Evening was falling as I walked through
Jerusalem’s Sacher Park, searching for a group of haredi guys doing
sprints. I figured they wouldn’t be too hard to pick out of the summer
crowd, dressed as they would be in black hats with sidelocks hanging,
running a 1k around the park circuit. Sacher Park is full of haredim,
but not too many jogging in a black bekishe, or suit jacket.
I was wrong. I didn’t find them. It was Sefi,
short for Yosefi Zeev — one of two counselors for this particular group
of young haredim taking part in the Aharai pre-army training program —
who eventually found me. He brought me over to sit in on their session —
to join a motley but motivated group of haredi guys my age (21), who
are considering induction into the IDF.
Zeev was sporting a typical workout look —
shorts and t-shirt, with a small kippah perched on his shaven head. His
co-counselor, Gad Shuali, wasn’t wearing a kippah, but is religious as
well, as all counselors must be to participate in this haredi pre-army
program run by the Aharai non-profit leadership organization.
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