Seven, GO!

Hey everyone,

Here is the latest installment. Life continues in the crazy IDF. The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of army life. We have shot a lot in the shooting range. We have progressed into shooting under time limits, night conditions, and a lot of practice. We have had additional krav maga sessions, learning and practicing for the army's fitness test, called the bochan maslul which includes jumping over walls, climbing up ropes, and crawling. Because I am a big guy, its really hard for me so I hope I will pass it.

We also have to constantly be checked on our preparedness for real time situations. This means that our magazines have to be filled with bullets, full canteens of water, etc. We are given an order called Seven, go! This means we have to put on helmets, knee pads, vest, unfold a stretcher, make a list of everything that is missing, clean our weapons, and do this all in seven minutes.

We have done two more marches, 6 KM and and 7 KM+1. The +1 means how many kilometers we do with the stretcher. Since I am the heaviest guy, I was carried on this march for the last kilometer. It was fun to be on the stretcher and watch the stars as my guys huffed and puffed carrying me!

In the past two weeks, we also had our swearing in ceremony at the Kotel. This is where you swear to defend the country. I had the best surprise of my life because the Sunday before the ceremony my father surprised me by buying a last minute ticket and coming. The army gave me a couple of of days off and I was able to show my dad around my kibbutz and tour with him. The visit recharged me and also reminded me of just how much I miss my family.

Well, army life continues and we slowly continue to get educated and transformed from boys into soldiers. The guys in my company are incredible except for a couple of idiots and I am enjoying my time there.

I am sorry I don't get to post too often, its just that i have such little free time. I will do my best to keep updating you.

N

A month in

Hello all,
Here is the quick update. I got accepted into the special brigade. I am still debating about whether to stay or not. The problem is that to do the special brigade requires more time and at 23 the question is it worth it. The tradeoff is between the specialized training and the time. I will let you know more as I go along.

That being said, I love the guys in my group. We are 14, 6 of whom are religious which is a big help to me, since I was worried that I would be the only religious guy in my group and feel isolated because of that. The guys are motivated and hard working, but also love to have fun. They come from all over Israel and a large number of them are kibbutzniks. Its nice to see that the secular ethos of serving the country is still around. I feel fairly confident in my Hebrew when I speak with them, though I sound like an idiot with my accent, but that should hopefully only improve.

So what have I been up to? I signed off on my gun and now have to carry it around everywhere, including when I sleep and go to the bathroom. Having a gun is a weird feeling. Coming from my suburban American background I thought it would be shocking to carry a gun, but to be honest, the gun is ANNOYING. It just gets in the way of everything and is just another thing to worry about not losing. If people lose their guns, they are in for a world of trouble as you can imagine.

Aside from that, the discipline has really kicked in. The commanders are really on top of us, most of our time is spent on stupid discipline, such as formations, morning inspections, and timed activities. Though they often yell at us, our commanders actually have great senses of humor and we try our best to make them laugh as much as possible. Throughout the day there are always plenty of moments when everyone is laughing which is a nice stress releaser.

This week was mostly spent in the shooting range. Our task was to be able to put three bullets in a target 25 meters away within 4 centimeters of each other. It took me a while but I accomplished it. Shooting is cool, though it is uncomfortable knowing that you are only learning how to shoot so that if it comes down to it you can harm or kill another human being. But that is what is required of us so that Israel survives, there is no other choice.

Aside from shooting, we also had classes on communications, improving and using our gear (straps for the gun, ropes on our canteens so that they don't fall out of the vest, etc), our first march- only 4 km and quite easy-, physical exercises: sit-ups, pushups, pull-ups, ropes, and krav maga. Krav Maga is quite insane. Its an hour of sprints, being in pushup position and pushing and shoving against opponents. The idea is to change us from civilians to aggressive, quick soldiers. While the first lesson was just sprints, the second lesson had us lining up against an opponent and trying to shove him to the opposite end of the court. I got paired with a  massive Israeli who is even bigger than I am. We had an epic battle and I think I won. By the end of the lesson we were all wiped. Unfortunately, a person in my group hurt his shoulder during this activity just to give you an idea of how physical the action was.

