Kayaking Wars

That was by far one of the funnest weeks I have ever had in the army, probably because it hardly felt like we were in the army at all this week. As part of the gdud's transition from being in training to starting a new kav; we had a week of relaxation and activities to give us some breathing space before we start 'kav tsafon' (northern border guarding) next week.

Before I talk about this week, there are far more important things that I need to mention on this blog; mainly the farewell of both my 'mem pey' (company commander) and 'mem mem' (platoon commander). For me personally, these two officers have been, without a doubt, the best two commanders I have had in my service so far and so it was incredibly momentous to see them leave. First of all, my 'mem mem', Itay, has been my officer and platoon commander for almost a year now and I can remember meeting him for the first time back last year when I returned to Israel after being home for a month. I even said to him that there had been a mistake me being placed in his platoon as most of the guys from my previous 'mahlaka' had gone to another company, so I told him that I wanted to move there instead. He told me not to worry and that everything will be ok and despite being apprehensive about him and the new 'mahlaka' at first, I am now so happy that I ended up where I am today (which happens to be better than the other company). He is a great officer; always a professional and a leader when we were in Gaza and always a fantastic example for all of us when we were in training. I really do think he's a top notch guy, I mean he didn't get 'mitstayen mahat' (brigade commander's outstanding soldier) for nothing, and that's why he deserves the appreciation that I'm giving him now. Also for me personally, he was always there to help me with any problems I had, especially when going out of his way to make sure I got the full time off to be with my parents or allowing me to get out all those 'hamshushim' to sort things out at home. It's the end of an era and my new 'mem mem', who also seems like a good guy too, has a big pair of shoes to step into.



Back with my old friends from the gdud.


If I'm going to dedicate a whole paragraph to my old platoon commander, then, "M", my company commander deserves one too. Even if I'm including my 'mem pey' from commanders' course, then I've still only ever had three company commanders during my serice but even if I were to have thirty three I still don't think anyone could even come close to "M". Again, this is a man who I would be perefectly comfortable to walk behind in any sort of situation; calm, collected, simply the most apt soldier or officer I have ever seen. Despite being completely fixated on the task at hand, "M" was always there for me too, phoning me during 'makim' and also when I was with my parents. I will never forget how during kav, we noticed that he frankly did not have any time to sleep whatsoever and whenever I was doing 'ma'azin' (guard duty within the company area) I would always see him walking about, whether it was 2, 4 or 6 in the morning! All his outstanding work as a company commander has clearly been observed, since he is moving onto something far more impressive and going to be a 'mem pey' at a very secret unit, of which I am not at liberty to say, but believe me it is right up there at the top and I have no doubt that he will succeed there, depsite its incredibly high standards. So, good luck to both of my old commanders and thanks for all you've done in making my service a fantastic experience.














The whole tzanchanim brigade enjoying the concert.

Since returning to the gdud, there has been a new development within my company and something that affects my platoon in particular in a very good way. While I was away, soldiers from the August '10 draft, have joined my company and are, therefore, the youngest platoon in the 'pluga'. This has profound affect on us as, although we still aren't veterans (that's after two years in the army - only another four months for my platoon), we aren't the youngest anymore, meaning we don't have to do all the duties (kitchen, company, guarding etc.) as much. It hasn't stopped completely and it's not like we can just lounge around all day since we still have to send a soldier or two every day to do stuff, but if there is some shlepping or cleaning to do, then the guys from Aug '10 are picked on as opposed to us. It really does signal the gradual progress of my army service and finally it's our turn to dish out some abuse rather than to receive it, for once we are not the most 'tse'irim' (youngsters) in the gdud and we can use the small experience we have to our advantage, for example, in kitchen we can now refuse to do the dishes, instead this priveledge is at Aug '10's expense!!!

The lone soldiers of tzanchanim.

As I was saying, this week was probably the most un-army like week I have ever had. It all started with the tzanchanim sports day on sunday, which involved around ten people from each gdud, meaning for the most of the day we all just slept, sunbathed and hung about with friends from other battalions. The sports day was followed by the annual 'tzanchanim evening' which consisted of a show courtesy of a famous Israeli pop star, videos, awards and speeches from all the high ranking officers, including the new brigade commander. The next couple of days did involve a little bit of urban combat training, which I did less than a month ago in 'makim', but it was very relaxed and not taken seriously due to it being the final week of the training period. In addition to all this, we had an 'erev mahlaka' (pizza take away in honour of Itay leaving), 'erev pluga' (barbeque in honour of "M" leaving) and 'erev gdud' (a formal ceremony in honour of finishing the training and the transition to kav). Lastly, in celebration of the last week of the training, the whole gdud did kayaking on wednesday and went to a water park on thrusday. Of course, this was great fun but what was so funny for me was the attempt of stating rules at the start of both these trips. For instance, before we started the kayaking, we were told by one of the instructors that jumping in the water, fighting, using the paddles as weapons, taking off the lifejackets and much more childish/fun behaviour was not allowed. Now think about who she was talking to; a company of fifty combat soldiers, overjoyed to be finishing a three month period of being in the shetach every week and who also happen to be Israeli (mad enough by itself)! As you can imagine complete chaos ensued; none of the so-called rules were listened to and after approximately two minutes of paddling, an all out war broke out between the different 'mahlakot' (platoons). Soon this turned into a massive unification of everyone against the Aug '10 platoon and we all proceeded to dunk those 'tse'irim' into the water and attack them with the paddles!!!

It's sunday tomorrow and that can only mean one thing, back to the army. This week my platoon is undertaking explosives' training, as part of our speciality as an explosives platoon. From there, we are off to the Lebanon border to start three months of 'kav tsafon'. We'll be doing exits of 17:4, like I did in Gaza, so when I am next back home I will report on the new kav and what the next three months of my army service will entail.

