Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I simply don't have a lot of time.
It's difficult to know where to start describing my week because I really don't remember very clearly what happened. Why? Because days feel like weeks and weeks like months. We normally start the day at about 5am after an average of about 6 hours of sleep. Every single morning we line up in front of our Mefaked who then gives us "missions" to complete in limited periods of time. For example, 7 minutes to change from what we slept in to our madei bet, or our work uniform, plus galchatz, which means shaving and shining (shoes). Or 3 minutes to clean the room and make our beds exactly like they ask. In these few minutes, not a second goes by without somebody yelling out the time or instructions. Zmanim ze kodesh (Time is holy) as they say in Hebrew. Even if we as a class don't complete the mission, it is imperative that just before the clock runs out, we're all standing there in a chet or shlashot (parallel lines of three). If we don't, we get punished. Although this past week was shavua slichot, or week of forgiveness, so the real punishments start next week. For some reason though, my class always waits till the very last second to stand in line.
Once again I arrived at the base at about noon on Sunday and then the rest of the day we picked weeds. It kind of sucked to be doing that kind of work again but I knew the next day I would be placed in my unit.
Finally the moment everyone was waiting for: Misdar Dmaot, or ceremony of tears. It is here that soldiers find out if they've made the cut for sayarot (elite units) or if they will serve in the regular battalions. Some people have waited their whole lives to serve in an elite unit. Now the moment of truth. Tension is high. The names are read. Some soldiers celebrate. Some soldiers cry. But everyone is about the embark on a completely unknown chapter in their lives. As the names for Duvdevan (the elite counterterrorism unit) were called, I clapped, but I did temporarily regret not trying the gibush. Back when I decided to join the army, Tzanchanim was my goal. Since being accepted, I played with the thought of trying to get further. But I think regular army will be challenging enough as I found out this week.
I was placed in a religious unit the 202nd Airborne Battalion which is considered better than 890 and 101. The rest of the day we were welcomed into the Plugah (one third of a battalion) by visiting a dozen stations including explanations of weapons, a video, equipment improvement, and interviews with our mefakdim. Mefakdim can either totally ruin or totally improve the army experience. I really lucked out in my Mefaked. He is exactly the type of leader to strengthen us but also he is slightly forgiving when needed.
On Tuesday we did something extremely exciting. We signed for and received short M16s, the guns we will be using until the end of training, when we will upgrade to the slightly better M4. As soon as we got them, we put them in the armory. Then the rest of the day was spent in a classroom taking notes about the weapon.
On Wednesday, things got physical. After Shacharit but before breakfast we had a Baror, the fitness test in Tzahal. A 100% is 86 continuous situps, 75 continuous pushups, and a 2km run in 6:48. I almost completed the situps, the pushups were a total failure, and let's just say running is not my forte. It's clear that I have a long way to go. Later that day we shot on a fake range with M16s fitted with lasers. It was tough but I did fairly well. I'm not really sure why this happened so early, but we spent a few hours practicing for our Tekes Hashba'a, or swearing in ceremony, which I think will take place on May 19 at the Kotel. You're all invited. I've been to a Tekes Hashba'a for Tzanchanim and practicing the moves really made us start feeling like soldiers. I really enjoyed it and I can't wait until the real thing.
After spending a lovely Shabbat at home with my parents who have come in for Pesach, all too quickly I had to return to the base. When I got there we changed into madei bet but then I was told to change back into madei alef because the Mefaked haplugah wanted to talk to me. It took me totally by surprise and I immediately thought the worst. What did I do wrong? Am I being thrown out of Tzanchanim? Quite the contrary. Turns out that on Sunday, all of the past heads of tzanchanim were coming to the base for some kind of ceremony and each head had a soldier walk with him. I was chosen as a representative (all the other representatives were also chayalim bodedim) in my Plugah to walk alongside Yoram "Ya-Ya" Yair. The current head of tzanchanim came and so did Bogie Yaalon. There was a ceremony, a small band, and then each head planted a tree in the holes that we dug in trom tironut. But then there was a dinner. Wow. Great food, even for non-army standards.
