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OTS Newsletter - Spring 2008Ambassadors of the Religious Community Pioneering Hadas soldiers continue to win high praise from the Israel Defense Forces. Strengthened by Torah study before and during their service, they are contributing their valuable skills to the country while simultaneously serving as outstanding role models of Jewish living to their secular peers.
As the Israel Defense .Forces continues to .recognize the high .caliber of female soldiers serving through Midreshet Lindenbaum’s Hadas Program, Dover Tzahal – the Office of the Israel Defense Forces’ Spokesman – has become the most recent addition to the IDF units benefiting from the service of religious young women. Like Hadas soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Force’s Education Corps, Intelligence Corps and General Security Service, Hadas participants in the Spokesman’s Office combine intense Torah study with regular army service. Hadas provides a much-needed support framework for religious women who are determined to serve their country within the decidedly secular environment of the IDF. All participants begin the program with eight months of intense Torah study at Midreshet Lindenbaum, during which time they reside on the Yaakov and Channa Tilles Campus. “This period of learning provides the spiritual ’fuel’ that will sustain them throughout their service,” says Rabbi Ohad Tehar-Lev, director of the program. They then enter the army together as a garin, or group, for basic training. “Because we came in together as a Hadas group, the army was considerate of our needs as religious women,” says Shachar Sharp, 20, who is serving in the Education Corps as a commander of new immigrant soldiers. “It’s very hard for a religious girl to go into the army by herself,” adds Sarit Naiman, 20, an officer in the Intelligence Corps. “I never would have considered doing it without the backing of Hadas.”
Ongoing Teaching and Support
The Hadas soldiers serve for a total of 19 months, after which a high percentage are tapped to train as officers and extend their tours of duty. Throughout their IDF service, Hadas soldiers participate in bi-weekly shiurim and discussions with their Midreshet Lindenbaum teachers, who travel from base to base. “Before the shiur, the women all get together and talk with us about how they’re managing and what challenges are at hand,” says Tehar-Lev. “This discussion, and the learning that follows, refreshes them and helps give them strength to continue their intensive work.” “Sometimes, I think about the differences between my life at Midreshet Lindenbaum and here in the army,” muses Shachar Sharp, whose work includes helping immigrant soldiers deal with difficult Jewish identity issues. “It’s a total contrast. The midrasha was an open world where we were taught and encouraged. Here, we’re on our own in a rigorous army routine, struggling to answer very difficult questions. Many of my soldiers, for example, are facing the anguish of discovering that while they were considered Jewish in Russia, in Israel they must convert in order to become Jewish according to halacha (Jewish law). Fortunately, Hadas showed me how to integrate my total commitment to halacha with the realities of the world at large. As I myself have become strengthened, I can be stronger for the soldiers who need me.” Through their service in the IDF, Hadas soldiers have become ambassadors of the religious community to many secular Israelis who have had little previous contact with their religious counterparts. “We’re showing people that we don’t have difficulty serving in the army for religious reasons,” stresses Sylvie Grossbard, who teaches soldiers from disadvantaged backgrounds in the Education Corps. “We do our service like everyone else. This way, people see us from within and without. I think it’s an honor to represent religious society as a soldier in the IDF.” “In and out of the army, our students, soldiers and graduates are sanctifying G-d’s name every day through their actions, serving as outstanding representatives of the religious world to the Israeli public at large,” says OTS chancellor Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. “We built the Hadas program because we believe that religious women can make a significant contribution to Israeli society. Many of our participants have received citations for exemplary service from the IDF. Through Hadas, we are producing women’s leadership for the IDF and the future of Israel.”
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