End of tironut, masa kumta, and imun mitkadem

It has been a really long time since I last wrote and I apologize for that. A lot has gone on so there was no way I could go another week without writing.

Since I have last written lots of changes have gone on. To start, no longer am I in basic training. I also can proudly say that I am part of the Givati brigade with my purple barrett.

The last two weeks of basic training were very meaningful.. One of the weeks was spent on a base in the north used for chinuch (i.e. learning). There we were in classes from morning until night learning about the land of Israel. I sat through many interesting lessons, including those that made you appreciate your service for the army. Being that it was not our base, or anyone particular units for that matter, there were many different groups at the base. One of the main things the base is used for is for preparation for new olim that want to join the army. Being that the Israeli society and culture is different from anywhere else in the entire world (I can definitely attest to that) it gives the chance for the group of people that are about to join the army to get adjusted to the differences. Being that there were many people like me on the base, that is people not from Israel joining the army, it was very exciting to see group sof people with the same motives that I have.

What was also interesting was that many of the lessons were focused on the different soldiers in the group giving their own opinions on the matter at hand. It was the first time I was able to see why many of the people in my machlaka were in a combat unit, especially a foot soldier. We had long discussions that usually ended up in argument. These debates really allowed me to see the different perspectives different kinds of Israelis had on the army and the reasons for serving.

The week ended with a ride back to the base where we spent our last shabbos as tironim. We then began the week by becoming lochamim (fighters); that is, we received our vests. Up until now we were using these old, used ephodim to hold all of our gear. You really felt like you were in Vietnam when you wore that old equipment. Now, with our new vests you really felt in place, in 2009. We spent the rest of the week making sure our gear was ready for advance training. We finally received tape that wouldn’t come off every five minutes (because before hand we would use tape that did just that to make us learn how to tie up all of our gear).

I would have to say that it’s the most annoying time in the army. We are given short increments of time to accomplish tasks that take much longer than given. The point of it all makes sense, they want us to make sure that all of our gear is tied and ready so that nothing will be lost and will always be ready. When all is said and done the work that we do is always work it, but the time spent doing it all is very annoying.

The week ended with our masa kumta, a 60 kilometer hike that took 17 hours to finish. Being the ratz mp (the runner for the head of the pluga) I was at the head of the pluga The hike was one of the most memorable experiences of my service in the army. We walked through various druze towns, up mountains around the chevron area, through various farms, and eventually up the road and up the steps to Masada. The hike was a long one, very long if that. However, surprisingly, it did not fell that long. It went by quite quickly, as I was made to run back and forth through the pluga. Before the half way marker of the masa, it started to rain. Water was everywhere, causing the sandy floor to become muddy. It got so bad that we had to put on our rain coats, something onl done when absolutely needed. As we walked through the rain, I was walking in mud that went up to my knees. Occasionally I was made to run back and forth to organize the line of the pluga.

The rain stopped and the masa continued as planned. By daybreak, we began the treck with the stretcher. We walked four kilometers with the stretcher, making our way to our final destination in Masada. Walking down the road, winding through the various turns, we were able to see the magnificent sight of the dead see and Masada at sunrise. When we finally made it to the top we had a tekes kravi where the mifakdim and the pluga won awards. Our pluga ended up winning the best pluga of basic training. The day resumed and we had our masa kumta where I was fortunate to receive my purple barett and be apart of my units group as cheyl raglim.

I spent the next week with my parents as they came in for the tekes and to visit me. They’re time in Israel was short and cam to a sad end the Wednesday after. I had a really good time and it was nice to have off.

I went back to the army that Thursday afternoon and nothing seemed to change. Then, one hour before shabbos I was told that I was going to be in the shetach guarding a special kind of shooting range. I guarded for two hours every six. I was with a group of my friends from my kitah so it wasn’t that bad. I went into shabbos upset that I was not with everyone else, but overall it was very interesting being in the desert for shabbos.

The first week of basic training was very intense. We did both tests required buy the army that involved running and doing pushups and situps and running the obstacle course. The week was very difficult but very exciting. It was the first time my entire kitah worked together. We learned how to walk in different formations and how to cross valleys and take over a hill. We were also allowed to call our mifaked, but it came with a price, waking up at four in the morning to walk four kilometers with a guy on a stretcher.

Overall the week was hard, but now being in advance training I am very close to serving the country as a lochem. As the time passes I am learning a lot, not only about the army but about Israel itself. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Purim in November?

One of the hardest things about basic training is the fact that you feel like your doing nothing. Everyday you wake up and you know that although you are getting closer to the day that you will be helping the land of Israel by guarding the borders or keeping the people safe, you are still in basic training. You wake up and know that you are going to be doing something you do not want to do, something that builds “nishmat” (i.e. discipline). It’s true, it sucks, because you think you have the discipline and the will it takes to serve, but in reality you don’t. And the hardest part is accepting that fact. As long as you have a good attitude and a smile on your face everything goes well.

