From beneath the cows to above the clouds

I dropped to the ground, covering my head with my hands as my unit began to count the seconds until the light stick "grenade" would explode. The mefakedets were screaming to get down and lie still. After our counting, the MemMem yelled to start crawling, forward towards the front of the two lines. It was a free-for-all; if you were faster than the guy ahead of you, you tried to maneuver around him without having his boots kick you in the face. You didn't pay attention to what you were crawling over (mud, rocks, cow shit); you just focus on getting to the front as fast as possible, ignoring the pounding of your heart, muscles screaming for relief, and stones cutting into your knees. What were we doing in the middle of the night, slogging through a heavily muddied path, through cow fields, carried people on stretchers? It's called a 'masa', a hike led by a commander intended to practice and simulate patrols, complete with springing into different firing positions, shouting orders, and running. The night was cloudy and I had no idea if I was about to step onto somewhat solid ground or plunge my boot into a foot of water. I had my head down, looking at the guy's boots in front of me. I knew if we were about to sprint based on the sound of the soldiers ahead of me; the quickened pace sounded like an oncoming rush of water. In total, we hiked about six or eight kilometers. That's not significant distance by any stretch of the imagination, but what made it difficult were the conditions. And personally, I had also just completed a two hour shmirah shift.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was going to spend two straight weeks on base. It was time for my plugot to do shmirah, or guard duty. After a month with no guns, we went to the armory on Tuesday to receive our weapons. For the next week, the guns were not to leave our side. What's more, we had to always have our combat vests on, complete with two filled canteens and three magazines, each with twenty-nine rounds. Yes, I was packin' heat all week: eighty-seven 5.56 caliber bullets, ready to be locked and loaded if I noticed something suspicious while on guard duty. Every day, the MemMem spoke to my machlekah about guard duty: protocols, tips, sanctions, etc. In total, I pulled six, two-hour guard shifts. Twice I was the solo guard for the armory, another two times I was by myself at a post overlooking a valley, and another two times I was with another soldier at the "bunker", an isolated location on top of another hill, protecting Mikveh Alon's ammunition cache. Shmirah is good and bad. At some times I feel very proud to be protecting something, even if it is only Mikveh Alon (I swear, if Israel's enemies ever find it necessary to launch an assault on Mikveh, then Israel is already lost). It is also probably the only opportunity to be alone and have time to think. But the bunker is a great place, too. Its isolation makes it easy to see if a commander is coming to check on you, but, as in my case, I was paired with Russians both times and for two hours we spoke Hebrew. Shmirah, in general, is boring. It's also a huge pain in the @$$ getting up at 3:30, after four hours of sleep, to be ready for guard duty from 4-6 in the morning. After one of these shifts, I got back to my room at 6:15, we were to get up at 7:15. I just took off my vest, laid my gun down on my bed, sat down, leaning against the wall, and closed my eyes for an hour.

So what's the protocol if someone suspicious shows up at our guard post? If we don't recognize the person, we first ask, in Hebrew, "who is it?" If there's no response, or the individual appears to be a threat (pulls a weapon, starts running towards you, or, frankly, is Arab), we shout "stop!" in every language we know. They taught us how to stay "Stop or I'll shoot" in Arabic. The next step is to cock our gun twice, although without it loaded. Hopefully, the sound itself will frighten the individual. If that doesn't work, then we can load our guns with a magazine. Then we're allowed to shoot two warning shots into the air. If still that doesn't work, then we can shoot the threat in the legs. Thankfully, I never saw anyone I didn't know and never had to go through those steps.

For the two hour shift, we're only allowed to sit for the last ten minutes of each hour. The rest of the time I either stand in place or pace back and forth, counting the number of tiles on the ground, cows in the fields, or street lights in nearby towns. It is an automatic Shabbat (meaning you stay on base for the weekend) if you're caught sleeping, sitting, smoking, eating, or drinking (anything but water) during your shift. A friend had given me a candy bar before my first shift when I was solo at the armory. After the first hour I was bored of pacing back and forth and was starting to get really tired, so I made it a challenge to secretly open the candy bar with one hand in my pocket and break off small bites. The whole operation took a good twenty-five minutes. Quality use of time.

Throughout the day we had our normal Hebrew classes. Soldiers would leave in the middle of the day to report for shmirah duty. That's why we had to have our vests on at all times. One afternoon, after our MemMem gave us our daily shmirah briefing, the siren sounded. If that happens, we have exactly seven minutes to get from wherever we are (even if we're sleeping) to a predesignated spot and form a chet with the machlekah. After the formation, with our helmets on and canteens filled, we were told to run to the perimeter of the base. We spring to our designated spot, shouting war cries and running over people who are too slow; our excitement in pretending to be doing something important is evident. I run to some brush and lay down in prone position, aiming my gun at some random things in the distance. The drill was fun, if pointless. We were told we did a good job, and that was it.

