I know it has been a really long time since I have written last, but after finishing basic and advanced training and moving to the gedudim, things have been quite hectic. I have had barely any free time. I stayed in many of the shabbatot that have passed either because I volunteered or just because. Things are definitely physically harder than before, but much better mentally. No longer do the mifakdim yell at us for no reason (they do yell when they need to but that’s expected). I have become friends with many of the mifakdim in a way that it’s no longer weird to talk to them about sports or anything really. I would say things are much more fun and exciting.

Over the past couple of weeks my pluga has been involved in several exercises that are essentially “war games.” The idea behind them is to train us to walk long distances with a lot of weight on our backs and holding all the supplies (including food, water, etc.) for thirty-six hours at a time. These exercises are nothing of the ordinary. One of the “games” that we participated in was called a “Tarchat” (i.e. targil chativati – that is, it is an excersise involving everyone in my chativa, including artillery, tanks, and other units.) The commander of the excersise is the machat (mifaked chativati). He is in charge of sending in the different gedudim to their respective positions. He is the one who must go from lace to place making sure that everything is running smoothly. Basically, he has a lot of work on his hands. Being the radio man for the mifaked of my pluga (i.e. the commander in charge of roughly 150 soldiers), it is my job to carry this heavy radio that keeps us in contact with the magad (mifaked of the gedud). He is in charge of our gedud and, like the machat, but on a smaller level, makes sure everything runs smoothly. Having to be in contact with him, I must stay close to the mp for at any second he could receive a call that he must answer. Most of the time it is fun to run with him. He is always moving and always has somewhere to be and something to do. Unlike many of my friends who have to wait for a command to be given and can rest at certain points, I don’t have that luxury – but I love it. We must go to meetings and receive commands, run to different areas to oversee/ run different groups. The only bad part is that sometimes it’s hard to keep up because I have around 70lbs on my back. There was this one time where he went running off and I began to dash. It was difficult to keep up. Then, suddenly, we received a call on the radio. I answered the call and made a run for the mp. I felt like I was running through an obstacle course. I rolled over, sprinted through a field, jumped over a rock, and then slid feet first to hand the mp the radio. Another time, we were in an area where we were practicing urban combat. Instead of going around walls, the mp decided to jump right over them. The first wall, roughly six feet high, was seemed difficult to maneuver. I tried to simply climb over the wall. Because of the weight on my back, I wasn’t so successful. I then decided to use the next best method – jump off a stair case, bring my feet over, and have someone push me right over. It worked! Then there was a second wall, same height, but no one to push me over. With no other choice, I climbed over the wall then fell onto the other side. It hurt, but I did make it over. I did this numerous times, including diving through windows and jumping off of stairs. It was a like a giant maze – lot’s of fun.

The millions of shekels used on these exercises were very successful. From my standpoint at least, I learned how large groups of soldiers can fight together. It’s truly amazing how one person can take charge of thousands of people and everything goes as planned, something you don’t normally see in the real world.

This past week, we had our second yom sport (sports day). Of the several sports that were to be played, I played basketball and volleyball. Both games were a lot of fun, and it was a nice break from the regular activity. Yes, they were compatetative and basketball was more like a grudge match (probably the roughest game I have ever played), but it was a lot of fun.

Being that next week is Pesach, we were fortunate to be given a long weekend for people to be with their families for the seder and yom tov. I hope everyone has a wonderful pesach.