On Wednesday, an massive storm hit Israel. There was snow in the North and torrential downpours in the South (see below for pictures). Our tents were destroyed, flying in the air or being torn up by the massive winds and rain. The electricity on the base went out and we were forced to sleep in an auditorium between the seats. To be honest, it was a fun experience seeing the force of Nature in all her power. Anyways, on Thursday I was given a day off to deal with bureaucracy. I got a document which will let me leave the country even if I don't have an Israeli passport, and other little details pertaining to lone soldiers that I had to deal with. Then I got home.

Its only since I have been in the army that I began to truly appreciate how nice the kibbutz is. The laundry, the food, and of course the people in my garin and adoptive family make my life so much easier, though of course they are no match for my real family who I miss so much.

Today we went on a tiyul to see the flash floods that have sprung up all over the Negev due to the rains. It was stunningly beautiful. One of the rivers was called Nahal Gerar. This is of course from the Bible, Genesis 20:1. These rare moments when you realize that only in this country could you be in the same place where your forefathers lived and walked makes this whole experience worth it.

Shabbat Shalom!

In the Army

I finally started. On Wednesday the 20th, I spent a interminably long day at the induction center getting vaccinations, pictures taken, and generally poked and prodded as well as getting my uniform for the first time. I have to say it was a great feeling to put on the olive green uniform of the IDF. For the first time, I was a soldier protecting my country and it felt wonderful.

Wednesday night we drove to our base in Arad. There I had a interview with a social worker and was directed to the tent that I will call home for the next 4 months. I won't bore you with details about army life. Its enough to know that it is and isn't what you would think it is. The little stupid rules and regulations of every army about time, polishing your boots etc are true. But what I have found is that individual soldiers can really turn to their commanders about anything without feeling like they are going above their station. Maybe its an Israeli thing, but the flippant way soldiers talk to their superiors is funny and incredible.

Anyways, about me. I went to an intensive three day tryout last weekend for the special brigade of my division. I did this because the soldiers in this brigade are more motivated, more professional, receive better assignments and gear and on the whole it is a more interesting service. The companies in this brigade are specialized in things like communications, missiles, and recon so I am interested to see if I made the tryout and where I will be placed.

If you want to hear details about the tryout, message me and I will tell you but suffice it to say that it melded into a three day nightmare that consisted of army crawling over rocks and thorns, sprints, marches with 75 kg stretchers, group activities, digging trenches, eating combat rations (lots and lots of tuna) and drinking incredible amounts of warm water.

I am about to head off to the army tomorrow and its late but hope you guys enjoy the image:

Drafting on Wednesday!

Well, I have not written in a long time and so much has happened, I don't know where to begin.

Our Garin presentation to the kibbutz went quite well. Here is the video that we made (its in Hebrew however): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHa8fsEB8ts

On the Friday, November 8th, the news finally came in. I am drafting into the Nachal infantry division of the IDF. I am very happy because this division is known for having very good conditions for lone soldiers and in general having a high quality soldier. I was-and am- very nervous and excited.

Anyways, after the weekend where we presented our name, גרעין אית"י, which stands for the Land of Israel, Torat Israel, on Sunday, we went to the Palmach museum in Tel Aviv which, though I have been there already, was always interesting. We then had another interminable ceremony with Garin Tzabar and an Israeli politician, Danny Dayon. I don't know what the organization's obsession is with ceremonies, but what can you do.

That night, we were woken up in the middle of the night by our staff and were forced to do a stretcher run (where we run with people on stretchers while carrying them on our shoulders) to mark the end of the absorption period. They had an officer who was in an elite unit of the IDF run the exercise. The guy even brought a smoke grenade to make us run through. The guys carried the girls for 2k+, needless to say people were upset since we weren't in the army yet and it was the middle of the night.

Tto top it all off, the next day, that Monday was a day long competition with the organization called Acharai. This organization was the one that ran workouts for us and this day was a competition versus other Garinim. Due to certain factors, the girls of our Garin were not there so it was just guys and we had a blast. For example, one activity was to pad an egg, throw it as far as possible and hope that it wouldn't break. One of the guys in our group had a hard-boiled egg for lunch and so when they weren't looking we swapped the eggs and threw the hard-boiled one. At the end of the day, we found out that we won and we all celebrated by going crazy.

The next day, we went on our 3 day tiyul up to the Golan. We visited Caesara on the way up, and then did hikes through the Golan as well as going to a chocolate factory. It was a great time and now we are here, a few days before my draft!

