Mechina

Young French olim arriving in Israel through the Gor Arie mechina program complete rigorous military preparation and Hebrew ulpan before enlisting in the IDF, turning Zionism into action.

A judoka with a bronze medal in Europe who left everything behind, a guy from South Africa who cannot return to his country, and a second-generation student whose father is "insanely jealous of him" — these are some of the new students at the Bnei David pre-military academy in Eli. The head of the academy, Rabbi Yair Glustein: "The subject is not pain and bereavement, the subject is building."