This past week we finally “did” something. I don’t mean to complain because that is not what I’m doing at all. It is just that I had one of the most enjoyable weeks thus far. We “played” enemy in the north. Now, that sounds strange, but it was really fun

The week began with an awesome Shabbat. Daniel and I took the three and a half our trek to hertzaliya petuach where we spent the weekend with Jonathan who is spending the semester in Israel on an abroad program from the university of Pennsylvania. We woke up early Sunday morning and made our way to Tel Aviv where we met our group. From there we set off to the north for a week in a new shetach with different terrain, the terrain of the galil in the north of Israel.

We finally arrived to a base in the north, which is usually served as a loading base for different artillery units in the reserves. For this exercise, it happened to be the “home base” where everyone started. When we arrived, all of our gear was there, including our vests and bags. We were given different uniforms to play the role of enemy. The funny thing was that we were wearing old US Army uniforms, which I was obviously made fun of for wearing. We laughed off the irony of it all and put on these silly “costumes.” We got ready to board the buses to head for our locations.

Every kitah was stationed in a different place in the north. My kitah was stationed on a hillside next to a small yeshuv. The first night we got there was one of the coolest nights. We got to the place we were supposed to be and set up camp. Because we were stationed next to a row of houses we had to be very quiet and made sure no one could hear us. It made me feel like I was in a danger zone, hiding out from the enemy (which was what I was doing “pretend”).

The week went on and we built a camp on the hillside of the mountain. We hid different “rockets” (pieces of metal that looked like rockets). We also built different amdot (bunkers) that we learned how to build in one of our weeks in the shetach. One of the really interesting things that happened was the fact that we were meant to sue all of our skills that we have acquired over the past months and use them. Our goal was to hide out on this hill side and protect our selves from the soldiers coming to take over the mountain side that we took over. We made notes of all of the military cars that passed. Early one morning we were told that a squadron of tanks was out to find us. Half of the group stayed behind to watch over our camp while the other half, including me, went out to the yeshuv and tried to find them. With all of our gear on and a fake anti tank weapon, we made our way around the yeshuv. It was early in the morning when everyone was going to school or leaving to work, so we were all being looked at. It got me thinking that Israel is the only place in the world that something like this could go on. We found the squadron and successfully completed our mission. I thought it was really cool because it was the first exercise that I took part in and got first hand knowledge of what it really means to be in the army.

The week went on and we learned about the different terrain that we were stationed in. We spent part of the days hiding in bushes as we had to wait for people to find us. I never thought I would be sitting inside of a thorn bush for two hours hiding out from a unit of soldiers, but I honestly have to say that it was really fun.

Overall I had an awesome week. I learned a lot of what the army is all about and how everything is operating. I really enjoyed the fact that I was in a new terrain and was finally given the opportunity to actually do something for the army.

As the time goes by, my basic training will be almost complete and I will begin advance training. We have two more weeks until that time comes, so hopefully until then I will be able to gain all that I can and be able to learn what I need to help the state of Israel the best I can. 

Tekes Hashba

In our world today there are two types of leaders. Both types work hard for the people they are protecting. One type of leader feels it is his/her responsibility to protect the people by destroying the enemy; that is, they use brute force and strength and go by any means to make sure the enemy is defeated. The other type of leader cares about the lives of his/her people and will give up his life to make them happy and live normal lives. Basically, one seeks to end the disaster while one tries to pacify the situation while trying to make things better.

In my opinion a leader needs both qualities. He need the ability to go at lengths to defeat the enemy, but he also must care about the people he is protecting. I feel that my role as a leader and my responsibility to fulfill these two qualities began a few weeks ago when I was officially sworn into the army. Besides being with my parents (which was awesome) and many friends from Los Angeles, the feeling of standing on that stage and accepting my tanach and gun has no words to describe it. It was the first time in my life that I really felt I was doing the right thing, that I had a real purpose in my actions. I stood up their proud, with the tanach and gun and saluted my officer. It was at that moment that I really became apart of what I set out to do, that my real service starts now.

I honestly have to say that the week of the hashba was one of the bests weeks thus far. Although it was over succot and it’s usually a time where you have a nice vacation and are at home with your family, we had a really fun week. Sunday was yom sport, which was a day where all of the people from my machzor (i.e. all of the guys who enlisted in August from Givati) joined together to have a day of playing sports, or basically color war. I first played basketball, which was slightly a disaster because we got killed. Then Daniel and I played Volleyball and everyone was surprised that we were good. The funny thing is that it’s because we were the only two that knew how to play as we played in high school. The next day was a day where we went to the shooting range to finish everything off that was finished. We then had the day before the tekes which was full of practicing and sleeping as we had a hike (masa) the night before the tekes. The masa was 19 kilometers. Because I was chosen to be the radio man for the mifaked of the pluga I was in the front throughout the masa except for the points that I had to run to different people to give over commands. The masa took place on derech burma near latrun. Even though it was at night, it was a really interesting masa. It was the first time we weren’t in the desert, nor were we anywhere near our base. It was on the road up to Jerusalem, which was awesome because the scenery was beautiful and terrain was different.

