I called Mindy earlier today to find out where and when would be a good time to meet up. Instead of meeting before the 7pm ceremony, which I had planned on, she told me she was going to the Lone Soldier's reception (soldiers who are in Israel with no family members in Israel, mostly olim/immigrants) at 5:45pm near the Kotel, but to meet her at 5pm if I wanted to come with her. So I got my things together and hopped on a bus with just enough time to get to the Kotel by 5. Now that I know the city and buses a bit better than a few months ago, it was pretty direct and quick to get to where I needed to go, walking through the Arab shuk on the way to the Kotel. I passed everyone by very quickly so I could make it there in time. I got through security very easily (purposely didn't bring a bag with me, just had phone, camera, etc.) and got to the bottom of the steps overlooking the men's side of the Kotel. Well whaddaya know, I see Corey right away! He is just stepping away from 3 young guys and looks like he's heading back to his unit or group, and after I called his name I said, "Corey, can I get a hug now incase it's a little too crazy and I don't see you later?" Of course he came over and hugged me, and I told him, "Wow, you look like a real guy!" Wearing his green army uniform, boots all laced up, and his buzz cut hair, tan skin, and beard. Mamash Israeli! He ran off to his guys, and I introduced myself to his friends, who knew him from undergrad at Penn. They just finished a Birthright trip and are doing some traveling, but made sure to come to this special night as well. No more than 4 minutes later, Mindy walks down the same steps, says hello to the boys, not realizing I'm there until she turns around, and I give her a big hug as well! Somehow, we all made it to the right spot, just by chance. Corey runs back and forth a few times, doing what, I'm not exactly sure. But there is still plenty of time until this reception so he's bouncing back and forth. While I had a moment, I grabbed some photos:
Mindy and Corey (above) in a brief moment together.
And Corey and me, Echo Lakers united at the Kotel. So happy to see him!We follow instructions and directions very well, to go upstairs to this Lone Soldiers Reception. It was at a synagogue near the Kotel. But I really probably couldn't tell you exactly how to get there if you asked me to. So don't.
I spent a good amount of time with Mindy, and also met lots of people who work with the Lone Soldiers and the army units and Corey's friends. I overheard a bit of what Tzviki (the guy in charge of all the Lone Soldiers around the country) was saying to the guys being sworn in, and understood some of it, as he kept switching from English to Hebrew and back again. My Hebrew has definitely improved since I got here but I'm not even close to fluent so I still didn't understand a lot. What I did understand was his basic message to them: "You are very important and very special. All of the Israelis being sworn in tonight are here because they have to be here; Israelis know they have compulsory service to their country. You are volunteers. You are making this choice, the most Zionist of choices. Thank you and good luck." It wasn't exactly word for word but that was his message. And how true it was!
Truthfully, I was a little blown away by the number of guys being sworn in as Lone Soldiers, volunteers to the IDF, not native born Israelis. These were about 50 young men, all probably in their 20s, who have made aliyah on their own, with families back in America, Canada, Belgium, South Africa, Ethiopia, and other countries that I can't even remember. Something is in their souls, deep down inside their hearts, that made them come here and make a huge life commitment, and join the IDF (and the paratroopers, on top of that, not just any unit in the army) because of the belief in the Jewish homeland and a Zionist nation. I've definitely lacked some of that feeling (either pushing or pulling) in all of my time here, and even though I still don't feel it myself necessarily (I think in some cases I do), it was certainly nice to see that other people feel something really great toward this land and people.
A small token of appreciation (above) - bags for each of the Lone Soldiers - Tzviki puts these together every now and again for them, so this is the first of many.
At the ceremony, the friends of the paratroopers (above) cheer on their friends as they are sworn in to the IDF. Some are soldiers themselves or who work(ed) with the soldiers on their kibbutzim or army bases, to help teach them Hebrew, meet their kibbutz families, and offer their help as social workers. Corey's name is on the top right of the sign along with a few other names. They were by far the most spirited ones there, so happy for their friends!
We ended up with a pretty good view of the ceremony at large, facing the Kotel (which was not very busy on this night, in terms of people who were actually praying there), with screens to help enlarge the processes of the ceremony. Thousands of people were there, although I don't know how many thousands. Just being on the stairs we kept getting bumped into, having to keep moving side to side to let people through, but we could see over everyone's heads and see some of what happened in the ceremony area. It was quite inspiring to see all of these young men be sworn in. Toward the end of the ceremony (which I thought was going to be 2 hours and turned out to be less than 45 minutes), we all sang Hatikvah, which is the Israeli national anthem. I had anticipated waiting a lot longer for this, assuming it would be at the end of the ceremony, but my camera wasn't ready at 45 minutes into it; I thought I'd be waiting another hour! I cut off the beginning portion of it, but here is Hatikvah at the Kotel:
All in all, I really have to say that this was one of my favorite moments I've had in Israel. I don't feel like I witnessed history necessarily - that's a bit much. I don't really know if it's a once in a lifetime opportunity either. On one hand, it might be so. On the other hand, anyone can come and see this in Jerusalem, and it isn't exclusive only to people who have tickets or know someone in a ceremony. But it's probably the only time I will see a friend of mine during his own swearing in ceremony, spending time with his mom whose company I really enjoy. After being here for 4 months and not being shy about my dislikes about Israel and difficulties as a global Jewish people, this was definitely a positive and uplifting experience I'm glad to now have under my belt.
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