The day after our nighttime masa, we had a competition between the nine tzevets in the plugot. This was one of the highlights of the week. First we had a "jeep" run: one soldier wrapped his arms around two others and draped his legs over the shoulders of a third. We sprinted about fifty meters, then had to answer a question in Hebrew from a mefakedet. Then we were to run to the next location around a bend. We started at a full on sprint, then realized it was a good quarter mile away. Most of us made it huffing and puffing. After another question, we had to crawl fifty meters over hard pavement, littered with rocks. I still have scabs on my hands, two weeks later, from the cuts. People's knees were bruised for days. Crawling isn't supposed to be as "bloody" as it was for us, but because we have no training, we just do whatever it takes to get to the finish line. Then we had to consume a can of beans, write "tzevet 3" with sticks, and spring to the flag for the final leg. In total, the competition was about twelve minutes, but it was fun. I always enjoy getting my blood pumping with competition and sport. We haven't had much of it over the past two months, so this was really enjoyable.

Finally, on Tuesday morning of the second week, we woke up at 2:30 AM for the masa of the MemPay, the officer in charge of the whole plugot. This turned out to be the easiest thing. We were bused about forty-five minutes to a random spot in the road, formed our two lines, and starting marching....on the road. In total, we walked about two kilometers, sometimes running, but never dropping down to a firing position and never crawling. At the end, we finished on top of a mountain overlooking the Kinneret, a lake in the north and Israel's main source of freshwater. The MemPay talked about the area, we grabbed some photos, then had a ceremony in the parking lot with the higher ups of the base present. It was nice, but unnecessary to wake up that early just to see the sunrise.

At the beginning of the two weeks, I was excited to do shmirah and spend my first Shabbat on base. A lot of guys were apprehensive about the two weeks without a break. The truth is, during kravi service, it is common to spend two to three weeks at a time on base. And Shabbat was fun. We had a great Friday night meal, and Saturday (aside from waking up at four for shmirah) was a lazy day. No one could order us to do anything. If we wanted to sleep, we could. If we wanted to exercise, it was no problem. Some people watched movies on their iPods, I read a book ("Brotherhood of Warriors" by Aaron Cohen, it's about Cohen's experience as an American in the IDF [sound familiar] in the mid-90s when he was a part of Duvdevan, an elite unit charged with infiltrating the West Bank), or we just talked about nothing. When Sunday and Monday rolled around, I felt completely at ease on base, as if we had not already spent seven or eight days there. It became routine. So long as you're with your friends, life becomes a whole lot easier.

Finally, after our week of shmirah ended, we left our base to go to Jerusalem. On Wednesday, we boarded a bus and drove to Har Hertzl, Israel's Arlington Cemetery. I was there a year ago on Birthright, but this time was completely different for me. I looked at the graves and the most off-putting thing about the place, is that most of the soldiers who lay forever on that hillside were between 18 and 23 years of age. When I say most, I mean if there's a row of ten graves, seven will be in their late teens or early twenties. One guy was born three weeks before me and was killed in action in 2006 in Lebanon. I remember a year ago thinking about the young age of the soldiers. I now thought....well, I'll keep that to myself.

Next we went to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum. Again, this was my third time within a year. But it's always an important place to go to if in Israel. If you haven't been to a Holocaust museum, please find one to visit. There's a great one in Washington, DC, and one recently opened near my town in northern Chicago. Yad Vashem, and my tour guide, really hammered home the point that the Nazis made the Jews out to be non-human, something aside from humanity. I could talk for hours about the museum and the Holocaust, but suffice it to say, as I've mentioned before, it reinvigorates me with a renewed sense of purpose in my service.

Afterwards, we went to Gush Etzion, an area in the Judean hills in the West Bank. The story behind Gush Etzion, briefly, is this: during the aliyahs of the early 20th century, many Jews wanted to settle this land that is believed to have been a passageway for Abraham and Isaac before they reached Mt. Moriah for the binding; King David slew Goliath in these hills; and other biblical stories. The climate was difficult, the soil rocky, and the surrounding people hostile. During the War of Independence, one day before the State of Israel was created, all the defenders of Gush Etzion were massacred by the Jordanian legions. The children of these Jews, having been evacuated weeks earlier, grew up and vowed to one day resettle the land. That opportunity came in 1967 when Israel reclaimed control of Judea and Samaria. Now, there are a few thriving communities in the area and a yeshiva for the study of Torah. It is a great testament to the will of the Jewish people to reclaim their land, a story of yearning and a hope fulfilled.

