Passed All My Tests - 97 Profile - "The Crucible" Must Read!!!

10/21

 I woke up at 4:45AM after 3 hours of sleep. I took a shower,and 4 of us went to the bus station to take the bus to Tel Hashomer, where the Sav Rishon testing is done. We got there around 7:30 and waited for A.Y. who helps us out with everything since we came to Aish. First we were given barcodes to scan in for all the tests for the day. We started off with an interview in Hebrew where they ask questions about you, where you live , how many people are in your family and a bunch of other ones. Then there was a reading test which was harder. You have to translate hard Hebrew into simpler Hebrew. I only got 1 out of 4 right. Then the writing wasn't too hard and I got all of that right. After my tester told me to go to the next room. I scanned my barcode and started the next interview, it was 5 minutes long. I waited outside and then did the longer interview. It was like 30 minutes .I did good on it!! Passed The Hebrew Test!!! Thanks to Aish Machal. I then went upstairs and scanned my card for the medical tests I waited an hour then they told me to go to a different place first. Did the medical tests, and next I went to take the IQ test. It was a bunch of circles and squares and you had to pick the one that corresponds with the other. Not too hard, but this also determines how high of a position you can get in the army. That took 20 minutes and I still didn't eat all day. Ended up with a 97 profile, the highest you can get and a 7 out of 10 in Hebrew, again all thanks to Aish.

       On the way back to Aish to get ready for our 25 mile hike. I ended up eating 2 shwarma sandwiches and went to the bank to sign a bunch of papers since I opened the account when I was 17 and now I'm 18. I got back to the room and packed for the hike. Everyone is coming no matter what. I popped a huge blister on my hand with a knife. I burnt the knife first to clean it. I put some neosporin, toilet paper and duct tape around it so it won't get infected. It's annoying but I needed to. They changed the time we were supposed to leave from 6 - 8PM. Took a short nap so I'd be ready to go.

       Now for the crazy, messed up story. We ended up leaving the Jewish quarter around 9:00PM and we all packed stuff for a long hike. We started walking . We ended up in a small field ..it was like a 15
minute walk. The first thing we did is made a chet. AY then threw a "grenade" and we all had to jump down on the ground and were spoken to by the mefakdim. They told us what is going to happen tonight is going to be very dangerous , so we must pay attention. First thing he told us is that 30 minutes ago a soldier was kidnapped on the Lebanon border (not true don't worry) . Now he passed around a paper it basically said they are not responsible for anything that happens to any of us tonight what so ever. People were kind of scared now. Some people said they are not siging it but the rest did. I signed it.

      
         They then asked if anyone was claustrophobic. I am extremely claustrophobic. He told me to come to the side. The mefaked asked me what would happen if he tied me up and threw me in a trunk. I said I really don't know but it would be bad. I got stuck in an elevator for 5 minutes and went crazy once. Now they called everyone one by one.They called me first and tied my hands behind my back and told me if you want any of the torture to stop anytime in the night say "243" . Now they were about to blindfold me and since I'm extremely claustrophobic all I was thinking of was being put in a trunk and having no way out. There was no chance I would be able to do that so I had to stop. 3 of us didn't do it for different reasons. They tied everyone else up and blindfolded them. There was a bus waiting for all of us and I punished myself for not doing it. I carried all 21 hiking bags to the bus in 4 trips. Now everyone is sitting on the floor . Some are shaking , some very tense and some other things. The mefakdim told me what's is going on for real.(You will find out soon) Whoever wasn't blindfolded was the enemy. We walked all the people we "kidnapped" to the bus.

         
         On the way to the van I walked everyone there and hit them and pushed them in. They were seated . The van was playing Arabic music and the driver and the mefakdim were all speaking Arabic and screaming at everyone. Our jobs were were also to scream in pain as a joke so everyone thinks we are getting really hurt. We were banging on the window on the bus and everyone was just quite and scared. The bus
driver closed the door and me and some of the mefakdim followed the car. People that saw this happen in the middle of the street were screaming "mishtara"!!(Police) they thought it was real. The driver pulls off and Rami ,the krav maga trainer that beats us came on the bus, he was hitting everyone. As I saw the van pull off it looked like this ....20 kids sitting down with their head down hands tied behind the back. It looked so real. The mefakdim were screaming in Arabic at everyone. Some people got fake tazered and we made noise
to make it sound real. People were really scared.

       
         We followed the bus and we parked in a restaurant's parking lot. We got there and each person was brought into the restaurant and they got their blindfold taken off the first person opened his eyes to a whole
table for us!!! Unlimited meat and food from a restaurant called Zion Gadol. Every time we brought a new person in the people that were blindfolded were in on it. So they were all screaming in pain as If something was actually happening. They threw some people on the floor started beating him . Ripped their blindfolds off and said mazal tov!! and they saw the food! Now after everyone went the last person was Danny!! He walked in everyone started screaming in pain! We all pulled him, pushed him screamed , he ripped his hands out of the rope swung his fists ,knocked things over in the restaurant and ripped his blindfold open.
The look on his face was priceless.

