Israeli rite of passage

We had the good fortune two weeks ago to attend our niece Inbal's graduation from basic training in the Israeli army. Inbal was born here, moved with her mom and brother to New Hampshire, but a part of her clearly stayed in Israel. She made the tough decision to return to Israel after high school graduation to serve in the Israeli army, and I have to say, this seems to be absolutely the right decision for her. She is thriving here -- growing and glowing, and as her proud aunt and uncle, we relish watching this happen.


On April 3rd she graduated from basic training and invited us to the Israeli Tank Museum to witness the ceremony. She'll now go on to train others to drive the tanks.







A few thoughts:

- almost everyone in the audience (friends and family of graduates) was non-religious. I saw a smattering of kippot, but mostly what is called "secular" society here. Quite a different view than my everyday encounters in Jerusalem or at Bar Ilan University.

- there is such a sense of obligation and pride that goes along with serving in the army here, and that pride was palpable.

- it was the first time that I heard the Israeli national anthemn, Hatikva, played since I arrived in Israel. I remember that people used to erupt in spontaneous singing of Hatikva upon landing by airplane, but no one sang when we arrived. Its absence actually saddened me.

The BIG surprise for Inbal was that her Uncle Arik (from New Hampshire) showed up at the graduation. He coincidentally flew to Israel days beforehand.

Congrats to Inbal on all her hard choices, and hard work!