The masa ended with a tekes lochem where we received our pins that go on our kumtas to identify us as cheil raglim (foot soldiers). Despite for being exausted as we had not slept the night before and just completed a really long hike, I finally felt apart of a small group of people privileged to fight for the state of Israel as we were finally called cheil raglim. We arrived at latrun a few hours later where we had the tekes and were officially sworn in.

As the weeks go on, the responbility I accepted upon myself has grown. This past week we received our pakalim (the jobs we will have for the rest of our service). I was given the job as the radio man/runner for the mifaked of our pluga and mifaked chuliya. My job basically requires me to speak Hebrew fluently, which will be difficult when we are in action. Anyways, what that means is that when we practice with the entire pluga together, I am up in the front with the head guy. I walk next to him with a radio on my back (which happens to be really heavy because we use the radios from the Vietnam War) and run back and forth giving over commands to everyone in the pluga. I also have the responsibility to be in charge of 3 other soldiers and act as their commander. The funny thing is that these two jobs that I was given require a lot of responsibility, which I am really happy to have received. The down side for my, as I mentioned earlier is that my Hebrew has to be up-to-par, which will be a challenge but I am excited for it.

The idea of there being challenges is something that I am constantly faced with. Even though it is only the beginning, it is not easy being in the army itself, despite the fact being so far from your family. There are things that happen that one thinks as completely irrelevant and you constantly question why you are doing it. Whether it is struggling to speak the language or having to do a task over and over again, I honestly feel stronger and as a better person every time I overcome the challenges. It is the challenges that will hopefully allow me to adopt the two qualities of a leader and go at lengths to defeat the enemy, but also remember that there are those at home that you need to protect. 

Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur

I know, I know it's been a while since I wrote last but the last three weeks or so have been really hectic. Over that time I've done so much and have definetly learned a lot.

As the weeks go by, we as a group are given more responsibility. As I look back at the progress that I have made in only seven weeks it seems crazy now the amount of responsibility they give us. Two weeks ago, we started shavua hagnach, which is a week where it is our plugahs turn to guard the base. After spending the day in the kitchen (once again), it was my machlakas to guard the base. They are different stations set up and we take turns guarding. The way it works is that you guard for two hours and are off for the next four. The two hours that you are guarding you are not allowed to sit, you can’t drink anything but water, you are not allowed to eat, and you have to stay awake. If you sit down or do any of those things it is considered “breaking shmirah” and then you must suffer the consequences (i.e. having to spend Shabbat on the base).

My first shmirah went well. I was really excited to actually do something for other people and use some of the things that I learned in training. I was lucky because during almost half of my shmirah I had to help one of the heads of the base put up a guard tower because they were switching the one that was at my post, which made it much easier. As the hours past and it was time for my second shmirah, I was chosen to guard one of the posts that was far away from people, which made it difficult because when there are people around there’s a possibility that they’ll come by and you can talk to them. So this time there weren’t any people, fine, so Ill be alone. The thing that made it worse was that it was in the middle of the night after our mifakdim made us run around with people on our backs as punishment for what someone did earlier in the day. As I walked towards my post I was kind of tired, actually I was pretty tired. I walked up towards the steps and took my post. This being the first time that I was in a tower, so it was exciting at first. The time past (I didn’t know how long because a trick I was taught was to not look at your watch), so it wasn't as bad as I thought.

The week ended off with Rosh Hashana. For weeks I was trying to get out of the army for the holiday. I figured it would be really depressing because Rosh Hashana, at least for me, is a time where my whole family is together. My sister and her family usually come home because who wants to be in Montreal for Rosh Hashana when you can go to LA and choose from ten minyanim with ten seats in every minyan. So I tried to use the chayal boded excuse saying that there is a rule that we are not allowed to be closed for Rosh Hashana. After weeks of trying I found out that a rule does exist but not for people in basic training. By the Thursday before the chag I accepted the fact that I would be staying in. Yes it was hard but I decided to have an upbeat attitude and assumed it would be fun.

As the time was getting closer and they started "noel Shabbos" (i.e. litterally locking shabbos - a time where the army starts shabbos and lets you be free and take a shower and get ready and it lasts until after shabbos; basically the time where the mifakdim don't yell at you and give you a "peaceful" shabbos).   As I began to prepare for yom tov, already it felt different. Besides receiving a massive package form my parents (thank you it was awesome!) and having every person in my pluga come over to my bed and stare at my 12 bottles of soda, two 10 pound bags of nuts, 3 massive boxes of cookies (massive as in two feet by 1 feet) and two more boxes of full of snacks, I had gotten dressed in my uniform, not my suit. Before I made my way towards shul I took a moment to take in what was going on, for the only white garment was my undershirt and kipah. With my gun and all I went to shul. I was chazan for mincha and the kabalat shabbat for yom tov. That first night was really nice, a little bit unusual, but it was good. We had all of the simanim, I brought my own honey, and all of us ate together and tried to make the best of my situation. The rest of the evening was much different than all other years as I had guard duty at night (which was good because I was able to go to shul the next day).

