I’ve been super busy since I enlisted on October 30th. I woke up at 5 am that day to get to the Bakum, the huge enlistment base near Tel Aviv where every new soldier in the IDF gets processed. It was a long long day that involved: getting an xray and photographs of my teeth for identification in case I’m burned beyond recognition :\ , immunizations, an interview with an army social worker, receiving dog tags and uniforms, giving blood, and getting our first taste of army discipline. After that I went on a bus to Michve Alon, a base up north near Tzefat (Safed) where new immigrants and volunteers like me do a 3 week pre-training course. The goal of the course is to acclimate these new Israelis to army life, which native Israelis have been preparing for since the beginning of high school. 

The course did it’s job, though it was very difficult. It was basically 3 weeks of getting our asses kicked by officers from various branches of the army, including many speciakl forces unit. The army brought these officers in so we could ask them about their units in order to choose where we want to enlist. I spoke to officers from Nahal, Artillery, Armor and Search and Rescue (SAR) to get a better picture of where I want to serve. 

Other parts of the course included learning formations, shooting, running from place to place in impossible amounts of time and getting punished for not completing the task, running and exercise, asking permission for every little thing, carrying a gun on my person 24/7, and meeting many new people. The people I met were the best part by far. A basic army value that was stressed almost every day was Re’ut, which mean camaraderie. We had to learn to trust each other, because soon we would be in life or death situation and you can only survive those situations with people you can rely on. I love the values the army teaches, which include purity of arms, the morality of orders, giving yourself up for the bigger cause, and many more. These values, I believe, have a hugely positive influence on Israeli society. They are the reason a strange will invite you for dinner or to sleep the night if you have nowhere to go. They are the reason Israelis are as straightforward, proud, and patriotic as they are. 

I entered the course determined to be combat infantry in Nahal, but after a couple of weeks I became a bit disillusioned with the idea. The training, discipline, attitudes of officers and my fellow soldiers, conversations with soldiers, and many hours alone on guard duty all contributed to this disillusionment. I realized that the idea of shooting people and general violence doesn’t really appeal to me, and though I want to be a combat soldier, I would rather serve in a way that would help people more than harm them. After a lot of thought I decided to enlist with the SAR, the Pikud HaOref. They do regular combat training, but instead of going on combat operations, they are like national and international first responders in disasters. SAR is first on the scene after rocket attacks, train wrecks, earth quakes and tsunamis. They went to Haiti, Japan, Turkey and many more countries to assist in rescue operations. I’m excited for this Sunday, when I return to Bakum to enlist with SAR and begin my real basic training and service.