Back to the Gdud

It has been an eventful week for me; I returned to the gdud after being on course makim for the last four months and am now back in my original company as a 'hapash' (regular soldier). This means that I wasn't given a role as a commander for the time being and I will certainly be touching on this in the blog.

So last Sunday, I went back to my gdud, battalion 101, for the first time since before I left for commanders' course back in March when we were still in Gaza doing kav. It was great to go back, see everyone and catch up on all that's been happening in the last couple of months. Currently, the gdud has just finished a period of training in the shetach of the Golan Heights (much like I did when I joined the gdud after finishing my basic and advanced training a year ago), so when I came back, everyone was quite sick and tired from the previous months of doing exercises in the shetach. After catching up with all my friends, I had a interview with the 'magad' (battalion commander) to find out where I would be going, as did everyone from 101 who had just finished makim. While some got sent to be commanders of basic training back at the tzanchanim base, others are now commanders of more veteran soldiers within the gdud. I was sort of expecting to be given a job in the 'plugat maslool' (soldiers who have just arrived in the gdud) but was disappointed to be told that I wasn't being given anything for the time being and was to return to my original platoon to be a 'hapash'. Before, I get started on this whole decision and what it means, I do want to mention how in the interview with the 'magad', after slashing my dreams of being a commnander, the 'magad' then proceeded to small talk with me about London and football. I think he was genuinely interested by this, but due to feeling rather letdown by him, I somewhat rudely brushed off his questions, saluted him and walked out his office; his secretary seemed most surprised by this act of 'chutzpah'!!!

This picture perfectly captures the current state of my platoon - in need of lots of bandages!!!

So I didn't get a 'tafkid' (role) as a commander and I was bitterly disappointed, to say the least. After all the hard work I had put in during course makim and the great score I had come out with, I still wasn't going to be a commander. Instead, I was back to my platoon and went back to living the life of a 'hapash'; a life of guarding, company duty and listening to orders. There's no point trying to hide how sad and angry I felt on Sunday and it was a very bitter pill to swallow. It was the first time in a long time that I've truly felt sort of hopeless with myself and the immediate thoughts of mine were that I just wanted to get out of the army and out of Israel in general. These were undoubtedly very irrational thoughts and I did eventually realised this, however, the frustration of not getting a tafkid is still very much on my mind. I think for me the problem is that up until now, I have always been lucky/successful in my army service, whether that was getting into tzanchanim, always getting time off whenever my parents have been here or getting into commanders course. However, this time I haven't been so fortunate and I needed to accept the fact that I can't always get what I want. It took a couple of days, but I finally accepted the decision and have slowly returned to my old routine in the army.

I was back merely a day and already in the shetach.


Being a 'hapash' isn't all that bad. There are definitely disadvantages, like the whole guarding and duties, but being a 'hapash' also means a very easy and simple service. No headache of being responsible for other soldiers, no stress of having to sit in meetings with the platoon commander; don't get me wrong these were all things I was happy and prepared to do as part of being a commander, but now that I don't have to, well, it's fun to be lazy too. The best thing about being a 'hapash' again, means I can keep on to all the lone soldier rights that would of been difficult for me to have held onto if I was given a tafkid. The most important of which, I have already put into motion by requesting my annual 30 days of 'meyuhedet' (special holiday back to England) for September. Once this is confirmed I will start to book flights and organise my trip back home, but the craving to go back there on holiday, which I haven't done for nearly a year now, has already begun and has been there for a while. So as much as I was really annoyed about not getting a tafkid, there is always a silver lining to every cloud and going back home for a visit is something that is extremely important to me. It is also worth mentioning that this decision is not permament, in fact, the 'magad' and both my company and platoon commanders said that by November or even before, positions will be opening up and because I am '08' (qualified to be a mefaked) then I am most certainly going to be a commander at some point or another. There are also some other opportunities of commander-style courses or things I can do for the meanwhile, but I won't go into these just yet.

My American friend carrying a mortat on his back!

Like I said, I returned to my platoon once again as a regular soldier and fell into one hell of a week, in fact, the final week of the gdud's 'imun' (training). Even before I had enough time to be officially inducted back into the gdud (as it takes a couple of days to fill out all the forms and sign on all the equipment and gun etc), I was already participating in everything that the company was doing, including the 'bohen pluga', a three kilometre company run with stretchers and full combat gear, on my first morning back! I thought that I needed to time to settle back into things and let the transition from makim to gdud sink in, but no time was given to me and for most of this week I was in the shetach doing battalion-level exercises. Incredibly, by the second day of being back at the gdud, I was leading the whole battalion from the front in one of the exercises due to the fact that I am in the 'hod' (tip of a spearhead battle formation - I know that sounds very intense!) of my platoon, which happened to be ushering the gdud. I may have wanted a quiet relaxed week, where I could re-integrate myself back into the gdud, but I was hardly expecting to be running up and down hills in the Golan Heights all week.

Walking back to base after yet another exercise.

As part of my return to being my 'hapash', I most certainly upkept my reputation as an oketz and happened to get out another(!) 'hamshoosh' to the dismay of the rest of the platoon, who couldn't quite believe their eyes when they saw me on aleph uniform, a mere twenty minutes after we got back from the shetach on thursday morning. Although, I did get out for a genuine reason but it typified the fact that I'm a 'hapash' once again. It was indeed very lucky for me that I got a 'hamshoosh' as this thursday night happened to be 'lila lavan' (white night) in Tel Aviv; a night where everything stays open until early hours of the morning. Most of the entertainment was happening on my street, Rotschild boulevard, and along with the city-organised water fight on Friday as well, I really can see how moving to Tel Aviv has expanded my weekend's enjoyment and the general liveliness of my time away from the army. This past week marked the one year anniversary of my 'masa kumta' (beret march) and it made me think back to the surprise my parents gave me when they turned up, completely unexpectedly to me, at the tekes. It was by far and still the best thing they have ever done for me and due to all the cirumstances, including the masa itself, it was definitely one of the best days of my life.

