After Army Service, Trailblazing Israeli Spends 3 Months Not Backpacking To Far East

“You can’t just not go backpacking around the world after you leave the army. I think there’s even a law. Is there a law? There must be a law.”

Kibbutz S’de Eliyahu, August 10 – A twenty-one-year-old resident has defied expectations of those who complete their compulsory stint in the military: unlike any of his peers, he has no plans to spend an extensive period hiking through exotic locales such as Vietnam, India, Thailand, Central America, or Japan. The decision shocked family and friends, and has sent ripples through this tight-knit Jordan Valley farming community.

Ziv Shahak finished his service in the Golani Brigade of the IDF last week. His unusual plans for the immediate term involve preparing for higher education and perhaps gaining more hands-on experience through various kibbutz work assignments. That avenue flies in the face of established practice for “graduates” of military service, who gallivant about the Third World for months at a time and return with  depleted bank account, altered sensibilities regarding drug use, and That One Weird Friend. Mr. Shahak, on the other hand, chooses to return to everyday kibbutz life for at least several months until he secures admission to one of the country’s several universities, where he aims to study computer science.

Neighbors at the kibbutz and former members of his army unit reacted with shock and confusion. “Wait, what?” stated Sgt. Ro’i Abutbul, who served in the same platoon as Shahak when they first enlisted. “Is that a thing? Not going backpacking in the Himalayas or Kilimanjaro or Machu Picchu isn’t a thing. It just isn’t.”

“We want to confirm with his parents before we react,” said Shani Berkovits, a longtime S’de Eliyahu member. “None of this makes sense. You can’t just not go backpacking around the world after you leave the army. I think there’s even a law. Is there a law? There must be a law.”

High school classmate Ido Menahem wondered how Shahak will acquire essential life skills and experience without traveling to places unplagued by modern plumbing. “Israel is provincial, there’s no denying it,” he acknowledged. “Especially if you grow up in a kibbutz. It’s less the case than it used to be, especially with the internet, but we need to get out there and see the world and the bugs they eat. Learning firsthand about the gourds they grow only to use the husks as bowls is so, so important. You can’t program in a Tel Aviv or Hertzeliya startup if you haven’t run into other Israelis in the middle of absolutely nowhere doing I’m not sure what on the other side of the globe. Everyone knows that.”

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