Vision
Every religious young woman should be totally involved in Israeli society and fulfill her obligations as equal citizens of the State. Tzahali Academy was established to prepare these women for meaningful service in the IDF, integrate them into Israeli society, and subsequently take on significant roles as women in Israel while maintaining their religious identity.
Activity
A religious woman who decides to enlist in the IDF finds herself in two minorities; a woman in what is viewed as a man’s world and a religious person in a secular environment. Tzahali strengthens the religious identity of the participants, empowers them as women, and develops in them a greater awareness and openness for the diversity of Israeli society. After a year at the Academy, the participants join the IDF more mature, better prepared, and with a greater awareness of their mission. They are breaking through what was a glass ceiling.
The program includes intensive Judaic studies, classroom learning, volunteer social justice community projects, and experiencing the diversity of Israel through multiple opportunities including four “excursions/trips” to different areas in Israel. The students are responsible for their daily schedule, group living decisions, and prepare special programming.
Goals
- Strengthening the participants’ religious and feminist identities through in depth study of a diverse and open Judaism
- Leadership development, learning responsibility, group living skills, and empowering each individual
- Exposing the participants to Israeli society in all its diversity and complexity and developing pluralistic thinking
- Preparing the women emotionally, mentally, and physically for meaningful army service.