Tomorrow is the army of course and, since we have finished the 'imun' now, this week is more of a fill-in-the-gap week, whereby we have sports day, a trip and some other stuff to do. I should be home next weekend too, so I shall write another blog about where I'll be in the upcoming months when the gdud moves onto its next assingment, 'kav tsafon' (northern border guarding). For the meanwhile, 'shavua tov' to you all...

Finishing Makim

I can hardly believe that this past week I finished 'Makim' (commanders' course) and that as of yesterday, following the closing ceremeony in Dimona, I am officially qualified as a combat class commander in the IDF. Not only has the course itself flown by, but I also am starting to apprehend the incredible journey I have taken; from nervous little boy to now a commander in the tzanchanim.

This past fortnight in makim involved the concluding tests and exercises of the course, with the last week of the course being made up of usual end of army things, like barbeques, cleaning the pluga, giving back all our equipment and, of course, the ceremony, which was on thursday. So after returning from being home two weeks ago, we closed the weekend (pointlessly) and then from the start of the week we undertook the multifaceted 'bohen sof' (final exams) of the course.vIt was obviously quite a pressured couple of days as the 'bohen sof' is a culmination of everything we have learnt and been trained for over the last three months. The 'bohen sof' was made up of four parts; a written exam, a practical exam (on all the weapons), a final navigation and a fitness test. I did fairly well in all these parts, which gave me a good score, in fact the second best in my mahlaka. This score, in addition to my score from the midway test, all went toward my final grade from the whole course itself. Apart from the two big tests, the final grade is made up mostly of assessments from commanders in 'makim', who had been constantly judging my commanding ability throughout the course, my discipline and my general personality in the three months I was there. Along with the other exercises we did during the course (navigating, fitness, shotting and a lot more), it all comes together for one big final grade, which becomes your score from 'makim'. My final score is 87 (out of 100), which is actually a really good score and was in the top third of my mahlaka. Obviously for me this is extremely commendable considering all the difficulties I had with the language, but 87 is pretty admirable for any soldier regardless. This score I now take back with me to the battalion...

Posing after finishing our last exercise in the shetach.

So now I am qualified as a soldier of "08" ability, rather than the regular "07" that regular combat soldiers, i.e. non-commanders, reach once they've finished advanced training. Being "08", apart from the obvious result that I can be a class commander, also means that I am trained to execute a number of other procedures in the army, like performing security checks on one's gun and controlling a specific army veichle to name but a few. So what does the future hold for me in the army now that I am "08"? There are a number of different things that could happen to me, but it all settles down to the decision on whether I will be a commander or not. If not, which is a likely possibility due to a number of different cirumstances, then I will return to my mahlaka in the gdud as a 'hapash 08' (meaning a regular soldier who is a qualified commander). Obviously, the goal is to become a commander but by returning as a 'hapash 08', I will be able to keep hold of my rights as a lone soldier, like travelling home for a month in the summer (which I intend on doing), which would in other case be difficult to do as a commander. Tomorrow, when I have my interview with the battalion commander, he will tell me where I am going to be going, most likely I will return to my original company and from there it wil be up to the decision of the company commander. Like I said, it's quite unlikely that I'll get a 'tafkid' (role) as a commander immediately but in the coming months a spot will probably be made available. I will definitely be staying in the 'gdud' (battalion), as opposed to going back to the basic training base, which means that I could be a commander of soldiers in the battalion from a younger draft, like Novemeber '10 or August '10. Even though I'm probably going back to my platoon tomorrow as a regular soldier, becoming 08 means that possibilities are more open for me now. I go back to the battalion tomorrow and will find out everything when I speak to the 'magad' (battalion commander).

On each others' shoulders during Masa Yisraeli.

No matter what happens tomorrow, I am so happy that I went to 'makim' and I had an amazing experience (what it's all about for me) and I made such a lot of good friends, I would even say they're closest from my whole service. Although I still have a good nine months to go in the army and that becoming 08 potentially means a new type of chapter of my service could start, I sometimes look back at everything I've done as if it were the end and, to be honest, I'm not that far from the end already. Going to commanders' course was never a target of mine before or even once I'd joined the army, for me the Hebrew was always going to be problematic and I always considered myself a lazy soldier within my platoon, as opposed to one who excelled and led others. Despite all this, I got sent to 'makim' and even at the start I was still apprehensive about going, but now, I have to say it was probabaly one of the best things to have happened to me. Like I said, it was an incredible experience, I did things that other soldiers don't get to do and it's something I can keep with me for the rest of my life, as well as helping me in the future, on my C.V. for example. The course has made me a better and more professional soldier, knowing how to handle all the different types of guns, capably navigating at night without a map in the shetach and learning leadership skills can only enhance me as a person, let alone a soldier. Making such good friends has also been a big factor and it's nice to think that I've got friends now from all other the army and not just from tzanchanim. From being in the course, I can defnitely see how all the combat brigades are fantastic and pretty much the same; it's the people in them, these young Israeli boys that make them all so great. Saying that though, I do love it that I went to tzanchanim, being a "yellow, spoilt ashkenazi" definitely suits me and, even though everyone is the same, as I said two seconds ago, tzanchanim is definitely the best and has that special something about it!!!

Sports Day last week, we finished in last place but at least I led my platoon to the final of the football!

