Eli Yosef, 20, serves in the IDF Artillery Corps in a unit dealing with firing computer systems.
Eli was born and raised Haredi in the city of Modiin Eilit. At 15 years old, he decided to leave the Haredi community in which he grew up and look for another way of life that suited him more.
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"After a year in yeshiva (religious studies), I realized that this path was not the right one for me", he says. "I left the yeshiva and I started wandering between different institutions and many types of jobs. To make a long story short, at 18 years old, I left my home in Modiin Illit and rented an apartment in Ramat Gan. Since I left home, I have not been in contact with my family.
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Eli realized that by serving in the IDF he could build a stable life for himself while giving back to his country. He decided to enlist in the army and submitted a request to cancel his army deferment which he had been granted as a student in yeshiva. "I achieved my dream of putting on uniform", he recalls.
"I was assigned to the Golani Brigade initially, and then I met the non-profit, The Lone Soldier Center – In Memory of Michael Levin. They told me that they help soldiers like me, so I turned to them for help. They really helped me with everything I needed.
"They recommended that I go to a pre-military preparatory program so that I could prepare myself for my service. At first, I didn't want to, but I finally decided to go check out the preparatory program and I became convinced. I realized that the year I would spend studying there would be worth the time. I postponed my enlistment for a year, and when the preparatory program started, the members of the Michael Levin Lone Soldier Center arranged an apartment for me in Jerusalem with a few other lone soldiers.
"During my year in the pre-military preparatory program, I realized that I wanted a slightly different path for my military service. I considered going in several directions. In the end, I enlisted a year ago and ended up in the Artillery Corps."
Eli does not regret for a moment the decision to enlist and says that his service contributed a lot to him: "The army has given me peace of mind for a period of several years, in which I don't have to worry about rent and food and what will happen if I don't have enough money. I know that I can be at peace in this regard. It also has provided me with a social framework, I have met a lot of different people and has given me ideas for professional development for my life post-military. The entire concept of computing is something I hadn't been exposed to before. It's definitely possible that it will be a direction I'll continue on for the rest of my life."
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