Would-be women of the IDF busted shirking and snogging

March 20, 2009 - 10:54 AM by Harry · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Religion, War

Religious teen women of Israel The way the Israeli army interfaces with religion is not so straightforward, which makes sense in a land where the separation between synagogue and state is still being sorted out. The IDF’s Rabbinate came under scrutiny this winter for attempting to boost soldiers’ morale on shaky theological grounds.

And the Rabbinate is notorious for being stingy when it comes to handing out shaving exemption papers for soldiers looking to be able to wear beards based on their interpretation of Biblical commandments, sometimes telling soldiers that they’re “not religious enough” to qualify for the exemption. But if it’s a rabbi’s goal to foster observance, he ought to embrace the individual’s interests, regardless of that individual’s flaws or hypocrisies.

In a society where we are constantly being pigeonholed due to what we’re wearing on our heads and elsewhere on our bodies, I don’t know about you, but my inclination is to say, “Please don’t put me in a box. I’m a real person, not a tidy category.”

Of course, embracing the religious grey area gets trickier when we’re talking about exemption from serving in the army altogether. Ditching the draft is relatively common among Israel’s Orthodox, for better or for worse, and the mechanisms for obtaining exemptions on religious grounds are relatively straightforward, making pleading religious a tempting option even for those who might not necessarily truly have theological qualms with the experience of being a soldier.

After years of turning a blind eye, more or less, to this phenomenon, the IDF is getting smart and trying to crack down on young women who “lie” and plead religious. Sure, it’s possible that a young woman who is too observant to serve, whatever that means, might experience a lapse in faith, but in general, if the army’s detectives catch you making out with someone, you should probably suit up.

“We need those girls, Lt. Col. Gil Ben Shaoul, deputy commander of Israel’s military recruitment center,” told The Associated Press.

The Israel Defense Forces says the surveillance program began last year and has caught 520 young women, many who admitted they did not deserve the religious exemption and signed up for military service.

….Catching the draft-dodgers is fairly straightforward: It takes one weekend, said Ben Shaoul. The young women are usually caught driving on Saturday, drinking or smoking.

Many who attempt to shirk the draft justify doing so on the grounds that women aren’t given “real” opportunities in the IDF.

“I served for two years doing nothing. All the girls do nothing,” said Shiran Cohen, 24, a university student. She said she was assigned to check on ammunition stockpiles during her service, but was frequently sidelined by men in her unit.

Although being a woman in the army can’t be easy, this excuse simply doesn’t hold water. I have fond memories of my days serving in the IDF’s Shiryon (armored corps) unit, where everything I learned about tanks was taught to me by women.

On the first day of tank training, the training officers took me and my fellow conscripts out to the open field and gave us a powerful demonstration of tank maneuvering and weaponry. The audience loved it. When the demo was over, the tanks pulled around and parked by the bleachers where we sat. The hatches opened, and out came four women from each vehicle. Surprise surprise. The bleachers shook with hooting, extra applause and jumping up and down as a special reaction for the ladies. It was a bit embarrassing, and it might serve to highlight how rough it must be to get respect as a woman soldier, but the point is that the opportunities are there for those who are motivated to go after them.

Image of Israeli modern Orthodox teenage women courtesy sethfrantzman from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

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Tags: armored corps, army, church and state, draft, exemption, Gil Ben Shaoul, haredi, IDF, Israel Defense Forces, military, orthodox, pigeonhole, rabbinate, recruitment, Religion, religious, Shiran Cohen, Shiryon, soldier, synagogue and state, tank, women

Nostalgia Sunday – Mommy’s trip to Sinai

November 9, 2008 - 10:23 PM by Rachel Neiman · 2 Comments
Filed under: General, Israeliness, Nostalgia Sunday

I have no idea what my mother did when she went to the Sinai in the summer of 1968. I mean, I know why she went — she was Shulamith, singer of international folksongs with a large following of Hadassah ladies in the greater Boston area. Check out this photo (and the hats).

Shulamith at Hadassah

And I know that while were visiting Israel that summer, she flew down to Sinai to entertain the IDF troops. Look, here’s a photo of the airstrip:

Shula in Sinai 1968 - airstrip

And I know she sang for these fellows, because she told me so.

Shula in Sinai 1968 - group

But I have no idea if this is where she stayed. I figure it must be. This is the problem with being a kid. Grown-ups don’t tell you everything.

Shula in Sinai 1968 - accommodations

My mother came back from the Sinai bearing a very large pink conch shell and a square box encrusted entirely with shells – even the feet were shells!. We girls treasured those items for years — my little sister still has the big shell — but the box, like most fabulous tschotchkes, is long gone with no photographic record of its existence. Only the memory remains.