By Jacqueline van den Driest
On top of military service, many Israeli teens do a year of volunteering or preparatory studies which they experience as a valuable transition from adolescence to adulthood.
A Mechina is an optional preparatory year before commencing military service at 18. There are many mechinot throughout Israel but they each focus on three pillars: informal study, volunteering and community life in a closed commune-style group. The purpose of mechina studies is not academic achievement. There are no exams or papers to submit, no homework or deadlines. Instead, the study component aims to broaden horizons, instill an awareness of one’s community, society, and environment via interactive seminars exploring topics including Judaism, Zionism, Israeli society and its challenges, philosophy, psychology, economy, and much more.
Mechinot encourage volunteering and facilitate a variety of options. Most volunteering is undertaken within underprivileged population centers and includes personal guidance, organizing and implementing extracurricular activities, delivering private lessons, taking on positions in community centers, and more.
Mechina students usually live in groups of 20 or more. Individual groups determine their daily routines, from what they eat for breakfast, to who will clean the toilets, the content guiding their studies and volunteer work.
Mechina serves as a bridge between childhood and adulthood; between school and military service. Youth leave their family homes for the first time and move in with 20 other people their own age, to manage every aspect of their lives independently.
Other high school graduates voluntarily defer their military service for a year in order to do community service. The service year is known in Hebrew as “shnat sherut” and the volunteers are called “shinshinim”. Programs are based in developing towns and disadvantaged communities, institutions for the disabled and the elderly, residential schools for youth at risk, youth movements, nature/ecological organizations, and many other civic organizations and projects. Beneficiary agencies and the Ministry of Education provide youth with room, board and monthly pocket money.
Shnat sherut provides participants firsthand insight into worlds most of the volunteers don’t know exist. These youth encounter poverty, prostitution, lack of education and neglect. It’s life as they’ve never seen it before, which they must now confront, cope with and contribute to, if they can.
As the number of 18-year-olds postponing military service is necessarily limited, shnat sherut and mechina programs are prestigious, competitive and selective. Both have networks of mentors, social workers and other adults who support the group throughout this transitional year.
Both mechina students and volunteers are exposed to values, lifestyles, cultures and problems that they do not encounter at home. On the one hand, the teens are expected to take on responsibilities and become independent; on the other, they’re offered as much support as they need. Ideally located somewhere between childhood and adulthood, they have the year to decipher their place in each category. With proper adult guidance – supportive yet not authoritative – these youngsters are motivated to adopt both the social norms of adulthood and more responsibilities. The platform serves as the perfect balance for freedom to experiment under supervision.
The one-year voluntary service and prepatory programs are under the joint supervision of the Defense and Education ministries.
