Orange Soldiers

*I am joining the IDF, and I wear orange. What gives? So have many asked, and answers are difficult. You may want to skip this paragraph if you are a Democrat with high-blood pressure (I am a registered Democrat [with low-blood pressure,] believe it or not!). I am firmly opposed, even without seeing the communities (though i hope to take a tour soon); in fact, Israel's territories have become the bastion for non-cynics, and it is a breath of fresh air (literally as well) to be outside the disheartened cities of Israel, where people are simultaneously encouraged by us Machalniks, and in turn encourage me never to make Aliyah, since it 'stinks here.' [[[Most of the people out there in the Gush Katif are not fanatics, just optomists, in an age where disdain is fashionable. Bona fide left-wingers (esp. dattiim) are in shorter supply than the Apathetic Morale Problems. In any event, I think bad things come of unilateral action, and we should give back Gush Katif only when inter-ethnic relations are good enough such that political withdrawal doesn't necessitate physically uprooting the community for its own safety. If they will get lynched because of who they are, then retreating will just bring the lynchers closer to your doorstep.

On the other side, things are not good either. We may very well be underpaying Palestinian laborers, both in construction, and in field work (though I've heard conflicting reports). Despite Jewish unemployment, we don't seem to be encouraging Jewish employment, so much as welfare. To a certain extent, we have put salt on a wound.]]] People ask me how I could join the army at a time like this. The logic is compelling: Saddam is not allowed to gas his people, just because he was the president and government of his country. And if removing civilians from their homes is a War Crime by the Geneva convention, then the Israeli government cannot employ her armed forces to remove civilians, Israeli or not. And if it is a war crime, then "orders" are meaningless, and the individual soldiers will be subject to international condemnation and indictment. Remember, there is no "just followed orders" excuse anymore in this post-Nuremburg era. Each and every soldier must develop a conscience. If that weren't enough, after a (historically doubtful, but nevertheless influential) massacre in the state's nascent existence, the 'Conscience Law' is on Israel's books as well. I do not know of any reply from the government except more volume blasting the soapboxes from the official speakerphones; e.g., legal settlements get called "illegal outposts" all the time, despite documentation of their legality. [And illegal outposts take advantage of that abuse, by hiding under the cover of the Doubt the slander of legal settlements has thrown into the air.]
Nevertheless, I counter thusly, as Devil's Advocate: most modern, democratic societies form their social contract with a proviso of Eminent Domain. That is, for the national interest (railroad lines, roads, government buildings, etc.), the government has the right to force the sale of a propery and duly confisacate it for its fair market value. If Israel feels that political lines must change, and her citizens must be forced off the land for the national interest, it can do so without violating the Geneva conventions, and police and soldiers are not allowed to refuse such an order, since exercizing the right of Eminenet Domain is a political action, and soldiers do not get involved in politics. However, this is based upon the idea that the government will responsibly purchase the properties in question. This would be very expensive, but if they are willing to pay, then it may very well be legal.**
Me? Personally, I should be two weeks into training by the time the disengagement is planned to begin, so I won't be involved in it; furthermore, I am warming up to the idea of serving in tanks, despite my initial disappointment at my near-inevitable avoidance of Infantry, thanks to my knee defect ("Er, God, I'd like a new one please, mine doesn't work right..." "Amitai, my son, how about I get you a very biiiig Gun to shoot, on a mobile tracked platform instead?" "Awww, shucks, I'm sure it'd be fine."). So even if the proposed plan gets postponed, I doubt Armored divisions will be involved; definitely not directly.
Still, for all that, I am still somewhat reluctant to wear Orange all over. I generally have a ribbon tied to my backpack, and leave it at that.

**[Let's say 8,ooo people are divided into 2,5oo families, each with a, say, $250,000 home (I'm averaging between the $100,000 homes, and the $500,000 homes [not to mention the every so often bigger one]). That's $625 million right there. Then add businesses that need to be replaced, roads and infrastructure that will have to be redone, and you have a cool 1 to 2 billion dollars in compensation that must be paid out. This site: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/compensation.html explains that "The average family will receive $450,000," which confirms my rough calculations. Farmers would be given around 80 dunames (= 20 acres) of land, and I know as much about dunams and farming as I do about elk mating habits, which is that it happens, so I don't know if that is much or not, but let's assume one can make a living on it. Workers who lose their jobs will get beefed up unemployment for 6 months. UPDATE: Netanyahu has been quoted in the Jpost as saying that the disengagement will cost Israel arournd $2 billion, which seems to fit my estimations.]

An Ashkenazi Stranger in an Israeli Land

*All posts lifted from an e-mail I've sent out will have an asterisk in front of it, from now on.

