Hey guys. As most of you know, I am in vacation mode right now, enjoying making my own schedule. I will write a post about that soon and what I have been doing in the army until now. But for now, with all my free time, I was thinking of posting information that would have helped me with my integration into the army. Therefore without further ado, here is the insider packing list that I would recommend to lone soldiers and this will give you guys some details and particulars of army life..
Bag: Don't take too many! There is no reason for taking more than one personal backpack to the army-seriously. The only time I can think of for taking two personal bags (on top of the two kit bag bets and one kit bag aleph) is if you are going to visit someone for the upcoming Shabbat and want to keep your Shabbat stuff separate from your gross army stuff.
I prefer taking one big personal bag with me to the army (I use the Garin Tzabar hiking backpack) for two reasons. The first is because backpacks have multiple pockets, allowing me to compartmentalize: valuable stuff such as the choger (army i.d. card), wallet, cellphone, iPod etc, kumta (beret), and keys in one, shoe polish and hygiene (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shaver if you need it, etc) in another, and so on and so forth. Other people prefer using the big green kitbag aleph. After bakum, they take it home, unload it and then use it for their personal stuff. I don't and this is the second reason- because I am in Nachal and we don't have personal rooms, I have nowhere to store change of clothes, hence my kitbag aleph functions as my shelf.
Clothing: Not including the first week, you really don't need a lot. This is what I bring back and forth as laundry in my bag to the army. Three white undershirts- one for madei aleph (dress uniform), two for madasim (workouts). Three pairs of thick army socks and two pairs of thin white socks for workouts. Two madei bet (normal uniform). One pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt, wool cap, neckwarmer, and gloves- for sleep in winter and indispensable for guard duty. One green thermal undershirt.
Hygiene: Deodorant, shower gel/shampoo, anti-fungal powder for the feet-believe me you don't want athletes foot, GoldBond-every guy will understand, toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss-extremely important.
Misc.: Any snacks or books that I have room for and my Tefillin (that I need for Friday and Sunday morning prayers).
Its not a lot, my bag is always fairly lightweight. The general principle is to pack as little as possible. Hope this helps to any future lone soldiers.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Reflection
This past Shabbat, I was walking to the synagogue with my adopted family. We were talking about the fact that I am going home (tonight!) and my adopted father turned to me and said that aside from making sure I relax, this trip home would be a great time for me to reflect on my journey so far.
I have thought about his statement, and its true, this is the perfect time to reflect on what I have gone through the past 7 months because yesterday I officially finished with my basic training and am about to have a two week leave in the U.S.
I have left the country of my birth where I had a perfect life to a kibbutz in Israel's beautiful but embattled southern region, joined the IDF as a combat soldier in an intense unit and slowly begin to integrate myself into Israeli society.
Here are my reflections so far:
1. Strengths/Weaknesses: I love rising to the challenge. The physical workouts, sprints, living in the field, e.t.c spur me to work hard. The more shitty the conditions are, the more I am pushed to give my all and I have found that I have reservoirs of strength I never knew about. I am competitive and I view the hard times simply as a competition; this gives me the strength to overcome whatever we are going through. What gets me down is the social aspect of the army- the complaining, the unmotivated soldiers, the childish/selfish behavior of my fellow soldiers. This, therefore, is my challenge: finding a way to take my strength when it comes to the physical aspects of the army and applying it to the social side.
2. Zionism/Motivation: Every lone soldier blog I read and everyone I talked with before doing the army told me that I would lose my motivation, that once in the army I would be "Shavuz:, an Israeli slang term for army depression, that my starry-eyed Zionism wouldn't last. I have not found that to be the case. I am still motivated and love this country with every fiber of my being. What is true is that I have been exposed to the reality of life in this country and in the IDF. Like any normal relationship, my expectations have been tempered by reality. But after moving here and being in the IDF, and seeing the valleys of life here, I am more convinced than ever of how right my decision was. I have no regrets and am proud of my decision.
3. Time: Easily the greatest enemy of every soldier. The hardest aspect of the army BY FAR to adjust to. The fact of someone else controlling your life down to the second, and I literally mean to the second, is not easy for a college graduate to get used to. The other aspect of time that is so hard to deal with is just how slowly or quickly it goes by. A four hour shift of guard duty. Ten minutes to set up an entire shooting range with full gear on. Eight hours of sitting in classrooms and being expected to remember all the material. Four minutes to change from dress uniform to normal uniform. Failing to meet the order and so three and a half minutes to get back into dress uniform and then do it all over again. 35 minutes for meals, only an hour each day to shower, organize your stuff, call people, and eat non-army food. Time that is not yours, but the army's- this is the hardest part of the army. But I will say this. After being in the army, you truly value just how precious time is. When I have free time to relax on the kibbutz on Shabbat, I savor every moment. Without being too cheesy, I love G-d that much more for His gift of Shabbat after starting the army, really. For all those who make their own schedule, realize how much it is a luxury and not a given.
