By Danny Brenner
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Lieutenant
Toby Cohen: "It is very touching to be the first woman officer from
Nigeria in the IDF" Photo credit: Michel Dot Com
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Lieutenant
Toby Cohen, 21, was born in Nigeria to a Nigerian mother and Israeli father.
"I have fallen in love with Israel. This is my home and I see myself continuing
my life here," she says. Cohen serves in IDF Homefront Command.
The Israel Defense
Forces, more than any other organization, represents Israeli society. It is a
melting pot that includes soldiers from all ethnic, religious and racial
backgrounds, men and women, but even this human collage always has something
new. For example, Israel's first female Nigerian officer, Lieutenant Toby
Cohen, 21, who was born in Nigeria to a Nigerian mother and Israeli father.
Her
parents and 8-year-old sister live in the town of Kano in northern Nigeria,
while she immigrated to Israel on her own at the age of 17. Cohen serves in the
Homefront Command.
"Even when I
was 3 years old I knew I wanted to come to Israel. My father was born here and
served in the Armor Corps, and our home in Nigeria was full of stories about
Israel and the army," she said. "On Rosh Hashana and Passover we
would always travel to celebrate with Dad's family in Israel, and as I was
getting older I wanted more and more to get to know Israeli culture and
strengthen my connection to Israel."
When she turned
17, Cohen immigrated to Israel alone within the framework of the Jewish
Agency's "Young Judaism" program, and joined the Metzar pre-army
educational program at Kibbutz Metzar in the Golan Heights.
On the Metzar
program, Cohen learned Hebrew and her friends helped her get to know Israeli
society more intimately and experience the country more completely. Cohen
recalls that when her enlistment day arrived, her father came to accompany her
on the special day.
"He was just
as emotional as I was," said Cohen. "For him it was a dream come
true, and his being there really helped me."
Cohen initially
served as an operations sergeant in the Homefront Command, but was later
accepted into the officers' training course. "My mother and my entire
family attended the officers' graduation ceremony. It is very touching to be
the first woman officer from Nigeria in the IDF. Obviously I have fallen in
love with Israel. This is my home and I see myself continuing my life
here."
Tzvika Levi, who
heads the kibbutz movement's national lone soldiers program, said:
"Yesterday I accompanied 250 lone soldiers to Bakum [the IDF's main
induction center at Tel Hashomer]. The State of Israel owes them an enormous
thank you for their willingness, determination and desire to contribute."
Levi emphasized the
many hardships facing lone soldiers, saying, "When people say 'Good job,
IDF,' they are talking about the lone soldiers who leave behind family,
friends, jobs, studies and a comfortable life in far away countries, and come
her on their own."
Levi added that
lone soldiers come to Israel "with only one purpose -- to serve the
country and contribute to its security, the purest and most honest way
possible, and with all their hearts."
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com
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