The next four or five days we spent on the shooting range shooting clusters of rounds to zero in our weapons. First using the annoying metal sights and then using the cool sight which makes it a lot easier. We also did some night shooting. But it's impossible to aim! Since the gun is black, you can barely make out the metal sights. Then on Wednesday, another surprise. Ramat Gan has a council that basically gives tzanchanim free stuff. After giving everyone tzanchanim shirts and shorts for running, they made a lunch for all chayalim bodedim. The food was pretty standard but they gave us some really great stuff like a fleece, a Swiss army type knife, a thermos, and even a watch. Thanks Ramat Gan!
As part of training, every two weeks or so we have a masa, or a hike. This would be our first. But its not just any old hike. We would be wearing vests filled with 174 bullets, our helmet, 1.5 liters of water, a fake grenade, and of course our gun was on us. Plus it is done in a fast pace on big hills. We even painted our faces in green and black. That was my favorite part. And off we went. We left the base. Total darkness. Total silence. Only the sounds of our footsteps. It felt like we were actually going to war. But 35 minutes and a lot of sweating later, we made it back. It was quite difficult but definitely not impossible. One thing about the army is that you are never ever an individual. It is not a race or a contest. Its about teamwork. We walked briskly in two tightly packed lines behind our mefaked and on inclines we pushed the person in front of us by the helmet that was on their back. Its already easy for me to understand the term "brothers in arms". The army really does create close bonds between soldiers.
On Thursday we started doing guard duty around the base. Each shift is 2+2 hours. Let me explain. The first two hours is the active part, which is kind of funny because all activities are strictly forbidden. No sleeping, no sitting, no eating, no reading, and no leaning. Yup. No leaning. But of course this all makes total sense when you are guarding in the middle of the night. It is really boring unless there is someone there to talk to, which is allowed. After the two hours, you enter into the readiness staff, replacing someone who has just finished their readiness staff. In these two hours, you just have to be able to get to the equipment within a minute and a half. You can sleep in your bed, in uniform, knee pads, and boots of course, but you've got to be ready for the jump. Luckily, I never had one, partly because they don't happen on shabbat.
The shabbat after the masa was my first shabbat on the base because my plugah stayed in. I was kind of worried that shabbat in the army wouldn't feel like it should. But the interesting thing is that the mefakdim, even the non-religious ones, make sure everyone, including the non religious soldiers, respect shabbat and those who keep it. For example, attire for Friday night dinner is strictly madei alef, or dress uniforms, plus berets for kiddush, which is recited for everyone by one person. Singing and dancing, at davening and at the meal happen all the time. Cellphones are not allowed at the meals. All of these things together actually made it a very special shabbat, making it something I wouldn't mind the next time it comes around. I had two shifts of shmirah on shabbat but because it is a neccesary job, there is obviously no problem with doing it on shabbat so it didn't bother me. It's actually probably better that a religious soldier who knows the halachot do shmirah because we know how to act according to halacha and violate the very least, if any, laws.
After my first week of the army, which I spent as a gardener, I didn't think I would do it again. But I did. For a full week. My machlacka was sent to a base in the center of Israel to clean up and prepare for two ceremonies where the head of tzanchanim and the heads of some battalions were switched. It was obviously a pretty uneventful week except for one particular instance. At a certain point, I was sweeping the street in front of the building that holds the office to the head of tzanchanim (Machat). He and another high ranking officers were walking around the area checking our progress. As they were passing me, the Rasar told me to pick a weed on the sidewalk. But before I could bend down and get it, the Machat, yes, the head of tzanchanim, who has been in the army for 25 years, bent down and picked it. So I guess no matter what rank you are, you never stop picking weeds. Then he actually asked my name and where I was from, to which I responded that I am from Toronto and doing Machal. In the past, he has made some comments about shortened tracks like hesder and machal. He also spoke to our machlacka which was somewhat of a treat.
The next shabbat I also stayed in but we were let out for Pesach, which is obviously nice, especially since my family is here in Israel visiting me. After the chag I spent about 20 hours on base before I went home for Shabbat and the Chag, and now I am enjoying a very lengthy 5 day break.
