Pakal - Company,
Community, Cohesion

Building Communities among Reservists

Reserve Duty Soldiers comprise a unique mosaic of Israel society and embodies all that is beautiful in this country – voluntarism, solidarity, Zionism and fraternity. The Pakal program was established in 2018, by the Merage Foundation in collaboration with the IDF. Pakal offers a unique and groundbreaking model to transform the reserve duty companies into cohesive communities. Over the past few years, over 150 reserve companies have completed the program with great success.

The power of reserve duty is the people and their connections. Reinforcing their common identity, strengthening ties, and giving meaning to every individual creates a unified, stronger and more resilient company, creating a spirit of solidarity and union that transcends throughout Israeli society. Pakal is strengthening not only the reserve duty system but Israeli society as a whole.

Connecting people, creating community

Underlying the program is the realization that the relative advantage of reserve duty is the people and their connections. Reinforcing the common identity, strengthening ties and giving meaning to every individual in the unit creates a unified and more resilient unit that can better cope with crises and extreme events.

Community in reserve duty:

Our perception of community is based on four components, that every action will systematically act to reinforce : value, meaning, identity, relationships.

The program includes training and supervision of the community leadership team. Throughout the year, the unit receives a holistic community building package – content, coaches and resources – to implement the program.

Pakal transforms reserve duty system from a mandatory obligation to an opportunity, helping establish relationships and connections between various groups in Israeli society, in a spirit of volunteerism and Israeli solidarity.

Reserve companies supported by the program

Training days for community leader teams

Workshops

Solidarity activity days

The program was started as a ‘social start-up’ in 2018, by the Merage Foundation with collaboration with the IDF – reserve personnel planning branch and chief reserve officer, and under the guidance of the “Shdemot Center” for community leadership at Oranim College and “Compass” for the planning and evaluation of programs for social change.