How do you say Home Front Command in Yiddish? How do you give Kosher instructions? There is a solution: The Home Front Command has decided to enlist members of the haredi community to join its ranks.
The first draft of the Orange Window program, recently approved by Home Front Command chief Major-General Yair Golan, began this week. Through the program, haredim will be enlisted in the Home Front Command as instructors within their community.
Some 1,000 haredi soldiers serve in the Israel Defense Forces, and over the past few years, attempts have been made to increase their numbers and open specialized courses. After the Nahal Haredi, Military Intelligence and the Air Force, it is now the turn of the Home Front Command, which is offering the haredim a different kind of military service, within their own communities.
A Home Front Command source explained that "the main idea – unlike enlisting hareidim to the Nahal, which has been gaining popularity, is haredim serving through the Home Front Command, within their communities and through that, bridging the gap created when attempting to clarify emergency procedures to this unique community. A haredi enlisting in the Home Front Command will serve in his home town and instruct his own community".
In recent years, the need for home front readiness has been more critical than ever, and the Home Front Command has developed corresponding instruction programs for specialty groups like minorities, new immigrants and the disabled.
Yet after Operation Cast Lead, the Home Front Command realized the gap that existed when it came to their ability to instruct the haredi community during an emergency situation.
The gap exists because of the fact that most members of the haredi community don't own a television or surf the web and female instructors can't instruct the male members of the community.
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