Attacked as university student, Pitt graduate off to join the IDF

(JNS) - Ilan Gordon seemed calm, cool and collected the day before he changed his life. Or, at least, his location.

The 22-year-old, who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh this spring with a degree in exercise science, headed to Israel on the Nefesh B'Nefesh group aliyah charter flight that left New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on Tuesday, Aug. 19, afternoon, along with 225 other North Americans.

He is scheduled to be in Tel Aviv until Sept. 4, when he will officially join the Garin Tzabar preparation program for the Israel Defense Forces. Established in 1991, the program is for lon...