It's difficult to know where to start describing my week because I really don't remember very clearly what happened. Why? Because days feel like weeks and weeks like months. We normally start the day at about 5am after an average of about 6 hours of sleep. Every single morning we line up in front of our Mefaked who then gives us "missions" to complete in limited periods of time. For example, 7 minutes to change from what we slept in to our madei bet, or our work uniform, plus galchatz, which means shaving and shining (shoes). Or 3 minutes to clean the room and make our beds exactly like they ask. In these few minutes, not a second goes by without somebody yelling out the time or instructions. Zmanim ze kodesh (Time is holy) as they say in Hebrew. Even if we as a class don't complete the mission, it is imperative that just before the clock runs out, we're all standing there in a chet or shlashot (parallel lines of three). If we don't, we get punished. Although this past week was shavua slichot, or week of forgiveness, so the real punishments start next week. For some reason though, my class always waits till the very last second to stand in line.
Once again I arrived at the base at about noon on Sunday and then the rest of the day we picked weeds. It kind of sucked to be doing that kind of work again but I knew the next day I would be placed in my unit.
Finally the moment everyone was waiting for: Misdar Dmaot, or ceremony of tears. It is here that soldiers find out if they've made the cut for sayarot (elite units) or if they will serve in the regular battalions. Some people have waited their whole lives to serve in an elite unit. Now the moment of truth. Tension is high. The names are read. Some soldiers celebrate. Some soldiers cry. But everyone is about the embark on a completely unknown chapter in their lives. As the names for Duvdevan (the elite counterterrorism unit) were called, I clapped, but I did temporarily regret not trying the gibush. Back when I decided to join the army, Tzanchanim was my goal. Since being accepted, I played with the thought of trying to get further. But I think regular army will be challenging enough as I found out this week.
I was placed in a religious unit the 202nd Airborne Battalion which is considered better than 890 and 101. The rest of the day we were welcomed into the Plugah (one third of a battalion) by visiting a dozen stations including explanations of weapons, a video, equipment improvement, and interviews with our mefakdim. Mefakdim can either totally ruin or totally improve the army experience. I really lucked out in my Mefaked. He is exactly the type of leader to strengthen us but also he is slightly forgiving when needed.
On Tuesday we did something extremely exciting. We signed for and received short M16s, the guns we will be using until the end of training, when we will upgrade to the slightly better M4. As soon as we got them, we put them in the armory. Then the rest of the day was spent in a classroom taking notes about the weapon.
On Wednesday, things got physical. After Shacharit but before breakfast we had a Baror, the fitness test in Tzahal. A 100% is 86 continuous situps, 75 continuous pushups, and a 2km run in 6:48. I almost completed the situps, the pushups were a total failure, and let's just say running is not my forte. It's clear that I have a long way to go. Later that day we shot on a fake range with M16s fitted with lasers. It was tough but I did fairly well. I'm not really sure why this happened so early, but we spent a few hours practicing for our Tekes Hashba'a, or swearing in ceremony, which I think will take place on May 19 at the Kotel. You're all invited. I've been to a Tekes Hashba'a for Tzanchanim and practicing the moves really made us start feeling like soldiers. I really enjoyed it and I can't wait until the real thing.
After spending a lovely Shabbat at home with my parents who have come in for Pesach, all too quickly I had to return to the base. When I got there we changed into madei bet but then I was told to change back into madei alef because the Mefaked haplugah wanted to talk to me. It took me totally by surprise and I immediately thought the worst. What did I do wrong? Am I being thrown out of Tzanchanim? Quite the contrary. Turns out that on Sunday, all of the past heads of tzanchanim were coming to the base for some kind of ceremony and each head had a soldier walk with him. I was chosen as a representative (all the other representatives were also chayalim bodedim) in my Plugah to walk alongside Yoram "Ya-Ya" Yair. The current head of tzanchanim came and so did Bogie Yaalon. There was a ceremony, a small band, and then each head planted a tree in the holes that we dug in trom tironut. But then there was a dinner. Wow. Great food, even for non-army standards.