  
          Almost everyone was scared and had a face like that but we saved the best person for last. All the other people in the restaurant were quite and watching! Even though I wasn't blindfolded I was even scared
before I knew what as going on because I was way too claustrophobic. We all learned something about ourselves and they messed with all of our heads really good!! Everyone was in shock , but happy at the same
time, including me.

       
          The first day of the program there was a small "French kid " who "broke " his leg the first day of training . We never saw him again, Until tonight... He ended up being in the army already and being in
the same unit as one of out mefakdim!! Everyone was in shock again. He told us a story how they were on base once and his commander was on the phone walking around and 4 Arabs attacked the commander and they all saw and ran at them. Basically they saved him. Not getting into details. But that is what happened to everyone tonight!! Everyone was "kidnapped".

         
           We all ate a lot and celebrated finishing Aish Machal! Chaim and Rammi were there. The first time we could actually talk to some of the commanders and not get hit!! And they told us their real
names. We popped a bottle of champagne over everyone!! We ate a lot and drank a little. Some people got up and said a few words. We said goodbye to the commanders that we weren't going to see after tonight.
Tonight was an amazing experience. We learned what it would be like to be kidnapped. and how we should be alert and handle mental abuse we will receive. We went from a 12 hour hike to a 2 hour kidnapping that was more mentally abusive then a 12 hour hike would be on your body.

We got back to the room . Everyone was happy . I think this program was the one of the best things I've done in my life. We are all prepared mentally, physically, emotionally and every other possible way we can be prepared for the army. Without Aish, I wouldn't have been able to pass the Hebrew test. I wouldn't have a clue on what unit to go to. I have a much better knowlege of the country and what we are fighting for.
We will be more prepared then any Israeli that we will be drafted with.

I want to thank AY, Baruch, Mefaked A , Mefaked B , Mefaked Hasamal , Chaim , Rammi, Tarzan and everyone else who disciplined and taught us for the past 6 weeks. All the guys in the program are great guys and all helped eachother get through everything . We all pushed ourselves so much and we couldn't have done it without each other. This one one of the greatest experiences of my life and I will never forget it.

We have to be out of the rooms by Sunday morning and will be looking for an apartment next week with 3 other guys so we have a place to live on the weekends while in the Army. The draft date is November 1st! It's so exciting and I can't wait. Everyone here is going to keep in touch and help each other out throughout our service. Most of us are going to different units, but we are still sticking together!!

http://www.aishmachal.com/

The Crucible and Sav Rishon

10/20

We woke up at 530 and met Tarzan at the square at 6. It was our last time with him so he showed us some new things, like how to workout flat feet and to make your reflexes better.

We played different games that required strength. It was fun and we learned a few more things.

After that I went to go get some breakfast and then went to the room to clean it because someone was coming to check it. We made it perfect.

We then had a class in the afternoon on all the benefits we have as chayalim bodedim -lone soldiers in the army. Salary, money for apartments and utilities, food days off and more. I wrote it all down to see what they actually are.

We also did a repeat of the fitness test we did in the beginning of the program. I ran the 2k in 10:23 (not good), did 84 push ups, and I didn't count sit ups because my legs cramped up so I stopped.

6 weeks later, I ran the 2k in 8:50 that's a 1:33 improvement and that’s pretty good! I got 76 pushups (That's 100% in the army) and 87 Sit-ups (You Need 86 in the army)

They then gave us some details for what they call  " The Crucible "

Tomorrow night from 6PM until  to 6AM on Friday. From what I've heard it should be running, jogging, walking, with a stretcher, without a stretcher, crawling, pushups, basically everything in one.

 In the top units in the army like Sayeret Matkal , Shayetet 13 and a few more they have something called "Shavua Shevy" . Basically it trains the soldier to be able to handle being captured by the enemy.

The beginning of the week they tell the soldier a piece of information, then they literally beat you until you say it. A lot of guys break and say it, the ones that don't pass there training.

 Tomorrow during The Crucible they said they are giving us a taste of that. He said all the commanders we have been with so far will be there and should be about  be 40km long (25 Miles). I can't wait!

 I am also going for my Sav Rishon tomorrow, which is my interview, Hebrew test, intelligence and health tests.

Tonight we have a choice. We can either go to the last krav maga class and get beat or study some Hebrew and go to sleep and get some rest for tomorrow.

I ended up going to krav maga..I got there and he told us that it will be our last class.

 We started off reviewing everything we learned. Then we did some sparring. I went first against Gadi. 30 seconds into the fight he kneed me in the ahh......

 Yea by mistake. I dropped out and left to go to my room to study Hebrew for tomorrow. I have to be up at 4:45 with a few guys and we have to get to Tel Hashomer almost 2 hours away. So I'm getting like no sleep, plus we have the crucible tomorrow night.

All packed and ready for a long day tomorrow, 4:45am Thursday until 6am Friday morning when we  are suppose to be done with the hike.

Good night.

"Ain davar kazeh ba tzavah"

10/19

We woke up at 7 and went to the main building to eat breakfast. The mefaked didn't let me go buy a bagel!!
 "Ain davar kazeh ba tzavah" - there's no such thing like this in the army.
So I had 15 pieces of toasted bread and water for breakfast.