I'm conflicted about what accent I should use when I pray. Israeli, or Ashkenazi? I realized that if Hebrew is to be truly my own, then I don't want to maintain a 'diglossia' within my own speech and prayer. I think that prayer should be honest speaking to God, and that will be aided if my natural tongue is the channel for my communication. So it follows that I should speak to both Man and God in the same langauge and dialect. But I am loath to join in squashing all traces of my cultural heritage, for Ashkenazic pronounciation is no worse than other ones (it has its pluses too). My compromise has been to leave Shema and other passages from Tanakh untouched, while slowly attempting to phase out my Ashkenazi pronounciation in dovening. There, in actual passages still marked by cantillation guides [trup], I feel, it is appropriate to retain a sense of Otherness, of Holy separation from the text; I am not speaking in my own words, I am trying to lose myself in the Old words.

Thoughts?

Why do the Army? Why Machal?

People often have asked me what I am doing the army for. Actually, since I have arrived in Israel, hardly anyone asked me. Only the [mandatorily] cute girl in the lishkat haGiyus did, and that's her job. But still, the question is Out There, and so I feel an answer should also be in that same ephemeral space. Therefore, let me make a clear and simple statement, one that I may revise or regret later, but nevertheless a statement, so that I can intimiately reach out with love to all the nice people who Google me.

ADVANCED HUMOR WARNING: This post will NOT be funny, if I can help it.


"Only in Subjectivity is there Decision. To seek Objectivity is to be in error."
-Soren Kierkegaard

Reasons are meaningful only within the context of values, like an electron in a magnetic field, much as a quarterback's strong throwing arm only has purpose and meaning on a playing field [in fact, he is only a 'quarterback' by the grace of the game of (real, i.e. US) football]. Football has rules. Why? Because. And that's how you play the game. So my reasons will make sense when I tell you my values, that is, how I play the game. My reasons, admitedly personal, must follow an introduction to my [subjectively] chosen values. Here is that introduction:

Me, I, the Amitai, is a construction based upon the Torah. I bring the Torah into harmony with the world I experience, and if I ceased doing so, I would not be the same me. This carefully crafted sentence is calculated to be just ambiguous enough of a statement to tick off as many people as possible. Please remember that other posts contain stories, as well as clues as to how you may win, under certain unmentionable circumstanace, 10 trillion Farquadian pesos.

Israel is a country willy-nilly by dint of the Torah. The Torah has pointed at the land, religiously, historically, culturally, heroically, experimentally, passionately, and the roots we have sown in the soil here are no longer Moses' alone (Mitzvot exclusive to the Holy Land; see Sotah 14a). We can love the land more than he, since we have history there, and Moses did not. We love it for David's sake as well as Moses' yearning. We love it for Herzl's sake, as well as David's.

Here's a cliche: A country needs doctors, poets, engineers, rabbis, and an army. So an Israeli Army is a good thing. The personal motivation of its soldiers does not have to be justified, as R' Lichtenstein aims to ("An Ideology of Hesder" reprinted in Leaves of Faith, see Brill's review in Edah Journal). In light of current political developments, it may need to be said that this value does not give soldiers moral licensce to absolve themselve of guilt for their actions. Attach any convienient apologetic for the existence of the Jewish People, and this conclusion ineluctably follows.

I realize that I am thereby imposing my values on others; I do not value pluralism in that sense. I accept that others do not have to accept my imposition upon them. But I yet maintain in the face of all, that it is not the right thing "for me to do," or"for me right now." It is the right thing, period. True, not everyone can serve, nor should they, but that does not alter the positive value assigned to living in Israel, and the existence of that State, and consequently serving in the IDF. It is the same way that I believe, feel, and think that living in Israel is the right thing to do. Not the right thing "for me," nor "right now," but the the entire clan. There are generous allowances for those who cannot move to Israel, compelled by education, finances, marriage, emotional ties to family, fear of culture shock, etc., but all should agree in a real, not-just-lip-service way, that Israel is the Jewish homeland, and all other lands are nice places to visit, even if I live here all my life, and its culture is my culture.

That being said, I personally look forward to getting in shape, acculturating, learning Hebrew (not the same thing), making friends, and working with powerful machinery. I do not relish the thought of killing, though I do understand that 'Evil is when good people stand by and do nothing.' Considering my values, these reasons may be significant. Consider the example of marriage: it is a mitzvah, an agreed upon value in the community of those who value the Torah. It serves that public, and is considered as such. And yet, I would hope you don't marry because, "well, s/he's a bit nebbish, slight [40 lbs.] belly,...but it's a mitzvah!" That is, in a community of like Values, there may be (altruistic?) Value to the community by pursuing private interests that the community values. I feel that holds with army service.