The next four or five days we spent on the shooting range shooting clusters of rounds to zero in our weapons. First using the annoying metal sights and then using the cool sight which makes it a lot easier. We also did some night shooting. But it's impossible to aim! Since the gun is black, you can barely make out the metal sights. Then on Wednesday, another surprise. Ramat Gan has a council that basically gives tzanchanim free stuff. After giving everyone tzanchanim shirts and shorts for running, they made a lunch for all chayalim bodedim. The food was pretty standard but they gave us some really great stuff like a fleece, a Swiss army type knife, a thermos, and even a watch. Thanks Ramat Gan!
As part of training, every two weeks or so we have a masa, or a hike. This would be our first. But its not just any old hike. We would be wearing vests filled with 174 bullets, our helmet, 1.5 liters of water, a fake grenade, and of course our gun was on us. Plus it is done in a fast pace on big hills. We even painted our faces in green and black. That was my favorite part. And off we went. We left the base. Total darkness. Total silence. Only the sounds of our footsteps. It felt like we were actually going to war. But 35 minutes and a lot of sweating later, we made it back. It was quite difficult but definitely not impossible. One thing about the army is that you are never ever an individual. It is not a race or a contest. Its about teamwork. We walked briskly in two tightly packed lines behind our mefaked and on inclines we pushed the person in front of us by the helmet that was on their back. Its already easy for me to understand the term "brothers in arms". The army really does create close bonds between soldiers.
On Thursday we started doing guard duty around the base. Each shift is 2+2 hours. Let me explain. The first two hours is the active part, which is kind of funny because all activities are strictly forbidden. No sleeping, no sitting, no eating, no reading, and no leaning. Yup. No leaning. But of course this all makes total sense when you are guarding in the middle of the night. It is really boring unless there is someone there to talk to, which is allowed. After the two hours, you enter into the readiness staff, replacing someone who has just finished their readiness staff. In these two hours, you just have to be able to get to the equipment within a minute and a half. You can sleep in your bed, in uniform, knee pads, and boots of course, but you've got to be ready for the jump. Luckily, I never had one, partly because they don't happen on shabbat.
The shabbat after the masa was my first shabbat on the base because my plugah stayed in. I was kind of worried that shabbat in the army wouldn't feel like it should. But the interesting thing is that the mefakdim, even the non-religious ones, make sure everyone, including the non religious soldiers, respect shabbat and those who keep it. For example, attire for Friday night dinner is strictly madei alef, or dress uniforms, plus berets for kiddush, which is recited for everyone by one person. Singing and dancing, at davening and at the meal happen all the time. Cellphones are not allowed at the meals. All of these things together actually made it a very special shabbat, making it something I wouldn't mind the next time it comes around. I had two shifts of shmirah on shabbat but because it is a neccesary job, there is obviously no problem with doing it on shabbat so it didn't bother me. It's actually probably better that a religious soldier who knows the halachot do shmirah because we know how to act according to halacha and violate the very least, if any, laws.
After my first week of the army, which I spent as a gardener, I didn't think I would do it again. But I did. For a full week. My machlacka was sent to a base in the center of Israel to clean up and prepare for two ceremonies where the head of tzanchanim and the heads of some battalions were switched. It was obviously a pretty uneventful week except for one particular instance. At a certain point, I was sweeping the street in front of the building that holds the office to the head of tzanchanim (Machat). He and another high ranking officers were walking around the area checking our progress. As they were passing me, the Rasar told me to pick a weed on the sidewalk. But before I could bend down and get it, the Machat, yes, the head of tzanchanim, who has been in the army for 25 years, bent down and picked it. So I guess no matter what rank you are, you never stop picking weeds. Then he actually asked my name and where I was from, to which I responded that I am from Toronto and doing Machal. In the past, he has made some comments about shortened tracks like hesder and machal. He also spoke to our machlacka which was somewhat of a treat.
The next shabbat I also stayed in but we were let out for Pesach, which is obviously nice, especially since my family is here in Israel visiting me. After the chag I spent about 20 hours on base before I went home for Shabbat and the Chag, and now I am enjoying a very lengthy 5 day break.
