The complex set of lessons imparted at the IDF’s Officer Training School near Mitzpe Ramon. (Jerusalem Post)
Only 52% of Israeli teenagers enlist in the IDF, down from 2002’s 59%; 43% of religious girls do not enter the army at all. 16% of those serve for just one year. There is a clear rise in the number claiming a religious exemption. (YNet)
The IDF archives were a mess (historically inaccurate, grammatically incorrect massacre of supposed facts). The archives weren’t manipulative or skewed in one way or another; they simply didn’t make sense�), and Cori Chascione set about to fix them. (Jewcy)
A look at the difficulties that IDF soldiers have in the psychological transition from military service to civilian life. (Jerusalem Post)
The number of yeshiva students whose army service has been put on hold because they have declared Torah study as their occupation rose more than 10% over just last year. Once they hit age 26, the IDF no longer wants them. (Haaretz)
Rachel Papo has put out a book of photographs of female IDF soldiers, but reviewer Joshua Cohen is distinctly uncomfortable with the result. Includes photos. (Forward)
Reuven Pedatzur reports that it has become impossible to cut the IDF budget, or even to get a normal level of accountability and accuracy for the figures. (Haaretz)
The IDF has decided to draft celiac sufferers for mandatory military service. Recruits will “serve on closed bases and receive gluten-free catering. At open bases, they will get an allowance to buy gluten-free food.� (Haaretz)
Torah
Pronunced: TORE-uh, Origin: Hebrew, the Five Books of Moses.
yeshiva
Pronounced: yuh-SHEE-vuh or yeh-shee-VAH, Origin: Hebrew, a traditional religious school, where students mainly study Jewish texts.