Then we had Ulpan but I decided since they changed my Hebrew test to Thursday I'm going to study myself and practice my speech.
I did that for a little then took a nap until 1.
I woke up and went to lunch. I was going to buy a burger and the mefaked comes again and says no!!
 "Ain davar kaza ba tzavah" ahhhh
So I had 25 small potatoes for lunch with some soup on top.

After that we had a guy from Handasa Kravi (combat engineering) come to speak to us. Its a unit that deals with many things. Mines, making bridges for tanks, demolishing houses with terrorists in them if they refuse to come out and much more.

We went to another class after that ,but I didn't pay too much attention, the guy spoke way to fast.
For dinner the mefaked wasn't going to let me buy food so Gabe and I ordered it in advance . Haha
He asked me what I'm doing for dinner .. So I said I ordered a burger already.
He then asked me when I was going to take him out for dinner.
Since he was in the army .. I said. " Ain davar kazeh ba tzavah"
He was laughing and I got my burger.
First time I had protein all day!!

After dinner we had Ulpan learning time. He gave each group 15 minutes to do a certain task only in Hebrew. We had to get as many girls numbers as we can only in Hebrew.
It was a lot of fun. We ended up with 3 in the end.
I beat Tarzan in arm wrestle on my right arm.
So hard it took like a minute and then he beat me on the left

We had a choice to go to a Rabbis class after that or finish Ulpan. I went to the rabbis class it was very interesting. He spoke about what can happen up until the year 6000 on the Jewish calendar. Can't get into it.. Too long to explain.

Shower and to bed. We have to be up at 530 to work out with Tarzan.

This Is How I Slept For The Past 2 Months...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Picture Day

10/18

I didn't end up falling asleep until around 4am probably!! Wide awake all night.
We all woke up at 7 and went to the square. We did some pushups and the normal routine and then we had 7 minutes to clean our rooms and the bathrooms.
We also had to have all of our belongings on our bed in size order (ex: suitcase ,knapsack , water bottle) and everything closed and perfect.
My stuff is always neat so it was easy.
We then went to breakfast around 8, had bread and water,no time for the bagel store.

We had  picture day today. We took pictures on the floor, lying down, sitting, standing, on the roof, in the main building, in front the flag by the Kotel with people on our backs, without people on our backs.

Then we had pictures on the Kotel wall and a picture and video of me holding up the Torah and turning around, like the thing you do in shul. (They use my arms for the video ..haha)
We took way too many pictures today.

We had Krav Maga at 2:00 and they took videos of all the things we do in the class. We started with getting hit in the stomach(me in the face).
We did some masav shtaim and around 100 pushups . These pushups are harder because he says.. Up.. Down..Up.. Down..
Its much harder.
We practiced the punches and kicks. Then I showed everyone how to do a side kick again. We practiced that for a while.
Then we did another 18 sprints, then crawls on our hands on the hot concrete. At the end of that my hand had a crazy blister. It hurts but its fine.

I went to the hospital after to check my spleen to see if It was still enlarged. Its fine thank-G-D. Now I can get hit in the stomach again!!

I got back to the old city at 7 and got shwarma for dinner. I went to the room to try and sleep and then everyone tells me we have to meet Tarzan in the square in 30 minutes.
We got there and he gave us an option.
Either we learn Hebrew or go with him, which means we get an abusive but amazing workout.
We started with a masav shtaim Contest. Whoever can stay in the UP pushup position for the longest.
We started .. After 5 minutes my blister started hurting like crazy. I kept going..10 minutes..all in your head.. Blister is kiliing!! 15...and my blister gave out in 20 minutes I finished 3rd place the others did 24 and 25 minutes.

First week I was here I could barley do that for 5 minutes. But its still mainly in your head.

Then we had a contest of who can hang from the bar the longest. I don't know who won that.
We then made a straight line and did a lot of sprints but first 3 squats and then a sprint. Whenever he says go. Even if we are in the middle of situps. Random times. We were all so beat.
It was worth it though we had a lot of stretches in the end and went to Ulpan afterwards.
Sick workout.

I got back to the room and took a shower.
Going to look for an apartment to live in with a few guys and taking my Hebrew and a few other army tests on Sunday.
Kind of nervous, but I'm sure ill do fine.

So since evreyone is talking and I can't sleep I told them this - Ani amarti lahaem.. Shee biglal she koolam medabrim ve ani lo yachol lalechet lishon, machar ani lo yakoom baboker ve koolam mikablim onesh hahaha (since everyone is not letting me sleep I'm not getting up in the morning and everyone is going to get a punishment)

Sleep

10/17
I couldn't  sleep most of the night and ended staying up until 6AM when I went to breakfast and then Ulpan.

We had some free time so I slept for a few hours and when I woke up I went to the classes to see where everyone was.
They just finished a class and then a soldier from Golani came to boss us around for a little while and  show us some things.
We had to make our room perfect again and do masav shtiim and usual stuff. He left and we had Hebrew interview time to practice.
We then had dinner and the lady next to our room complained that we don't stop talking .(Which means we get a punishment tonight.. O well) We had more Hebrew learning for an hour. Then some kids came back from there Sav Rishon. One kid got an 82 on the profile because he failed the flat foot test.!! I hope I don't get that.
You can still be in a combat unit with it  but I still want a 97.