The next day I was a toran in the kitchen, where I had to help set up and arrange the dining area and help clean. Instead of being dressed in my ceremonial uniform I had to wear my work uniform. I felt a little weird but remembered that I was in the army and this is what they needed me to do. The guys in the kitchen were really nice and let me go to davening which was again a little different than other years but still very nice. The Rabbi of the base brought in a Rabbi, who happened ot be a father of one of the soldiers on the base and he was chazan for both days musaf. He helped bring a lot of ruach and simcha to our Rosh Hashana on base. 

Being that there were many irreligious soldiers, I was given the opportunity to sit with a few of them and show them the tefilot. It made them really happy to say the tefilot and hear the shofar. 

As Yom Tov ended, we quickly had to change and start another week in the army. The week went well as we learned about different guns and jobs that could be assigned to us. We also became cirtified in first aid. The cirtification was pretty interesting as we learned how to be a first response in the case of emergency. I'll tell you this, never have someone put a tirnicit on you, it hurts, a lot. The week ended with another masa, our first with the stretcher opened with someone on it. It was a rather easy masa but a good end to a long week. By Thursday night, our mifakdim began to ask for volunteers for Yom Kippur. By this time I had prepared and arranged Yom Kippur. I knew where I was going to have my seuda hamaphsekes, where I was going to daven and how I was going to prepare on the Sunday before. I figured that the non religious guys would want to stay because it's an easy day to volunteer as they would be fasting anyways and not be going to shul. After no one decided, two people were chosen. The first one picked was a guy who had to be on base anyways because of a punishment. The second guy was someone who had to stay because he left for Rosh Hashana. When I found out who the second guy was I began to realize that it wasn't right for him to stay. He had to go home for Rosh Hashana because his grandfather was sick, and unfortunetly died right after. I began to feel like I had to step up and take one for the team. It was killing me that this guy, who's parent was sitting shiva, had to stay on base becasue he wasn't able to stay in before because of his sick grandfather and now he unfortunetly lost his grandfather and is in a time where family is the up most important thing, has to stay in, I volunteered right then and there. I knew it would be hard but that is why I am in the army. I am here to help and try to make a decision.

My decision came somewhat blind as I soon found out that we wouldn't have a minyan. I reasoned that it was more important to help out a friend and daven byechidus (i.e. without a minyan, then daven at yeshiva feeling terrible for that guy who had to stay in). So I went home for shabbos and had a really nice shabbos. I spent it with a lot of my friends and had a really good time. Saturday night was very hectic. I had to do kapaarot, say slichot, and finish preparing for yom kippur, oh ya, and have the chulent melave malke that we forgot to eat over shabbos. So right after shabbos we made our way to mea shearim and did kaparot with a chicken (I will spare the details for those with light stomachs). We then came back to the apartment and had some chulent, which I must say was pretty good. By 12:30, I was packed for the next day, so we made our way over to the kotel to say slichot. Little did we know it was the one night where Rav Ovadia Yosef (one of the head sfardi Rabbis) was at the kotel saying slichot. I have never seen the kotel that packed. You couldn't move. There were thousands of people. We used our army id's to make it passed the security line and fought our way to the crowd to enter the kotel plaza. As we tried to go down to the wall, a group of guys stopped us and asked up to join their minyan and be chazan. I took the initiative and began the slichot. After the kadish they said this is a sfardi minyan. Now, the last time I said sfardi slichot was in Maimonides and it was only a few paragraphs. The problem was that I had to do it because we already started and also, these guys needed help. So I took their siddur and began. Some of the tunes came back to me and most of the paragraphs are said out loud. Even though ashkenazi slichot erev yom kippur are short, the sfardi version was very long. We ended by 2:30, which was actually 1:30 because they changed the clocks, but I had to be on base early and wake up by 4:30. Because of the multitudes of people that were at the kotel, it took me a very long time to get back. We arrived at the apartment by 3:00. I called some friends in the states and went to sleep for the next our until I had to daven and make my way down to beer sheva to go to my base. 

I finally made it to my base, which, by this time, it was completely empty. Luckily, the Rabbi was present with people to make a minyan for us. With there being only 6 guys in my machlaka closed for Yom Kippur, the guarding was divided into 2 horu slots, meaning that we would have to guard 2 out of every 12 hours. A list was made and I switched to have shmirot so that I would only have to guard during at night and I could go to shul during the day. 

