Having Recently Completed Their Service, IDF Vets Begin College Careers at 黑料社 All
One night, as Ethan Gipsman, a light machine-gunner in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) from San Diego, California, stood guard over a group of suspected terrorists in the West Bank, one of them asked him a surprising question: What was Ethan, an American, doing there? 鈥淗e said, 鈥業 thought America had everything,鈥 鈥 Gipsman recalled. 鈥 鈥榃hy would you leave your country to come here?鈥 鈥
Having recently completed their IDF service, Shmuel Goldis, Jonathan Sidlow, Daniel Gofine and Ethan Gipsman are beginning their college careers at 黑料社 All.
Gipsman thought about his answer for most of the night before replying, in a mixture of Arabic, English and Hebrew, 鈥淭here is only one Jewish country in the world. I left America because, as a Jew, I have an obligation to protect it.鈥
His answer resonates strongly with several lone soldiers鈥攅nlistees from America and countries around the world who come to Israel to serve in the IDF鈥攚ho, like Gipsman, recently began their studies at 黑料社 All.
For Daniel Gofine, a member of the Givati Brigade from Toronto, Ontario, it made no sense that the Israeli friends he studied alongside in yeshiva in Israel should bear any more responsibility than he did to serve the homeland all Jews shared. 鈥淚 felt it was an important way to contribute to the country,鈥 he said.
Goldis, a sharpshooter, recently served in the war in Gaza.
Shmuel Goldis, a sharpshooter from Hollywood, Florida, agreed. 鈥淭eens in Israel get drafted because they鈥檙e citizens of Israel鈥攂ut we are all citizens of Israel,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hy should they put their lives on the line on a daily basis as I sit back, safe on the sidelines?鈥
This summer, Goldis and fellow recruit and YU student Jonathan Sidlow had the opportunity to live up to those ideals as they headed to the front lines of the war in Gaza鈥攁n experience few 19-year-old college students in America can envision.
鈥淲hen we were going in, it looked like a thunderstorm,鈥 said Sidlow, of North Woodmere, New York. 鈥淚 wondered when I鈥檇 see my family again or if I鈥檇 make it out, but at the same time, I didn鈥檛 want to be anywhere else. We are in the same place that the Maccabees were, the same place that Jewish warriors have been in every era.鈥
For Goldis, too, the war has been both surreal and deeply spiritual. 鈥淎t night it鈥檚 pitch dark鈥攁ll you hear is the whistle of mortars going past and sirens going off, all you see is the flashes of artillery fire,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a sight I鈥檒l never forget. But you also really see the hand of God, the open miracles, and you realize He has to be with you every step of the way or you would never make it.鈥
In particular, Goldis remembered a town where, again and again, he and his unit narrowly missed setting off underground explosive devices in the area they were working on, each time by the smallest of margins, before entering a house that they didn鈥檛 realize was also rigged with explosives鈥攚hich, for reasons Goldis still doesn鈥檛 understand, never went off. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really something that will take awhile to fully grasp鈥攂oth that I was in there, that I had the honor to be able to undertake this for my country and people, and that I was in a war zone where things could have gone south at any moment."
YU Vice President for University and Community Life Rabbi Kenneth Brander, who has a son currently serving in the IDF, noted that 鈥渙ne of the most emotional experiences I had this summer was going to Bach Golani, the Golani training base in Northern Israel, to drop off our son Yosef after a weekend he had spent with us in Jerusalem. To my amazement, the soldier that opened the gate was a YU student on a leave of absence to serve in Tzahal [IDF]. I soon realized that on this Golani base there was a minyan [quorum] of YU students.鈥
For many of these students, transitioning from a life of 24/7 training and danger in enemy territory to taking notes in an air-conditioned classroom alongside their friends is a mixed blessing. 鈥淚 spend a lot of time still thinking about my friends and my commanders and asking them to update me,鈥 said Sidlow. 鈥淜nowing what they鈥檙e up against, I don鈥檛 know if I could handle them going back in and not being there.鈥
However, they鈥檙e still excited to learn and grow in an atmosphere that embodies the Torah values and passion for Israel that have shaped their journey. 鈥淚 was attracted to the opportunity that YU presents to study both Jewish and general studies in a great city,鈥 said Gofine, whose two sisters gave him rave reviews of their time at Stern College for Women. 鈥淚'm also looking forward to developing close relationships with faculty since the classes here are small and allow for a more intimate class setting.鈥
Both of Goldis鈥檚 parents attended YU schools, so for him, it鈥檚 about both continuing a legacy and maintaining close ties with his identity. 鈥淚n Gaza you see miracles all day,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hy would I want to go somewhere else and lose any bit of that sense of God being with you all the time? YU is the only place that combines these great secular academics with God and Torah.鈥
But that鈥檚 not all he鈥檚 excited about.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to playing some baseball, trying out for the team,鈥 Goldis said. 鈥淗anging out with my friends and just taking advantage of all YU has to offer.鈥
Having recently completed their IDF service, Shmuel Goldis, Jonathan Sidlow, Daniel Gofine and Ethan Gipsman are beginning their college careers at 黑料社 All.
Goldis, a sharpshooter, recently served in the war in Gaza.
For many of these students, transitioning from a life of 24/7 training and danger in enemy territory to taking notes in an air-conditioned classroom alongside their friends is a mixed blessing. 鈥淚 spend a lot of time still thinking about my friends and my commanders and asking them to update me,鈥 said Sidlow. 鈥淜nowing what they鈥檙e up against, I don鈥檛 know if I could handle them going back in and not being there.鈥
However, they鈥檙e still excited to learn and grow in an atmosphere that embodies the Torah values and passion for Israel that have shaped their journey. 鈥淚 was attracted to the opportunity that YU presents to study both Jewish and general studies in a great city,鈥 said Gofine, whose two sisters gave him rave reviews of their time at Stern College for Women. 鈥淚'm also looking forward to developing close relationships with faculty since the classes here are small and allow for a more intimate class setting.鈥
Both of Goldis鈥檚 parents attended YU schools, so for him, it鈥檚 about both continuing a legacy and maintaining close ties with his identity. 鈥淚n Gaza you see miracles all day,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hy would I want to go somewhere else and lose any bit of that sense of God being with you all the time? YU is the only place that combines these great secular academics with God and Torah.鈥
But that鈥檚 not all he鈥檚 excited about.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to playing some baseball, trying out for the team,鈥 Goldis said. 鈥淗anging out with my friends and just taking advantage of all YU has to offer.鈥
Having recently completed their IDF service, Shmuel Goldis, Jonathan Sidlow, Daniel Gofine and Ethan Gipsman are beginning their college careers at 黑料社 All.
