I assure you: I never CHOSE to serve in the IDF! The law that obligates every male of draftable age who resides in Israel, regardless of his citizenship status, is REQUIRED BY LAW to serve in the IDF, like it or not. Any male over the age of 30 is required to undergo basic training, after which he is obligated to serve in the reserves for a minimum of 30 days every year. When the Soviet Union came to an end, the huge wave of immigrants that relocated to Israel were the reason that a law was passed that made all male immigrants age 35 and older were exempt from military service. Both men and women who are drafted must do basic training. Women serve two years, but women who are religious and submit documentation confirming their religious affiliation are usually assigned to National Service and not service in the IDF. Men under 30 serve various lengths of time according to their age and marital status. Yes, it's complicated. Even immigrants without Israeli citizenship who reside in Israel are drafted.

That's how it works with the IDF. However, when I relocated to Israel in August 1975, I was then married and religious; I have since recovered from both infectious diseases. My horrendous experience in the reserves was when I was still religious and was serving as a Kashruth Supervisor in the army kitchens; I was in the Rabbinical Unit of the IDF, a unit that exists largely to impose religious law restrictions. Because the majority of Israelis are quite hostile about religion, hatred of the religious is almost a national tradition. The experience that I related in my article was a prime example of the sort of treatment a religious soldier is likely to experience, but in my case, I was an immigrant, and an American immigrant at that, so that made me a moving target and nothing more.

There's an even longer story about how I ended up relocating there, and I might bring myself to write about it on here. I will only say that I was brought there 100% under false pretenses and faced hostility from my first day onward. I remained there only because with parents who hated me and became even more hostile to me after I moved there, I knew that returning to the United States would mean moving to an American version of Hell. It's easy to see and understand that whenever I speak of my parents, of marriage, of religion, and of Israel, what I can relate will always be a horror story in which my total loathing and my merciless condemnation of all of them are the main theme. Anyone who dares say those moronic words, "That's too negative," is someone who deserves to be forced to work as a target in a rifle range!

I must add that I was born, raised, and educated in the United States. The only reason I moved to Israel was because after Nixon resigned in 1974, the country went into a terrible recession. Unemployment was extremely severe. Because I had just graduated in June 1974, my search for employment was 100% unsuccessful. It was only when I saw a notice that an agent from Israel was coming to the United States to hold auditions for musicians to be hired to join orchestras in Israel. I was a professional musician; I played six instruments and had already proven my worth as an orchestra player while still a student. However, during an entire year, I had only one job interview, and while I received a letter praising my knowledge, my talent, and my capabilities as a performer, I lacked experience as a professional in an orchestra, so being hired in the United States never happened. Going to Israel might sound desperate, but I figured that at least I would be working in my profession, would be gaining the experience that I needed to find work, and would be paid for the work that I would do. I auditioned, was hired, and was offered abundant financial assistance for the relocation. However, on my first full day in Israel, when I reported to the orchestra office, the secretary said to me, "What you received was your personal contract. The real contract has not yet been written." In other words, I had been relocated to the other side of the earth under false pretenses! That was just the first horror story that I have to include in future writings about the truth about living in Israel. I can and will write volumes about it because at my age, I risk very little for being honest in print!