Parshat Toldot: The source of true strength

27.11.2011                      01.Kislev. 5772                      Rosch Chodesch

Judentum:

Parshat Toldot: The source of true strength

One of the most innovative and fascinating creations of Religious Zionism is the educational institution known as “yeshivat hesder”.

This refers to yeshivot which have an “arrangement” (hesder) with the IDF allowing observant high school graduates to fulfill their three-year compulsory draft obligation by attending a yeshiva for a year and a half, followed by a year and a half of serving in the army and then a final two years of Torah learning.
This was a creative compromise between secular Israeli society, whose members are expected to enter the IDF for three full years after high school, and the ultra- Orthodox (haredim), who are automatically exempted from the IDF as long as they are registered as full-time yeshiva students….