Some of the country's best and brightest
high-school grads
are
delaying military service for a year of character-building in pre-army
academies
IT'S STILL DARK in Upper
Nazareth on a recent Tuesday morning as Nadav Cohen, 19, delivers a pithy inspirational
talk to his comrades – choosing Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin'
for his theme. On a pervious morning another student talked about the journey
to Ithaca in Homer's The Odyssey. That poem begins, "When you set
out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that the road is long, full of adventure,
full of knowledge."
The 35 or so students, young
men and women in workout clothes, have packed into a room overlooking the lower
Galilee. All are recent high-school graduates who've put off their compulsory service
-- two years for women and three years for men -- in the Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) to take part in this mechina. It is one of a score of pre-military
academies offering one-year programs that are becoming increasingly popular
among Israel's most committed, idealistic and gifted youth.
The mechina phenomenon began in
1988 in Eli, a Jewish settlement in Samaria near Shiloh. The idea was to
prepare, and not just physically, the Orthodox religious male youngsters for
the rigors of army life. At the Eli mechina, active duty army officers run the
young men through their paces in the hilly terrain.
Socially, think of the army as Israel's
great "melting pot" where young people from across the country's astoundingly
diverse society rub shoulders in basic training. That is why the Orthodox youngsters at the
Eli academy need to be fortified for the culture shock of secular society where
they'll encounter comrades with little knowledge of, or commitment to, the religious
values that they uphold. For religious reasons, most Orthodox high-schools are
not co-ed. Yet in the army strict separation of the sexes for reasons of modesty
is difficult to uphold. Your instructor for the state-of-the-art Tavor rifle could
well be a pretty 19-year-old girl from Ramat Aviv, an upscale north Tel Aviv
neighborhood.
Indeed, Israel's small messianic
Jewish community faces a similar challenge in upholding religious and social
values. The Jerusalem Post recently reported that the community has run a
short summer preparatory program, known as the Nestor mechina, to ease the
transition into army life for its young people, who are leaving home for the
first time.
By 1997, the Eli mechina had
been joined by other pre-military academies. Nowadays, there are academies -- each
offering its own twist on the mechina experience -- catering to the secular, to
young Orthodox women, and to those who want a combined, co-ed, secular-religious
environment. The Lindenbaum Academy on the southern outskirts of Jerusalem
offers no fewer than five separate tracks for committed Orthodox women who want
to engage in advanced religious studies (Bible, Talmud, philosophy) before, or
even during, or after their military service. Noa Binnes wants to go into IDF intelligence
and opted to study at Lindenbaum "because I think it will help me come to
the army a more mature person."
TODAY, WITH hundreds of former
students, Ein Prat is arguably the most prestigious of the pre-army academies.
Its ethos calls for bridging the gap between Orthodox, theologically
progressive, and altogether non-observant Israelis, says Noam Arbel, an Ein
Prat graduate now responsible for alumni affairs. This year's students, for
example, are one-third Orthodox, one-third secular, and the remainder
traditionally observant, Conservative or Reform. Arbel explains that the
program combines community service with advanced Zionist and religious studies
and, naturally, physical fitness.
Ein Prat is located in the
Judean Desert east of Jerusalem adjacent to the settlement of Kfar Adumim. The
mechina is headed by Micah Goodman, a spiritual, charismatic young scholar who
is also a popular lecturer and author. He's just published a book in Hebrew
contextualizing the Kuzari, a polemical work written in the Middle Ages
defending the faith of Israel. An earlier Hebrew book analyzing Maimonides'
ironically titled Guide to the Perplexed remains a bestseller.
All of Israel's pre-army
academies tend to have rigorous admission policies and generally require
parents to pay tuition – this means most of their students come from
middle-class homes. None are primarily government funded, relying instead on
philanthropic support. The Avi Chai Foundation has been in the vanguard of the
mechina movement, supporting 19 mechina academies including Ein Prat which also
enjoys the backing of the Tikvah Fund. Arbel says that Ein Prat's expertise has
positioned the mechina to provide organizational, consulting and even financial
backing for other academies around the country.
The various mechina programs
are well regarded by the army – seen as a means of delivering more motivated,
more mature and better prepared recruits. There is, of course, one unavoidable
side effect: by the time these young people start university, having finished mechina,
the army, and de rigueur post-army travel, they're 24 or so – about the age their American counterparts
are graduating.
Nadav Cohen's mechina, Tabor, now in its third year, is of
the secular variety, emphasizing physical fitness, personal development,
self-discipline, social commitment and leadership skills -- all combined with
plenty of community service. After their predawn homilies most of the Tabor group
– including Cohen -- go out for a long run; a few stay behind with a personal
trainer or to work on a customized exercise regime.
By about 8:00 AM the entire team,
showered and changed, have return from their cramped sleeping quarters – boys and
girls live separately in groups of about 10 – to gather in the mess hall for a
surprisingly wholesome breakfast prepared by students on kitchen duty. By 9:00
A.M. on Mondays and Thursdays the group heads off to any one of 11 volunteer assignments.
