The Siren

Just like last week on Yom Hasho'a, there was a siren to remember the dead -- two actually on Yom Hazikaron, one at night at 8 pm, and the other at 11 am the next morning. On Yom Hasho'a though, the siren is at 10 am, so when I looked at my watch at 1045 I thought I might have missed it. But then I thought can't be.... either way, at 11 I was on a bus to town. We were on Begin, and I see the bus pull over. I look up from what I was doing, and then I see him stand up, and I realize that the sound I hear in the backround is the siren. It was really cool, finally having that experience of stopping-in-the-middle-of-everything for the siren. I don't stand quietly. I don't think that does anything. I say Tehilim to myself quietly, l'ilui nishmas the dead. So that's what I did. Then it stopped, and we kept going. Until next year...

Milu'im, Pesach

Once again it's been a while since I last wrote. Since then I had milu'im a week and two days before Pesach. I finished milu'im on Erev Pesach itself. Said Birkas Hachama on base at 630 am. Gorgeous sunrise, above the hills. It was cool being back, I missed the army. I brought my gun also, that was cool. I was one of about 5 people who brought their pistols. Everyone who did, though, works as a security guard somewhere (one guy even works in the Old City, but I don't see him because he's in the Christian Quarter). Everyone kept asking me, "So, where do you work?" "Uh...at home," I said, or "I work for my wife."
My friend is making for me a thigh holster for it for next milu'im. It's not comfortable to keep in the pants when I got the vest and all that on me.
Milu'im was good. It was the first shabbos a I wasn't home since July, that shavu'a milchama. A little weird, but it was ok. It was funny getting there the first day and seeing my sergeants in the same milu'im unit as me. I got there and saw one of them with long hair, an eyebrow ring. I even did a jeep patrol with one of them for eight hours.
Milu'im is such another world. They don't care about being "medugam," looking good and presentable. You can have your sleeves rolled up while wearing the vest, you don't need to cuff your pants up above the boots, there's no dress uniform. Milu'im is about coming, doing the job, and going home. No fooling around with all that stuff.
Pesach was great. We were at her parents. On Sunday Chol HaMoed we went to Teveriya to the Sheraton. Gorgeous place, amazing food, great people. met some friends there. New ones, old ones, random ones, good stuff. We went biking at Agam Chula in the Chula Valley next to the Golan on Monday. We went to some kivrei tzadikim also. Erev Yomtov afternoon we went on a boat ride on the Kineret. All in all, great time.

Now I'm BH back at yeshiva, new zman, new meseches. Same Old City.
Well that's it for me. Til next time...hopefully soon....

Let's Go Mets!