ל שסקולCulture Project 1) Joseph T rumpe ldor , born Novemb er 21, 1880, was an earl y Zionis t activi st who was als o fiercely dedicated to his home country of Russia. In 1902 he volunteered in the Russian army , and shortly thereafter in the siege of Port Arthur , had his left arm taken by shrapnel. Regardless of the handicap, he proceeded to serve in the military and eventually was taken into Japanese captivity when Port Arthur was forced to surrender . Even while in captivity, Trumpeldor maintained his desire for Israel, and ran a newspaper on Jewish affairs as well as lead classes on Israel's geography , literature, and history. A number of his fellow prisoners shared Trumpeldor's desire to found a communal farm in Israel, further keeping his passion alive. By the beginning of W orld W ar I, Trumpeldor had been home from captivity for several years, and as an enemy national, he left Russia for Egypt and along with a few others there formed the Zion Mule Corps in 1915, which ultimately paved the way for the creation of the Israel Defense Forces years down the road. In the following years, he saw action in several other battles and received multiple wounds as he and his Jewish organizations fought to defend themselves from increasing oppo sition and to prepare immigrants to return to Israel. Trumpeldor was killed in March of 1920 while defending Jewish farming villages at Tel Hai in northern Israel, once the most decorated Jew in the Russian army, and now also a national hero symbolizing Israeli self defense. 2) Hannah Sz enesh, bo rn on Jul y 17, 1921, wa s a Hungari an Jew well known for the poet ry she wrote in her earlier life, and also for her service in the British military which eventually led to her being executed by firing squad at the hands of Hungarian captors. She had been trained as a paratrooper in World War II to rescue other Hungarian Jews who were being prepared fordeportation to the infamous German death camp, Auschwitz. Though taken captive at the border of Hungary and tortured for days, Szenesh refused to give up any information, and stayed determined to maintain a high-spirited attitude throughout her imprisonment, earning her well deserved recognition as a national heroine in Israel. Due in part to hermilitary fame, Szenesh's poetry has garnered much attention and remained popular through the years, her most notable work being “ יסריהק ליכהלה", or as some call it, “ילא,ילא”. The poem, put to a melody by David Zahavi, speaks mov ingly in the form of a prayer of Szenesh's love for Israel, yet her willingness to go wherever the v oice of God may call, a statement made all the more profound by her selfless and sacrificial death. 3) Golda Meir wa s born on May 3, 1 898 in t he Russ ian Empire. F rom an early age, she displayed inherent qualities of leadership, organizing a fund raiser to pay for grade school textbooks for herself and fellow classmates, and even taking the initiative to rent a hall for a scheduled public meeting for the fund raiser. Golda was also exposed fairly early on to intellectual debates on Zionism, trade unionism, various literature, and more, shaping many of her convictions and ideals and setting Golda up for making Aliyah in 1921. Through the coming decades, she gradually
1) Joseph Trumpeldor, born November 21, 1880, was an early Zionist activist who was also
fiercely dedicated to his home country of Russia. In 1902 he volunteered in the Russian army,
and shortly thereafter in the siege of Port Arthur, had his left arm taken by shrapnel. Regardlessof the handicap, he proceeded to serve in the military and eventually was
taken into Japanese captivity when Port Arthur was forced to surrender.Even while in captivity, Trumpeldor maintained his desire for Israel, andran a newspaper on Jewish affairs as well as lead classes on Israel's
geography, literature, and history. A number of his fellow prisoners shared
Trumpeldor's desire to found a communal farm in Israel, further keeping
his passion alive. By the beginning of World War I, Trumpeldor had beenhome from captivity for several years, and as an enemy national, he left
Russia for Egypt and along with a few others there formed the Zion Mule
Corps in 1915, which ultimately paved the way for the creation of theIsrael Defense Forces years down the road. In the following years, he saw
action in several other battles and received multiple wounds as he and his Jewish organizations
fought to defend themselves from increasing opposition and to prepare immigrants to return toIsrael. Trumpeldor was killed in March of 1920 while defending Jewish farming villages at Tel
Hai in northern Israel, once the most decorated Jew in the Russian army, and now also a
national hero symbolizing Israeli self defense.
2) Hannah Szenesh, born on July 17, 1921, was a Hungarian Jew well known for the poetry she
wrote in her earlier life, and also for her service in the British military
which eventually led to her being executed by firing squad at the handsof Hungarian captors. She had been trained as a paratrooper in World
War II to rescue other Hungarian Jews who were being prepared for
deportation to the infamous German death camp, Auschwitz. Though
taken captive at the border of Hungary and tortured for days, Szeneshrefused to give up any information, and stayed determined to maintain a
high-spirited attitude throughout her imprisonment, earning her welldeserved recognition as a national heroine in Israel. Due in part to her
military fame, Szenesh's poetry has garnered much attention and
remained popular through the years, her most notable work being “”. The poem, put to aאלי, אלי“ ,", or as some call itהליכה לקיסריה
melody by David Zahavi, speaks movingly in the form of a prayer of Szenesh's love for Israel,yet her willingness to go wherever the voice of God may call, a statement made all the more
profound by her selfless and sacrificial death.