I plan on visiting people in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and then packing before the big day.

Nate

Quick update

I left off about whether or not I would decide to get the combat envelope or not. I decided on combat, and will post my reasons why below. I am still waiting on the army to get back to me for my job and so I am frustrated because I don't know exactly where they will place me.

Aside from that, life is GREAT. The past two weeks have been some of the best in my life. I love the group of people in my Garin, we have a great blend of serious, funny, nerdy, and all-around good people. We are making a movie to present to the kibbutz what we decided to be our name. Stay tuned, when it is done, I will post it here. I love my adoptive family, we are slowly getting closer and they let me do my laundry by them which is a huge favor. Apart from that, I am working on my Hebrew and working out. I feel good and excited for the army. Our staff has calmed down a lot and gives us much more free time and leeway and so everyone is super happy. In other news, I started on the process of getting my Israeli license and already took a few lessons. Aside from parallel parking which makes no sense, I felt confident on the roads.

Miss you guys. Stay in touch.

Here is what I wrote to my family explaining my decision to go combat:

Hey guys,

            I am writing to explain my decision to accept the combat envelope and become a combat soldier. On the most basic level, I am 23 years old and I am the age where I make my own decisions such as this one. Nonetheless, I want to explain myself so that you understand my motives and goals and maybe one day even come to support this.

            I don’t need to explain the religious and Zionist reasons that caused me to make aliyah, after all I learnt and imbibed them in our house. In regards to combat or not, looking at the decision dispassionately, why do it if the country is not requiring me to do it by law? After all, there are non-combat roles where I can contribute to the country.

While this is true, the simple fact is that Israel DOES need combat soldiers. There needs to be someone manning the borders 24/7, there needs to be someone who is trained to deal with all eventualities. I know that the country by law doesn’t require me to do combat, but I personally could not live with myself knowing that I had the capabilities and motivation to protect the country but did not. My degree and schooling are not going anywhere, but this is the only opportunity I have to do this. I feel that if I am going to live here, then as my blood is no redder than any other Israeli, I have the responsibility to give my best to the IDF. I also think that in opposition to what you guys have been saying, the IDF is best served by my serving as a combat soldier. The non-combat roles are given to those with medical issues or incredible intellects; my biology degree is perhaps only useful as a doctor which I do not want to do in the first place. I want to serve, I am highly motivated and physically fit, as such I think that I have a responsibility to do this and furthermore I think that my being a religious oleh can serve as an example to the other Israelis in my unit.

I know that I will be putting myself in harm’s way and causing you guys worry. Combat soldiers are the price Jewish independence demands, however, there is simply no way around it. I am no better or worse than the average Israeli who causes the same reaction in his own family.

I am also not an idiot, I am not doing this to be a hero or think that the service will somehow be “fun”…it will be long, painful at times, boring and full of unmotivated Israelis. But this is for me to do because I feel that I have to do this and as such, I will deal with it.

I am not asking you for to be happy with this decision or even understand it. All I can ask is that you respect my decision and know that it has been in the making for over five years, it is not a spur of the moment thing.

Summary of all the listserv email that I already have sent out.

Aug. 21st

Hey guys, 

So like I told you, I made a listserv where I could give quick updates about my life here in Israel. If you want to add people or leave the listserv, feel free to do so.

Well I am here! It is absurd how quickly one becomes a citizen in Israel (at least if they are Jewish). I now possess my Teudat Zehut (the Israeli version of a social security number) and a bunch of other documents to help me navigate the horrendous Israel bureaucracy. After dealing with the Ministry of Absorption and Ministry of Interior and others I can say that the Israeli bureaucracy is horrible, but if you take things in stride, all it came down to was waiting in a few lines. The program I am on is called Garin Tzabar and they have a lot of pull with the army and government which also helped with us in skipping lines and getting preferential treatment.

After I landed, I met friends from Israel and friends from Providence who have made aliyah and they greeted me at the airport. It was an incredibly moving moment for me, especially because on the flight over I didn't feel anything after waiting for this moment for 5 years so it was great to see my friends and sing Hatikvah with them.

