Week 8

The longer I’m away from base, the harder it is to come back. I get used to life on the outside – how nice and calm it is. Walking around Jerusalem on my own time, not thinking about stopwatches or a schedule. I felt a nervousness on the way back to base. I can’t really pin down what it was for, but it only happened after this vacation. Maybe it was the knowledge of going back to the army after an extended amount of time on the outside (back into the lions den) or just a desire for a bit more time with people my age, speaking English, not existing on an army schedule. Either way, on the ride back to base, I tried listening to some favorite songs to calm down the nerves and after that failed to work, switched to my favorite podcast, the movie podcast “the big picture.” It worked; I couldn’t call  family since it was still shabbat in America and I think all I needed was a familiar conversation from people I enjoy hearing. It’s the social aspect of a podcast that did it for me – maybe that’s what’s hard about the army that I knew subconsciously; most of the people I’m around speak a different language and have different interests. It makes it harder to settle in socially.


Thankfully, we had a relatively easy week. I also learned soon after getting back that Asher was left incredibly sick from the regilah and wouldn’t be on base during the week. So, for the week I was “forced” to speak Hebrew and work on my relationships with the people on my class and Machlaka. A really welcome opportunity.

We had our first שבוע לחימה where we learned the basics of actual combat. Sunday, we spent all day inside a building with different combat simulators. There were screens with targets, a highly advanced laser system to know where your gun is aiming, and modified training guns that use compressed air to mimic the feeling of a gun firing when the trigger is pulled. There were different stations; one where a large vertical screen had targets moving around that we had to fire at within a few seconds. Instructions would appear on screen (only fire at the blue target, only fire at the target that’s a multiple of ten, etc) and different targets would appear on screen. We had to look at all the targets, analyze them, and aim and fire at the correct one all within two seconds each rotation. Another station was a copy of a firing range where we did target practice. The final station was a copy of an apartment floor where we learned how to approach a room and stand close to the wall while rotating our gun and scope around the room – how to enter a room as a soldier. We were there the entire day which, at first seems fun, but doing the same drills everyday can become tiring and boring. At least it was in a building with air conditioning.  At night, we did a workout before going to bed.

Monday, we weren’t given the gift of air conditioning. The non-religious people went on a 4k run while we went to daven. After that we boarded a bus to a location 10 minutes away from the base in the desert. It was a recreation of a small village with a few, concrete houses. We spent the entire day out there working on entering rooms. We continued the drill from the simulator of pivoting around a doorway, both from our strong and weak sides. All day in the sun, holding a gun up, pivoting around a doorway. We worked on the commands you shout out to the people behind you to let them know what you’re seeing. Meals were delivered to us from the base, so at least we didn’t have to eat Manakim (meal rations, the canned kind). We set up lights and continued work in the dark. At about 8:30 PM (we spent 12 hours doing the doorway drill), all the religious people were told to get into athletic gear. Since we missed the morning run, we ran back to base, over mountains and hills and uneven terrain. Since we got back before everyone else, we were given a little break. I got to read my book, which honestly feels like a luxury in the army. The opportunity to escape into the world of a novel and take your mind somewhere else for a bit. When everyone got back, we put on our army uniforms again, donned a vest and full combat gear, and did a run through of the Bachmas, the obstacle course. It starts with a 600 meter run, continues into the obstacles, and ends with a 400 meter run. To pass, you need to do it all in 10:30 and this time, I did it in 11:06, so I’m almost there. The run, in full combat gear, is the hardest part for me. Once you know how to do the obstacles, they aren’t too hard.

Tuesday morning, we walked to a range on the base that also had concrete rooms set up. We spent the day alternating between continuing the room entering drill from the past few days and doing shooting tests. We were supposed to do the room entering drill with live rounds but only one class got to so everyone else is making it up later. The shooting tests were to test our accuracy with different shooting positions. We would load a magazine with 10 bullets and within 45 seconds have to shoot 3 in a standing position, 3 in a crouching position, and 4 lying down. We shot on a circular target with number values in the different rungs and were given scores for accuracy. We did another exercise where we had to run 100 meters then come back and shoot 5 crouching and 5 lying down. Another one where we had two magazines and had to switch between them mid-exercise (I didn’t have time to do that one).