The next day, we were given a "tour" of Jerusalem's Old City, courtesy of our mefakedets. Hardy the best tour of anything I've ever received. I've lost a lot of respect for my mefakedet. At the yeshiva, my tzevet sat in a chet and our mefakedet asked us about our day, what we thought of Har Hertzl, Yad Vashem, Gush Etzion, etc. I told them, point-blank, "I feel like I'm on Birthright" not in the freakin' IDF. I'm sorry, but I don't really care to talk about what it was like to see twenty year olds buried in the ground with an eighteen year old girl who doesn't know anything about me, what I'm thinking, or who I am. What a load of crap this place and these people can be at times.

But on a high note, we were given time to ourselves at the Kotel, the Western Wall. And as the sun was setting, my entire plugot formed a big chet on the plaza in front of the Wall. We're about 100 soldiers, plus thirty or so commanders; needless to say, we took up a considerable area. We're standing with our berets on, at attention in formation, tourists stopping to take pictures or video, wondering what was going on. We all shout responsively in unison at the appropriate times, creating a small, thunderous echo off the surrounding buildings. The MemPay spoke some words, which I couldn't hear, but at the end of the ceremony, we were each given a military-issued Tanach, a book of the Torah, Prophets and Writings, essentially Judaism's entire Written Law. And its pretty awesome because it has the IDF insignia on its cover. This is just another example how I can be face-down, crawling through cow droppings one day, and standing in formation, in front of the eyes of Jerusalem, receiving an IDF edition Tanach.

Finally, that night, I ate dinner with another soldier with a family who lived in the area. Before we left base, the HaSammelot asked us who would want to eat dinner with a family who wants to get to know lone soldiers for Thursday night. I volunteered, and it was great. I got a great meal, spoke Hebrew the whole time, and now have some people who were genuinely interested in helping make my life here easier. Israelis can be incredible people.

A lot happened over the past two weeks. I'll leave the heavy thoughts, feelings, and emotions for next week. I'll just say that now it's getting to crunch time to deciding whether I want to go to the Tzanchanim gibbush, try to get into Nahal with my medical profile, or go to Totchanim (Artillery). The HaSammelot gave us a presentation about each of these units before we went to Jerusalem. I think we're going to learn more this week, but that is still to be determined. And I feel completely out of world events. Apparently the Arab world is on fire. We'll see what that means for Israel in the comings weeks. 'Til next time, you stay classy!

PS- if you want to get a quick look into what my life is like, check this out:http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=207527

Lebanon and Egypt

If you've turned on the news in the past two weeks, or really bothered to get out of bed for that matter, then it would look like the Middle East is in a complete chaos. Well, it certainly is. In fact, as I look out the window right now, I see cars obeying traffic signals, people walking in and out of stores as normal, kids going to school....What?! No chaos here?! Yep, Israel is a stable country, and has been so since 1948. So what's going on here? Is Egypt going to go to war with Israel? Is the IDF now on high alert? Am I being rushed through training and sent to Israel's borders? What the hell is going on?!?!

First, take a deep breath...in, out, in, out. Better? Now, I won't spend the time here going over everything that is happening in Egypt. Read a newspaper and you can get the scoop there. I'll give a broad brushstroke and then tell you how it affects me.

On January 25th, the Egyptian people started protesting in Cairo...and they haven't stopped. In the past few days its gotten violent, and President Hosni Mubarak, after valiantly offering to fall on his sword by way of vacating the presidency in a few months, will likely be out of the country in the next week. What was the immediate spark for the protests? I don't know. But these people are protesting thirty years of dissatisfaction with Mubarak's reign. I'm not talking about some small tax increases or slightly lowered standard of living. Rather, Egypt has been under a state of emergency for thirty years, and the people are angry about living in an autocratic state, rampant inflation of simple food prices, lack of economic opportunities and advancement, and also, likely, the fact that they see their leader as under the West's thumb. So, they protest.

It first started in Tunisia, now it's in Egypt. The wave of hostility is spreading to Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank. On one hand, I am ready to cheer on any advocate for democracy. On the other hand, as was certainly evidenced by Iran circa 1979, revolutions can be a very dangerous thing and it is likely that it is not the people with the country's best interest in mind who will come to power, but rather those who can manipulate events and win the most popular support.

The biggest fear now in Egypt is that Mubarak's regime will fall and Islamists will take over, namely the Muslim Brotherhood. Although Mubarak himself will be out of power, that does not necessarily mean the government will fall too. For Israel, it is much better if the government does not implode and new people come in and take over. Why? Because Israel has enjoyed thirty years of peace and relative stability with the country that was once its most dangerous enemy. The current government has respected the peace that was established in 1979. Israel's primary concern is that whoever emerges as the leader of Egypt will not respect or recognize the peace treaty.