After spending the first night in my second cousin' apartment in Holon, I went to a ceremony in Tel Aviv for my program Garin Tzabar (which helps lone soldiers get into and navigate the army) and then went to the kibbutz. The kibbutz itself is incredibly beautiful. There are professionals here, as well as farmers who grow avocados, tomatoes and especially carrots. The food is great and I really like my group. The kibbutznikim themselves are not so friendly, but that is more of a function of their culture than any feelings against us, it is just very hard to connect with such a closely knit group of people when you are the "outsiders".

After a boring first week of bureaucracy and icebreakers, we as a group along with our staff from a. garin tzabar, b. the army (two "Mashkiot tash", basically two girls who are here to help us recognize the army from top to bottom), and c. t he kibbutz are finally doing activities preparing us for the army. On my free time, I have been reading and working out and working on my Hebrew language skills.

Thats it for now. You can reach me on a local American number if you want to call. Its 1-914-775-5245, just remember the time zone differences (i.e if you live on the East Coast dont call past 5 pm etc)

Thanks,

Nate

Sept. 8th

Hey everyone,

Today I had my Tzav Rishon. The Tzav Rishon translates to the first callup. I arrived at the army induction center in Beer Sheva. After registering my name, I had an interview with a soldier (almost all of the soldiers at the center were female) to check my contacts and education. It felt weird to give them my transcript and diploma as most of the time they are dealing with 18/19 year olds out of high school. After this I did an Hebrew test that tested my speaking, reading and writing skills. I am sure that I aced the speaking part but wasn't so confident with the reading and writing skills. Nevertheless on the whole, I think that I did okay on the test and was impressed with myself that I spoke the entire day in Hebrew without stumbling too much.

After this I took an intelligence test. The test was on a computer and gave us geometric patterns and figures to match and figure out the missing piece to patterns or a matching figure. The test was timed and the last few questions were extremely difficult, so I wasn't able to answer the last three questions. I felt confident up until that point, however, so I am not too worried about it. I receive my Hebrew and intelligence scores in a few days. The scores are extremely important as they determine which tasks I can and cannot do in the army (such as the ability to become an officer or other advanced roles).

The final steps were a medical checkup (after a slight hiccup) in which I received a clean bill of health (97, the classic Israeli joke is that the reason it isn't 100 is because jewish boys get circumsized) and had a conversation about my status as an lone soldier. As a lone soldier, I get more vacation days and a higher salary, so it is important to know my rights.

In other news, I have been working out hard to get into top fitness. I am integrating more and more into the kibbutz and I am having a very pleasant time here. It is beautiful, I love the group I am with and the food is fine.

The final thing of interest to happen to me was yesterday when I met my adoptive family on the kibbutz. They are an older couple (the husband is a Sabra, the wife an Australian immigrant) with seven children (all grown up). They are extremely nice and supportive so I am very excited to get to know them.

I want to wish you all an happy, healthy, successful and safe Rosh HaShana!

Love,

Nathan

October 6th

Hello everyone,

            It has been a very long time since I sent my last update and there are quite a few things to fill you in on. I will start off where I left off in the last update. After our Tzav Rishon where I got my profile as a soldier, we had some time off for the holidays. 

            I went to Beer Sheva to visit family friends for Rosh HaShana. They are Sephardi so it was very interesting to go to services that were completely different from what I recognized. It was very pleasant to get out of the kibbutz because by that point the group had all been feeling cabin fever. 

            After Rosh HaShana, ulpan started. Ulpan is the Hebrew word for the classes offered to new immigrants to learn Hebrew. The way our ulpan works is very interesting. The classes are taught by teachers from the Israeli ministry of education specifically for my program, Garin Tzabar. Our classes are taught in Kibbutz Magen, a kibbutz in the South. All the garinim (in Hebrew, "seeds") that live in the South (there are four of us: עלומים, מגן, כיסופים, חולית) go to Magen in the morning. There are four levels of Hebrew classes based off Hebrew tests that we took when we got to Israel. Thankfully due to both luck and my work in teaching myself Hebrew, I was placed into the highest level which is perfect. What I found when I started my classes in my level, was that aside from myself and another guy from my garin, every single student is the child of an Israeli family (who moved abroad) and grew up with Hebrew in the house. So while I received the highest level of classes, I am probably the "weakest" student in terms of speaking Hebrew. Every class for me is incredible therefore as I learn a ton of new vocabulary. Another benefit of the ulpan is that it gives structure to our day. Every day from 9 AM- 1 PM we are studying with our teacher- strictly in Hebrew and a very high level at that- and in the afternoon we have activities/breaks as opposed to the beginning days which were weren't well organized or filled with seemingly useless activities.