As the time drew closer towards Yom Kippur, things were already not as they usually were. I had to daven mincha and eat the seuda hamaphsekes myself because I was guarding. Then, 30 minutes before candle lighting, the one other yeshiva guy present told me that I was davening musaf. Musaf Yom Kippur is not a simple thing. Besides the prayer of hineni before and taking on the responsibility of the entire kahal, I remembered that it is one of the longest and most difficult tefilot of the year. I realized that I had to do it because we would only have eleven people (barely a minyan), and I would have to help out because of the lack of religious people on the base. 

Kol nidrey started and it was very different. The Rabbi decided to daven sefardi for kol nidrey, maariv, mincha, and neila, and leave shacharit and musaf to the two yeshiva guys to daven ashkenaz. The sfardi davening was a very good experience because it was a very good way to see the different sides of Judaism and be exposed to the different ways in which people plray to Hashem. After kol nidrey I decided to go to bed a little early because I had four hours of guarding ahead of me and needed to be awake for the davening the next day. I took a nap for an hour and began my guard duty. It was very difficult because we had all of the regulations of guarding where you have to obey by all of the rules, except they allowed us to sit down. I woke up early the next day to practice the davening. As time passed and it was getting closer to musaf, I began to get really nervous. I don't think I was ever so nervous in my life. It felt like one of those moments before a final in school where you are freaking out because you think you haven't studied enough and are confident that you are going to fail. I put on the kitel (which had to be one of the wierdest parts of it all) and made my way towards the bimah. With the sweat dripping down my face, trying to catch a breath I began the heart wrenching hineni and kadish. Throughout the reciation I glanced at the English words and realized the yolk I was accepting upon myself. I finished the words of the kadish and began one of the most meaningful musafs in my entire life. 

Looking back at it now I am really happy I stayed in for both Rosh Hashana and Yom kippur. I spent the High Holidays with many different types of people from many different backgrounds. I feel that I really grew from my unusual experiences and was able to take a lot out of it. I would have to say that the week that followed could not be more appropriate as I officially became 03 in my training, which means that I have the ability to guard yeshuvim around Israel and have advanced in my training with the throwing of a grenade (which was a blast). 

If you were to ask me to stay for another Rosh Hashana and Yom kippur on an army base I would definitely say yes. It was probably the most meaningful service of my service thus far. 

It was another Sunday morning where I woke up early after only going to sleep a few hours prior. I made my way down to beer sheva to begin another week in the army. I thought the week would be one of those routine weeks in the shetach; prepare all of our equipment, go to the desert at night, and begin training early in the morning. Little did I know things would be much different.

We finally arrived at the base early in the afternoon and began to prepare all of the equipment. We were finished by nightfall and, like almost everyone thought, we were going to make our way to the shetach. We put on our equipment and began to walk. With no bus in sight I was a little confused. I didn’t say anything and just kept walking. After walking for some time they stopped and said that they were joking and that it was time to go to sleep. A little weird at first, I accepted it and prepared for bed. Everyone was nervous that they were going to wake us up in the middle of the night. We therefore decided to sleep in our clothes. The funny thing was that it was just a normal night and they woke us up at the normal time, 5am.

The next day we prepared our stuff and saw the buses lined up. It was time for the shetach. This was not going to be a normal shetach week as it was a week known as shavua sedeut, one of the most difficult weeks during basic training. With all of our gear on our backs (it’s usually taken by a hummer) we boarded the tiyulit (the army transport bus) and headed down to the shetach. After driving for some time the bus stopped and we were given two minutes to disembark and get ready to hike. Everyone scattered off the bus and lined up. The head of our machlaka began to walk and we all followed. As we made our way in the knee high sand with all of our gear under the scorching sun that feeling of being in the army hit me; summer camp was over. After some time they stopped and made every other person fall to the ground, leaving the other half to carry them on their backs. Being the first one to have to fall, I watched our machlaka treck through the thick sand fearful of being dropped.

As the week went on we learned many valuable skills that will help us throughout out time in the army. We barely ate and slept, as we were given one box of food for 4 people for the entire day and we were woken up every morning by the alarming screatch of our commanders that someone had just launched a canister of mustard gas at us and that we had 20 seconds to put our gas masks on and run.

So things were tough, very tough, but I tried making the best of it and in the end it was a fun week. Ya, people say its hard, and it was, but why go on thinking aobut the difficulties, it was much better to have fun with everything. One afternoon we were instructed to build three trenches; one used as a stake out, one used to guard from, and the third to sleep in (yes, we had to sleep in a trench, all thirteen guys in my kitah). As we were building the trench used as a stake out, all the guys around me were down. . We all started laughing and having a good time. It definitely passed the time and allowed us to have a lot of fun.

Towards the end of the week we started to practice the different maneuvers we were taught and they incorporated in several games. One night we played capture the flag. The next day we had a race with the stretcher, water canteen, and radio. We had to run across a wadi from one hill to the next then crawl up the hill. My kitah one and we were given a can of Pringles, real food for a change.

