Post-Military | Derech Eretz

Derech Eretz’s post-military program helps young Israelis who have completed their term of service transition into adult civilian life. Most are in their early 20s with many uncertainties about their future.

Israeli young adults who have completed their army service often find themselves in a confusing and complex situation due to:

Unprocessed, often harsh experiences from their army service
Returning home after being completely independent
Social and financial pressure
Losing the collective identity of a close-knit army unit

Our vision is to strengthen Israeli society by strengthening its young adults – improving their life trajectory and minimizing social gaps.

This one-month program provides young adults who are at the start of their adult lives with preparation and guidance on how to realize their potential in a personal, social and national context. We do this through:

Processing of army experiences
Exposure to options, including academia
Career counseling
Mentoring
Preparing them to face future challenges
Life-skills workshops

By the end of the program, each young adult, along with their counselors and mentors, will have created a tailor-made plan for their future aspirations. While plans may change, the foundation of the plan – understanding where one came from and where they want to go, and undergoing a process of understanding their immense self-worth, exposure to practical options and introspection on one’s aspirations will provide a basis from which to start. Participants will all have written their resumes, learned how to prepare for job interviews, learned how to use social media wisely, learned the basics of independent financial planning, and more.

The post-military program makes use of our campuses in the spring, after the year’s mechina has been completed.

In May 2017, our first program cohort joined us on our Kmehin campus, and since then, the program has been running on an annual basis.