God's Chosen Girls

When you think of the Israeli Defense Force what comes to mind? Maybe you think of Uzi sub-machine guns, or possibly the mighty Israeli Air Force. You might even envision the tactical brilliance of the Six-Day War. But do you think about sexy swimsuits models?

Thank you MAXIM

Well if you do think swimsuits then chances are you might have seen the “Girls of the Israeli Defense Forces” issue of MAXIM magazine from this last July. The girls, all former IDF soldiers, appeared in the sexy spread as part of a Ministry of Tourism initiative to give Israel a more sex-charged appeal. The sex appeal tactic attracts the attention of many but, of course, not everyone is as enthusiastic about the bikini clad Jews as the targeted demographic of men age 18-38. “It’s unfortunate that the Israeli consulate chose to emphasize Israel’s relevance with a portrait of a half-naked woman, instead of one of women of substance and accomplishments.” Said MK Zahava Gal-On, chairwoman of Meretz.

Thank you Israeli  Ministry of Tourism

Whether or not the MAXIM issue helps or hurts Israel's image abroad, at home the female Israeli's image is shifting, sexy bikini body or not. An article from JewishPost.com reports that last September marked a big change for female Israelis. A special committee was put together to redefine the role of the woman in Israel’s armed forces. The committee announced that “no units would be barred from women serving in the IDF—including combat duty.” The committee wants to create “a greater armed force based on individual capabilities, rather than gender.” The plan will be implemented over the next five years.

This change may come as a shock to some, but indeed women have been serving in Israel’s military since the very beginning. During the 1948 War of Independence women engaged in full combat. Since then; “Lt. Roni Zuckerman became the first woman to reach the status of fighter pilot in 2001”, “ Ornah Barbiai became the first female head of an IDF Corps, and was granted rank of Brigadier General in 2005, and “since the second intifada 70 percent of new female recruits say they wan to  serve in combat units.”(Rosenthal. 62)

These changes, like the sex-fueled MAXIM spread, have stirred up much passion on both sides.

The main opposition of the new laws are Israel's Orthodox Jewish population, a group that makes up roughly 50 percent of Israelis military. “MK Rabbi Yitzchak Levy, of the National Union party, has petitioned that the IDF reject such recommendations of integration “enabling observant soldiers to serve in the army without violating their religious principles.”

What the future holds for Israel can only be speculated, the present, on the other hand, can been seen now through the lens of a camera belonging to Rachel Papo of Serial No. 3817131. Rachel served the IDF form age 18 as a camerawoman, and now that her service is finished she has taken it upon herself to document the transition of the Israeli girls transition “from girl to woman, teenager to adult” amongst “a complexity of emotions”.  The depiction of the Israeli girl as sexy is true. The depiction of the Israeli girl as a fighter is true. But most importantly, the depiction of the Israeli girl as human, with strengths, weaknesses, and emotions like any girl any where in the world is most true of all.

A Serial No. 3817131 girl

The article from JewishPost.com was written by Julie A. Sergel. In the article, Sergel does a good job of relaying many facts to give a well rounded account of the issues affecting the image of women in Israel. After giving strong arguments on both sides, in the last paragraph does she subtly slips her agenda into the article. Sergel's calls the beauty of the truthful, personal reality of the Serial No. 3817131 project “incongruent with the tourism campaign offered by the men’s magazine.”

However she may disagree, Sergel does an excellent job of producing an eye-catching, interesting, and educating article that leaves me feeling satisfied and well informed. 





Below is a CNN report on the IDF Girls MAXIM issue. 

Seder on "Top of the World"

Backpackers in Nepal

When Israel's young people are released form their IDF service a great many of hit the road for Asia.(Rosenthal. 236) These young Israelis are not just searching for fun and excitement, many of them are looking for meaning in their lives, many of them are looking to discover their own spiritual path.
In Nepal, you would expect to find the "top of the world", better known as the worlds tallest mountain, Everest. You may also expect to find many traveling Israeli youth, seeking adventure while searching for their own spiritual awakening. In Nepal, which was until only four years ago a Hindu kingdom and is the birthplace of The Buddha, you would expect to find many Hindus and Buddhists, what you might not expect, however, would be to find the world's largest Passover Seder celebration. Well, whether or not you expect it, that's exactly where it is.

Hebrew in Kathmandu

Each year since 1986, Kathmandu has hosted Passover services for hundreds upon hundreds of traveling Israelis.
The feast was first hosted by the Israeli embassy in Kathmandu, it was provided as a place for Jews to celebrate in a relatively Jew-less country. In 1999, Lubavitch's Chabad origination took over the celebration. Since then, Chabad rabbis have trekked hundreds of pounds of matzah, kosher fish, meat, wine and Haggadahs up to the city for each year for the celebration.

Imported Passover supplies

The spiritual religious experience, provided by the Passover celebration at the Chabad House comes as a new and exciting experience for many Jewish youth. In an article by the Times of India, one young Israeli speaks out about his exciting passover experience. "I come from a religious family," says Srul Rota, who too has finished four years in the army and lives in Jerusalem with his parents. "Back home, Passover Seder was a family matter. This time in Kathmandu, it is a big thing and I am meeting Jews from so many places. It is wonderful."
The official Chabad website has a statement from another young Israeli, Irit Goren, a 23 year old girl from Tel Aviv. Irit had come to the Nepal to study Eastern religions, but to her surprise she had found connections to Judaism as well. She told Chabad, "Pesach in Katmandu Lubavitch-style was a real eye-opener for me. This [was] the first time Judaism had any meaning for me... I never knew that Judaism was really so meaningful and spiritual."
This type of Jewish spiritual experience is exactly what Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky of the Lubavitch World Headquarters is hoping his Passover dinners will inspire. His following statement is quoted form the official Chabad website; "We hope that this positive Jewish experience and observance will help them find their true spiritual heritage in their own vineyard of Judaism."

Chabad Passover, Kathmandu, 2009

My web sources for this information came from a Times of India article as well as off of the official Chabad website. Since both sights gave simple factual accounts of the Chabad Passover in Kathmandu and were not written with a apparently bias opinion I have chosen to review their credibility as news sources.
The Times of India, according to Wikipedia, “has the largest circulation among all English-language newspapers in the world, across all formats (broadsheet, tabloid, compact, Berliner and online)” and is “owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is owned by the Sahu Jain family.” Wikipedia also says that “India's highest literary honor, Jnanpith Awards, are given by the Bharatiya Jnanpith organization founded by the family. The group has also founded a few other awards that are coveted honors in the fields of fashion, movies and business in India - namely the Miss India title, Filmfare Awards (movies) and the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence.”
All of the attributes mentioned above led me to believe that the Times of India is a very credible news source. For a company to be so large and so successful, its business practices must be in the right shape, and thus I doubt that they would let something like false reporting, especially on a subject that is seemingly minor, to interfere with there sterling reputation.
The Chabad organization was founded in the late 18th century. Wikipedia reports that the organization “maintains institutions in around 950 cities around the world, and in the early 21st century there were an estimated 3,300 Chabad institutions around the world in 75 countries,providing outreach and educational activities for Jews through Jewish community centers, synagogues, schools and camps. 1,350 institutions were listed in the Chabad directory as of 2007.”
While looking for this information I found no real controversies concerning the organization, other than the usual disagreements from other rabbis with opposing viewpoints. So, when all is said and done, I believe Chabad to be a great an Godly organization, that is doing a lot of good for many Jewish people all over the world. And thus, I take the information on the Passover in Kathmandu and the posted comments of youth and the organizations rabbis as factual statements.