4. Garin/Family: Of course there is no substitute for my family and I can not describe how happy I am that I get to see them in less than 24 hours! But there is no way I could do what I am doing without my Garin and adopted family. Knowing that I have 19 friends who I can call at any time and who will help me without a second thought is such a resource to rely upon. When I have had a long week filled with 18 year old Israelis, to be able to chill with my fellow Americans over beer and junk food, well, its just perfect. I really don't know how lone soldiers deal with the army without the Garin Tzabar framework.
Look out for more updates soon, I have plenty of free time all of a sudden to write.
I have thought about his statement, and its true, this is the perfect time to reflect on what I have gone through the past 7 months because yesterday I officially finished with my basic training and am about to have a two week leave in the U.S.
I have left the country of my birth where I had a perfect life to a kibbutz in Israel's beautiful but embattled southern region, joined the IDF as a combat soldier in an intense unit and slowly begin to integrate myself into Israeli society.
Here are my reflections so far:
1. Strengths/Weaknesses: I love rising to the challenge. The physical workouts, sprints, living in the field, e.t.c spur me to work hard. The more shitty the conditions are, the more I am pushed to give my all and I have found that I have reservoirs of strength I never knew about. I am competitive and I view the hard times simply as a competition; this gives me the strength to overcome whatever we are going through. What gets me down is the social aspect of the army- the complaining, the unmotivated soldiers, the childish/selfish behavior of my fellow soldiers. This, therefore, is my challenge: finding a way to take my strength when it comes to the physical aspects of the army and applying it to the social side.
2. Zionism/Motivation: Every lone soldier blog I read and everyone I talked with before doing the army told me that I would lose my motivation, that once in the army I would be "Shavuz:, an Israeli slang term for army depression, that my starry-eyed Zionism wouldn't last. I have not found that to be the case. I am still motivated and love this country with every fiber of my being. What is true is that I have been exposed to the reality of life in this country and in the IDF. Like any normal relationship, my expectations have been tempered by reality. But after moving here and being in the IDF, and seeing the valleys of life here, I am more convinced than ever of how right my decision was. I have no regrets and am proud of my decision.
3. Time: Easily the greatest enemy of every soldier. The hardest aspect of the army BY FAR to adjust to. The fact of someone else controlling your life down to the second, and I literally mean to the second, is not easy for a college graduate to get used to. The other aspect of time that is so hard to deal with is just how slowly or quickly it goes by. A four hour shift of guard duty. Ten minutes to set up an entire shooting range with full gear on. Eight hours of sitting in classrooms and being expected to remember all the material. Four minutes to change from dress uniform to normal uniform. Failing to meet the order and so three and a half minutes to get back into dress uniform and then do it all over again. 35 minutes for meals, only an hour each day to shower, organize your stuff, call people, and eat non-army food. Time that is not yours, but the army's- this is the hardest part of the army. But I will say this. After being in the army, you truly value just how precious time is. When I have free time to relax on the kibbutz on Shabbat, I savor every moment. Without being too cheesy, I love G-d that much more for His gift of Shabbat after starting the army, really. For all those who make their own schedule, realize how much it is a luxury and not a given.
4. Garin/Family: Of course there is no substitute for my family and I can not describe how happy I am that I get to see them in less than 24 hours! But there is no way I could do what I am doing without my Garin and adopted family. Knowing that I have 19 friends who I can call at any time and who will help me without a second thought is such a resource to rely upon. When I have had a long week filled with 18 year old Israelis, to be able to chill with my fellow Americans over beer and junk food, well, its just perfect. I really don't know how lone soldiers deal with the army without the Garin Tzabar framework.
Look out for more updates soon, I have plenty of free time all of a sudden to write.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Quick update
Hey guys, so I am about to have my break from the army that soldiers receive every 4 months or so and I will fly home to see my family in the States!!
During that time, I will fill you in on all the details and processes that I have done in the army when I have time to write. But basically, in the past few weeks, we have done a lot of shooting, I learnt how to shoot a machine gun, more marches and lots and lots of guard duty. Like I said, I will fill you in on all the details when I have a whole bunch of free time.
One last funny tragic note. I received a religious exemption to grow a beard during my army service. There was an accident in trimming my beard this past Thursday night and to fix it I had to reduce my beard to stubble. So please pray hard that I manage to keep my beard because after looking into the mirror I don't like my chances....
Fill you in soon and have a peaceful week.
During that time, I will fill you in on all the details and processes that I have done in the army when I have time to write. But basically, in the past few weeks, we have done a lot of shooting, I learnt how to shoot a machine gun, more marches and lots and lots of guard duty. Like I said, I will fill you in on all the details when I have a whole bunch of free time.
One last funny tragic note. I received a religious exemption to grow a beard during my army service. There was an accident in trimming my beard this past Thursday night and to fix it I had to reduce my beard to stubble. So please pray hard that I manage to keep my beard because after looking into the mirror I don't like my chances....
Fill you in soon and have a peaceful week.
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