Since Asher wasn’t here, I worked a lot on my Hebrew – really because I had no other choice. It was nice though to be forced to have conversations in Hebrew and not just default to English ( even if we’re also closer than I am with the other guys, which definitely factors in). It was eye opening and I’ll have to give myself more opportunity for bonding with the guys in my class. It’s important also for working together in general.

We walked back to the base around 5 PM. We knew we’d have Krav Maga that night since the different machlakot all had the same schedule throughout the week, just with alternating days. But, the Mefakdei Machlaka, know the intensity of Krav Maga, especially since we have to get ready within 4 minutes and so they like having fun with the announcement of Krav Maga. This time, we lined up in a Chet and the Mefaked Machlaka started criticizing us on our work that day. Another mefaked “tripped over the steps” and fell in front of him on his back. The Mefaked Machlaka pretended like he was injured, ripped open his shirt, and there in Sharpie was written “ארבע קרב מגע”. We ran frenzied to our rooms to change and sprinted to Krav Maga. Thankfully weve started learning actual Krav Maga in addition to just being worked out and yelled at. We worked on side punched and elbow chops this time.

After Krav Maga, we cleaned our guns and gave them in: we got off for Yom Kippur and still aren’t taking our guns home.  We had a class on what Shavua Hagnam (Haganat Machane) will be like since we start right when we get back. Its guarding the base, doing kitchen duty, etc. and is supposedly incredibly boring and an annoying week.

Chayalim Bodedim always leave on an earlier bus at 4:30 in the morning since we need to get home by a certain time. I got back to my apartment at 6 and relaxed/did a little shopping. I have a bad habit of eating only from restaurants when I’m out :). I spent way too much on pastries from a french bakery near my apartment – it’s the mindset of trying to treat myself when I’m out and make it as nice as possible on the outside.

I also am midway through setting up an investment pipeline for my time in the army. I’m funneling half of my army salary, if not more, into my investment brokerage and investing it into ETF’s. I don’t really have a need for money now and it was a bit of advice I got from another older lone soldier I was put in contact with before the army. I asked about the feeling of abruptly stopping the momentum of your career while your friends are continuing and he said that the best thing you can do is to invest to at least feel like youre not entirely static.

I spent Yom Kippur by my friend Eitan Turoks family’s AirBNB in Katamon. Davening was great, if not that particularly meaningful. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m in the army and find that as the most spiritually, Jewishly fulfilling thing I could be doing and nothing really tops it. There’s definitely the thought of having to go back to base after the chag which affected my mindset throughout the day, clouding over other, spiritual thoughts I tried to have. At some point I’ll have to write more about my relationship to religion over the past few years, in Israel and now in the army. It’s still very strong but it manifests in different ways. I think the army strips it down to what you really find meaningful and your non-negotiables. The most important thing, which has taken me a while to learn, is to be genuine. Not to show face or pretend for other people. That was my struggle in Yeshiva University (which ironically was not the best for me religiously for that reason) and, once out in the real world, away from a Jewish bubble, I did away with the pretending on minor things. It’s extremely important to not lose yourself during the army. To hold on to what makes you you, to be grounded and anchored and be as genuine aa possible. Keeping any sense of normalcy you can both inside and out.

I watched a movie in my apartment after Yom Kippur and on Friday morning made my way back to base. We were immediately told to change into bet to prepare for shavua hagnam. It’ll be a long week but a necessary step in the soldier “curriculum”. I went right away to do my first 2 hour shmira; it isn’t really too hard, you just have to find ways to pass the time. I hummed and whistles songs I could remember the melody to. I don’t think it’ll be too hard of a week.

One side note I realized over chag, speaking with Eitan. Not only is this blog a way to keep my friends and family informed, to hopefully help any other future lone soldiers, and as an artifact of my experiences and thoughts to share with my children. It’s also a way for me to, only so slightly, remove myself from the army during the days here. When anything happens, I write it down in my notebook when I have the chance and write it up in the blog later on. All the difficulties of the army, therefore, become something to write and think about. In other words, the experiences don’t exist purely as army experiences but also as material, as fodder for the blog. I think this also helps ease the hardships and make the days go by.