I came to Israel with Nefesh b’ Nefesh on August 16, 2006. As per the law of the State of Israel (which, by the way, changes every 20 minutes) I am required to serve for six months of initial service in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces.) Every year after, I will do the standard reserve duty, commonly known as Miluim.
Usually the IDF will not call up a new Oleh in his first year of being in the country, but I wanted to have my army service pushed up for a number of reasons. For one, I am currently single, and serving in the IDF will be much easier to do as such. Two, I plan on going to graduate school for an MBA. While I can delay my service until after getting my MBA, I cannot delay it forever. MBA programs often get students jobs and if I have to go to the army after grad school, I may lose out on the chance of getting a job, which is a major deal in Israel. Finally, by joining sooner than later, I can work on my Hebrew and achieve fluency. I have gone to Yeshiva my entire life and I have been to Ulpan, but unless I am speaking Hebrew in a closed environment, I will not learn the language fluently. I am hoping that the army will do this for me.
I tried arranging my army service while I was in America, preparing to make Aaliyah, but to no avail. Both my Aaliyah Shaliach as well as the head of Nefesh b’ Nefesh told me that I could only arrange my service once I was in the county; there was nothing to do but wait.
On August 17, 2006, the day after I arrived to Israel I went to Lishkat Geyus (army enlistment office) early in the morning. Word of advice, don’t bother showing up before 8:30; none of the commanders do and you can’t do anything without speaking to them anyways. Lishkat Geyus is a strange place. It is a bureaucracy made up of kids 18-20 years old. This has many advantages and disadvantages that I’ll get to later.
I basically showed up and asked to speak to someone about enlisting. I was sent to the third floor and told to wait for some commander to show up. When he finally came, he spoke to me for a little bit and took down my ID number and contact information. At the time I did not have a phone number, so I gave him my girlfriend’s number and told him I’d call and change my contact information once I get a cell phone. He told me I should expect a call in under a week telling me when and where to meet a commander about enlistment.
Usually the IDF will not call up a new Oleh in his first year of being in the country, but I wanted to have my army service pushed up for a number of reasons. For one, I am currently single, and serving in the IDF will be much easier to do as such. Two, I plan on going to graduate school for an MBA. While I can delay my service until after getting my MBA, I cannot delay it forever. MBA programs often get students jobs and if I have to go to the army after grad school, I may lose out on the chance of getting a job, which is a major deal in Israel. Finally, by joining sooner than later, I can work on my Hebrew and achieve fluency. I have gone to Yeshiva my entire life and I have been to Ulpan, but unless I am speaking Hebrew in a closed environment, I will not learn the language fluently. I am hoping that the army will do this for me.
I tried arranging my army service while I was in America, preparing to make Aaliyah, but to no avail. Both my Aaliyah Shaliach as well as the head of Nefesh b’ Nefesh told me that I could only arrange my service once I was in the county; there was nothing to do but wait.
On August 17, 2006, the day after I arrived to Israel I went to Lishkat Geyus (army enlistment office) early in the morning. Word of advice, don’t bother showing up before 8:30; none of the commanders do and you can’t do anything without speaking to them anyways. Lishkat Geyus is a strange place. It is a bureaucracy made up of kids 18-20 years old. This has many advantages and disadvantages that I’ll get to later.
I basically showed up and asked to speak to someone about enlisting. I was sent to the third floor and told to wait for some commander to show up. When he finally came, he spoke to me for a little bit and took down my ID number and contact information. At the time I did not have a phone number, so I gave him my girlfriend’s number and told him I’d call and change my contact information once I get a cell phone. He told me I should expect a call in under a week telling me when and where to meet a commander about enlistment.
