The Heschel School

The summer after she graduated, Nava Sido (HS '14) made Aliyah with Garin Tzabar, a program for young Jewish people who wish to make Israel their home and join the IDF as Lone Soldiers.

Nava was eventually drafted to the Search and Rescue Unit as a combat fighter. Nava then completed a commander's course and became a commander of incoming soldiers. Soon after this appointment, Nava moved to the Kedem Battalion and was appointed to staff sergeant. She is now responsible and committed to twenty one soldiers whom she says she is "responsible for [and she would]...do anything for them". For the past few months Nava has been stationed in the West Bank near Nabulus, Binyamin, and Hebron. She describes her service there as "not easy, with constant patrols and very little sleep".

Nava has and still is constantly being confronted by the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, which she says has shaped her values. However, even during waves of attacks, she thinks back to the lessons she learned at Heschel, and the respect for human life that was woven into her education.

Nava will soon complete her two and half years of service in the IDF and plans on pursuing her degree in civil and environmental engineering. Everyone at the Heschel School sends our prayers of peace and protection to Nava and her unit, and we are proud to support our Alumni in the IDF.