Two days ago, on thursday, was the final 'tekes' (ceremony) marking the end of course makim. It was a memorable day and monumental event considering I've now finished commanders' course, and, despite not having anyone come to the tekes for me specifically, it was still an emotional day. I'm never embarassed to speak the truth, my mind or what's in my heart on the blog, so accordingly, I can say that there was one moment during the ceremony where I was close to tears. The course itself has been extremely fulfilling in terms of the zionism that I seem to crave but at the tekes, it really hit me that I had reached the point of where I am today. I know I always seem to write how "I can't believe I've come this far... fulfilled my zionist dream... from North London boy to soldier" (!!!) but it's truly what always astounds me and now I am even a qualified combat commander! However, it is more than what I've done that got me at the tekes; instead it was looking around and seeing hundreds of young boys, standing in line as they finish 'makim' with their proud parents looking on that showed me the true meaning of why I came here. The overall commander of 'makim' put it perfectly as he gave us some last couple of words; he said that looking upon all of us made him so proud of Israel and of the Jewish nation, and that he's sure that Israel will forever be protected and will forever have the strongest army in the world, with us as the next generation. It truly reached me and I couldn't agree more as I gazed upon all the great guys who I was standing with at the tekes. I am truly thankful that I was given the opportunity to go to makim and have had this awesome experience.

Tomorrow, like I said, I return to the battalion to find out what is happeneing with me. The battalion is currently based in the Golan heights doing training so it's a long journey (or long sleep should I say) tomorrow morning. I don't know where I'll be, what I'll be doing or when I'll be next home, but I'll be sure to update everything in the next blog.

Some pictures from Thrusday's tekes:

Masa Yisraeli

An interesting couple of weeks have just passed; experiencing both the extremes of a week of shetach and then a week of education and soul-searching. Was just out for Shavuot and celebrated the festival at home in Tel Aviv.

I want to start this blog by expressing my extended gratitude to anyone who continues to read the blog. I was planning in saying something anyway, but an unintended meeting with someone who has been a keen follower of the blog and is now in the army himself reminded me of the importance of thanking all of you. As much as I write the blog for myself personally, as a way of expressing my thoughts and keeping a diary of my experiences, really the blog is for you guys. To know, through your feedback, that there are people all over the world who have found this blog and read it to understand the true ins and outs of the life of a lone soldier in the IDF is very humbling. Even more though, to hear that I inspire or even help to confirm people's intentions to come here themselves, is the greatest compliment I could ever get from doing this little project of mine. Although I don't respond personally to every comment posted, reading those sort of messages is the best feeling for me and is what pushes me to carry on doing the blog, even though sometimes it can become a bit of a chore. I am honestly very grateful to anyone who keeps up with my, far too frequent, drivel and thank you again for continued support and comments.

Leading a team (on the left) during group-boding games.


My first week back in the army following my last time being home, a long three weeks ago, consisted of urban warfare combat and, consequently, a week of shetach. I've done 'lashab' (urban warfare) a couple of times before, but this time there was definitely a different feel to the week. As I mentioned in the last blog, it seems to me that part of 'makim' (commanders' course) is teaching us to be extremely professional soldiers and to excel in all aspects of being a soldier. This includes 'lashab', so there was a clear emphasis on teaching us to excel in the week, rather than showing us the basics and doing standard exercises. We also practiced leading a class of soldiers into urban warfare, since this could ultimately be what one would have to do in times of war. It was the first time I've enjoyed a week of shetach in a long, long time and, aside from the exercises, we had a lot of fun climbing buildings, jumping through windows and kicking down doors in the fake city, where the training takes place. Halfway through the week, I was taken out the shetach, in order to go to the dentist to have a filling. I have had a few problems with my teeth during my service, I remember that I once chipped my tooth by falling over and have the gun hit my mouth during a shetach week in basic training. So, I went to the dentist (who was Russian, like ever other doctor in the army!) and had the filling without any complications, the problem, however, came soon afterwards once I returned back to the shetach. I went straight back to my mahlaka and continued the urban combat exercises, despite having considerable tooth ache and half my mouth being completely numb. Of course this led to hysteria amongst the mahlaka as I soon led an exercise with half my moth dragging on the floor, while shouting undistinguished orders due to my tongue hanging out the side of my mouth!!!

Entering a fake house as part of urban combat week, I'm the one kneeling.

I spent the whole of Shavuot here at home in Tel Aviv, where I have definitely settled, following my move from the north two months ago. Life in Tel Aviv is a complete 180 degree turnaround from what I was experiencing in Kibbutz Ortal. Apart from having to worry about more things like washing and food, I am now having a better quality of life, so to speak, with beach visits, clubbing nights and eating out a regular affair. As much as I appreciate and love the time I had Ortal, my life has changed for the better and weekends home from the army are now a much more exciting event. So back to the army and one thing that hasn't changed by being in 'makim' is that there is still the occasional day of doing kitchen or company duties. I haven't done much of it to be fair but on the one day that I was given kitchen duty, it happened to be the day of the Champions Leaue final. I've never seen such an efficient days work of cleaning by all the people who were in the kitchen that day, we must have broken records by finishing up so quickly so everyone could go and watch the game!

The whole mahlaka climbing over a wall in under a minute!!!