We went to sleep the last night thinking we would have another day of practicing the maneuvers and running from both sides of the shetach. I couldn’t sleep much that night, as like the previous two nights, we had to sleep in full gear with our vests and guns strapped on us. I looked around and saw the mifakdim walking around waking everyone up. Having two minutes to get all of our equipment packed and get ready to move. After walking for thirty minutes, which seemed like hours, I heard sounds and gun shots from over the hill. Our mifaked told us that we had to go and capture the house, using all of the techniques we had learned over the week. We knew that it wasn’t real but it was the first time we, as a group, had to practice our tecnique and save the hostages in a tent. After taking down the “terrorists,” the commanders told us that two of our guys were shot. Half the group took one of the guys on the stretcher and began to walk. I, with three other guys, had to carry one of the soldiers that were “shot.” By now it was around 430 am and it seemed like we were up for ten hours.

The day went on and we had a competition amongst all of the kitot. They had four different events, including a stretcher run (which my kitah finished number one), walking with signs, building a trench, and taking a written test (which was basically given to me orally as it was hard to answer in Hebrew). The rest of the day comprised us of lying around and waiting for our masa samal, the hike with one of the head commanders. The hike began at nightfall and was basically a run. I was stuck in the back, way behind the people in the front. I tried advancing, but I was not allowed to. Towards the middle of the hike, I was asked by a friend of mine to pull him ahead. I took the opportunity and sprinted the ahead. I ended up running up and down the line pushing people along, having a fun time. People thought I was nuts because we were hiking with all of our gear on our backs. Little did they know I found out a way to make tea in my canteen so I had a small sugar rush to push me along.

We stayed on base for Shabbat again, this time a little less exciting. There’s a saying they have in the army, “For every Shabbat there’s motzey Shabbat.” Which is definitely true. After a restful Shabbat, we had little time to gear up and stand attention. We ran around a lot and did a lot of push ups with our heavy gear. When that was finished we went for a run to end the night.

The week that followed was shavua prat, where they taught us to take over a hill while being the commander of a group of four, all with live ammo. I missed the first two days of the week as I was sent to the kitchen to clean dishes all day Sunday, which happened to be a lot of fun, and then on Monday the army had a day for all of the lone soldiers where they took us to a beach near Haifa, where they had massages, surfing, sports, and lots of food. It was an amazing day. I met many different chayalim, who, like me, were in Israeli with no immediate family. It was a little humbling at first listening to some of the sacrifices some of the soldiers had to make. I met people from all over the world with the common goal of protecting the state of Israeli. IT really put my service into perspective as I saw that there are many people who agree with the ideals I try to live by and preach.

By Tuesday they took us to the shetach to do the different tests of shavua prat. I took my first Jeep ride which was awesome. When I got to the shetach they handed me a piece of paper and told me that I had to memorize it. This was one of the most difficult tasks I had to do because we had to use the phrases as we took over the hill. When it was my turn to shoot, I was a little nervous at first. Making my way up the hill, I felt more comfortable with the maneuver. When we were instructed to do it at night, I felt much better about the whole thing and really enjoyed the exercise.

The week ended with a nice Shabbat at my cousins house where I finally touched a bed for the first time in two weeks, had really good food, and slept. A nice ending to a long two weeks.

The last two weeks were definetly not easy, but I have to say that it wasn’t impossible. The key to getting through the everyday events is to have a positive attitude and go into everyday as if it’s going to be a lot of fun and that what you are doing is very important for the country. Everyone should have a wonderful week and a shana tovah.

-- Ari Platt

Shavua Tavor

Before I enlisted, a friend of mine gave me apiece of advice that really saved me this week. He told me that whenever you are doing something and it seems difficult and you want to give up, remind yourself why you are there and then make it enjoyable by imagining you are somewhere else trying to accomplish some given task.

Being that this week we were once again in the shetach, sleeping in a tent not even two feet high and five feet long, I had one of the hardest physical week thus far. It was shavua Tavor, which means that it was the week to learn how to use our gun, the Tavor to its best ability. As a machlaka we shot over 14,000 kadurim (bullets in Hebrew), meaning that I shot at least 500 of them. It was an intense week, but one that was really satisfying. The week started off bright and early Sunday morning. I went to the meeting place an hour early to miss the madness that goes on Sunday mornings at the Tachana meracazi. It was definetly worth it, so I’ll probably do the same thing this Sunday. After waiting for everyone to show up, we made our way to the base where we prepared to embark on our journey to the shetach once again.