3) Golda Meir was born on May 3, 1898 in the Russian Empire. From anearly age, she displayed inherent qualities of leadership, organizing a
fund raiser to pay for grade school textbooks for herself and fellow
classmates, and even taking the initiative to rent a hall for a scheduled public meeting for the fund raiser. Golda was also exposed fairly early on
to intellectual debates on Zionism, trade unionism, various literature, and
more, shaping many of her convictions and ideals and setting Golda up
for making Aliyah in 1921. Through the coming decades, she gradually
ascended the political ladder, serving as secretary of the Working Women's Council, head of the
political department of the Executive Committee of the Histadrut (another labor organization),
and as the Jewish observer at the Evian Conference where the issue of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution was discussed. It was at the conference that Meir became determined to see
her people to independence, which after much work raising fifty million dollars to provide armsas support for a Jewish state, she did, being one of only two women to sign the IsraeliDeclaration of Independence. After the foundation of the state of Israel, Meir continued to serve
in very significant capacities. For seven years she was Minister of Labor, and introduced major
construction projects for housing and roads alike to the young country. Perhaps her most well-
known role as Foreign Minister under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion began in 1956, whichis also when her former surname “Meyerson” was Hebraicized to “Meir”. Despite health issues
causing her to retire from the Foreign Ministry in 1966, until Golda's final resignation from
governmental position in 1974 she faithfully represented her country to the world and to thisday remains an icon of Israeli greatness.
4) The War of Attrition was a conflict fought between Israel and Egypt shortly after the Six DayWar in 1967. Israel's victory in the war left an area stretching from the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula
out to the Suez Canal under Israeli occupation, and Egypt set out to regain its lost ground.
Small-scale clashes sporadically took place along the Canal over the next couple of years, andin March of 1969, the War of Attrition was officially declared by Egyptian President Gamel
Abdel Nasser. The hostilities continued until August of 1970, driven by aerial warfare, large-
scale shelling along the Suez Canal, and land raids. Though multiple diplomatic solutions to the
conflict were sought out, ultimately all of them failed. It was not until after Nasser's death inSeptember of the same year that the two countries reached a cease-fire agreement, with Egypt
now under leadership of a new president, Anwar Al-Sadat. Though for the time being Israel
maintained occupation of Sinai, the results of the War of Attrition ultimately set up for Sadat to
rebuild the Egyptian army with plans for a full-scale attack that eventually materialized threeyears later in the form of the even greater Yom Kippur War.
5) Although it is a standard in Israel to serve in the Israeli military as a requirement, there are anumber of people who refuse to do so for various reasons. Perhaps the
most common and most obvious reasons are religious. Beyond simply
questioning the morality of fighting in a military organization, OrthodoxJewish woman are able to avoid military service on basis of their
religion by simply filing certain paperwork, and all Haredi (or ultra-
orthodox) Jews may be exempt provided they study in yeshivas instead.Other refusals may be entirely unrelated to religious practices or beliefs;
some merely postpone service in order to pursue educational goals at a
college or university. Still others refuse based on disagreements with
governmental practices, or specific current issues directly involved withserving in the military. Reaction to objectors, or refuseniks, as some call
themselves, has ranged from mixed to negative throughout the years,
and much debate has taken place as to what kinds of refusal are and are not legal. Currently, lessthan 10% of applicants are granted exemption.
6) In order to determine each individual's medical suitability for all of the various positions in the
IDF, the Force employs the use of a number system known as the , or Medicalפרופיל רפואי
Profile. The resulting profile for each person ranges from 21 (which results in the subject'sdismissal from service entirely) to 97 (which results in the subject being available to every
position of the IDF). The profile is first determined once an applicant has passed the initial
screening for military service, but the medical profile is not unchangeable and sometimes will
vary as health conditions change over time. Though several profile numbers exist for veryspecific situations, in general a score of 97 down to 65 will permit some level of combatant
service as the subject can be considered healthy, while 64 down to 24 will allow those with
more serious problems to serve in non-combatant capacities. As previously stated, a score of 21indicates a subject totally unfit for service, however if they persist in volunteering, they may be
given the rather unique score of 30 and allowed to serve in a special capacity.
7) In addition to standard military branches, the IDF also maintains several special units such asthe Education Corps which teaches various military and cultural subjects, or the Women's
Affairs advisor to the Chief of Staff who promotes theoptimal use of the capabilities of women serving in the
military. Another unit worth mentioning is the IDF's military
band, the IDF Military Orchestra. Though the official
orchestra has only been active for a few decades, its roots go back as far as World War II in the form of smaller, unofficial
bands that provided a way for soldiers to entertain each other.
In part due to the IDF's well-known “informal professionalism”, such bands were well-received, and
eventually the official orchestra was born. Though modern
soldiers in the IDF Military Orchestra may never see a battlefield during their required trainingyears, these musicians nonetheless play an important role, namely in the realm of public
awareness and representation. Both locally and abroad the orchestra draws attention to
otherwise lesser-known special units, and through the power of music manages to represent thespirit of the IDF and Israeli culture as a whole. Many musicians can even attribute proceeding
success in a musical career to their experience and popularity gained while serving in the
military. Of course, the usual daily duties of any soldier still apply, and military discipline is
emphasized to the same degree, just in some different ways than normal. The IDF Orchestravery well demonstrates that there really is military in music.
8) Since the foundation of Israel as a Jewish nation in 1948, the role of women in the Israelimilitary has seen more than one significant fluctuation. Contrary to what some might firstassume, it is not only recently that Israeli women have taken
higher profile roles in the IDF. In fact, during Israel's War of
Independence, women were on full combat status, as thefighting was so crucial to the country as a whole that literally
everyone able needed to be involved—and everyone wanted to
be involved with fighting for their freedom, as well. However,after this war and up until the 1990's, women were given a very
backseat position in the IDF, even to the point of not being allowed to serve in actual combat
positions. Although today the IDF is seeing more and more women taking up combat roles in
addition to the non-combat positions they occupied before, the return has been a gradual progression, and there is still room for involvement to escalate in the future.