This last week in the army was something called Masa Yisraeli, which is an educational trip normally attended by school children, but has also been incorporated in makim. It's a week long trip around the country, where subjects like zionism, Judaism and the army are all brought up and discussed. We hiked in the north and went to more sensitive places like the Ghetto Fighters' Museum, Mount Herzl cemetery and the Kotel, as well as having a lot of discussions about pretty much everything to do with Israel and being Jewish. It was a week that defines me as a person and in the talks where we each gave our own opinions, I was constantly at the forefront of it all because of my own aliyah story. It was interesting also to hear of others' opinions and I saw how nearly all regular Israelis are indeed very zionist, despite there being a wide range of demographics; from religious, ancestral and socio-economic differences. Masa Yisraeli gave me a real charge of zionism and going to those sensitive places only strengthened my unshakable beliefs that the Jewish nation is unique and eternal, and that Israel is are only home and we must do all we can to defend it. We were in Jerusalem for the majority of the trip and whenever I go there I always fall in love with the city that is the centre of Jewish life in this world. Throughout the trip, the exile from Israel and the longing for Jerusalem in that time was mentioned, and there is no better way of expressing the triumph of zionism than to arrive at the kotel or Mount Herzl (where so many of those dreamers, including Herzl himself sre buried) in the IDF uniform. In fact, it was at Mount Herzl where I had my most meaningful moments of the trip, especially standing by the grave of Michael Levin, a lone soldier from tzanchanim who died in the second Lebanon war, after flying back from his holiday back home in America once he heard the war broke out. I had obviously heard of his story before, but it was the first time I had been to his grave as a soldier and his life and death has a profound effect on one who shares his story in many ways. Apart from the important message behind the Masa Yisraeli trip it's also been the funnest week of the whole course; being in regular clothes, not having a timetable of lessons, guarding or shetach and generally having fun with all the guys from the mahlaka, who I'll soon be parting from at the end of the course.

My mahlaka during Masa Yisraeli.

Only two more weeks until I'm a qualified commander, the time has literally flown by, I'd say that makim has definitely felt like the quickest three months of my whole service. I return to the army tomorrow to close Shabbat and then next week I have my final exams before I am out for the weekend. I'll post another blog then and explain what finishing the course means in terms of the near future of my service. Hag Samaech.

What it's all about - at the kotel as an IDF soldier.

Protests

It looks like my run of luck of getting out all the time has hit a bad patch. Despite being home this weekend, I will be closing the next three weekends in a row! This is practically unheard of for a man of my oketzing calibre, but sometimes you just have to put in the work, to seep the rewards at the end.

After going back to the army following yom ha'atzmaut, I closed the weekend in the west bank in preparation for the yom ha'nahkbah protests that took place last Sunday. For anyone who doesn't know, yom hanakhbah (day of the disaster in arabic) is the day Palestinians use to commemorate Israel's independence in '48 and the start of the mass Palestinian refuge. On yom hanakhbah, an annual event, demonstrations against Israel normally ensue and this year was no different, if anything was even worse than expected. Of course the protests that happened on Sunday at our borders with Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the west bank, made headlines around the world and we came out as the 'bad guy' once again for preventing people trying to get into our country, while the terrorist attack in tel aviv was quietly swept under the radar. In England, for example, the country is praised for keeping those trying to get in out, but here the anti-Israel press, as per usual, took advantage of the spilled Palestinian blood. As you can tell, it was very annoying for me to read the news on BBC and Sky when I was partially involved in the action and saw things differently. My experience wasn't anything too crazy but I did partake in some protest dispersion and was able to comprehend the instigating and violent nature of their demonstrations.

Resting behind the "wall", in preparation for the protests.


This week in makim marked the 2/3 point in the course, meaning there is just over a month to go, how time flies!! I feel that I have come to an understanding about the course itself and what it tries to instill in us. As much as it attempts to do, the course can never really prepare anyone for the colossal task of being a mefaked (commander). It has, at times, felt like we are merely going through several processes, like this week for example which was guerilla and anti-guerilla warfare, to say that we have learnt it and can therefore tick the appropriate box. I would say, though, that the course does prepare us very well in our professionalism of being a soldier. What I mean by this is the heavy emphasis that is put on becoming experts on all of a solders' criteria; whether that be general fitness, education (history of the army and Israel), combat & warfare and knowing in-depth all the weapons and shooting them, to name but a few. By teaching and training us to be the best soldiers, we can then pass on that knowledge to our own soldiers, and it makes sense that the best soldiers are the ones who are leading others. However, the real way to learn how to be a commander and to take the responsibility for ten soldiers, can only be through experience.

Just because I'm in makim, it doesn't mean the hard, slave-like work has stopped!



As I said beforehand, this week was guerilla/anti-guerilla warfare, something I have done before but was still fun and interesting. Also this week was my turn to be the practicing commander of one of the platoons in the course. This is something that they do as a way of preparing us for what is to come and was something I was quite apprehensive about, since talking in front of and having control of fifteen other soon-to-be commanders is no easy task. However, I actually really enjoyed the week; having some responsibility, knowing the schedule before anyone else and speaking in front of the platoon with confidence that everyone was listening. It was my first real taste of any sort of 'tafkid' (leadership role) in the army and I executed it fairly well, despite it being a major headache dealing with soldiers' problems, chasing after people and having little sleep due to late night meetings with the officer of the platoon. This week has given me confidence and my general opinion on being commander has changed gradually in the duration of the course. Whereas at the start I was more interested in doing the course for the experience and not really thinking about the aftermath, now I have started to properly think about maybe being a commander once I've finished 'makim'. I also led a 4km run this week as part of my duties the practicing mefaked and even though there were a lot of people who were in better shape than me, I finished the run without breaking a sweat, making me realize that it is a lot easier sometimes to lead than to be led, especially in physical exercises since you are distracted from the exertion due to concentrating more on other people.

A very recent edition to my morning routine...