Everday was practically the same. We woke up early, ran up a hill with all of our gear because we were 30 milliseconds late, davened, set up the shooting range, and then returned at 12 at night. We shot all day, practicing different situations and different positions. It was really cool to finally learn how to use the gun in every situation possible. They made us run and shoot, lie down, and even stand up. As the days went on, our mifakdim got more intense. They began to yell more and make us run. By the end of the week we were in full gear for the majority of the day – that is, we were wearing our efod and helmet, the gear we would take to fight to practice the situations that we would learn. When things began to get difficult, I decided to listen to that piece of advice. The first thing I did was not give up. There were times when I wanted  to sit down and take a break or just liesurley walk instead of running the 400 meters in the sand. I reminded my self that I had to set an example, I am the volunteer who has to inspire everyone around me, so I didn’t stop. Even when I felt like I pulled a muscle, I ran, slowly, but it was still a faster pace than walking. When things got annoying, I decided to put myself in different situations. I imagined myself as being in a video game shooting at targets and being timed while doing so. I told the guys around me and they thought I was nuts, but it sure helped me as the days grew longer.

Ever since I found out that Daniel and I were going to be separate, I was afraid that I would not be able to find anyone to “kibbutz” with (or just to hang out with during the free time). Finally by the end of the week our group grew closer and we began to joke around.  Although most of the jokes were targeted at me for my accent and incoherent Hebrew, it was fun, and as a group we grew closer. Looking back at it now, it makes me feel much better as to the reason for my service.

The week ended off with another 5k masa, where, with all of our gear, we hiked at a rather quick pace. I don’t know why but it really felt like I was being Aliyah L’Regel, brining the korbanot (sacrifices) to the Beit Hamikdash (the holy temple) because we had the one leader, or the high priest (Cohen) with everyone guarding the pikalim, or the stretcher and water, which I imagined as being the sacrifices. Although this may all seem very weird, it made everything a lot of fun.

The week on base ended Thursday morning as it was parents day for the entire base. They took everyone like me, a chayal boded (lone soldier) to a beit chayal where they house people without immediate family in Israel. They served us a big breakfast and sent us home. It was really nice to finally have a few days off after the difficult weeks being in the shetach. Things were hard and will only get more difficult, but when things are difficult it only means that you are going up and are closer at reaching your final goal, a lesson I hope to take with me throughout my service.

Before I conclude I wanted to share a nice idea I said over on the parsha after mincha one day this week. At the end of this weeks parsha the laws of weights and measurement in terms of halacha are juxtaposed with the mitzvah to remember Amalek. When reading this I was very curious as to why the two parshiot were juxtaposed. Rashi mentions that it teaches us to be very careful with the ways we, as Jews, deal with business. When I looked at this Rashi it, at first, did not make a whole lot of sense. After thinking about it I realized that we learn a great lesson from it. Like in the army, we have to be careful as to everything that we do. We have to watch our time because zman barzel, we have to be careful with our word choice as to not offend anyone, and we have to be careful to be fair to not cheat anyone else when dealing with business. The simple things that we do in our life can be the most difficult to watch over. Even things like weights and measurement in business, people think that the nitty gritty details do not matter. However, what do we learn from this weeks parsha? We learn that they all matter, that we need to be careful. Because if we do not care, then “zachor et Amalek” – remember Amalek, the nation that it is a mitzvah to kill, the nation believed to be the most evil. WE have to be careful with every detail because we need to please Hashem and defeat all the evil and not succumb to defeat, succumb to the defeat by Amalek. I, too, must remember this that I am here in the army to fight for the state of Israel. I am also here to give inspiration to those that have to serve, being that I am only  a volunteer. I must watch everything I do because who knows, maybe there is someone watching me when I am take that leisure walk or not listening to my commanders. I have to be aware of my surroundings and watch my actions because I am here to help and not succumb to the evil, not to be defeated by Amalek.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Shabbos!

 

-- Ari Platt

Weeks 1 and 2

Hey! As you all may know or for those who do not know I am in the Israeli army. Yes, me, the kid from LA who plays hockey and loves to surf. The one who’s in the middle of YU and happens to be president of the Social Justice Society. I have decided to write a blog to keep all of you updated on my journey so you can get a sense as to what I am experiencing and the lessons I learn daily (and of course to fill my parents in on all that I am doing). As of now, I have been in the army for almost three weeks. I entered August 4, which seems so long ago. In the first few weeks I have learned so much and have experienced much. I therefore intend to share with you as I continue my journey.

The night before we entered, I stayed by Daniel Rubin’s cousins in Ranana, which was close to Bakum, the place where the Lishkat giyus (office for all the new recruits) is located and many of the logistical offices. That first morning was a relief because it was the end of many months of agony just trying to get into the army. I was on the phone for hours sent to many offices, and was informed numerous times that I would not be allowed to join the army. I thought I would get that feeling, the one that you’re no longer free and must obey the rules. The feeling that you’ve joined something that you can’t get out of. The feeling that you’re in the army. It seemed like a regular day, expect for being sent into room after room, getting shots, getting clothes, and having to wait. I tried to have a positive attitude when I went through all of this and it helped. When we were given the shots they were about to give us shots that we already received. For some reason I was the only one that was aware of this and when everyone in our group didn’t think twice about going and getting the shots, I questioned them and they realized that they were wrong. This was the start of many things to learn about Israeli society that I would have to learn to cope with.

