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Tuvia Book
Author, educator, Tour-Guide, artist

Why I Volunteered to Serve in the IDF as a Lone Soldier

Many years ago, as a much younger and slightly skinnier, version of me patiently waited in line at the IDF induction center at Tel Hashomer to volunteer for the Givati Brigade combat unit many thoughts were going through my mind.  Chief of all was, “what am I doing here?”

I had arrived in Israel a year previously for my “gap year.”  I had been accepted to the prestigious University College London, but chose to defer for a year in order to spend time in Israel.  I spent the year working on kibbutz, studying in Yeshiva and traveling the land.  It was however the informal meetings and conversations with my Israeli peers that led me to take the road very much less traveled at the end of the year, even as most of my friends returned to take up their university places.

Me at 19 training in the Golan Height before entering Lebanon. Photo (c) T. Book, 2012

Growing up in both South Africa and the United Kingdom, and not having Israeli parents or an Israeli passport, I was not obligated to serve in the IDF however, after meeting and talking with my Israeli peers, who were so like me in their taste and appreciation of popular youth culture, but so different and inspiring in other aspects, I decided to volunteer to serve in the IDF.  Whilst my friends and I were obsessed about going to university after high school, these young Jews were focused on how best they could serve their country.  In the immortal words of Naomi Shemer;

“They came to give and not to take.

I come from a family where my Mother’s side were almost totally annihilated in the Holocaust precisely because they were Jews, and there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.  They were murdered, together with the other six million Jews, because we were not in charge of our own destiny and had to rely on the pity of our host nations.  This was my carpe diem moment!  I remember thinking the ivory tower of UCL will always be there, but now at this stage in my life, and at this juncture in our peoples history, it is more imperative for me to have the honour of defending our people in our homeland.  The future of the Jewish people will play out in Israel, and I wanted to be very much part of that.  It is with those thoughts that I found myself a few months later in front of the Kotel as I received my rifle and Bible swearing the oath to,

Devote all of my strength, and even to sacrifice my life, in the defense of the homeland and the freedom of Israel.

IDF Givati Brigade soldiers honouring a fallen comrade at Mt. Herzl, Jerusalem. Photo (c) T, Book, 2021

Dr. Tuvia Book is the author of “For the Sake of Zion, A Curriculum of Israel Education” (Fifth edition, Koren, 2017).   His forthcoming book on the Second Temple Period,  will be published by Koren this year.  He also is a  Ministry of Tourism licensed Tour Guide, Jewish educator and a Judaica artist.  www.tuviabook.com 

 

About the Author
Tuvia Book has a doctorate in education and is the author and illustrator of the internationally acclaimed Israel education curriculum; "For the Sake of Zion; A Curriculum of Israel Studies" (Fifth edition, Koren), "Jewish Journeys, The Second Temple Period to the Bar Kokhba Revolt, 536 BCE-136 CE," (Koren), "Moral Dilemmas of the Modern Israeli Soldier" (Rama) and the soon to be published “Jewish Journeys, The First Temple Period, 1000 -586 BCE” (Koren). Dr. Book was born in London and raised in both the UK and South Africa. After making Aliya at the age of 17 and studying in Yeshiva he volunteered for the IDF, where he served in an elite combat unit. Upon his discharge he completed his undergraduate degree in Jewish history and literature, as well as a certification in graphic design. He then served as the Information Officer and deputy head of security at the Israeli Consulate of Philadelphia, while earning a graduate degree in Jewish Studies. Upon his return to Israel, Dr. Book graduated from a course of study with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and is a licensed tour guide. Tuvia has been working in the field of Jewish education, both formal and informal, for many years. He has guided and taught Jewish students and educators from around the English-speaking world for some of Israel’s premier educational institutions and programs. Tuvia has lectured throughout North America, Australia, Europe, and South Africa. In addition, his artwork has been commissioned on every continent (except Antarctica). Tuvia served as a Shaliach (emissary) for the Jewish Agency for Israel as the Director of Israel and Zionist Education at the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York (Jewish Education Project). He was a lecturer/educational guide at the Alexander Muss Institute for Israel Education (AMIIE) in Israel. Tuvia has lectured at both Bar Ilan University and Hebrew University. He is a Teaching Fellow at the Tikvah Fund. He is a research associate at the Hudson Institute. His latest book, "Jewish Journeys, The First Temple Period, From King David to King Zedekiah, 1000 - 586 BCE," (Koren) is part of a series on Jewish history.
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