I also wanted to write about something that has been present in my army service practically from day one until now: 'ma'azin'. 'Ma'azin' is the guard in the pluga who watches over the company area and keeps an eye all all the equipment. The 'ma'azin' is obviously a 24 hour post and while those doing company duties occupy it during the day, in the night everyone needs to chip in. Normally, each mahlaka takes it in turns to do ma'azin, meaning on average you do it once every three of four nights at 20 to 30 minutes at a time. Every kravi soldier who has suffered those nights of being woken up to do ma'azin knows exactly what I'm talking about now but you may also find it interesting and amusing too. Now, of course, the best time to be ma'azin is either at the start or at then end of the night; meaning you get a full, night of uninterupted sleep. Being second or second from last is also great as it too means uninterupted sleep, while if your the penultimate ma'azin it means you can get ready in the morning ahead of everyone else without rushing. Being bang in the middle of the night can also be preferable; you sleep well beforehand, guard for a bit and then go back to a sleep for a lengthy period (and by the morning you don't even remember you guarded!). But, when you look at the list for the ma'azin and see that you're third from the end, it doesn't get much worse than that! You sleep well (but still not enough), get up to do your guard duty and then attempt to go back to sleep for an hour, whilst still in uniform because it's too much hassle to get undressed and then re-dressed again. Of course, when you wake up you feel terrible, like you haven't slept at all and it sort of ruins the rest, or at least the start, of the day. The fight for getting a good position in the list is always a constant feature of the pre-sleep routine and the guy who writes up the list is always bombarded with people begging to be the first ma'azin. I could go on and on about this subject; how sometimes miracles happen and you don't get woken up at all (!) or how it is literally impossible to wake up some people, but this can wait for another blog.

Posing with a good friend, with the West Bank as our backdrop.

I couldn't finish this blog without telling about what happened yesterday morning. We were supposed to be leaving early in the morning of Friday, like always, but because of a certain planned event on facebook, there were fears of more protests by Israel's borders. Due to these fears, that were soon publicised throughout the media, the army put a lot of soldiers on standby, including my company in makim. This meant that getting let out to get home was delayed until 9am, which is not as early as one would like to leave base. So by nine o'clock, we were all on our 'aleph' (travelling uniform), sitting on the bus with our bags packed and ready to go. However, beacause of the ongoing fears our exit was delayed even further to 10, then to 11 and then to 12.30. By this time, it was understood that the chance of us getting out at all was very little and everyone, including myself, was beyond depression. To be on aleph, ready to finally go home after two hard weeks in the army and then to be told that you need to close is like having a dagger plunged in your chest. As I've explain numerous times, going home is the most important thing for any soldier, but especially kravi, since we are away from home for such long periods. Eventually, by 1.15pm (ridiculously late), we didn't need to be on standby anymore and we were let out. In all my army service, I have never seen a reaction like it. A massive roar, followed by pure jubilation as every single soldier in the pluga embraced each other (this is meant very literally; I was even kissed on the lips by one of my friends from the mahaaka!!!) in the news that we would be allowed to go home. It did make me appreciate this weekend more and I am happy in the fact that there was no trouble but getting home at 3.30 on a friday afternoon was unacceptable. O well, that's the army and the life of a kravi soldier for you...

Back to the army tomorrow and I'm now going to be closing for the next three weekends in a row, with Shavuot somewhere in the middle as the only break away from the army. This next three weeks will mark the final stage of the course and I will be sure to blog about it when I'm home for Shavuot.

Standing for the Siren

After not writing a blog for a month, I'm now writing two in two days but I felt I had to write one specially for Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut, especially since last year, even though I was in the army, I hardly felt the true meaningfullness (is that even a word?!?!?) of these two incredibly important days. Talking of incorrect grammar by the way, I have to apologise for my terrible spelling mistakes on teh (that one was on purpose!) last blog, which I just saw now. I know how my mum and flatmate always get annoyed by it, but it just can't help it really.

Before I even talk about Yom Hazikaron/Ha'atzmaut, I did forget to mention in the last blog about a very proud and recent accomplishment of mine. Last week was the midway point of the course and that meant passing certain tests; like there are at the beginning and end of the course. There was the bar-or (the army's general fitness test) that all soldiers, kravi or non-kravi, do at some point in their service; we have to do it every couple of months as a way of keeping tabs on our fitness. I actually did the best I've ever done on the bar-or with full scores in both press-ups and sit-ups and 7:41 in the 2km, but that's not even the big deal! The big deal is also not that fact that I got 72 in my written and practical exam on all the different types of weapons in the army infantry brigades, not a bad score considering my difficulty with the language. Just to say, this blog is not a medium for me to boast about all the achievements, although I do like to do that (!), I'm simply explaining what I did last week, hehe. The real big deal is that I passed the 'bohen samal' (seargent's test), a combination of the dreaded assualt course and a shooting exam that followed an extended sprint and crawl. I can't rememeber if I ever mentioned it in any of my earlier blogs while I was still at the paratroopers' training base, but I always had a problem with the assualt course, finding it very difficult to pass it due to both the not-easy task of getting past the many obstacles (like the notorious wall or 3 metre high ropes) and the hard time in which to pass it, less than ten minutes. It took me nearly eight months to pass the assualt course on the training base and, thus, it was the thing I was most anxious about doing in the whole of makim. However, somehow and I still don't truly know how, I passed it first time and got, if I may say so myself, a truly unbelievable time of 8:13. I don't know why the sudden change of fortune, maybe it's that my fitness has improved during the course or my susceptiblity to quitting has decreased!

