Shabbat shalom!

When we heard about CHAT Shabbat we knew this would be a great opportunity to dedicate our Dvar Israel this week to you- the teenagers.

Today is April 2nd, and we are just weeks away from the end of the school year and summer. Some of you will go to camp for an unforgettable summer, some might go travel to a new country with their family, and some will work all summer at Starbucks to save up for university or just sit at home and watch TV. But mostly you will be preparing yourselves for another year of intense learning or a gap year.

Gap year. What is a gap year? A gap year is the chance to have a once in a lifetime experience before university. Postponing your studies for a year in order to volunteer, learn something new, or taking part in a community project in Canada or anywhere else in the world.

How is a gap year different from being a shinshin? We also postponed our army service by a year, decided to pack our bags and move to a different country in order to volunteer in a different community and learn about a new culture.

We can see a lot of similarities between the two programs, and many people have asked us questions like: what is a Shnat Sherut  or what does it mean being a shinshin? and Are we going into the IDF next year or Are we serving in the IDF for a year less because of this shnat sherut?

We wanted to clarify a few things: To all of you who are thinking of taking a gap year, this is your opportunity to learn a little bit about the Israeli gap year called a shnat sherut. Some of you might be thinking of doing their gap year in Israel and maybe after this Dvar Israel you will know a little bit about the different gap year programs in Israel.

Let’s begin with the word “shinshin”. You always hear “Shinshinim, shinshiniot” or maybe you have made up names for us like shumshonim, shimshonim, shlochim, slonim,shlomninim and more. But the word shinshin is actually an acronym of the letter shin twice. This acronym means Shnat sherut (year of service) and that’s why we are called shinshinim because we are people doing a shnat sherut.

Grade 12 students in israel have similar decisions to their counterparts here in Canada. , the difference is that instead of thinking of what university to choose or what gap year program is the best, seniors in israel have to make a decisions about what they will do in the army, and whether they will take a year off  to do a shant sherut or mechina?

If they choose to take a year off, there are many different institutions that one can do their shnat sherut at-  from working at schools or youth movements to being a tour guide through JNF or working on a kibbutz or even volunteering in a jewish community abroad like we are.

Another option for the Israeli “gap year” is called  mechina kdam tzvait, or in English “pre army preparation institute”. Mechina is an educational framework designed primarily for enlistees to the IDF and aims at preparing students for a complete service in the Israeli army, including  social education and community involvement. There are three kinds of mechinot: religious, secular and mixed for secular and orthodox Jews.

There are 52 mechinot in Israel and there is a very special one called kol ami- a unique mechina that has teenagers from Israel and from all around the world. Kol ami’s focus is on national awareness, Israeli involvement and the connection between Israeli teenagers and Jewish communities around the world.

Both options, shnat sherut and mechina are separate programs from the service in the IDF. At the end of the gap year, participants in these programs finish their year they all join the IDF for a full army service.

Today, you are in this stage of making decisions for after high school.  To those who will choose to do a gap year, it is not an easy or obvious decision to make, a decision we made just a year ago.

Many people ask us about gap years in Israel, about Kol ami and other mechinot. Our best advice to you is that you keep on asking this questions, research and talk to people who took a gap year and most importantly do whatever is best for you.

In the meanwhile we are still here to help you and show you that it’s possible-we are doing our gap year in Canada and we are Israeli, and what is better than doing two amazing and meaningful things at one time?

We also have a special announcement to make! this year as a part of our cafe shinshinim program, we are going to have two unique l programs coming up- the first one is “Zikaron ba salon” (remembering together) for the Yom HaShoahand is going to take place on may 2nd.

the second program is very important to us and close to our hearts. on may 9th we are holding a special cafe shinshinim here at the shul in honor of the memorial day for the israeli soldiers. the adath israel teens will participate in the presentation. If anyone else is interested in participating by reading, singing or lighting a memorial candle in our Yom ha zikaron cafe shinshinim  , please let us know at the kiddush. we invite you all to come to both special cafe shinshinim events.

We ask you now to rise take the cards from your pew and join us for the prayer for the Israeli soldiers.