By Simon Griver
With increasing numbers of young and underprivileged Israelis being rejected as unsuitable by the IDF, Achari (meaning "follow me") is a national program, which cultivates and develops cadres of young leaders throughout Israel, whose leadership potential might otherwise have lain dormant.
Achari, which has been funded by the Jewish Federations of St. Louis and Atlanta through JAFI in Yokneam-Megiddo for the past five years, prepares teenagers for meaningful military service and encourages its young participants to contribute to the community and society.
“Serving in the Israeli army remains the yardstick by which success is measured when assessing the country’s teenagers,” explains Judy Yuda, the Jewish Agency’s Yokneam/Megiddo Partnership Director. “But for the disadvantaged and new immigrants being accepted into elite army units is not always possible because they do not know the cultural rules. We had one Achari graduate in Yokneam, a new immigrant from Russia, who was rejected by the army because he had a slight nervous tic. Achari was able to bring in expert psychologists to give second opinions that the tic was not an emotional weakness and the young man is now successfully serving in a combat unit.”
During 2007/08, 2,500 teenagers in 140 locations around Israel participated in Achari. In Yokneam-Megiddo, which is partnered with the St. Louis Jewish Federation and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta in the framework of Partnership 2000, 27 young Israelis took part during the past school year.
Shai Mossel, 24, is the counselor in charge of the Achari program in Yokneam-Megiddo. He is a Lieutenant in an IDF Nahal combat reserve unit and took up the position last year after completing his full-time military duties.
“We meet for four hours every week,” he says, “and as well as physical training we spend a lot of time discussing moral dilemmas and social values. We also arrange major activities during Hannukah, Pesach and the end of the year and place major emphasis on communal endeavors to help the needy.”
Marganit Mayli, 18, is one of the young residents from Yokneam who graduated Aharai at the start of this summer after two years on the course. Her father Eyal tragically died last summer and she was able to complete, as she herself stresses, not so much despite her father’s death, but more because of her father’s death.
“The Achari environment became like a warm and welcoming second home for me,” she explains. “As well as building up my physical strength, it gave me a lot of emotional support.”
Like most of the Achari participants, Mayli will now spend a gap year (shnat sherut – year of service) serving the community in a disadvantaged neighborhood in Netanya before enlisting in the IDF next summer.
Jenia Deres, 19, who graduated Achari in Yokneam-Megiddo last summer has just completed his shnat sherut helping the youth in Bet Shemesh near Jerusalem and is about to enlist in the IDF’s Givati combat brigade.
“Achari has opened up new horizons for me,” explains Deres, who was born in Kharkhov, Ukraine and came to Israel with his parents as a baby. “When your parents are immigrants it is difficult for them to help you when it comes to choosing which army unit to go for. Achari has given me a lot of know-how and confidence about the army and for life in general. I want to go as far as possible in the army and I am determined to become an officer.”
“Achari also produces a cadre of young leaders who act as ambassadors for the region in P2K kesher programs which aim to bring together Israeli and American Jewish youth,” observes Arkady Hasidovich, Partnership 2000 Living Bridge Coordinator of Yokneam-Megiddo.
For example Amotz Levy, 17, from Moshav Ein Haemek in Megiddo who is participating in Achari program, visited Atlanta in March as a guest of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta taking part in the P2K Teen Connect delegation who met their American Jewish peers.
It was the obligation to take part in military service, which Levy saw as the major difference between the Yokneam-Megiddo youth and their Atlanta counterparts. “The American were more concerned about their exam results and what college they could get into,” he recalls, “while we were thinking about what IDF unit would have us.”
Shai Mossel is looking forward to his second year in charge of Achari in Yokneam-Megiddo. “This program is not only a preparation for the army, it is a preparation for life,” he says.