We were told us be in bed 9:45PM and all that means is we we are getting woken up within the hour.
So basically were are sitting in out beds waiting for them to "wake us up" They woke us up 1030 as ususal and we went to the field for krav maga. We stayed in masav shtaim  did pushups and 18 sprints. Then 6 crab crawls and more push-ups again.
 Then we had sparring and  faught the big trainer Chaim. He isn't really a boxer, he's a street fighter. In the street he will kill someone with his hands in 2 seconds. We were fighting with rules so it was different.
Then Herschel and John faught. Herschel did great.
At the end he hit John and he was in the middle of falling and Herschel kicked him in the face. It was crazy. If he didn't have a mask he would of broke his jaw easily. We stayed in masav shtaim for like 20 - 25 minutes total the whole class and did around 100 pushups (not a lot).
Gabe and I stayed in the park after to workout while everyone showered. We did some back workouts since they don't really give us any for that specifically.
Showered finally, eating again and to bed to relax as we really don't get much sleep.

Shabbat

10/15

On Fri I woke up at around 12 and I did my laundry ALL BY MYSELF!!

I went to the gym with my friend Gabe and lifted weights for the first time in so long!! It felt sick!! I  couldn’t have my usual at home protein shake and meal after my workout but I had enough food after anyways

 I showered and got ready for Shabbat. I went to the Kotel and asked a guy that helps everyone find a place to eat. He sent us to a Rabbis house. I went with three other guys.

We got there and there was like 20 people.

First we sang then had appetizers then sang and had salad then sang and had the real food, kugel , chicken and sweet potato. The food was actually pretty good.

We all went around the table and introduced ourselves and to tell everybody why we are in Israel.

After desert we went out and chilled by the square for a little bit and played dodgeball with some random people.

Someone threw the ball and missed the person. It hit somebody not in the game  in the face so we stopped playing. We then saw some of my friends at the square so we went to their apartment for the night.

.It is much nicer than ours!! Couches, kitchen, 2 floors, 5 rooms and more.

10/16

We woke up and went to lunch at a basement of a hotel. It was very nice. All catered food and everyone that was there were all soldiers in Course Makim (a course to become a commander)

They taught us things we need to know about the army. Two of them are also from America. Right now I want to go to Golan and I met one of the guys that is going to be a Commander in Golani. So if he's my commander I'm set, haha .

We spoke to them for a while and went back to our room and chilled there until Shabbat was over We went to the kotel to have dinner. I went back to the room to take a nap.

 A few kids are going to get there Sav Rishon ( first medical test and Hebrew test.. If you don't pass Hebrew you have to go to Michveh  Alon for 3 months before you join!! Horrible)

I'm going sometime this week.

 I took a nap until 8 and went with a few guys to eat. We got deli.

Its better in NY but good enough for now. Whoever was going for the test tomorrow left and went to sleep. I stayed and met up with some friends hung out for a while now off to sleep.

Tekes

10/14- 10/15

On Thursday, we woke up at 7AM to go paintballing and were shown basic army tactics, like how to safely turn a corner and how to clear a house. Things we will need to know when we will be in the army.

We split into 4 teams and played a few games and weren’t given a lot of bullets so we had to play smart without wasting any.

We all did pretty well and had fun.

After lunch, 4 slices of cheeseless pizza, we went back to the Old City and got ready for the Swearing in Ceremony – Tekes Hashbaah- of the last Nachal and Shayetet draft.

The Tekes was held at The Kotel and it was amazing, so many people were there to watch. After 4 months or more of basic training the recruits are sworn in by oath and are now officially soldiers in the IDF.

All the soldiers were given their guns and were in perfect formation. It really got me excited. I can't wait,and in a few months I’ll be in the same place.

We went back to the Aish building in the Old City and spoke to the guys from the last program that are now soldiers and watched some videos. Went out tonight finally to relax on  Ben Yehudah and then a friend’s apartment. Got home around 5am .

More fun with Tarzan

10/13

Last night I got 7 hours of sleep! Sick!

We ate our morning apples and went to the square to meet Tarzan for our exercises. Sprinting back and forth for around 10 minutes, walking with people on our backs for another 10 minutes. squats, pushups, hyper extensions and sit-ups for another 10. Very tiring

Tarzan used to have bad eyesight and trained his eyes to see better. You can even make good eyesight better.

Between 6am-8am you look into the sun and close your eyes and move your eyes in different directions without moving your head. First look up for 10 seconds, down for 10, right, left, top right, bottom right, top left, bottom left all for 10 seconds each.

Then make circles to the right and left 10 times each.

 Do all this with your head facing the sun, eyes closed and breath, every day, for 4 years (Its long but it worked for him).

We had Ulpan for 3 hours we practiced our interviews. I think I'm going to pass the Hebrew test. I'm going within the next 10 days for all the testing.

After lunch we had a krav maga class. We did a normal warm up. 60 pushups, running for 5 minutes and masav shtaim (pushup position). We started with basic kicks to pads and punches to pads. Too easy.