            I spent Yom Kippur in the yeshiva in Jerusalem that I studied in after high school, Eretz HaTzvi. It was wonderful to speak with the Rabbis I studied with after high school again and I had a very meaningful time which is exactly what I was looking for. 

            At about this time, I found out that I was eligible to go to יום סיירות. Yom Sayarot literally translates to "A day of cruises/exploration", but its practical meaning is a day of tryouts for the elite units of the IDF. Any potential recruit with a 97 health profile and a high intelligence score can be invited to this day of intense physical tryouts. If the recruit does well, he can then be invited to further tryouts for the top units in the army which are Sayeret Matkal (the unit that famously rescued the Israelis in Entebbe), Navy Seals 13 (the rough equivalent of US Navy Seals), Shaldag (the special forces unit of the air force, the ones who point lasers on targets for the air force to bomb), and 669 which is the search and rescue unit. One can also get invited to the tryout to be a captain of a ship or submarine in the navy.

           

            As opposed to American society, where one's education is an indicator of social standing (ie. Ivy Leagues vs first tier colleges etc); in Israeli society, where one serves in the army is the biggest indicator. The advantage to this as opposed to the US is that in Israel, the army is the great equalizer. The poor Ethiopian from a depressed development town in the Negev is placed in the same unit as a rich ashkenazi from north Tel Aviv and the only way to distinguish between the two is their behavior and abilities. 

            The downside to the army being the social indicator is that usually the way to advance in Israel is to use your army connections (as Israelis say "Protect"izia) and those who serve in the elite combat units make up the political and economic upper echelon of Israeli society and they help out their own. Those Israelis who don't serve (such as new immigrants who don't serve, or Haredim, or those with medical conditions) are at a huge disadvantage which is of course unfair. All things considered, to be invited to Yom Sayarot, pass it and advance is considered very prestigious in Israeli society. Since I only have to do two years of service, I am not considering these super elite units which all require at least 3-4 years of service. However, I wanted to go to the day since I wished to see my capabilities and put it on my resume. 

            A few weeks after arriving, the group as a whole had been doing two separate workout activities. One activity was and is run by a member of our kibbutz staff and basically consists of running a few kilometers and pushups/situps. Another activity was and is run by a group called Acharai (אחרי) and they basically have us play games and also do pushups/situps. On top of this, guys in my garin including myself, have been working out with running and chinups/pullups of our own. I write all of this as a preface to the actual day which I will explain in a little bit.

            I spent the first days of Sukkot in the Golan with family friends. The food was incredible and the views were breathtaking. The family I stayed at lives in a town/moshav (or settlement depending on your politics) called Avnei Eitan overlooking the Kinneret and the lifestyle there is very agricultural just like on my kibbutz. My hosts even raise a few goats in their backyard! I returned to the kibbutz for a relaxing Shabbat and then on Sunday I headed off to Yom Sayarot!

            I went with three other guys from my garin (the reason that so few went is that some people had medical problems such as glasses or breathing problems and others' Hebrew level wasn't high enough). We were all required to wear white t-shirts, shorts, running shoes and hats. We arrived to the train station in Rishon LeTzion to find hundreds of 18 year old Israelis waiting in the station. After showing our paperwork to the soldiers waiting for us in the station, we boarded buses to an army base on the beach. There we filled out more paperwork, had a medical checkup, received numbers (I was 279) that we had to write in magic marker on our t-shirts and then we were all herded to shade structures to await further instructions. There were about 500 guys there, all very motivated and pumped-up. It turned out that due to the heat, we wouldn't run on Sunday. Normally, they make the tryouts run 2000 meters and based on their results split the groups into smaller groups of about 20 people. All the running we trained for in activities went to waste as we didn't even run the 2K. Instead of running, we went a field surrounded by sand dunes and literally picked weeds and rocks. The official explanation was that because we were going to run in this field, they wanted us to pick up the roots and rocks to prevent injuries but I think it was because they wanted to play mind games with us. It must have made for a hysterical sight for the commanders to watch 500 guys running around picking up weeds and rocks.

