Aviel Sebbag, ancien élève de la yeshiva, explique sa décision de venir à la yeshiva après le bac

So, as Rave said, I was indeed 13th in my class. I did my final year of high school there, so I took the 2012 baccalaureate (blue and white). That was 12 years ago. After graduating, I came to study in Chiva.

In total, I spent, let's say, four years here. We call it a program. I first did one year in Chiva, then one year and eight months of army service. I came back for a little less than two years in Chiva, so four years in total.

Let's talk a little about this period. It's done in stages because the first year is really a year of discovery. You arrive in Israel, you discover Israel, you discover the world of the yeshiva. So it was a year that I think was very important for the rest of your life up to now because you start learning the basics of Torah.

But what's also special here, what I felt, is that we don't always have a... sometimes it's a... It's a little hard to feel, we're in the bidra, we're leaving the bidra, how do we make the connection between the two? Here, we really get the impression that what we're trying to teach and transmit is how we manage to live the torora we're learning.

I don't know if there's still information about it here, but I know that at the time there was a phrase that went, and I think the idea is really to know how to say, "Okay, now we're studying, we're at the..." but also to know how to leave with what we've learned here, with a foundation of torora that can accompany us later in life. And that's really something I felt from the beginning, and also outside of the level, since it's the first year, it's true that it

was more structured, more relaxed, more adapted to the French. Let's say the yeshiva, which is after the army, is another level; we arrive already with a different experience, with a different maturity. We're a bit more independent, and so on, but it really allows both together to build something that's a really solid foundation.

So, both in terms of academic level, which allows us to study independently afterward, and also in our understanding of things, our vision, and how to live with the Torah we've learned here. And I think it's also very important not only at the Torah level, but with every person you meet. It's not just about transmitting the Torah, but there's a very human side, a very human side of support and love for each person. The link between the two really allows us to develop personally.

And furthermore, in the context of the Torah, I think it's important to mention the link between the two. That is to say, the experience of these four years is n't just Isiah (Islamic studies) and it isn't just the army; it's really both together. Because in the army, well, we do important things, we learn, how to say, we learn to do... Things that aren't what we're used to seeing in France, and so on.

We mature, we become more independent, and when we manage to connect the two—what we saw in the army, what we did—there's something incredibly important in the army: knowing that we gave of ourselves, our time, our lives to Israel. So that also brings something, and I think that the combination of both, up to this day, I feel it in the way I raise my children, in the way I work, in the choices I make in life. I know that these are things that come deeply from what I learned here during these four years, both in the army and at Isiva. Another important point, I think, is the connection between the army and Isiva.

Again, I find that the two things really go together. Sometimes it's a little difficult; I know there's a lot of discussion around this. What does it really mean, as a religious person, to go into the army? How much does it help?

I know we joined because of the SDR programs. The SDR programs are part of a program where we take people who study at the yeshiva, and in groups from the yeshiva, we bring them into the army. The fact that 25 people arrive like that, coming from the yeshiva and serving together in the army, gives us strength. Not just for us, we're strong together because there's no room for doubt.

But the fact that we arrive also creates a huge bond within the army. You have to understand that. I still know this today in military units. Here's a little anecdote that can illustrate this: I joined a new military unit.

An officer who also arrived, not religious at all, asked me, "So, what do you think of the unit?" and so on. I asked him the same questions, and he told me... Well, I see there are a lot of religious people, so that means the place is good. And he's not religious at all.

There's this image of people who have studied, people who have done yeshiva, people who understand, because in the end you understand why you're in the army. It's not just because we're in a video game where it's fun to have a cool weapon to shoot. There's a real story behind it. We're continuing a huge story, and we're serving the country.

It gives you a motivation that's tenfold, really. And we see that in practice. In general, people who come from yeshiva are often the most successful in the army. That's really something we see on the ground.

That's more on the armed yeshiva side. So after those four years—what I did, I finished at yeshiva, I got married, started my studies in parallel. I think you're going to go to the maroonle, from what I heard right after. So I studied I lived there for four years, and I had my first children there.

So, what did I study there? I studied industrial engineering with a specialization in computer data systems. It's a four-year program to become an engineer, and today I've been working for a company for four years. Basically, what we do at the company...

I saw someone wearing a Bal t-shirt there. To visualize, if you go into a Bal Chanel store today, you'll generally find a salesperson with an app on their computer. They have all the necessary customer data, including purchases, how much they spent, and so on. We develop these apps.

So, there are a lot of developers. My job, initially, was more about... The implementation involves a computer data system where we can automate processes and develop applications that can be used in this kind of world. Today, I'm more responsible for the development and implementation teams.

I joined you on the bus to the sea earlier; our offices are right there. I just got off to meet you. So, with good conditions, and that's more or less on a professional level. You'll see there are many different paths, but this is the path I chose.

And that's it, very roughly. It might take more time than that, but that's my story.