Then we had sparring. I fought Levy but we both were not in the mood so we decided to go light. We went light and they screamed at us to go harder so we just took turns hitting each other in the face basically.  After the class I took my first shower since Sunday!! Felt amazing!!

We had a class about the laws of war and it was pretty interesting. I had an Aliyah before I left for Israel and that happened to be my exact Aliyah, how coincidental!

We then had dinner and then Hebrew learning and army questions we may be asked during our interviews.

Tarzan showed us ways to stay awake when you’re tired and ways to make your reflexes better. We had some more Hebrew and more army stories.

We are going paintballing tomorrow, and now chillin in our rooms getting ready to go to sleep.

Interviews

10/12
I was woken up last night two times for shmira!! and  all of us were up by up at 7. Our mefaked woke us up and we had 4 minutes to get ready and were given an hour to pray and study Hebrew

Then to Ulpan at 9:00

 I was waiting for the teacher and I put my head down for 5 minutes and fell asleep for an hour. He never ended up coming today anyway so it worked out. I studied myself for a while and practiced for my interview with the army when they ask us questions in Hebrew such as why did you come to Israel?, why do you want to join the army? and random questions mainly to test your understanding of Hebrew.

3 kids from our group took the Hebrew test today at the Bakum (induction center).

One of the guys got a 7, you need at least a 6 to pass. He said the speaking part wasn't so hard but the reading and writing part was.

I just keep on writing down all different things I want to say and translating them to Hebrew.

My friend and cousin Jennifer brought me lunch from her Yeshivah because the food there  is better. I then went to buy fruits because we have to either have an apple or 3 dates in the morning before we run tomorrow.

We had an hour break and we went to another Hebrew class.

After the class we went to the court to do some exercises with Tarzan. Squats, hyperextensions and some kicks and punches for straight 10 minutes straight and other fun things.

 We had lunch afterwards -turkey (you can't really mess up on making cold cuts).  We went to our Hebrew learning room again and spoke more about the army and practiced for our interviews.

 The mefaked told us some army stories and then told us how the army isn't a joke and it’s not funny because some of the guys were laughing. He came into our room to speak to us and I was in the middle of brushing my teeth so I had toothpaste in my mouth for 10 minutes but a lesson learned.

Tarzan

10/11

Woke up 630 with my body really sore and went outside to run 6 long laps back and forth, some of us took some short cuts, shhhhh.

We got back to the room 730 and have an hour to pray and do anything we want until Ulpan at 9. We finished Ulpan 12:30 and during Ulpan we had a 5 minute break and I fell asleep sitting down.

After Ulpan we went to the rooms and got all of our boxing gear. I was too tired to fight but I did it anyways. I fought a good fight against Coby today and we both got in some good hits.

 I went to the room after to try and sleep and then we were told our rooms had to be spotless and perfectly organized in 30 minutes.

We got it done and went outside and sat in a Chet (line up formation).

The Mefaked Samal (sergeant) asked all of us why we want to go to the army and prepared us for things that they might ask us in the interview

Some kids are going tomorrow.

We had dinner and there were only cheese borekas. I DON'T EAT CHEESE!! So I got some shwarma. We then had a class where there are a few people that we can ask questions about the army and learn Hebrew as well.

There is one guy we call Tarzan. He is crazy!! 

He has some nerve issues so he doesn't feel pain. He can climb almost anything. He used to have flat feet and he trained his foot to have an arch. He used to have glasses and he trained his eyes to be good.

It was a 4-year process.

He broke several bones in his body at once and walked to the hospital. The doctor couldn’t understand how he made it.

He then asked us what our fears are.

One kid is scared of heights. So he showed him a way to get over it.

I’m a little claustrophobic; he's going to show me a few things that I can do to get over it. That class is over and some kids who are going for the interview tomorrow are going to sleep. I don't know what the rest are doing, but now we have some more Hebrew instruction and getting to bed early hopefully.

A new week begins

10/10

I woke up at 430 because I had guard duty this morning. Not so bad because we have to be up at 545 anyway for a run but I'm on 2 hours of sleep so I had a protein bar and some water.  We went on a short run in the morning. I got back to my room dripping even though it was freezing outside. I organized all my clothes and things that I have and went to breakfast. I bought two whole-wheat bagels and a can of tuna since the food here isn't really good.

Army food is better.

They don't give you all the protein and carbs that you need here. I went straight to Ulpan to the higher level because the beginner class was too easy. I liked this class more. That class was 3 hours long

 I went back to the room to wait  for lunch. We had bad hotdogs, bad chili and bad buns. I ate it anyway. After lunch we had an hour break. I went to sleep for that hour since I slept 2 hours last night. I'm so tired. We had to be by the building at 3:15and when we got there and went into masav shtaim (pushup position) for 10 minutes and did pushups in between.

Then we had a discussion and we were asked what we liked and what we didn't this week and then a class on all the different ranks and positions in the army. There are so many different ones its very confusing.

 We had a guest speaker who spoke to us about random things. One of the things he said that is funny and true is the reason a man marries a woman is because he loves himself not because he loves her. He married her because she pleases him, which he wants because he loves himself.

