Training in a Religious Combat Unit with the IDF

“Remember Hashem your God for it is He who gives you strength to fight…” ~Devarim 8:18

“Strive to be a warrior and a scholar. Be forged by fire and tempered by knowledge. If not, you will lack the courage to fight for your ideals, or lack ideals worth fighting for…” ~Benjamin Disraeli

As I sit here trying to put words to the past five to six months, I can’t help but take in what a journey it’s been. Not only with the training, but further back than that. Even though it’s been years, I still remember at age seventeen, driving through my hometown in Tennessee, full of my own personal inner conflict, knowing I had to be Jewish, Israeli, and even an Israeli soldier, but not really sure of how in the hell I would even convert, much less make the dream of being an Israeli who fought in the defense of his country–a country that Baruch Hashem, we were given after nearly two thousand years of being without one as a wandering nation.

It’s been a wild journey, and I know it’s not over. Still I wanted to sit down and share with anyone who is willing to check this out, my own personal experience of training in the IDF.

So what’s it been like to join the IDF for a guy like me?

For myself personally, I can say that it felt extremely fitting. Back in the US, I had been a police officer for a very short time, and then served as a corrections officer in Tennessee for about two and a half years before making Aliyah. Entering into what we call “Shlav Bet,” and joining into training as a combat reservist in a religious unit–prayer three times a day, and an hour of Torah learning in the midst of said combat training–was an amazing experience.

I believe that often in our lives there is a difficulty in trying to reconcile living in the “real world” to maintaining our devotion to a Torah-oriented life. Very often we find ourselves feeling like we either have to be like Yaakov the “dweller of tents” or Esav “the man of the field,” but oh so rarely do we have the strength or will to take a shot at combining the two in their best strengths and qualities, in which “the voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Esav…” that in other words, we bring the strength of Esav into our fights, and yet maintain the Torah-oriented standard of Yaakov. And yet I believe that in order to truly make an impact on the world around us–yes even before Mashiach comes–it is imperative that we the nation of Israel embraces both.

So what was it like to train in a religious combat unit in the IDF?

First of all, yes it was physically and mentally taxing at times. Our unit was a group of reservists of many guys over the age of 30 and sometimes even 40, who wanted to serve and protect the nation of Israel. I can most certainly say that there was often a deficit on sleep and sometimes if we were lucky a surplus on coffee! Yet I want to emphasize again that not a day went by to my memory in which we did not pray three times a day, and learn an hour’s worth of Torah. For me, it was almost like returning to yeshiva while also learning to become a soldier. When our unit closed on base on Shabbat once a month–yes, for those with families it was difficult–the entire base was completely Shomer Shabbat. For me I have to say that I don’t know if I ever felt as close to Am Israel as I did the first Shabbat that our entire company stayed on base. Beautiful prayer, song, fantastic food, and great camaraderie. And yes, depending on rotations, we also worked in the kitchens during those Shabbatot at times–everyone pitched in.

As far as camaraderie goes, between us being an older reserve group and learning from younger commanders, there were at times some tension there, at least in the first few weeks. Yet I can also say that eventually, even though age-wise some of these guys could have been our sons, they ironically began to become more like our older brothers, simply due to their skill in leadership and professionalism. Listening to some of their stories, what they had been through in prior years of service in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, and knowing that they would never tell us to do something that they themsevles couldn’t (Of which they each proved time and time again) made us all come to respect them.

For my part I’ve worn several different uniforms in my life… The Japanese martial art of Shinwa Taido in my younger years to later on working in Law enforcement, Corrections, and security, but I don’t remember being so inspired by so many people so very often, of both fellow soldiers learning how to fight and the commanders teaching us how to keep at it. As one commander of mine put it as I was having a difficult time with my assigned weapon, “Complications come up and I can’t always be around to help you out. You gotta get flexible! I know you have it in you!” I can say that perhaps simply thanks to that one statement I was able to take it and work with it! I’ve often heard stories in history of a leader entering the arena with his troops, and his very presence giving them a second wind, a renewed strength to fight harder, move faster, work harder. Again, though I knew what that could feel like prior to joining, rarely have I experienced such a sensation so very frequently as this in my own life… until I joined this particular unit.

You join a unit like this, you’ll be surprised at how strong those are who you thought might be a wimp when you originally sized them up; to see the amazing changes of the people around you who seemed as though they just couldn’t deal with it anymore, and somehow a switch flips and you find they are smiling and singing while doing a twenty kilometer trek in the mud in full gear… Or partnering up with someone who says he doesn’t have much strength, but suddenly a few weeks later you both find yourselves running up and down several rocky hills while doing live-fire drills and coordinating your movements with the rest of the unit.

Needless to say you’d be surprised at how much strength you have left when you believe you are done.

One memory that stands out is our standing out in the rain–nobody moved an inch–for at least two hours in a ceremony for a new commander. One might ask why go through the trouble? Yet I would assert that if you think about it, you’ll find honor and nobility there–a willingness to sacrifice, and honor the position of a commander who serves.

And yet, in addition to all this, one of the greatest things about the unit was it’s purity.

Often times, being a soldier is a dirty job in more ways than one. Check any military and you’ll see that often times among the regular grunts, the “locker room” talk can get pretty bad. Moreover, you look throughout history and you’ll hear stories of the regular grunts drinking and partying and womanizing themselves into a hedonistic, animal-like stupor–primarily with the excuse of the need to “blow off steam” after the intensity of life in the army. Hence, for me to have been given the privilege of joining a religious unit–a holy Jewish army which truly believes in spiritual connection with it’s Creator and maintaining a standard of moral purity–was probably one of the healthiest things I’ve ever done in my life. Yes, I have plenty of work to do on myself, yet to see a shining example of so many tzadikim giborim (“Mighty righteous ones”) has been one of the most beautiful, amazing things these eyes have ever seen.

I can honestly say that whenever I’m having a hard time being positive about the nation of Israel, I believe that all I have to do is think about the brothers I’ve trained with in this fantastic, noble unit.

Hence I can say from the heart that it is such a great honor to serve with those who have brought the army ever so much closer to ultimate dream of the IDF’s first Chief Rabbi, Maj. Gen. Shlomo Goren, who fought in the Six Day War, and upon reaching the Kotel in the Old City of Jerusalem, blew a shofar with a Torah scroll in hand.

His dream?

That the IDF become a holy, pure army who stood for the ultimate principles of Torah, and stood in defense of the Jewish people as we continue the process of returning to our land in drawing closer to the Ultimate Redemption.

B’ezrat Hashem, we will keep moving forward to achieve that dream.