We left the bakum and went to our base. What a long drive! We finally got arrived at the base. Daniel and I were split up, but it was trom tironut, which is the preparation for basic training. My miphaked’s (the commander of my tent) name was miphaked din. I thought the feeling would hit when he made us set up our bags in perfect shloshot (lines of three). As Daniel was sent off with this nice guy who made them wait around and not do anything, I was forced to do pushups (or “pressing” with a hard core Israeli accent). The week ended early, fortunately and unfortunately. I was let out early because a Talmid from Gush (my yeshiva) was stripped of his life in tank training, so they let everyone from gush leave. Fortunely, however, my parents were in town so I was able to see them.

After a wonderful shabbos, I had to wake up early for my first real week. I davened with my Dad at the kotel and made my way to the bus station. Getting on the bus Sunday morning is crazy, especially going to Be’er Sheva where most of the bases use as a point to pick up all of the chayalim. When we finally got to the base, I thought Daniel and I would be together. As we knew all along we were put in the same gidud but different machlaka. I spoke to my miphaked and tried to see if I could switch. I couldn’t so I tried to make the best of my situation. That first week felt like camp, like a sleep over version of Paul Young. You have these counselors (or in my case miphakdim) who have the need to be more powerful than you when they’re really the same age as you. You have to do sports (or in my case push ups and sprints) that you don’t want to. But overall you are with your friends. One of the things the army is very keen on is time. Zmaney barzel as they would say. It’s true, though, time is golden and there is more time than you think. They time everything you do. Whether it’s going to the bathroom, davening, eating, or even sprinting, you have to do everything in the allotted time. With the mishnayot in my pocket, I came to see that I do have time to learn in the army, two minutes means a mishnah or at least start one. You have to take the situations at hand and use them to the best of your ability. There is more time than you think. 

As I realized all of this, the feeling never hit me, even when we got our guns. We received a tavor, which is the new Israeli gun. With my uniform on, including my sun hat, I felt like I was Indiana Jones lost in a star wars set. The gun looks futuristic and I looked ready to unlock clues in some lost desert. Thank God I have had my gun on me. My brother and Daniel think that I will loose it, so hopefully I wont, as I am prone to lose everything.

That first week ended with an amazing Shabbat. I was sad at first to have to stay in, but Shabbat started with an unbelievable Friday night davening. Kulam beyachad, everyone together, Ashkenazim, Sepharidim, chilonim, and datiim. We started off the davening with carlebach niggunim, then switched to a Sephardic lech dodi. I have never experienced anything like it. As our division in Givati is the only one with a group of Yeshiav guys we were definitely the loudest at night at dinner. I thought it wouldn’t feel like shabbos as I had to carry my gun and wear my uniform, but when we stayed late at the meal singing, “hakadosh baruch hu, anachnu…” with chilonim, it was amazing. It was one of those things I wanted, to be together with the Yeshiva guys giving the chilonim a real Shabbat. After the meal we went to our tents where our miphaked harasap was standing on a podium as we chanted in a mosh-pit-sort-of-motion dancing and making fun of other units. The next day was like a normal shabbos, expect for waking up at five in the morning to do shmira. I slept, learned, ate, and davened. The one lesson I took out of the shabbos was kulam beyachad, that no matter who you are with, if your in a group you are together and have to make the best of it. 

That all gets me to this past week where we were in the shetach. We slept in tents that one person could barely fit. The first night I slept in a tent with three people on the sand in the middle of the desert. It was at that point that I realized I was not in Paul Young at pointsetia park, I was in the army. The week was full of learning how to use the gun and different battle formations. We ate manot krav (basically war time meals full of kosher spam and tuna) and basked in the heat of the desert son. Although it was a difficult week, it ended with a masa (or hike) with all of our gear. I was chosen to carry my mipahkeds radio. My job was to run through the pack to be the contact person and make sure everything was okay. Although it was an honor it was very difficult. By the end of the masa we received our tages that define us. It was a very moving ceremony as we were finally defined as a soldier in the givati brigade. With a sign reading “mishpachat luchamim” (or family of warriors), im eshkach ech playing in the background, and all of us drowsed with sweat with our gear and barret, we received our tags, the signs of who we are apart of. It was especially moving for me as I received my miphaked’s tag, an honor given at every stage. I accepted the tag and am proud to wear it.

Although I have not been in the army for that long, I have experienced much and have learned much more. The main thing I can take out of these past few weeks is to take every day as a new day and that for every situation that is difficult you have to realize that it means that you are going up and are on the path towards success. As I continue my army service I will try to take these lessons that I learn and help me on my journey. I hope to write during the weeks that I get off to inform you of all that I have done and all that I have learned and hope you can take the lessons and use them in your own lives. Have a wonderful Shabbos!

-- Ari Platt