(The same thing with a woman)

After that we had dinner. I went out and got a burger since the food here isn't really edible. We had to do some running up and down stairs a little because the Sergeant thinks we aren't disciplined enough. We had Hebrew learning time and practice interviews for the Hebrew test we need to pass to get into the army.

The new commander from Golani knows a lot about health and the body. He's showing me exercises to strengthen my flat feet. We now went to our Krav Maga class. I'm allowed to do it now since I don't have mono anymore (at least I think I don't)
I still can't get hit in the spleen so they hit everyone in the stomach but me :-)!!

We started off with running with people on our back and a lot of pushups and masav shtaim (pushup position).

 If we speak English we get killed. He asked who spoke English today and I said I did. He made me run around the circle for 15 minutes with the bag over my head!! It was a sick and painful shoulder workout. We started off by stretching a little bit. We crawled on the concrete floor for 20 minutes, back and forth.

Painful but its all good.

We practiced the basics that I already know. Some punches and kicks. Then 2 different types of knife defenses. Then he asked us if anyone knew some sort of fighting and wants to show the class. So I showed them a takedown I learned in my MMA class. It was a simple sweep. We practiced that for a while.

 After that we all got in a circle and the commanders made a ring around us. Everyone for themselves and the last one in the ring wins. The first time Levi won. The second time I won. The second time it was me against Jay we ended up on the floor.

 I put him in a Guillotine choke and flipped him over and got him out.(Thanks to MMA) Last it was me vs. Levi with everyone surrounding us pushing us back in. We went for a while until my heart finally gave out and I got out but it was fun either way. Then the end of class everyone gets hit with their eyes closed. I'm not allowed to yet.

So the big Krav Maga trainer Chaim hit everyone. I watched and was very thankful that it wasn't me getting hit ha ha ha. Everyone on the floor is coughing, choking and in a lot of pain. We stayed on the floor for 5 minutes and class was then over. My knees and elbows are extremely cut up and I'm still on 2 hours of sleep. Someone came with a guitar and we sat in a circle singing for a little while. Very relaxing.

We had 40 minutes for 20 guys to shower. At this point everyone is speaking Hebrew the whole day so far even in the rooms. If we get caught speaking English I don't event want to say what happens.

One more more protein bar and off to bed.

Good night.

Weekend to relax

10/7
I woke up at 11 and found out we were off from today until Saturday night. I packed my bags and went to Nava and Toby’s house in Herzelia. My 90L-hiking bag was full of dirty laundry. I've been wearing the same clothes for 3 days  and when I got here and put my clothes straight in the wash.

 I ate a lot today in 6 hours I had tuna on a bagel, shwarma in lafa, rice, peas and corn then 2 bananas, then more rice, peas and corn. I relaxed and watched some TV for a little then went out to Tel Aviv for the night. Went to a restaurant called Wolfnights. Pretty good food but I ran out of Shkalim so I only got a burger. I didn't exchange that much this week because the exchange rate is horrible now, 3.62

I got home and stayed on the computer and video chatted a few friends for a while and went to sleep.
10/8
I woke up around 2 and stayed home and watched tv all day we had Fri night dinner later on that night. All I keep thinking about is what unit I want to join. I don't know how long I am staying for yet so it’s a hard. Maybe 14 months, maybe 3 years. My number 1 choice is Golani, 2 is Tzanchanim and 3 is Givati.

I read a few things about the different units in the army and went to sleep.

10/9
I did the same thing as yesterday, nothing crazy. Today it was actually raining!! The girls in the house were amazed because it never rains in Herezlia this time of year.  I would go out but I have no friends in Herzelia they are all in other towns.

I like coming to Nava and Toby. It’s like I'm home. They only have daughters and a dog (that can be like my little brother), the food is amazing, and everyone speaks English.

I'm going back to Jerusalem now and  I have to stop by the King David Hotel to pick up some things my parents friends, Sara and Elan brought for me from Brooklyn.  Baby wipes (very useful),hair shaver, my winter coat and Dr Scholl’s boot insoles. I had to take all of that out of my luggage at the airport on the way here because my suitcase weighed 80lbs and I needed to take some weight off.
I got to Jerusalem and they invited me to come for dinner. How can I turn down food? So I went.  We ate at some Moroccan place and had sweet chicken that was amazing. It tasted like a meal and dessert at the same time. Than we had ate different types of food and a cinnamon dessert and unlimited wine, ha ha!

Sick restaurant!!

I went to Ben Yehudah after met up with Jennifer, Luna and a bunch of other people. Everyone was looking at me because I had a 90L-hiking bag on my back and 2 bags in my hand. A lot of stuff. I got back to my room at 12:00 have to be in bed 12:15. I unpacked all my stuff and got in bed to get ready for the week.

Back in Jerusalem

We all woke up around 7 for breakfast, after breakfast we had an Ulpan Tour. We went around Jerusalem talking only Hebrew and learning new words around the city. After that we had lunch then a Krav Maga class at 2. I couldn’t participate in the class because I can't get hit in the stomach until I know for sure that my mono is gone. I watched everyone learning the moves.They were learning basics that I already knew because I used to take mixed martial arts.

