Why I'm Joining the IDF

Not too long from now I will be a woman in uniform!

It’s incredible how much my life has changed in the last year. One year ago I had a car, a full-time job and snow boots. Today I have a bus pass, a babysitting gig and hiking boots. 

I feel freer than ever and more in touch with what I want out of life. For the time being what I want is this:

I have decided to devote the next (approximately) two years of my life to service in the Israeli army. This is not a decision I arrived to overnight. I’ve been thinking about committing myself to Israeli military service for the past year and now that I’m an Israeli citizen I’ve decided to turn thought into action.

Before I go into my reasons for volunteering myself to serve I’ll give you the basics on military service requirements in Israel.

All citizens of Israel, with the exception of Arab Israelis but not excluding Druze Israelis, are required to serve in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Men are required to serve for three years and women for two. **Women can however opt of of military service and instead volunteer in a branch of national service.

The rules change a bit for immigrants (and for religious Jews, but I won’t get into that).

Men who arrive to Israel and immigrate after the age of 26 are not required to serve in the IDF. The same goes for women over the age of 21.

I am 24. When I arrived to Israel I was 23 - this means that I am not at all required to serve. But I want to; I feel compelled. 

There are a lot of people who are not going to agree with what I am about to say, or they will feel some sort of internal dissonance because they do agree but have decided not to act upon whatever feelings arise within them to serve. In any case, I will share with you my reasons for deciding to enlist…

It’s ridiculous that young immigrants in this country receive so much support from the government even when, in most cases, they do not serve in this country’s military, when had they been born here, they would have been required. During the first six months of citizenship in Israel new immigrants who are single receive about $650 each month - and that is from a government whose country is constantly fighting in wars of defense. On top of this direct monetary support new immigrants are also entitled to discounts on import taxes, rental tax and free health insurance for one year. And if that’s not enough, they also receive five free months of modern Hebrew class free from the government. 

Is it really fair for immigrants who don’t serve in the IDF to receive these benefits?

On the one hand, it’s not - in the history of this country thousands of Israeli soldiers have died who served not because they volunteered to, but because it was the status quo; they had to.

But on the other hand, the government doesn’t require military service of new immigrants beyond the already stated ages. This leads me to the question, if all citizens are required to serve, why aren’t all new citizens also required, regardless of age? I almost want to call it discrimination on the basis of age, but I’m afraid discrimination isn’t quite the right word.

Israel would not be able to exist without its military. It is my opinion that the State of Israel needs to exist; I point now to the slaughter of six million European Jews just 70 years ago. I can’t help but think that if the Jewish nation would have had an army, it would have been able to defend itself. By no means do I assert that Israel has done everything correct in regards to the people that have become refugees as a result of the State’s creation, but I do think it’s possible to still stand by the country and its military as a whole without taking a particular position in the matter.

All of these feelings aside… what’s in it for me, other than a uniform and gun?

I am happy in Israel. For the time being I want to live here. The best way for me to acclimate into Israeli society and to immerse myself in the Hebrew language is to join the army. However army service will not only be a Hebrew-learning tool, it will also provide me with a sense of self-fulfillment that cannot be found elsewhere.

I can’t feel right living here if I feel like a freeloader. I feel as though it is my duty to serve. If there had been required military service in the US I would have done it there - there wouldn’t have been a choice. Here in Israel, I feel as though it shouldn’t be a choice and for myself, I have decided it’s not a choice. I am committing myself.

My official Israeli Army process has already begun. On July 7 I went to the Israeli Army’s draft office in Haifa to have my Tsav Rishon (first call up). 

From this day I am supposed to receive three different scores: one is IQ related (Psychotechni), one corresponds to level of education and psychologic standing (Kaba), and the last is a physical assessment score (Profile). Based on my composite score I will be able to classify for various different units in the army. So far I have only received the first two scores; a 90/90 and a 56/56, respectively. Hopefully I will receive the physical score soon. It seems like there will be a lot of possibilities available, I just hope the language barrier won’t be a problem. An officer at the Tsav Rishon administered a Hebrew test to me but it wasn’t clear whether I passed or if I would be required to enroll in the army’s three-month Hebrew class. We shall see…

I will probably have more information to share about my draft date within the next week or two. And for those who are wondering… my current preference is to serve in the Search and Rescue unit. However, truth be told, I am not really that knowledgeable of the IDF and all of its units, so it is possible that my preference will waiver.

