SPECIAL SALE HOURS: OPEN SAT 10-3 „9, • .• 9,9* '4409PFZICITZWwWwwx," v + / least, they should let those boys who "This group will become the flag- don't study enlist in the army," said bearers for their entire community," Duvdevani. says Yehuda Duvdevani, head of the After months of recruiting, a group Defense Ministry's Nahal and of 30 young men recently agreed. The National Missions Division, who army chose a base, kashered the founded the program. "They will kitchen and barred women soldiers. show the community that those who Most of the staff who volunteered to are studying should study in yeshiva, train the haredim were modern but those who don't should join the ” Orthodox Jews who understood the army. group's special needs. Since the haredi draftees prefer to Still, a few problems arose. One remain anonymous, the Israel soldier complained that it was diffi- Defense Force does not allow jour- cult to concentrate on morning nalists to visit the training camp. But prayers after the morning run. Since in an interview with JTA, some soldiers' parents don't even Duvdevani, 54, shared the story of know their sons have volunteered, how this historic group of soldiers some of the recruits was established. take off their uniforms He says the army is page: Opposite before returning home making a serious effort A member of Israel's for weekend leave. to understand the special new fervently Orthodox Yet according to needs of potential haredi army unit engages in Duvdevani, the fervent- soldiers and to create a a training exercise. ly Orthodox soldiers framework that could salute the Israeli flag — bridge the widening reli- a symbol of the secular Jewish state gious-secular gulf. scorned by their community — dur- The issue dates back to Israel's ing morning and evening roll calls. independence. Believing the fervently Despite this symbol of allegiance, Orthodox community would wither the rabbis' worst fears have not materi- away, David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first alized. "The rabbis were afraid" the prime minister, agreed to exempt 400 recruits would "lose their religion if yeshiva students from military service. they join the army," said Duvdevani. In subsequent decades, yeshivas "The irony is that some of them had have grown and now boast more than stopped putting on tefillin before they 72,000 students. Angry secular Israelis were drafted, and now they are corn- say they have become a haven for - ing back to religion." draft-dodgers. The army is also helping the In 1996, Yitzhak Mordechai, then- recruits improve their math and defense minister, appointed English skills. "We want to give them Duvdevani, a former senior officer, to head the Nahal Division and refocus it something to go out to the world with," says Duvdevani." to confront challenges facing Israeli He says the program will slowly society. usher in an acceptance of the army as For Duvdevani, a secular Jew, this a legitimate alternative for young hare- mission was personal as well. In the di men. battle of Latrun in the 1948 War of "Not all of the rabbis agree with Independence, Duvdevani's father this initiative. But I'm sure that if this commanded hundreds of religious and works, those that don't agree will start secular new immigrants who arrived to realize that this is good for their in the newly established Jewish state community," says Duvdevani. "I want just days before being sent to the to build a bridge between the religious front. and secular worlds. What is at stake is Scores were killed in the battle, the unity of Israel." P1 including Duvdevani's father, who was missing in action until last year. "My father laid out the path for me," says Duvdevani. "In the army, we are one nation, with one destiny The Halevi Musical Society was and one mission." founded by the Jewish National After meeting haredi rabbis, Workers Alliance, not by the Knesset members and yeshiva stu- Sholem Aleichem Institute, as dents, Duvdevani realized that hun- incorrectly stated in the Marking dreds of young fervently Orthodox 100 Years of Detroit Jewry photo men were not studying in yeshivas, caption of March 12. but were hanging out on the streets. "I told the haredi leaders that at x x vie wffl. "r 4WWW9S IM M4 M.r9era .2a 40. 4. 0.957;9ft. 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