One of the commanders brought us a bag of equipment. It had a lot of sparring gear. Everyone fought,some good fights, some bad. One fight was a commander against a guy named Gabe . During the fight he backed Gabe into a huge rock and as he was tripping over the rock he hit him in the face and he fell over . It was so funny. No one got hurt we have full protection. Head,mouth, chest , stomach, groin and shins. After the class we had a 30-minute break until 6. The CEO of Aish Hatorah came to speak to us. He spoke to us about our purpose in Israel and why it is good that we came. Then he spoke about how we know Judaism is real and he's proving it to us little by little. We are probably going to have more classes with him. It was interesting and started a lot of different discussions. We had dinner and then made a Chet(lineup formation). We met someone from Golani. He is our new commander for the next few weeks because one had to leave.

He made us carry each other  up and down stairs on our back. And then run uphill holding hands in a line of 20 , if anyone let go we had to start over. After all this we got punished because some of the stuff they gave us for the hike was missing.

We went out to the court and all the exercises that had to be done were with a plate on your back if you drop it you start over. I watched everyone do crab walks,people holding other peoples legs while walking , sprinting and more for an hour. Then after that they ran up and down hill with people on their back (me being one of them because I couldn’t do much) If someone spoke in English or was asked what something is and can't answer in Hebrew then you run back up and down. After watching for a while I joined in because I was bored.

One thing I did that I liked was sprinting. There were 2 groups with everyone tied to each other and we had a race and whoever was last stays whoever wins gets to gp to sleep. We won but we stayed anyways because we are learning we are supposed to stick together. 

The Golan- 3 great days

Oct 3

We woke up 630 and went to get our visa's and to pack for survival week.

I got my 90L hiking bag at the post office today just in time from home. We all packed and got ready. Sleeping bag, shorts, bathing suit, sweatshirt, my bathroom stuff even though were going to the desert or mountains someplace with no showers ( I have room for it why not? I put my small pillow , first aid kit, knives, flash light, headlamp, Off bug spray (I never got a misquote bite but I brought it anyways) , sunglasses , camera, 6 liters of water  (4 bottles that we can refill , not sure how yet but we'll find out) my phones ( I brought an extra battery for blackberry), and the rest of the bag is packed with food, protein bars and organic lollipops (my family just sent me them from Brooklyn!!) canned tuna, a loaf of bread, some apples and cucumbers. That's all for now.

We all finished packing and went outside to talk to one of the commanders. They gave us a few other things we need. Rope, mini propane tanks,a compass, plates and a spoon, fork and knife in 1, it's pretty cool.

My bag ended up being almost 70lbs. We finally left for a long drive up north. We took a break to get food about half way into the trip. We got off the bus and it was so humid at around 5pm

We finally got to the camp site after getting lost a few times and getting pulled over for an illegal u turn.

First thing we did was eat of course and meet a retired Commander from Sayeret Matkal. He knows a lot about everything that goes on in  the army.

We learned how to read a topographical map and how to measure how far you are walking.

We are all splitting up tomorrow into 4 groups and we have to follow the map we just learned how to read by ourselves. Let's see how that works out.

We set up camp , my bed is a sheeet on dirt and I'm actually pretty comfortable. No covers, no sleeping bag. I don't get bitten by bugs anyways so its fine. You can here the coyotes howling right next to us.They usually like humans so its fine and we have one person doing guard duty to make sure they don't kill us lol.

At 2:30am  I was woken up for guard duty. I have my pants tucked into my socks and my sweatshirt tucked into my pants and I'm comfortable on the look out for coyotes.

10/4
We woke up at 530am after sleeping for an hour. The coyotes were howling all night 20 feet away from us. So annoying.

We had some coffee for pre-breakfast but I had a protein bar  as well.We started our hike in the Golan Heights. The first part of  the hike was 3 -4km not too long. After that we sat down to eat breakfast. Then continued on

.We then had to do a team exercise and we tied a rope connecting all of us. So around 9 guys connected to each rope with 2 teams. It was very annoying and hard to walk. We walked like that for another 4km. We got to the first pool of water and I went in and stubbed my toe on a rock so I left the pool.

 The commander Eliezer from Sayeret Matkal told us that we will climb up to 400meters. We were at 80 right now. With our bags its going to be hard. We walked  or 2 hours up hill and we got to a huge pool with a waterfall we all got in so fast (I stubbed my toes again) but I stayed in it and it felt so good. We then walked another few kilometers to the next waterfall. We sat there and ate dinner.
Then more hiking. Got to the top. We were standing in the exact spot where part of the Six Day War took place. It was destroyed, bullet holes everywhere and bunkers destroyed and everything was shattered.
The commanders told someone to pretend to be hurt and built a stretcher out of wood and string. We carried him on it for a while, but thank g-d. He was too heavy for it and it broke so we didn't have to carry it anymore.

We got dropped off and then had to do another team exercise .

We traveled through the city and wrote numbers on rocks that they set up. We had a map and that's all. My group finished first and we ended up in the place where we ended up eating dinner and sleeping.

We ate dinner next to soccer field and made a fire. We made bread on the fire and soup. Some other people were frying hotdogs. Pretty sick dinner.