            After more useless bureaucracy (i.e. giving us 15 minutes to eat dinner and then after the 15 minutes were up, asking if people were still hungry, and giving those who answered yes another 30 minutes to eat while the rest of the tryouts had to wait in the sand- so they could have just given everyone 30 minutes to eat and everyone would have been fine), we went to bed (sleeping bags on the sand). We were woken up at 4 am and had breakfast which consisted on white bread sandwiches with chocolate spread. The 500 guys were then randomly split into groups of about 20 people each and assigned to a specific commander.

            Our commander must have been at least in his mid 30s and had not an ounce of fat or softness to him. He instructed us to pick up equipment that had been assembled overnight. It consisted of 4-5 jerrycans full of water, each of which weighed around 30 pounds or so, a stretcher, 20 small iron shovels, and a beach chair for him to sit on. We set up the equipment on the top of a very tall, steep sand dune and were counted one last time before the day began. The first activity consisted him telling us to dowind sprints from the top of the sand dune to a certain point and back. I have to admit that I was in complete shock. It was 5 AM in the morning, my body felt sluggish and after two sprints, I was completely spent. The sand pulls at your feet and fills your shoes. The incline of the sand dune is incredibly steep and makes your muscles seize up and all you can think in your head is why the hell I am here? The day is absolutely voluntarily and you can drop out at any time. After the third or fourth sprint, about 4-5 guys gave up and I thought to myself, that is it, I will give up also because there is no need for me to do this. Thankfully, due to my stubborn nature, I kept on doing the sprints even though by this point I was consistently last or second to last. This was bad news because the commander writes down who finishes in which order and can even tell people they have to stop. Somehow I made it to the first break after about a half-hour to forty-five minutes of the sprints, and at that point I said if I can make it this far I can do the rest.

            The second activity consisted of the same sprints but with a twist. The first 4 people to make it back to the top of the dune receive the privilege of carrying the stretcher filled with seven sandbags (around 180 pounds I estimate). The next two people get the privilege of carrying a jerrycan of water. The point is to see the motivation of the recruits. Those who push to be first even though they know they will have to carry the heavy equipment are given higher points. By this point, I had caught my breath and was acclimated to the day and I did better on this activity. I carried the stretcher twice and the jerrycans 2-3 times (going up the sand dune with the equipment was quite possibly the most intense physical workout I ever did. If you want to get in shape- come tryout for Israeli special forces!). By this point another hour had gone by. The third activity was the easiest for me and the most fun. They gave us the shovels and told our group that each person had 15 minutes to dig a hole a meter long, a meter wide and a meter deep. I think I did quite well on this activity. The final activity consisted of running to a point and back to the commander, picking up a sandbag and going up the sand dune and back down to the commander, then crawling on elbows and legs to the same point we had ran to previously and back to the commander and all of this was considered one rotation. We were told to do as many as we could. I did 7 before being told to stop and was happy with myself as 7 was a good number in our group. By the point we finished the physical portion of the day. All told it was 3 and half to 4 hours of non-stop brutal physical workout and I was extremely happy just to finish. Of the 18-20 people who started in our group, only 12 lasted to the end of the day. I would say of the 500 total I would guess-estimate that 375 finished the day. The best recruits got invited to Matkal, next best to Navy Seals 13, the next to the captain of ships/submarines tryouts, and the last group was the group that finished the day but didn't show enough to be invited to anything. I was invited to the tryout for the captain of ships/submarines which is a 7-8 year service. I won't do it, of course, but it was gratifying to hear that I got invited to something.

            After the day was over, I and the other guys rejoined our Garin which had been doing an seminar in the hills surrounding Jerusalem titled "Connecting Israeli Society" where Israelis from all sectors of society, religious, secular, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian all hike to Har Herzl in Jerusalem. We got there in time to listen to a concert by my favorite Israeli artist Mosh ben Ari and others and do the final section of the hike today to the military cemetery. As you can imagine, I was sore all over but it was still fun to hike with my garin and enjoy the views of Jerusalem.

            I am on the kibbutz for the final days of sukkot and will be here doing ulpan until I get drafted. I will update you all soon. 

מועדים לשמחה

Nathan

Oct. 22nd 

Hey guys, here is the latest update. (I added a bunch of people, if you want the previous updates, I can e-mail the thread to you separately.)

