Trading in a role for a mission

Nicole Nathan Bem

It could have been any bus station on a sunny morning. A fresh
spring day. A Thursday. 
Guys came in jeans with duffel bags slung over their
shoulders. Families arrived: mothers, fathers, little brothers and sisters, girlfriends and grandparents. They
joked and chatted and took pictures and ate. Ethiopian families, Anglos and Sephardim all stood
together. Busses arrived, then left.

A group of young guys gathered in a circle and started to
sing and dance. And then
this group picked up their bags and lined up for their bus.

Despite the songs, there was tension in the air and these
families milled about nervously. One girl hugged her boyfriend and, in tears, she
left. Mothers held onto their sons’ hands, fathers gave blessings. 
 

This was the liskat giyus, the place where young soldiers
draft into the IDF. And this sunny Thursday marked the moment when the army takes  responsibilty of the child away from the parent. It is the moment when the young adult gives up civilian freedom for close to three years.
As this was a religious draft, all boys wore kippot and tzitzit
dangled from under their shirts. After finishing high school, they had all studied
for a year or two at yeshivot before drafting. 
They were learned in Torah and
had a deep love for Israel and for the Jewish people. So much so, they sang and
danced to mark their draft.

My younger son was one of them.

This is in stark contrast to my last blog post where I wrote
about Hareidim protesting the forced army draft, screaming that they would
rather die than serve.   

Yet being at Tel Hashomer that Thursday
morning renewed my pride because young religious men are happy to
serve their country. Many of these soldiers will go into Hesder units with
other religious soldiers and others will do a full service.

Ethiopian parents.
There is a place for everyone in the IDF; be they Orthodox
Jewish, Muslim, Druze or Christian, new immigrants from Ethiopia, India, Russia
or the US, or young adults with special needs. 
 

 The army is a place where these new recruits will be
challenged and will grow. It’s not an easy transition going from being a kid with
no responsibilities to a soldier, but the army will teach them all important life
lessons.

Although they are putting their freedom on hold, they are privileged
to be a part of the IDF.

The inscription on the building (pictured below) bears this quote by Shimon Peres:
The essence of life is not what to be but what to do
There is no such thing as a role – there is a mission.
 To Shaya and to all of the boys who went in, I wish them all
much success, positive growth and a sense of mission in their army service.

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Published by Nicole Nathan Bem

I am a writer and editor. When I moved to Israel with my family in 2005, I decided to create this blog, wanting to capture the intensity of living in this land. Days are never static; they are vibrant and there is a depth of emotion here that I feel nowhere else. These pages are my honest reflection and observations of life in Israel as an Anglo immigrant.

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