Eliezars friend from Sayeret Matkal came and told us army stories.

One was about him dressing up as Syrian soldier and doing patrol in Syria in order to catch some important people. They succeeded and they held those people until the Syrians gave us back the 3 Israeli Pilots that they were holding in their prisons. It worked.
Then I passed out in the middle so I missed the other stories .I was too tired. But I'm going to ask people about the stories he told.

 Tonight we sleep on a bunch of rocks again. But its my favorite part of the day right now.


On Wed we woke up 5:00am, after a night of hard rocks pushing into your back.

I slept ok though. The coyotes only woke me up once. We prayed Shacharit and watched the sunrise.

We started our hike around 6:00am

We walked towards the mountains which the spot we slept. First we went out into large field with thorn bushes everywhere. We ate breakfast, tuna and some other things I bought (I snuck out of the camp area and went to the grocery store last night, shh)

 After that Eliezer showed us how to filter out dirty water .You put the water from a lake in the bottle and then use your shirt as a filter and pour it into another bottle. Then we did a group exercise. We tied a lot of ropes into a circle. We all stood around it and pulled it out as far as we could.

Coby had to walk on the rope once around the circle while we held it . It was hard to hold but really cool. Then he showed us the proper way to drink out of a lake or pool or anything with water. Never lay down. Stay on one knee and pick the water up with your hands, because if there is an enemy behind you, you  can turn around faster and he has less of a chance to attack you.

We then went to a part where there was a lot of big bushes . He showed us how to hide in them. You have to cut a hole, sit in it and cover it the right way. The leaves have to be on the same side otherwise it sticks out a lot and you can be spotted.

We split up into a few groups and hid one of the guys. Everyone had to find the other groups guys. After that we walked a few kilometers through a field with a lot of thorn buses.

 We got there and he showed us how to hide a mine and spot one. You have to make the area where you put it look natural after your done.

We all split into groups again hid our sleeping bags and looked for them after.

We put ours in a hole in the ground and covered it with leaves. People stepped on it while looking so we succeeded.

After that we split into 2 teams . We made a circle and one person was blind folded. There  were 7 cans in the circle that the blind folded person had to find. His team mates had to lead him to them only by saying code words not left right back or forward it was pretty funny watching.

 We then started walking again. We got to a small lake!! We all jumped off the cliff into the lake. It was so refreshing. I found a higher ledge so I jumped off that one too. We left there and went far again. We ended up by the next small lake that was a few kilometers away.

 It was a long and hard walk. If you trip you can fall off the mountain. It’s expert hiking trails known by a lot of people. We ended up by the second lake with a huge waterfall. We ate lunch there. Pasta,tuna, corn . We cooked the pasta in our pot on our portable burner. We mixed all the food together and ate it. We cleaned our plates in the lake packed them and left. I had apples I bought for dessert. On the way we were walking and there were horses on our left we stopped to pet them.. Pretty dumb I think but whatever.

The next spot we were going was one of the harder parts of the day. We walked all the way down the mountain which put us in a valley.We walked through the valley which was covered by trees and only uneven rocks on the floor. You have to move slowly or you'll get pretty hurt, especially with all the weight from your bag on your back. We stopped half way because there was a small waterfall where we filled up our bottles. We were in a valley and the only way out was up!

 We walked back up another mountain, around 300 meters. Then we walked through a huge field then back down the mountain.

We all thought we were done because of how tiring it was but we weren't. We were in a valley again so we went all the way back up the next mountain and back down the other side. There was a big stream on the other side! We had some time to go in. I didn't because I was too lazy to take my stuff off. I ate my grapes instead.

We thought we would be done once again. Now we had to walk all the way back up!!!! We walked up and this was really one of the hardest things I've done.

We all walked up the really steep mountain. It was hard but everything we do is worth it.

We got to the top and walked straight and found a place to pray Mincha. After that we walked down a dirt road on our left was the sunset right over the Kineret . It was the nicest view I've ever seen in my life.

As we were walking down the road on our left were a bunch of bull and cows staring us down the whole way. We finally came to the end and the bus was waiting for us. We all got in the bus and left to go eat. We ate on the beach right by the Kineret. After dinner we sat in a circle with the commanders. Eliezer asked all of us what was one of the things we learned. I said that its good to over pack your bag to make it heavier, so if you are ever carrying something little lighter it will be easier because you are used to having a lot of weight. When they tell us it’s all in your head, it’s true. I never thought I could do all that we just did in a million years. You just have to push yourself and get and give some support from others is all you need and you can do almost anything.

We said goodbye to Eliezer and he invited us over for dinner and if we need a place to stay when we have time off .We finally got on the bus to go home to Jerusalem. I changed into shorts a tank top and sandals. My feet had no blisters but they were kind of beat up.

Its 9:30 at night and were on the way back to Jerusalem now. We are going to go to sleep as soon as we can.

Overall these last few days in the Golan were best 3 days I had in Israel so far even though I lived outdoors with coyotes, didn't shower or even wash my hands with indoor plumbing and walked up and down more mountains than I ever thought possible.

You feel you have accomplished so much in the end.