I left off the last one with me getting accepted to do a testing day to be a naval officer in ship/submarine in the Israeli navy on a Sunday. I spent the Shabbat before this day in Raanana, which is a city with a lot of Anglo immigrants. I had Friday night dinner with immigrants who have really made it big in Israel. The host works for an multi-national renewable energy company and his wife is the head of the Go North program of Nefesh B Nefesh, another is the head of customer service for El Al etc. It was very interesting to be there because the prevailing narrative of making aliyah is that you will eke out an existence in Israel and their experience was the opposite, which shows that with the correct combination of luck, skill, and hard work, people still have the ability to live well in Israel.

On Sunday, I showed up to Tel HaShomer which is a giant army base located in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv. I was sent to the navy section of the base. I would estimate that there were about 75-100 people there. Names were called, and then we were given a test where we had to fill in the blanks of a lot of sentences in Hebrew in a short amount of time; the test was designed to see if recruits could think on their feet to finish the task at hand within the allotted time frame. We were then given a 20 page booklet where we listed practically everything we had ever done in our life...education, work, sports teams, volunteering etc as well as wrote a personal essay.

Then groups of people were called into a computer testing room to take tests (in Hebrew) for about 3-4 hours. Our first test was information about ships. Since the test was in advanced Hebrew on a subject I didn't know anything about, I had to guess on a ton of questions since I simply did not understand either the question, answers, or both. The next test was on general information and it was the same story...the Hebrew was simply out of my league. Complicating matters, some of the questions were hard English words, in Hebrew, such as Q. "What was Cubism?" A. An artistic movement (but try doing that all in Hebrew!)

The next tests were mathematical such as how to get ships from point A to B while factoring in wind, current, and direction of the ship and graphs/physics. I did really well on these tests, I think. At the end of the day, I was not invited back, probably because of my Hebrew, so there ends the chance of me being a naval officer, but the process was fun while it lasted.

Aside from that, everything is going pretty well. Working out hard with guys in my Garin and aside from some tension with the staff, we are getting more say in what activities we do on a daily basis so I think our last month before the army will be awesome. Our Garin is supposed to get an official name, and my roommate and I were chosen to lead the process in naming our Garin. Being a religious Garin, I am looking for suggestions from the Tanach that relate to immigrants to Israel/adapting to a new situation, so all suggestions are valued, thanks.

The final big news update is that up until yesterday or so, I was led to believe that the army would send me an envelope listing all the available options for me in the army, I would choose my top ones and then the army would then have the final decision on where I am sent. It turns out however, that all males above age 22 are given an envelope of ONLY non-combat options, but if they so request, they can receive an envelope of ONLY combat options. 

We have girls from the army whose job is to help us draft into the army. Based on previous conversations with them where I told them that I either wanted to use my degree for something biological/technical or combat; the girls told the army to send me an envelope of combat options. Now I am checking to see if I can choose both combat and non-combat roles, but if I can't, I have to decide whether I want the combat or non-combat envelope. That decision is a huge one, obviously, and I will let everyone know what I decide, but this decision is one that I have to make based off myself, not others.

That is it for now, this Shabbat I am on the kibbutz and next Shabbat being parshat Chayei Sarah which of course mentions the burial of the Biblical matriarch Sarah in the Cave of Machpela in Chevron, thousands of Israelis head to Chevron to the site and I am planning on heading there myself to experience the weekend.

Shabbat Shalom,

Nate

Introduction

Hey everyone. I started this blog as a natural outgrowth of the list-serv that I made to keep my family and friends updated on my new life in Israel as a citizen and soon to be soldier. I will be back soon to publish a chronological list of the updates I have sent out and a couple of other documents. I would love to hear back from you guys so please comment or shoot me an e-mail at nsjaphet@yahoo.com.

Nate

P.S.

Here is a letter I wrote explaining my decision to make aliyah and serve in the IDF a few months ago right before I flew over here:

Why I am Making Aliyah

            Dear friends and family, I am writing this letter so that I can I get down in writing all of the different reasons, thoughts and emotions that are pushing me to make this decision.

In a certain sense, this decision is very selfish of me. I will be leaving you for a foreign country, where I won’t be able to see you on a regular basis. This is probably the biggest obstacle for me making aliyah: I of course want to be close to you because I love you all and even more important; I would never want to cause pain or worry to anyone.

