in accordance with Par. 46 of the Israel Tax Ordinance. Handles Israeli Shekel donations and coordinates MEOR's Israel-based programming.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights5 records
meor competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- StandWithUs: StandWithUs focuses on Israel education and pro-Israel advocacy on college campuses, including fellowships and educational programming. It is a comparable emerging player intersecting MEOR's Israel-trip/identity space but is focused on advocacy rather than text-based religious study.
Direct peers
- Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life: Hillel is the largest Jewish college campus organization in the world, providing Jewish educational, social, and cultural programming across hundreds of US universities including overlap with MEOR's footprint (Harvard, Penn, Maryland, Rutgers, NYU, Brandeis, etc.). Both MEOR and Hillel compete for the same Jewish student mindshare on a per-campus basis.
- Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI): JLI offers structured Jewish text-based adult and student education programs and is a directly comparable peer to MEOR's Maimonides fellowship in terms of curriculum depth (Torah study, Jewish philosophy) and educational methodology. Both serve as complementary or competing entry points for engaged Jewish students.
- Birthright Israel Foundation: Birthright Israel provides subsidized Israel trips for young Jewish adults and shares significant demographic overlap with MEOR Israel's student audience. Both organizations compete for Israel-trip mindshare among US Jewish undergraduates, though Birthright's free-trip model differs from MEOR's paid heritage programming.
- Olami International: Olami is an active partner of MEOR (joint JInternship programming) and operates its own network of Jewish student engagement programs on university campuses. It is a directly comparable peer in the Olami-affiliated Jewish student engagement space.
- Chabad on Campus: Chabad on Campus operates rabbi-led Jewish student programming at many of the same elite universities served by MEOR (Harvard, NYU, Columbia, Penn, Rutgers). It delivers the most direct head-to-head competition with MEOR's Maimonides fellowship model of one-on-one text study with dedicated campus rabbis.
Broad incumbents
- The Jewish Federations of North America: Jewish Federations are the principal North American Jewish communal fundraising and community-services network. The current JFNA President & CEO publicly endorses MEOR, indicating adjacent positioning and shared donor/population overlap as a federated Jewish-services incumbent.
- Orthodox Union (OU): The OU is a large, established Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization that operates the well-known NCSY youth program (which overlaps the same demographic as MEOR's campus programming) and various educational initiatives. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping mission in Jewish identity formation among young adults.
- Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi): AEPi is a Jewish fraternity with chapters at many of the same US universities where MEOR operates (Penn, Maryland, Rutgers, Temple, Cornell, Binghamton, etc.). AEPi is a broader Jewish campus incumbent that overlaps with MEOR's student demographic and often co-participates in programming.
- BBYO (B'nai B'rith Youth Organization): BBYO is a Jewish teen youth organization that feeds into the college-age demographic that MEOR serves. It is a comparable broad incumbent for Jewish identity programming, though it operates primarily pre-college rather than on college campuses.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
meor social profiles
Digital presencemeor compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
meor financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
meor leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
meor funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
meor M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about meor
What does meor do?
MEOR delivers Jewish educational and leadership programs to college students across 21 prominent U.S. universities, combining traditional text-based Jewish study with on-campus community events (Shabbat experiences, discussions), immersive summer fellowships in Israel (JInternship, JLM), and heritage travel to Israel and Poland. The organization also sells branded merchandise (apparel, accessories, novelty items) through a Shopify online store as a supplementary offering.
Is meor a public or private company?
meor is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was meor founded?
meor was founded in 2005.
Where is meor based?
meor is headquartered in Silver Spring, United States, in the North America region.
How does meor make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Program Fees are the primary driver. The others are merchandise Sales and donations.
Who are meor's main competitors?
StandWithUs is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI), Birthright Israel Foundation, Olami International and Chabad on Campus. Broad incumbents are The Jewish Federations of North America, Orthodox Union (OU), Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) and BBYO (B'nai B'rith Youth Organization).
Does meor have an API?
No public API is recorded for meor.
What industry is meor in?
meor's product category is Jewish Religious Education and Student Engagement. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAHAKAH, Jewish Theological Seminaries & Rabbinical Colleges, with a secondary code of EDAIAIAB, Third-Party Short-Term Academic Program Providers (Multi-Discipline). Its NAICS code is 813.