Here's a proud to be an Israeli post:
Hat tip: IMRA
In Israel there's a draft system for the army. All Israeli 18 year olds are supposed to be drafted. There are exceptions of course. Many youth of the extreme Left find ways to get out of serving. Some kids are accepted into a program in which they first get university degrees and then they serve as soldiers/officers in their professional capacity. Religious girls can opt out. Many do National Service instead. Yes, there's the famous deferment for yeshiva students. Some boys study for a few months or a couple of years and then serve the full three years in the army. Others do a shortened service. There's also the Hesder Yeshiva system, a longer five year program combining yeshiva studies, army service and first call "reserve," while in the yeshiva.
And there's a special "volunteer in uniform" for those who have physical or other disabilities which give them an automatic deferment which they refuse. Being soldiers like everyone else is their aim. Here's a lovely article about how the elite Intelligence Corps accepts those with "low intelligence."
Yes, there's a job for everyone in the Israel Defense Forces, Baruch Hashem!
6 comments:
Hesder is a 5 year - not 5 month - program. :)
Shalom!
"Volunteer in uniform" is National Service for men. Some of the men in it are sick and tired of euphemisms. I read an article/interview featuring a apartment full of men, from a variety of backgrounds: religious w/physical exemption from the army, secular pacifist etc. They do similar work to what the young woman have traditionally done and are very much welcomed by places like yeshivot that would rather have a ben sherut than a bat sherut. I imagine that some hospitalized men would prefer to be assisted by a young man than a young woman.
Shalom!
I should have included, finally something good out of the IDF...
thanks, Shy, fixed it. Did you see the time I posted it? It's amazing I don't make more dumb typos.
Yes, Hadassa, thanks for the extra info.
LOL Batya. Maybe it was a Freudian slip rather than a typo. I imagine most mothers would prefer their children to have five month tours of duty.
I did click on the link for the story about the volunteers in uniform. It was beautiful.
Just a snippet for those who didn't click on the link, the end of the article states:
"The voice of Cpt. Nadav takes a paternal hue when he speaks of his soldier. “As a commander, I was concerned about awkward interactions, and indeed there were such, though they are an insignificant footnote in comparison with his success. It is both an educational and ethical triumph,” he says. “Today, Reuven has a Facebook profile, and he chats online with our first sergeant. He learned to speak on the phone and to initiate conversation. From time to time, I catch him playing board games with the other soldiers, who treat him as one of their own.”
Yes, thanks, Keli
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