I also understand the serious threats facing Israel from its lovely neighbors, I understand that life there can be difficult, and that I am passing up on the opportunity to make a lot more money comfortably here.

So what are my reasons for making aliyah to Israel and enlisting in the IDF?

One: As a religious Jew (or at least one who tries to do as best he can), it is not enough to be moral people and follow Jewish law. I think that religious Jews living outside of Israel must ask themselves: what am I doing here? If we sacrifice to keep kosher and Shabbat, to send our kids to private Jewish schools, and a whole host of other things, are we unable to sacrifice for the land of our forefathers? It is a religious value of the Jewish people that we are supposed to be a light unto the nations. The only way we can achieve this value if we have a place of our own to disseminate our values and way of life. In whatever small way I can, I want to contribute to that vision.

Two: I love Israel, its culture, its people, and the physical landscapes. There is just a feeling there that I don’t feel anywhere else. It is our home and there is a feeling that everyone is in it together. It is simply the Jewish home in every way. I identify myself as a Jew. I don’t view myself as an American who happens to follow the Jewish religion. Being Jewish is not just about the religion, but also about being part of a people. The Jewish people have one land, Israel, and that is where I want to live.

Three: This is the first time we have had a state in over 2000 years. Israel is the greatest Jewish experiment of the past century. Through this experiment we have literally re-established a dead language, created the first authentic Jewish army in 2000+ years, built a vibrant economy, press and Hebrew culture. Israel is still young enough that everyone who lives there has a chance to change it for the better in some small way. How could I live on the sidelines? In some small way I feel like I can help Israel become even greater than it is today.

Four: When the early Zionists were thinking about creating an Israel, one of their major goals was to create a “new Jew”. What they meant was that they didn’t want Jews to be viewed as weak, scholarly, and lacking the spine to stand up for themselves. They wanted Jews to return to being strong, independent and nationalistic people living proudly in their land. Unfortunately, in the process, they cut off many Jews from Judaism and their history. I think however that part of their message is still important. I want to be a proud and strong religious Jew living in my land; no dual loyalty accusations, or hand-wringing, or “what will the goyim say?!” sentiments. I look forward to the issues confronting Israel: how to integrate the ultra-Orthodox, how to deal with minorities, where is the line between religion and State, etc. I look forward to these problems because they are our issues, Jewish issues that will require organic Jewish solutions.

I hope that you understand through these admittedly disjointed jottings why I am making this big step. Now the question you are probably asking yourselves is why I am putting myself in harm’s way to serve in the IDF as a combat soldier? (A word of background, as a 23 year old, I am only required to do 6 months of service)

The simple answer is: who else? I fully understand that I am not required to serve in the army by strict Israeli law, but my convictions tell me otherwise. If I want to live in Israel where native Israelis give the best three years of their lives in order to defend our independence, who am I to shirk from the shared responsibility? I want to be able to live in Israel knowing that I too went through hell for the right to live here.

My blood is no redder than any other Israelis. The truth of the matter is that at times you have to be willing to sacrifice everything for what you believe in. I believe that those who have the ability to donate of their bodies and time to our country, the one and only, have the responsibility to do so.

I hope that you understand that I know that I sound like a hopeless idealist. But in fact, I have spoken with many Israelis, and I know that many of them are dying to get out of army service and dream of making it to America or Europe. I will not be joining an army that doubles as a Zionist army camp. It will be difficult, boring, excruciating, and tiring and the soldiers in it will not be motivated. My reasons still stand, however. I am doing this for my own sake, to know that I did my part. I am NOT doing this to be a Rambo or play at being a soldier. I fully appreciate the seriousness of what I am doing. This is a decision I have arrived at after five years of thinking and deliberating on.

I hope you understand in some small measure why I am doing this and hope you know how much I appreciate you and your support, especially in the following years.

In terms of logistics, I am participating in a program called Garin Tzabar. This program takes young diaspora Jews/ sons and daughters of Israelis living abroad and provides them with a framework and a group of people who are making the same decision. The group is meant to serve as a framework with which to support one another on this process. My group is religious and we will be based on a religious kibbutz called Alumim, located in the Negev. The kibbutz will see to my room, food and laundry, thus freeing me of those concerns during my time in the army.

            After the army, I plan on going to graduate school and making my life in Israel and I look forward to seeing you all visit or move here!