I couldn’t make heads or tails of what the lady was saying, but consider this: maybe there are a lot of Charedi people who *don’t* want to integrate into whatever medinat Israel considers an ideal society. Maybe they want to do their own thing and, within reason, they should have that right.

Some people are just not cut out for the army, anyhow.

And the sentiment that the Charedi draft will bring Charedim into Israeli society proves consistent with the suspicion that the army doesn’t really want our religious boys to serve for the sake of defending the country – all they want is to break down their protective wall of religiousness little by little (such as forcing them to listen to live female performers – the thought of a compulsory “entertainment” is just bonkers to me, by the way) until they’re just like any other Borg — um, I mean, member of the secular Israeli society.

It is in moments like these that I thank G-d I live in America, where military service is nowhere near as drastically overhyped. What’s so cool about being sent away from your home, however far, never knowing if you’ll ever see it again because you just might die, and witnessing horrendous, PTSD-inducing sights that are forever etched in your memory? How many innocent minds is the state of Israel willing to warp and destroy for the sake of integrating a disinterested faction of its society into the “in crowd”? I’d rather just stay uncool and unscarred – spiritually, physically, and emotionally.