Search results for: Pre-military academies

Israeli pre-military academies, which require army approval because the participants defer their military service by 12-to- 18 months, lovingly nurture future recruits’ minds, hearts, and souls. They are quintessentially Israeli: as undisciplined, untidy, and unmilitary as your favorite shwarma stand but as grounding, moving, and stimulating as “Hatikva.” The first mechina, B’nai David, began in 1987, as an alternative to hesder yeshivas, which rotate learning and serving. Hoping to encourage more religious officers, the mechina prepped for what the IDF calls “a full and meaningful army service.” The growth spurt came in 1995, following Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. Educators added secular and mixed academies to encourage values-oriented learning in Israel, about Judaism, Zionism, Israel, and life.