Oh, you read the title correctly. I am in the Army Rabbinate. Strange turn of events.
The week started off normal, running, drills etc. Monday I had my swearing in ceremony. I didn’t swear; I affirmed, as all religious people do.
Tuesday morning we had distance breaking. That is when the Mefakdot introduce themselves for real. Once you get past basic training, everyone in the army addresses each other by their first name; the formalities are over. As we clearly saw, the mefakdot were are all much younger than us. One of the funniest things was hearing them say their ages. They said their ages with halves (“I am nineteen and a half”) like little kids. They sat with us during breakfast and it was kind of weird and fun to talk to them like normal people. Thursday night everyone met at a park in Tel Aviv and we had a barbeque.
Tuesday afternoon I was sent to Bakum (central army base) with all the people who were not sent to one of the five jobs mentioned in the last entry. After waiting about 7 hours, I found out that I am in the Army Rabbinate. The general told me I would be in the Chevra Kadisha (those who care for the deceased.) I explained I was a Kohen (thus I cannot come in contact with a corpse) and he told me to work it out with the Rabbinical Authority tomorrow when I report for duty.
My new base in called Zrifin. The base is located near Rishon Le Zion. Unlike my old base, Zrifin is the size of a small city; you need a bus to get around within the base. I had some luck the first day.
A cop stopped me for jaywalking and asked for my ID in order to give me a ticket. I responded in my blatantly American accent and suddenly it all got better. The cop turned from a serious officer into a teenage girl and asks “where are you from in the States?” “Do you know my friend in
I had to go all over the area and do paperwork and then meet with Avi, the head of the department. By the time I got to see Avi it was too late and he told me to meet with him again the next morning.
I was not the only Shlav Bet guy to go. Another guy went and the next morning he was told that in two weeks he’ll be in a course for the Chevra Kadisha. I was not assigned the same because I am a Kohen. Avi understood; Avi is also a Kohen.
The army is desperate for people in the Rabbinate. The Religious Zionist people in the army usually want to be in fighting units (80% of Hesder soldiers are fighters, as opposed to 30% of non-religious Israelis.) I found out a few days later that two other men from Shlav bet were taken into the Rabbinate. Apparently, when they were sent to a base, someone noticed they had a kippa and took them. One is a Mashgiach, which is a thankless job of cutting vegetables, and one is a religious counselor.
Well, most guys in the Rabbinate have a low profile because most religious guys with a high profile go into a fighting unit. Hence, a guy with a strong Yeshiva background and a high profile is kind of a rarity. Avi refuses to put me into a simple course for a job like Mashgiach. He told me that if he accepts me I’ll have something interesting, but difficult. He is still thinking about what course I should take.
In the mean time, I help out around the office. It is like I am in a totally different army. It is much more laid back and disorganized.
Oh, I am living at home now. I kind of miss being at the base during basic training. I had a lot of good friends there and to be honest, Yeshiva isn’t that much cleaner. Still, it's good to be home
2 comments:
How goes the rabbinate? What course are you doing? Other than Mashgiach and Chevra Kadisha, what other courses are there? I'm considering trying for the rabbinate option...
I took a course for RaKaz Da'at. He is the guy responsible for the religious needs of the base. He checks if the beit k'neset is in order and sees if the base needs to order any articles pertaining to religious matters. He helps the Rabbi organize classes and discusses religion with any soldier who needs someone religious to talk to. Basically, it is the job of an assistant Rabbi.
It is a good job, sometimes interesting, sometimes less. All depends on how much you like putting up with organizing and setting up for religious stuff, which can include a lot of tedious work. I highly reccomend it.
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