And it is likely that Egypt could fall to Islamists. It is the largest Arab state and a very religious one at that. Iran, after violently suppressing its own rebellions two years ago, thanks in part to the Obama administration staying mum as people were dying on the streets of Tehran, is using its influence in the Arab states to mobilize Islamic parties. The Muslim Brotherhood is one such party. So who are these guys? In short, they are a political organization that wants to Islamicize the world. They are the largest and most effective group in Egypt, despite being banned for the better part of thirty years. They are also a multi-national organization. They are in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. They are also in Gaza, but there you know them as Hamas.

Anyway, long story short: Israel has fortunately not had to think about a war with Egypt for over thirty years. It has trained the IDF to fight in the north with Lebanon and Syria. Egypt's turmoil has raised some legitimate existential security concerns for Israel.

So what's the deal with Lebanon? Well, there is no "deal" currently, but there was a big deal five years ago during the Second Lebanese War. In 2006, Israel invaded southern Lebanon. Why? The immediate spark was the capture of two IDF soldiers. But a bigger issue was the growing strength of Hezbollah and its continuing insistence of firing rockets into civilian centers in northern Israel. Hmmm, seems to be a trend with terrorist organizations firing rockets into Israel, the world being silent, and then Israel finally, reluctantly taking action, only to be lambasted by the international community. (In case you didn't get the hint, I'm talking about Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, 2009-2010. And, by the way, these aren't a 'few' rockets, I'm talking about thousands over a few years.)

At Mikveh Alon, we talked a lot about the Second Lebanon War. It was the main focus this week of our Tzionut (Zionism). We talked about the war, its purpose, after-effects, etc., and also of the 1948 War of Independence. On Tuesday evening, my entire plugot gathered in an auditorium for a commemoration of the Second Lebanon War. Different soldiers had been selected throughout the week to do a short reading, or sing a song, or act out a battle, etc., for the show. The "battle" that was re-enacted is a famous story throughout Israel. During the war, a group of soldiers were clearing out buildings as part of a patrol. They start taking fire and have to hunker down in a room in one of the buildings. Suddenly, a grenade is thrown into the room. Without hesitating, Roi Klein cried out, "Shma Yisrael!" and leapt onto the grenade, just before it exploded. His decision was the supreme act of sacrifice and saved his soldiers. I encourage you to search him online and learn about his life and sacrifice.

The day after, Wednesday, we left base in the afternoon because Thursday was Yom Siddurim for lone soldiers. I gladly came back to Tel Aviv, and crashed from 7:30 pm to 6:30 am. It was glorious. I was able to finally also enjoy the city; I went out and did some shopping on Thursday and Friday. After three months of being here (yes, three months since November 3rd!), I finally bought a Hebrew-English dictionary. It was nice to pretend to live like a civilian again; usually when I get home on Fridays I take a few hour nap or just veg. Then on Saturday I am often (like this morning) nursing a hangover from a great night out on the town with some buddies from the army.

This was a nice long weekend, especially because I will now be on base for the next two weeks, straight. That's right, I'm not going to be home next weekend because my plugot is doing guard duty starting on Thursday. We have to stay and guard the base over the weekend. I'll let you know how that goes in a couple of weeks.

Just one bit of bad news: it does not look like I will be able to try-out for Tzanchanim, or do any infantry unit, like Nahal, with my 72 health profile. I contacted one of commanding officers where I had my tzav rishon and he said I need to raise my profile for infantry. I'm going to try and get that done this week, but, especially because my eyes are the issue, there is no way to fudge that for a doctor. But even still, I am going to continue to train for the gibbush. And, honestly, at the end of the day, because this is Israel, if you want something, generally you just push your way to getting what you want and good things can happen.

But, with whatever I do after Mikveh Alon, I'll be serving Israel, which is what I came to do. Don't be too concerned with events in Egypt. Actually, Egypt has proved very enlightening on another front. One thing I did not mention as the cause of the protests was the 'plight' of the Palestinian people. How odd, right? I mean, if you read anything that, say, Obama says you would think that the one underlying issue throughout the Middle East is the Palestinian issue. Surely, he believes, if you solve that issue then you can have peace and stability throughout the region! Finally, if the Wikileaks didn't already prove it, maybe the turmoil in Egypt and the rest of the Arab world demonstrates that these people aren't clamoring Palestinian statehood; they are demonstrating and dying just for economic opportunities, a voice in politics, and reasonable bread prices. Sure the Egyptian protesters have claimed that Mubarak is controlled by Israel, but they don't say, "give the Palestinians a state then we'll go home." It is one of the most absurd claims that Obama and others have made: solve the Palestinian issue and you can then address Iran and other issues of the region. The reality, as people familiar with the Middle East know, is the other way around; confront Iran to keep them in check and give the people freedoms, then the region will begin to look more democratic and safe.

Oh yeah, and I finally got paid by the IDF on February 1st. I'm a working man!!

Thanks for reading.