That’s all for now! Now that you’re all in on my big secret, I’ll keep you updated :)

Countdown to Israel - 1 MONTH

Disclaimer: This post is going to be a bit heavier emotionally than will be the rest of the blog. I probably will not speak this openly again about my feelings on Israel's existence and the Jewish people as a whole.

Once upon a time there was a young lady named Rebecca. This young lady traveled to a land far, far away from her home. Rebecca grew very fond of the village people and their customs. She returned home, instantly planning her voyage back to the foreign land. Despite a rival kingdom's constant plots to seize the land and drive its people into the sea, Rebecca's mind remained unchanged. She admired the courage and steadfastness of the villagers. And so here the story is only just beginning -- with a one-way ticket to happily ever after..!

One month from today I will be embarking upon the real-life journey from DC to Israel where I will partake in a five-month hotel management program sponsored by Masa Israel. In June of this past year I visited Israel as part of a 10-day all expenses paid trip with 39 other young American adults. I had been to Israel before, but for some reason this time was different. It's as if I was colorblind before, and now I can see all spectrums of the rainbow. Stemming from the experience there has been a complete dissonance inside my head. I feel as though I belong in Israel. Do I leave everything I know and love in the Land of the Free just because of a fleeting feeling of belonging? Do I really belong there? That is what this experience will help me to see!

On my trip back in June we visited Israel's military cemetery, Har Herzl, with actual Israeli soldiers on the same day we visited Israel's Holocaust museum, Yad VaShem. This day was enough to make me rethink my entire existence. How can it be real that if I were to time-travel 70 years back to WWII Europe that I would almost certainly be put to death just for being born unto Jewish parents? This is CRAZY! The population of Jews in the world today would almost certainly be double its current 13 million if not for the genocide of two-thirds of Europe's Jews.

While it's not in anyone's best interests to dwell on the past, we NEED to plan for a brighter future. We can argue: if the Jewish people had had an organized military by which to defend themselves, would they have been able to defeat the Nazis and prevent the inhumane slaughter of millions? The world will never know. What we do know is that we do now have an organized military. We have a state, one state. If Israel should fall, there will be no army in the world to defend the Jewish people. If this happens, it will be a struggle for us to exist.

To introduce you to your author for just a moment so that you can understand the mind from where these thoughts escape... At the innermost of my being I believe that we are all just living beings of the Earth. We all share the same basic rights to exist and be happy. However we are not all the same. We come from a collection of past experiences that have led us to become the individuals we are. I am not Jewish in a religious sense. I am Jewish in the sense of my identity and my heritage. I enjoy the traditions and customs, but I do not believe in a god. I am Jewish just as much as I am an American. But before I am Jewish or an American, I am a vegan. I believe that nonhuman animals are entitled to all the same rights that human animals have. The genocide (I know this is technically incorrect grammar to use the word 'genocide' since the word applies to the killing of humans, but I wasn't sure what other word to use..) of nonhuman animals throughout human existence is a wrong that boggles my mind.. but I digress.. and will save this for another post.

We (the Jews) have been persecuted for centuries and centuries. I exist today as a product of survivors of oppression. I am descended from immigrants from Eastern Europe circa the time of the Pogroms and from Spanish Jews who fled the inquisition to keep their lives. We have survived throughout history because we have each other. Israel, only just the size of New Jersey, must continue to exist as a home for the Jewish people. One can argue, but there are many Jews in America.... Yes, the area in which I currently live is heavily populated with Jewish people. Yes, there are probably 20 synagogues within a 10 mile radius of my house. Yes, in school we got off for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Yes, we sang Hanukkah songs in my public elementary school. Yes, our weekend is conducive to Shabbat. Yes, we are allowed to practice Judaism publicly and freely. BUT- can we really say that if aliens came from outer space and threatened to kill all the Jews and their friends, that the gentiles living among us would defend us? I don't know the answer. I would certainly hope so. I do know that in the case of World War II the answer was no.

Right now I feel the need to be in Israel. We, the Jews of the diaspora, have the chance 2000 years from our dispersion to reunite in our home land of Israel. Why not go? And so off I go!

This video pretty much sums up my thoughts.

Goodbye for now!