So, even before I mention the whole Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut thing, I also think it's important talk about another symbolic day that happenend last week, Yom Hasho'ah (Rememberance Day for the Holocaust). This was another thing that I didn't feel at all last year, mainly because twelve months ago I was in the middle of a week in the shetach. This year however, I was on base and, although I still feel they should have made an even more of an effort with the whole day, I still experienced the solemness of the day. Especially, when the siren rang out and I looked out at the rest of my pluga in makim (company in commanders' course); combat soldiers from the whole army joined together to stand in attention for all those who were murdered in the Holocaust. It was highly symbolic. A group of young Israelis, proudly serving in the Israeli army and soon-to-be commanders of the next generation of young Israelis. If only the Nazis were to see that sight, something they so inhumanely tried to prevent, the continuation of the Jewish people, was a terrible failure and in Israel, as we celebrate on Yom Ha'aztmaut, we can see the unfathomable success.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8D1DuVmtVQ

Yom Hazikaron is another day where Israel stops to remember those who have died in the struggle of our people and for the fight for Israel. 'Yom Hazikaron' (Day of Rememberance) is dedicated to all those who gave their lives; both soldiers who have fallen in action and civilians who have been murdered through acts of terror or casualties of war. It is the saddest day in the year for Israelis. This is beacuse every single person in this country knows at least one person who has died in those circumstances, and even those have perished through something unrelated, like a car accident (which unfortunately there are far too many here in Israel), are specifically remembered on this day. On Yom Hazikaron, people go to the graves of lost loved ones, the military grave at Mount Herzl in particular is always packed with people, it was said yesterday there were over 101,000 people there. On Erev Yom Hazikaron, Sunday evening, I went to the special ceremony at Rabin square, a ten minute walk from my new apartment. It was definitely a very emotional evening and the first time I have properly experienced this day here in Israel, as last year in the army I was doing guarding in Jerusalem. The ceremony at Rabin sqaure was basically a collection of live performances of sad songs and very moving videos of stories from families who have lost loved ones. Most of those from the videos who had passed away were combat soldiers and standing there in my uniform and gun at Rabin square, I felt proud to have made aliyah and be in the army, a representative of the body that does everything it can to protect its citizens by putting soldiers on the front line, like myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC1MQTBKd7c

Yom Hazikaron is the most heartbreaking day of the year, to think how many mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters and sons and daughters, are going to graves of those who have died for a great cause, the best cause I can think of, but have died none the less. On the videos that were shown at the ceremony it was the same thing that kept coming up and kept haunting me; all the mothers telling how there was a "knock on the door" and two army officers were standing there and from that point they knew they had lost their son or daughter. It's obviously extrememly sad, but it also makes me angry that so many lives have been cut short and wasted because our neighbours refuse to make peace. Another notable thing about Yom Hazikaron is the siren, which sounds the night before and then again in the morning. Throughout Israel, it is maintained immaculately and is a very remarkable sight to see if you're new to this, as people stop everything they're doing and stand to respect the siren. On the roads, drivers stop their car, and get out to stand, while those in a middle of a conversation in a coffee shop do the same. For the siren, I walked down to the bottom of my street, Rothschild Boulevard, to where the Independace Hall is, as I don't really have any specific graves to visit.

I understand why Yom Hazikaron is the day immediately before Yom Ha'aztmaut. The day before we celebrated Israel's birthday and independance day, we have to acknowledge and remember the huge price we paid and continue to pay to have our country and our freedom. On one day, we mourn the young boys and girls who gave their lives in the face of terrorism and then on the next, we celebrate the miracle that we have, for 63 years now, something that Jews prayed in vain for for nearly 2000 years, a land of our own, even in the face of that same terrorism. It's a strange transition to go through; from devastation and mourning, to elation and joy, within the space of twenty four hours. For the families who have lost relatives it must be very difficult indeed, as you can't simply forget about what happened and then the next day to go out and party. The mood in Israel on Yom Ha'atzmaut is very party mode and the celebrations go long into the night. Maybe for some it is just an excuse for a night out, but most of those living here understand the meaning behind all these celebratons; the success story that is Israel and the miracle that it has finally become what it was promised to be: a safe home for Jews all over the world. I celebrated Yom Ha'atzmaut with a fun night out and a barbecue the next day, as did most of the country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGUxzISr9Us

I definitely feel, as opposed to last year, that I experienced the lows and highs that is Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut respectively, like a true Israeli. These past two days, especially the ceremony at Kikar Rabin made me feel incredibly passionate and zionist. Back to the army tomorrow, quite optimistic to be going back to routine of being in the army for more of an extended time. Thanks for reading.

King Oketz

It's been almost a month since my last blog, so you'd expect me to have lots of stories from being in the army for such a long time. The truth is, that I've hardly been in the army recently, spending nearly two weeks with my parents here in Tel Aviv., who came over for the Pesach period. After my parents went back to London last Sunday, I also went back "home", returning to base and to the reality of commanders' course, after being absent for a fortnight!

Before my parents arrived here, when I was living the life of a soldier (as opposed to a full-on tourist in a hotel on the Tel Aviv beachfront!), I did actually do some army work. The week before Pesach was filled with a lot of Pesach cleaning, as well as the last group of navigations. This included learning and performing urban navigating, which is a very interesting experience and something that was completely new to me. Learning to navigate in a city seems easy enough; we do it as tourists and even at home when we look through A to Z maps or GPS to plan our route. Urban navigating in the army is practically the same, in the sense that we are given a map of a city (like that of Google Earth) and simply plan a route using the streets. The difference is, however, that in army inner-city navigation, you are running around like a lunatic (due to time restraints), while carrying your vest, gun and the radio! This is, of course, following the four-hour, 12km navigation in the mountain-ranged desert on the outskirts of the city. In my urban navigation, I did find it enjoyable to run around Dimona at 3am, trying to find the codes around the city that are the get-to points for the navigation, it's sort of like a treasure hunt, but without a prize at the end! Anyway, who's on the streets of Dimona in the early hours of the morning? Naturally, it is the youngsters, back from their night out, many of whom were still reeeling from the effects of alcohol. This made the whole experience even more hilarious, especially when it meant interacting with them in order to ask where we were on the map or how to get to the next point! In the end, we finally finished two long weeks of navigating and I was selected as a 'mitstayen' (top performer) within my platoon and I'll be rewarded with a 'hamshush' at some point. Obviously there had to be a catch that somehow involved me getting more time off the army!!