Some students, working in teams, mentoring
Upper Nazareth elementary school pupils or high-school students, Jews and
Arabs, from less privileged homes or with learning disabilities. The children
are taken on wilderness hikes, do sports and play games geared to instilling
some of the students' own esprit de corps in their younger charges. Other students
are assigned to an after-school youth group for children with special needs.
On other days, Tabor's focus is
more on learning.
Cohen and his cohort study
Western philosophy, taught by a visiting university instructor, covering
thinkers such as Aristotle, Socrates and Plato and focusing on the values of fidelity
to principles and commitment to the law. There are additional lessons on military
leadership where students study Zionist legends such as Joseph Trumpeldor (1880-1920).
Though Tabor is a secular academy,
Jewish values are integral to the curriculum.
Lately, for instance, students have been reading a difficult work by the
18th century ethicist Moshe Chaim Luzzatto called The Path of the
Just which prescribes abstinence and self-discipline, tenets more routinely
studied in ultra-Orthodox quarters.
Afternoons might find the
students in makeshift classrooms learning about national security. Before
dinner there is usually time for a power workout. Evenings are taken up with
less formal lessons. One recent night a shepherd-philosopher engaged the students
in a discussion about spirituality, identity, relationships and trust that was geared
to building group dynamics.
During their downtime the
students are busy with house-keeping chores and meetings where, together with
academy staff, they hash our schedules, assignments, and curriculum.
The days at Tabor are typically
long and grueling, not ending until the exhausted students fall into bed late into the night.
IN contrast to Nadav Cohen's
regimented mechina, Yoni Jenson's academy seems more like a laid-back urban
kibbutz where the 52 students are empowered to make most decisions.
Jenson, age 19, put off his army
service to enter the Mechina Of Jaffa, loosely affiliated with Israel's Reform
branch of Judaism, where the mission is to train students for leadership. He
plays down the leadership part. "I think of it more as an academy that
will prepare me for life, enlighten me, and bolster my self-discipline," Jenson
says.
It was their choice, for
instance, to keep a kosher communal kitchen in deference to the needs of only
three students who adhere to traditional Jewish dietary regulations which
forbid the mixing of meat and dairy dishes. In making their collective decision,
the cohort boned up on the basics of what keeping a kosher entails while
learning a lesson in tolerance; how a majority can uphold its values and respect
the needs of a minority. The on-site staff director from the Reform movement seldom
intervenes in the day-to-day decision making of the group.
On a typical day, Jenson might
attend an inter-disciplinary course about Israeli society that "doesn't
sugar coat the country's failings," or a lecture on the politics of the media.
Two periods a week are carved out for meditation and nonconformist prayer. Some of the students organize an optional Hebrew
Bible study group after hours in their rooms. On alternate weekends the group remains
at the mechina, for a traditional Friday night Sabbath meal complete with benediction
over the wine and song.
There's a once-a-week workout
session under the tutelage of a physical instructor from the army. Jenson, who aims to get into the IDF search
and rescue unit, enjoys regular runs along the Mediterranean coast. There are
also fun activities with an educational purpose, including occasional
excursions to the theatre.
The biggest emphasis, however,
at the Jaffa academy is community service. Jenson spends three weekday mornings
at a day care center for disadvantaged children who range in age between three
and six while a fourth day is spent at a senior citizen's center helping to run
its glee club. Other students are assigned to a local scout troop helping to program
daily activities. This combination of learning and volunteer work is intended
to help the students formulate their Jewish-Israeli identity in harmony with a
modern lifestyle.
ORIT Gold, 20, didn't "do
mechina" but chose another form of one-year service before her call-up.
Now serving in the IDF intelligence corps, Gold (not her real name) put off her
army service to spend a year working as a Jewish Agency "Shin-Shin"
year-long volunteer emissary in the United States. It was a broadening
experience that exposed Gold, who comes from a secular household in Netanya, to
a welcoming, multi-faceted Jewish community in the Midwest. Paradoxically, she returned to Israel with an
enhanced appreciation of the Jewish side of her identity.
On the down side, Gold's
transition to army life was hardly seamless. In America she was essentially her
own boss running youth programs, addressing local schools and churches about
Israel and managing her own busy schedule. Back in Israel and in the army Orit
Gold abruptly found herself in basic training with younger girls and under the
thumb of a drill instructor her own age. Fortunately, the maturity she honed
while abroad helped her to better deal with whatever the army has thrown at
her.
"I learned that you need
to take things in stride. The army is a rite of passage for all Israelis so why
not make the most of it, have fun and learn from the challenges placed before
us," says Gold.
No matter which road they take
on their journey to the army, mechina academy alumni arrive better prepared and
a little wiser.
Nadav Cohen concurs, "The mechina experience takes you off
the treadmill of life and puts you on 'pause' so that you can purposefully
think about your direction."
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A version of this piece appeared in the Independence Day issue of the Christian Zionist magazine Israel_My_Glory.