The class medic opening up one of my friend's veins as a part of a standard exercise.

Also, before we broke off for Pesach (or rather before I broke off for Pesach), I celebrated my one and a half year 'pazamoledet' (birthday in the army). This was quite a momentous event as it meant that I had exactly one year to go of my service. A year can pass very quickly, especially since my next 12 months of service is bound to include a month back home in London and a month's holiday before my release that all 'lohemim' are entitled to receive. This all means that a year to go is not such a long time, considering, and I already need to start looking towards life beyond the army. Finishing a year and a half of the army also made me realise that in all that time, I still haven't had a day of 'betim' (being sick while on base) or 'gimmelim' (being sick while at home), or needed to go to an 'aphnaya' (appointment with a doctor). This is an incredible statistic, not only becuase I am a 'kravi' soldier and am involved in physical exercises all the time, but also because that it is such a long time. In basic training there are guys who were always on 'betim', meaning that they didn't join in with everyone else and just did nothing, while there were also those who were at home all the time after getting sick days from the army. It just makes me feel good to know that I have never not joined in on any sort of activity because I was unwell or injured and, let's hope in continues. This doesn't mean to say that I have a exemplary attendance record in the army, as I will explain...

Practicing on the ropes.

It is said that while in 'makim' (commanders' course), it is almost impossible to get time off. Sure you're can have the odd day here and there for a close relative's wedding or barmitzvah, but in general, it is known that any more than four days away from the course could result in being chucked out of makim completely, due to missing too much of the course. However, once again (much like I did in my excessive number of hamshushim during basic training or getting out for my garin's seminar while in jump school) I have somehow got my way around these "rules" and was with my parents for 13 of the 14 nights that they were here. Yes, we were given some time off for Pesach, but I missed at least seven days of 'makim' and am still definitely in the course. The army slang word for getting out of stuff is to "oketz" (literally means to sting) and this can range from missing out on kitchen duty to go to do something else far less horrible, to getting out on a weekend when everyone is closing. Since the start of my service I have built up a reputation as a master 'oketz', because of my endless 'hamshushim' (Thursday weekends), always seeming to get maiximum time off when my parents are here and other countless things too. This art of 'oketzing' is not something I do, in order to screw over my friends (which has never happened) or to get out of doing something hard (I can't remember not being present for a particularly hard activity during my service), instead I have just gained a skill of knowing how to organise myself things I feel I deserve, as a lone soldier, like getting out a day earlier than everyone else if it's possible. This has followed me wherever I've been in the army from basic training to the battalion and now to 'makim'; the other soldiers always seem to notice after a month or two of knowing me that I am very good at dealing with the army and getting things done for myself. This 'oketzing' ability of mine is the best example of how I have successfully integrated into the army and the Israeli mentality. I often joke with my friends how I'll write a book on how to 'oketz' the army for lone soldiers, but don't start to think of me as sly or conniving as I simply understand when 'oketzing' is appropriate, within boundaries and deserved.

Taking a break, after finally finishing two exhausting weeks of navigations.

Talking of which, getting two weeks off to be with my parents was no easy task. All this 'oketzing' I have tried to explain to you is not some way of me trying to be as less in the army as I can, far from it, it is simply my way of dealing with the hardships of being a lone soldier by getting out potentially when I can see that it is possible without affecting anyone else and won't affect me i.e. not missing out on anything important. I also feel that sometimes the army doesn't give lone soldiers enough time off that they deserve and need, and time with one's parents is by far the most important thing for any 'hayal boded; (lone soldier). That's why when I knew my parents' trip to Israel for Pesach coincided with me being in 'makim', I did everything I could to try and be with them as much as I could. My relationship with my parents is incredbily special and not seeing them for a day when they are in the same country as me is devastating and as much as the army can understand that for a lone soldier seeing his mum and dad is important, the commanders themselves don't know what it is like to see one's parents only a couple of times a year. I explained to the commanders of my course that I couldn't see why they wouldn't allow me to be with my parents as much as I could if there was the possibility of making up for lost time on the course by completing things at a later date. That's how I managed to get such a long time off from the army to be with my parents and I honestly believe that I deserved to be with them as much as I was, and I have seen, since coming back to the army, that not letting me off for more than four days initially was simply unccessary as I was able to do everything I missed out on and, in truth, I didn't even miss out on that much!!!

Although he may not look it here, my dad is very proud of my new stripes!!!

Being with my parents was as wonderful as ever. Every time I see them here in Israel is always a special time for us and each time is just as hard as the last to say goodbye. I know that it is a lot harder for them without me than the other way round, so it's important that we make the most of our time together and that is why being with them for practically the whole time that they were here was truly amazing. We all had a great Pesach, as I hope you did too, and it got even better when I managed to get a beard permit for the counting of the Omer, meaning I don't need to shave or cut my hair for anohter month! Also while I was with my parents, was the royal wedding and while my mum and dad weren't bothered and had gone to the beach, for some reason I was glued to the television and watched it for four hours! When I lived in england, I always felt no allegiance to being British whatsoever and would even want the football team to lose in teh World Cup so everyone would be disappointed. Since I made aliyah though, I realised that I've held onto my British identity a lot more that I thought I owuld and I think this is because it is one of the main things that defines me here in Israel and, espcially, in the army where I am known as being from London. Maybe it was the just the excitement of the royal wedding, but I have finally found my British patriotism; it's only taken 20 years and a combination of aliyah to Israel and drafting to the IDF to bring it out of me!!!

So that was my summary of the last month for me here in Israel, apologies for the delay. I am currently off for Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut and will write another blog about all that in a couple of days...